No Longer Escaping (ABO) - Chapter 21

Tonight, Sister Fang’s home was as it always was.

Xiao Wen was routinely helping Sister Fang wash up.

Her clothes were removed.

She used one hand to cover her chest and extended the other for Xiao Wen to clean.

She looked down at Xiao Wen sitting on the edge of the bed, meticulously cleaning her.

She was still a little grateful.

Although her legs were numb, her hands were fine, and she could still feel Xiao Wen’s warm touch.

Xiao Wen used a hot washcloth to carefully clean Sister Fang’s fingers and the spaces between them.

After cleaning her arms, she naturally turned her back to Xiao Wen, allowing her to wash her back.

“Is Xiao Hua asleep?”

“Yes, she fell asleep as soon as she got back from Wan Niang’s house. I guess she was tired from playing.”

Xiao Wen took Sister Fang’s long hair from her back to the front, revealing her fair back.

She wrung out the cloth and gently began to wipe her.

As she did, she suddenly remembered what had happened at Wan Niang’s house today.

“Wan Niang and Xiao Yang are getting married.”

“Oh? When?”

“They said they haven’t set a date yet.

They’re getting ready.”

Sister Fang was happy for Wan Niang.

It seemed that Wan Niang had taken her advice and confessed her feelings to Yang Lulong.

“When Xiao Yang first arrived, we used to bully her.

We thought she couldn’t be a good person because she was a Qian Yuan.

I even teamed up with Li Cui’er to mess with her.

Wan Niang found out and made me and Zhang Long gather herbs for her for over ten days.”

“Thanks to her, she made this chair for me. You don’t have to carry me on your back all the time.”

“I can’t believe… so much time has passed.”

“I’m happy that Wan Niang found someone she loves and is going to marry her.

She’s finally found her home.”

“Yes… I hope you can also find a Qian Yuan as good as Xiao Yang…”

When Xiao Wen suddenly said this, Sister Fang felt a pang of sadness.

She turned her head to look at her.

Meeting Sister Fang’s surprised eyes, Xiao Wen looked down.

“I’m sorry, I brought up something bad…”

Her words pained Sister Fang’s heart.

Wan Niang was able to confess her feelings to Yang Lulong, so maybe she should be brave too.

She looked at Xiao Wen.

She had always hoped that Xiao Wen would confess her feelings, but after all this time, she still hadn’t gotten an answer.

Maybe… she should be the one to take the initiative?

“Why… are you so good to me?”

She lifted Xiao Wen’s face so she would look at her.

“Because I promised to protect you…” Xiao Wen looked at her.

Sister Fang saw the sadness in her eyes.

“Is that all?” she continued to ask.

Wu Yu’s words were like nails, deeply embedded in Xiao Wen’s heart.

She was just a Zhong Yong.

How could she be with Sister Fang?

How could she give her happiness?

“That’s it…” she said, forcing a smile.

In Sister Fang’s eyes, it was heartbreaking.

Xiao Wen put away her sadness and returned to her usual cheerful self.

She pulled up Sister Fang’s clothes and picked up the water basin.

“It’s late. Good night.”

She turned to leave the room.

“Xiao Wen…” Sister Fang called out to her.

She finally said the words she had been holding back for a long time.

“…I like you.”

Xiao Wen paused for a moment, gave her a smile, and said, “Me too.”

Then she left the room.

Sister Fang sat on the bed, staring at the door she had just left.

This was completely different from what she had imagined.

She thought… this wasn’t the response she wanted.

The words were as bland as saying good night.

Xiao Wen was still avoiding her.

Back in her room, Xiao Wen couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Tears streamed down her face.

She leaned against the wall and curled up, sobbing uncontrollably.

Sister Fang said she liked her too, but she couldn’t feel happy.

“You’re just a Zhong Yong. You’re useless…”

The words had haunted her for so long.

She couldn’t forget them and couldn’t escape the shadow they cast.

Xiao Hua was woken up by Xiao Wen’s sobs.

She rubbed her eyes with her small hands, climbed out of bed, and saw Xiao Wen curled up against the wall, crying.

“Auntie Xiao Wen? Did someone bully you?”

She ran over and used her small hands to wipe the tears from her face.

Looking at Xiao Hua, Xiao Wen cried even harder.

“Auntie Xiao Wen… don’t cry…wu… wuw…”

Xiao Hua couldn’t wipe away all the tears on Xiao Wen’s face, and she started to cry too.

Xiao Wen reached out and hugged her.

The big and small figures cried together in each other’s arms.

••••

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The puppy, who had recovered from its injury, was more rambunctious than ever.

It especially loved to annoy Yang Lulong.

Whatever Yang Lulong was doing in the courtyard, it had to follow her.

And it wouldn’t stop barking.

Yang Lulong was so annoyed that she whittled a small stick and threw it for it to play with.

With a new toy, the puppy stopped bothering Yang Lulong.

But it got bored after a while.

It came back with the stick, wagging its tail, wanting her to play with it.

Yang Lulong had no choice.

She picked up the stick and threw it again.

The puppy went back and forth, but it never got tired.

Yang Lulong’s arm, however, was starting to ache.

Wan Niang sat in front of the door, watching the two of them having so much fun in the courtyard.

Can’t this dog get tired? Yang Lulong thought to herself.

This time, she threw the stick as far as she could, hoping it would run far away.

But she didn’t expect to hit Xiao Hua, who had just arrived at the door, crying.

The stick hit her on the head, and she cried even louder.

Yang Lulong was so scared that she ran over to check on her.

Wan Niang also put down what she was doing and went over.

After much coaxing, they finally got her to stop crying.

“Is there something you need from Auntie Wan?”

“Ni’er…wu… Ni’er’s hand…” Xiao Hua said, pointing at Little Er Ni beside her.

Only then did they realize that Little Er Ni was also there.

She looked at Xiao Hua’s crying face with disgust.

“Hand?” Wan Niang looked at Little Er Ni and asked her to show her hand.

There were some red bumps on the back of her hand.

“When did this happen?” she asked Er Ni.

“The big caterpillar stung me,” she said nonchalantly.

She said that she could have just washed it with salt water at home, and it would have gone away on its own soon.

But Xiao Hua insisted on bringing her to Wan Niang.

If she didn’t come, Xiao Hua would cry.

Little Er Ni was the one who was hurt, but she wasn’t crying at all.

On the contrary, Xiao Hua’s tears were flowing.

Wan Niang looked at the two little characters.

One was always unhappy, and the other was always crying.

It was very amusing.

She took them to the courtyard.

Wan Niang took out her medicine and had Er Ni sit next to her to apply it.

Xiao Hua sat on Yang Lulong’s lap, looking at Er Ni with concern.

Wan Niang had asked Er Ni to sit on her lap so she could apply the medicine, but Er Ni refused, saying she didn’t need to be held.

She insisted on sitting on a stool, extending her hand for Wan Niang to apply the medicine.

Xiao Hua was curiously playing with Yang Lulong’s hand that was holding her.

Her small fingers played with Yang Lulong’s long fingers.

“Auntie Wan, when are you going to have a baby?”

Little Er Ni didn’t usually talk, but when she did, she said something shocking.

Wan Niang’s hand, which was applying the medicine, trembled.

“What?”

“My dad says that when two people get married, they’re supposed to have a baby.”

“I want a little sister too.

Hurry up and have a little sister with Auntie Wan,” Xiao Hua also joined in, patting Yang Lulong’s hand happily.

The two little characters were a handful.

Yang Lulong didn’t know how to deal with children and was immediately speechless by Xiao Hua’s words.

“But we’re not married yet,” Wan Niang said, mimicking their words.

“Then hurry up and get married and have a little sister,” Xiao Hua persisted.

Wan Niang had no choice.

She gave them some candy and pastries and found an excuse to send them on their way.

Watching the two little rascals happily running out of the door with their snacks, they both let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew~”

They both sighed in unison, looked at each other, and started to laugh.

“Those two are so sly,” Wan Niang said, looking at how clever they were when they got their snacks.

They had said those things on purpose.

Yang Lulong shrugged helplessly.

She wasn’t good at dealing with kids.

“Then… do you like children?” Wan Niang asked, looking at her, her eyes curved in a smile.

“…”

The thought of children reminded her of when her little brother was born.

She wanted to get close to him, but he always cried.

“Children might not like me…”

“How could that be?” Wan Niang saw that she seemed to be thinking about something unpleasant.

She touched her face.

“Xiao Hua loves you. Didn’t you see her begging you to hold her?” Wan Niang found it amusing when she thought about how unhappy Er Ni had been when Xiao Hua was begging Yang Lulong to hold her.

“Really?”

Yang Lulong looked down, lost in thought.

Wan Niang looked at her and imagined her as a child, also looking down in thought, and found it very cute.

“Stop overthinking it. Kids love you,” Wan Niang said, interrupting her.

She pushed her toward the kitchen.

“Let’s make dinner together…”