LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 73
The room was hot. As soon as Yu Shu came in, she took off her coat and randomly fished out a hairpin from the drawer to put up her hair.
Shen Youlin was still chattering away behind her when he caught sight of her shoulders, suddenly struck speechless - the scar was gone.
Shen Youlin stared blankly at Yu Shu, realizing that he had already known her for quite some time. Going through the seasons over this past year, he had witnessed her changing herself. But whether it was the previous Yu Shu or the current one, it seemed he didn't really understand either.
"What are you spacing out for?" Yu Shu snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "Hey, wake up."
Shen Youlin looked at her hairpin distastefully: "What's this thing? A golden phoenix hairpin? How tacky and ugly."
Yu Shu touched the phoenix hairpin in her hair: "I think it looks quite good, very elegant."
This gold hairpin was made from the gold ingot Yu Shu had drawn last year. Originally there was a pair that Ye Ping was keeping for her dowry, but now Yu Shu had one in the living room and one in the bedroom that she used to put up her hair at home.
Shen Youlin scoffed at her taste: "New money folks, no class."
Yu Shu smiled thinly and pointed at the door. "Get out yourself, or I'll kick you out."
"Hmph! Who cares!" Shen Youlin said. "Dou'e, let's go~"
When Shen Youlin returned home, he rummaged out a piece of jade material from the corner of the study. It was the most valuable piece he had spotted when looking for seal engraving material last time, so he had taken it with him.
Shen Youlin took a ruler and pencil and started drawing cut lines on it, planning to find a master craftsman tomorrow to cut the material and make it into a rough piece.
"Hmph, I'll show you what real elegance looks like."
The stone he held was quite large in volume. It was enough to make seven or eight hairpins.
After studying it for a long time until his eyes were tired, Shen Youlin put down the stone and walked towards the bedroom to take a shower and sleep. The power outage happened at that moment.
Yu Shu came out of the bathroom after her shower. She found the emergency lamp in the storage room and turned it on, planning to finish her skincare routine and then go to sleep. Sleeping on a rainy day like this was most comfortable.
"Awooo-"
Yu Shu faintly heard the sound of a dog barking, urgent and shrill, ceaseless. It seemed to come from outside the front door.
There were few residents in this apartment complex who kept dogs. Among the three floors, Dou'e was the only dog.
Thinking of Shen Youlin's fear of the dark, Yu Shu quickly walked to the front door. Outside was similarly dark, with only the emergency lights on. Dou'e barked anxiously at her twice and bit her bathrobe, pulling her towards the next door neighbor's home.
Shen Youlin's home was pitch black without a single light. Yu Shu followed behind Dou'e and found Shen Youlin curled up trembling in the corner, scared out of his wits. With his height of over 1.8 meters, his curled up form was still quite sizable.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Yu Shu reached out to pat him but was grabbed by the hand instead. Shen Youlin's hands were drenched in cold sweat. Yu Shu patted his back comfortingly with her other hand, "There, there. I'll go back and grab two emergency lamps for you."
"Don't leave!" Shen Youlin's voice was hoarse and ghastly. The extreme fear had changed the tone of his words.
"Don't leave....sis...."
Sensing something was off with him, Yu Shu squatted down, "Are you okay? You...."
Without any warning, she was pulled into his embrace. His arms held her so tightly she could barely breathe. She felt Shen Youlin's entire body trembling as he kept murmuring, "Don't leave."
"...Can you hear me?"
"Sis...." Shen Youlin buried his face in her hair and started sobbing softly.
I don't want you as my brother! One annoying little brother is enough!
Yu Shu patiently coaxed him for a long time until he calmed down. Then she asked, "I won't leave. Do you want to come with me next door? I have emergency lamps there."
She asked several times but Shen Youlin didn't respond. On the eighth time, he finally croaked out an "Okay."
Yu Shu supported him as they walked outside. Shen Youlin was leaning entirely on her, extremely heavy. Even walking the short distance was extremely arduous.
Dou'e kept circling around them. When they got to the door, Yu Shu was wondering how to free her hands to open it when Dou'e leaped up to press down the door handle, opening the door.
"Good doggy, I'll cook meat for you tomorrow."
"Woof woof!"
Exerting tremendous effort, Yu Shu finally got Shen Youlin through her front door where they tripped over the shoe cabinet. She fell backwards, the back of her head hitting the wall hard.
The impact made Yu Shu curse out loud.
Hearing the profanity, Shen Youlin, who was pressed on top of her, suddenly regained some awareness. He planted his arms against the wall on either side of her and looked down at her.
The lighting was too dim for Yu Shu to clearly see his expression and gaze. She just felt that given their current position and atmosphere, it would be a waste not to pin her against the wall.
If she made the first move now, it wouldn't count as taking advantage of him right?
Before Yu Shu could work up her nerve, Shen Youlin struck first ruthlessly. He leaned down to kiss her.
Their lips touched, soft and cool. Shen Youlin extended his tongue to gently lick...
A train wreck roared deafeningly through Yu Shu's mind, raising clouds of dust that obscured the sky. Aside from Shen Youlin, she felt everything else.
After who knew how long, Shen Youlin finally released her. With their noses still touching, both of them were panting heavily, their heated breaths mingling between their lips.
Yu Shu suddenly grabbed his neck, pretending to be fierce as she asked, "Who am I?"
Shen Youlin didn't react so she gently asked again, "Who am I?"
After a long while, Shen Youlin murmured softly, "...Yu Shu."
Satisfied, Yu Shu loosened her hand and patted his cheek. "Good boy~"
Yu Shu settled Shen Youlin down on the sofa and took out all the emergency lamps in the house, turning them on and placing them on the coffee table. When she turned around, she saw Shen Youlin still sitting upright in the same position as before, head lowered and completely motionless.
Yu Shu's gaze abruptly landed on his neck. Her eyes filled with disbelief. Shen Youlin's neck was covered in two dark purple finger-shaped bruises so black they were nearly black.
These couldn't have been left by her. She didn't use much force and her hands weren't that big besides.
The only possibility was that Shen Youlin had strangled himself.
Yu Shu gently unfolded his palms and softly wiped away the sweat.
She didn't know how to describe her current emotions - puzzlement, fear, surprise - all kinds of feelings blended together until only heartache remained. Heartache so raw that the blood pumped from her heart turned icy cold, flowing through her veins into every corner of her body.
Shen Youlin reached out to tug at the hem of her clothes. He raised his head and his lifeless eyes dazedly looked at her. "Yu Shu."
Startled out of her thoughts, Yu Shu leaned down to embrace him.