My Youth Began With Him

“He told me bits and pieces, but you know how he is. He likes to keep things to himself, and only talks about the good while hiding the bad. Fearing that I would be sad, he always grazes over the topic… But I feel that these four years have been harder on him… Even though it was hard for me, I have my family and friends that accompanied me along the way. It must have been harder for him as he wasn’t able to come back even when he knew that I was pregnant with the twins.”

Although it was impossible to feel someone else’s pain, Huo Mian could still imagine how much pain Qin Chu went through.

She was even too scared to think about what kind of life Qin Chu lived through over the past four years, fearing she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Huo Mian’s words caused Qin Ning to fall silent for a while…

“It’s okay. If you don’t want to say anything, that’s okay too.” Noticing her hesitation, Huo Mian comforted her.

“Sister-in-law… it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just that my brother doesn’t want me to talk about it. I’m sure he doesn’t want you to know… These four years, my brother didn’t speak much and he spent most of his days alone. Before and after those painful surgeries, he always looked at photos of you and the twins to get through them. Especially that one photo of you in high school, I don’t know if you still remember. You had your hair in a ponytail and was wearing a short skirt, looking very youthful. Brother treasured that photo very much and always put it under his pillow when he was in the hospital. Once, the nurse came to change his sheets and dropped the photo onto the ground. The usual calm and collected him was so furious he smashed everything in the room and demanded he gets discharged that very day. Never in my life had I seen him so mad. Therefore, I thought that during the years without you, your photo was his everything and the only thing keeping him alive.”

By the time Qin Ning finished speaking, Huo Mian’s face was already covered in tears.

Although she was mentally prepared, when she heard Qin Ning say those things out loud, she still felt heartbroken.

If she was by his side these past four years, it wouldn’t have been so hard for him…

He wouldn’t need repeated surgeries nor would he have to endure loneliness in the hospital.

Compared to Qin Chu, Huo Mian was quite fortunate as she still had Su Yu, her family, and her friends by her side.

“Sister-in-Law… Are you okay?” Qin Ning passed her a tissue.

“I’m okay…”

“Let’s stop talking about this. We are still going to Disneyland tomorrow. You should sleep early. If my brother sees you like this, he’ll scold me for telling you such things.”

“Umm, okay.”

Huo Mian got out of her seat and headed back into the living room, where Qin Chu and his dad were watching a business TV program…

“You’re done chatting?”

“Yeah. I’m going to take a shower… you should come up and get some sleep too.” Huo Mian did her best to control her emotions and act normal.

Qin Chu thought she still looked a little strange. He got up and looked at her before glancing at Qin Ning, who was still outside.

He walked toward Qin Ning…

“Brother…” Qin Ning felt a little bit guilty.

“What did you say to your sister-in-law?” Qin Chu glared at Qin Ning. Although his tone was harsh, his expression wasn’t that cold.

“Haha… Nothing much. Just some small talk.”

“Really just some small talk? Then why was she crying?” It was obvious Qin Chu didn’t believe her.

“Huh, she cried? Really? You probably saw wrong. Some sand must have gotten in her eyes.”

“Do you think this is the Sahara desert? That there’s sand everywhere?”

Qin Ning didn’t dare to speak. She still felt guilty.

“I’ll deal with you later…” Qin Chu poked Qin Ning’s head with his finger and then turned to walk away.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly thought of something. He turned around and looked at Qin Ning with a solemn expression on his face. “Ning, did you tell her about that thing?”

Qin Ning froze for a moment before understanding what he meant.