Chapter 55: Lend Me Your Shoulder
She stood before her, completely still, not letting anyone approach the small figure behind. Before this, she hadn’t thought she would stand out, because no matter how you looked at it, her relationship with her wasn’t good. At the very beginning, she disliked her intensely.
But today, she stood out, without hesitation. This was something she herself hadn’t expected.
The reason she did it was simply because she didn’t want to see that crying face.
“Since you’re going to pay the money for that girl, that’s naturally for the best. I don’t want this girl constantly owing me rent. Ever since the day she moved in, I’ve never collected the rent on time.”
Ye Zhiyun paid off all the rent Yu Linna owed. The landlady unceremoniously took the money, counting it bill by bill, still muttering unpleasant words. And these words sounded so harsh to Yu Linna.
Yu Linna had moved in a few years ago. At that time, she had just ended her boarding life, completely bidding farewell to the days of wandering. Then she came here and lived for several years. These years, she also lived poorly, relying on multiple part-time jobs to maintain her life. It was often unavoidable that she couldn’t pay the rent smoothly.
This time, Ye Zhiyun made up the difference, a situation that had never happened before. Because before this, Yu Linna had never thought someone would help her pay the rent.
After collecting the rent, the landlady left haughtily, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. The surrounding neighbors, seeing the fire had died down, then opened their doors one by one to check the situation. Seeing the tear stains still wet on Yu Linna’s face, they kindly came up to comfort her.
“Yu girl, don’t cry. The landlady is just like that. Don’t bother with her.”
“That’s right, that’s right, forget about her.”
“What are you crying for? Crying will ruin this pretty face.”
The neighbors came up to comfort her, but Yu Linna couldn’t feel happy.
Ye Zhiyun watched this scene, initially thinking of just leaving like that, but Yu Linna tugged at the corner of her clothes. Yu Linna looked at her with her tear-stained face and sincerely invited her:
“Come up and sit for a while.”
After all, Ye Zhiyun had helped her greatly; she naturally had to remember it. No matter what she had done before, right now, she was her benefactor.
Ye Zhiyun didn’t refuse and followed her upstairs. As for those neighbors who only offered comfort after the fact, no need to pay attention.
Opening the door, Yu Linna’s room was still the same as last time, unchanged. But for a girl, her room was quite clean, at least there wasn’t a pile of garbage. And compared to last time, there were a few more unopened instant noodle cups on her desk, probably her upcoming meals.
“Sit down. I don’t have much to offer here. I’ll make you some tea.”
Yu Linna pulled out a few tissues, wiped away her tears, sniffled, and prepared to go get some tea leaves. Her home was bare; she didn’t know what good tea leaves she had in stock. But since she was a guest, she had to use slightly better tea.
“Speaking of which, why did you come looking for me?”
While making tea, Yu Linna, fearing the atmosphere would become awkward, took the initiative to start a topic.
“Just randomly thought of finding you to talk about the comic convention, that’s all.”
But encountering the landlady making things difficult for Yu Linna at the stairwell was beyond her expectations.
Thinking carefully, Ye Zhiyun realized that Yu Linna’s home seemed to have nothing, just simple furniture and nothing else. Not even photos of parents, which was a bit strange. If she lived alone, it could be explained, but why couldn’t she even afford the rent? It didn’t make sense for her parents not to give her living expenses if she lived alone.
Thinking deeper, Yu Linna often worked outside, juggling several part-time jobs. Besides classes, it was work. Did a normal student need to do this?
The more she thought, the scarier it became. Ye Zhiyun felt a little afraid of her own conjecture.
“I say… Yu Linna, you, you live alone, right?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong?”
Ye Zhiyun looked at her slightly naive face, not knowing how to begin.
Yu Linna was a very naive person, without much scheming. But precisely because of this, she was afraid of hurting her.
“Your… family?”
She finally said it.
She really couldn’t figure out why Yu Linna lived here alone, and was almost kicked out by the landlady because of rent. All the details told her that things weren’t as simple as she imagined. She even began to wonder about Yu Linna’s family background…
Yu Linna had just finished pouring the tea. Her face stiffened, the smile that hung there fading. Although she had gotten used to it over the years, every time someone asked about this matter, her heart still felt heavy.
There was no helping it. Since her previous life, she had never enjoyed the taste of family. Being touched on her most sensitive point, how could she possibly remain calm?
“My parents… I don’t know who my mom and dad are.”
She put down the teapot and said this lightly. This was the first time she had told someone she knew about her family situation.
Before that, she rarely took the initiative to talk about these things because she didn’t like revealing her situation to others; it would make her seem weak.
“Don’t know who your parents are… What does that mean?”
Yu Linna silently poured tea for her, her face still calm, but with a trace of sadness in her eyes.
So many years, she hadn’t told anyone about these things. Now, her mood was extremely complicated.
“I was injured when I was young and forgot many things, forgot whether my parents were alive or dead. I only know I started wandering when I was very young. Yes, I’m an orphan. I don’t have a home.”
Although she had roughly guessed, hearing Yu Linna admit it herself still brought shock.
At this moment, she suddenly remembered when she pretended to be her parent not long ago. Because she didn’t cooperate well, the two had argued. She finally understood why Yu Linna cared so much, why she cared so much about the role she played. Even if it was fake, she longed for even 0.1% of reality. Because she didn’t have it, she longed for it.
“Do you still know where you came from?”
Ye Zhiyun didn’t know what to say. It was also her first time encountering this situation. Hearing she had forgotten some things, she followed this topic and chatted along.
But Yu Linna just shook her head.
“I forgot. Those are memories from when I was very young. Who remembers things from when they were two or three years old? I vaguely remember… seems like I was sold by someone. Other things, I don’t remember clearly. It was too long ago.”
Yu Linna smiled bitterly, perhaps unaware of the glimmer of tears in her eyes. Only she knew the bitterness in her heart. Becoming an orphan since childhood, unable to enjoy family love in two lifetimes, constantly wandering. Although she lived longer in this life than the last, she still couldn’t escape her poverty.
It seemed that for so many years, she had never been stable.
Ye Zhiyun’s heart twitched, suffocating. She keenly sensed that she couldn’t continue on this topic. Otherwise, she would definitely become unlike herself.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought this up. Please forget it… Yu Linna, I… please forgive my rudeness.”
“It’s okay. If it weren’t for you today, I might have been kicked out. I really wouldn’t know what to do then. Thank you so much. The money I owe you, I will definitely pay you back. I, Yu Linna, am not someone who defaults on debts. These three hundred yuan, take them first. I’ll pay you back the rest slowly.”
Saying this, Yu Linna took out her wallet from the cabinet, pulled out three red banknotes, and gave them to her, asking her to accept them. Although Yu Linna liked to take advantage, it depended on the occasion and the person.
She could shamelessly mooch food, but she wouldn’t accept valuable things from others, let alone let others pay her rent while she defaulted. She wasn’t that kind of person.
Although poor, she knew what she should accept and what she shouldn’t.
“Why are you giving them to me? You need this money more than I do. Keep it!”
“No, please take it. This is what I owed the landlord originally. You paid the money for me, so I should give it to you.”
“Keep it. Listen, I’m not short of money. This amount is nothing to me. When you have money, you can pay me back slowly, okay? Right now, you need this money more than I do. I have others I can rely on, but you only have yourself.”
The hand holding the money paused mid-air, finally retracting. Yu Linna’s tears rolled down. She sat on the floor, clearly wanting to control herself, but the tears just couldn’t stop falling.
“Hey, why are you crying again? Don’t cry. What’s wrong now?”
“Nothing… I just feel sad… so sad…”
Yu Linna was quite the crybaby. This habit hadn’t changed over the years. When wronged, sad, or upset, she always wanted to cry. Like most girls, she would use crying to resolve her troubles.
Being treated like this by Ye Zhiyun, she felt so useless. She clearly said she wanted to stand out, completely escape poverty, become someone superior, but she never succeeded. And she even had Ye Zhiyun, who wasn’t even a friend, help her pay the money. She felt awful. Why couldn’t she just escape poverty?
She was tired of poverty, tired of relying on others, but she couldn’t escape.
“Don’t cry…”
Ye Zhiyun didn’t know how to comfort people, didn’t know what to do. She reached out her hand and gently patted the girl’s head. But the girl’s tears still didn’t stop. This hand stroked her head, and Ye Zhiyun couldn’t bear to leave.
Clearly hated her, disliked her intensely, didn’t like her, but at this moment… didn’t want her to cry, wanted to protect her.
Just seeing that crying face, all the grudges in her heart disappeared.
She couldn’t bear to see this face continue crying.
“I’ll lend you my shoulder to lean on…”
She pulled the crying Yu Linna over, letting her head rest on her shoulder. And Yu Linna wasn’t polite either, leaning against her body, using her clothes to wipe away her tears.
Now she definitely had to get someone to wash these clothes when she got back. Ye Zhiyun looked at her branded clothes being used like a rag, smiling wryly in her heart.
But if it was for her, this was nothing.
She really hoped this girl could be a bit cheekier, a bit cuter like usual, instead of being so weak. Perhaps Ye Zhiyun hadn’t even realized that her heart no longer hated this girl.
In the warm room, the atmosphere became harmonious.
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