Lu Nian personally cleaned the room.

In fact, Cheng Mingying looked somewhat similar to her real mother, especially in her demeanor.

Whenever Lu Nian came here to clean, she would think of her real mother.

She was actually a thoroughly unfilial daughter, having passed away so early.

Although it wasn’t her own will, her parents, encountering such a sudden change, must have been extremely distressed…

She cleaned slowly and meticulously.

The small cabinet containing Cheng Mingying’s photos was an exquisite redwood wardrobe, one of the dowries brought by the Miss Cheng when she married.

The carving was delicate, and it had been around for some years, so calling it an antique wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Lu Nian lightly dusted the cabinet with a duster.

As she squatted down to wipe away a spot of dirt, her finger accidentally touched something, accompanied by a soft sound, and something popped out.

It was actually a hidden compartment…

Lu Nian was stunned.

The compartment was empty, with only a small necklace inside.

The necklace was made of silver, nothing special in terms of material, but the pendant was beautiful, with a clear blue gemstone embedded in it.

Was it a memento of Cheng Mingying’s… Lu Nian gently stroked it, intending to put the necklace back in its original place.

But she suddenly found that the pendant seemed hollow.

It could be opened.

She gently lifted the silver lid, revealing a slightly yellowed old photograph inside.

It was a pair of babies, so young that you couldn’t tell their gender.

One was dressed in a pink bunny coat, and the other in a blue cat coat.

They looked very similar in appearance.

A young Cheng Mingying was pushing a stroller, smiling contentedly.

The pink bunny seemed a bit dominant, with its legs pressing down on the blue cat.

The blue cat looked at the camera, grinning with a small mouth, its round eyes looking particularly cute.

Lu Nian’s heart tightened…

The girl in the pink dress should be Lu Nian.

But who was the one beside her? The only possibility to be kept in this intimate piece of jewelry by Cheng Mingying could only be her own child.

But why had she had no idea about this child’s existence for so long?

All traces of this child’s existence in the Lu family seemed to have been completely erased.

Where was this child now? Alive or dead?

Lu Nian’s mood was extremely complicated.

She thought for a moment, took out her phone, and took photos of the picture and the necklace from various angles.

Then, she quietly restored everything to its original state.

There seemed to be many things in this house that she didn’t understand.

Leaving Cheng Mingying’s room, Lu Nian felt inexplicably cold all over.

That feeling came back again.

It’s like being in a void, like water without a source, like a floating duckweed.

She tightly pursed her lips, feeling cold.

Lu Nian’s health had always been poor, with insufficient qi and blood.

Her lips were a bit pale, but it wasn’t just her heart feeling cold; her body felt chilly too.

For some reason, she thought of that warm embrace again.

The autumn rain was cold.

The curtains of the small attic across the house were still tightly closed.

Lu Nian knew it was empty and must have accumulated a thick layer of dust.

She suddenly wanted to see the owner of that attic.

Various emotions overwhelmed her, making her feel tangled, wanting to talk to someone.

Lu Nian smiled bitterly.

Thinking that she had failed miserably, she still felt as lonely as she did when she was a child.

Her only friend — or rather, the friend she thought she had — turned out to be the future main antagonist in the original text.

She curled up in the corner, feeling unwilling.

She reached into her pocket and took out her phone.

Actually, Qin Si had never told her his phone number.

It was the bar owner who secretly followed her and gave it to her.

Lu Nian had saved it in her phone, but she hadn’t called him in so long.

She wondered if Qin Si had changed his number.

Her thoughts were in disarray.

But the call still went through.

“Hello.” The familiar voice of the young man came from the other side, that emotionless, indifferent voice she was familiar with.

It was mixed with a faint electrical noise and the sound of raindrops outside, sounding both strange and familiar.

Lu Nian knew he didn’t like her, and the last time they met, they had an argument.

She suddenly made this call out of nowhere, not knowing what to say, so she remained silent.

“…Lu Nian?” After such a long silence, the voice on the other end suddenly asked.

Lu Nian sniffed, “It’s not me.”

Qin Si, “…”

He switched the phone to his other hand, walked out from the door of the shop, and stood at the street corner. “What’s up?”

Lu Nian, “Nothing much.”

She was just a little scared.

But she was afraid of Qin Si mocking her.

Lu Nian pretended to be indifferent, “I was thinking, have you paid back the money you owe me?”

Qin Si asked, “…Did you give me the wrong account?”

Actually, she had received the money a long time ago, but Lu Nian didn’t care about that money at all.

Lu Nian made up her mind, “I didn’t make it clear to you before, I want cash, not a transfer.”

There was silence on the other end.

A gust of autumn wind blew in from outside, and Lu Nian felt cold all over, especially her hands and feet.

She wrapped her clothes around herself, feeling like she was about to sneeze.

Qin Si asked briefly, “Where are you now?”

Lu Nian, “At home.”

She remembered that Qin Si didn’t like the Lu family, so she quickly said, “I can come out… No, I’m at school now.”

Late in the night during early autumn, the evening breeze carried a layer of chilly coldness.

Lu Nian couldn’t handle this kind of wind.

He said, “Don’t wander around.”

With just these few words, he hung up the phone.

Lu Nian crouched in the corner making the call, her hands almost numb.

She stared blankly at the darkness outside and the curtain of rain, suddenly feeling lost about the purpose of her call.

Did she really expect Qin Si to come to the Lu family in the rain, late at night?

Half an hour later, she suddenly received a text message on her phone: “Look outside.”

Lu Nian was about to change into her pajamas and go to bed. When she saw this message, she almost fell off the bed.

In the darkness, the slender figure of the young man emerged.

His hair was damp from the rain, and his T-shirt was soaked. Like when he was younger, he still preferred dark clothes, seemingly blending with the night.

But it was Qin Si, Lu Nian recognized him.

The young girl held her breath, bypassed the servants’ rooms, making sure no one saw her.

Then, holding an umbrella, she stumbled towards him.

Her hair was tousled by the wind, but her eyes were bright.

They stood apart.

The young man looked at her quietly, scrutinizing her from head to toe.

Lu Nian looked better than he imagined, just a bit pale, but her spirits seemed fine. She didn’t look injured or sick.

Qin Si didn’t know what had happened to Lu Nian.

She only hinted at half-uncertainty…

if he hadn’t misunderstood…

for some unknown reason, she wanted him to appear.

He was like a dog, unable to resist running over.

Even if it was an illusion, just for a moment, he felt ashamed of the emotions he had hidden and couldn’t control back then.

The young man’s expressionless face averted his gaze from her. “It’s too late, the banks are closed, I can’t get cash.”

“I just came to tell you.” He said.

Lu Nian, “Oh.”

She asked, “Aren’t you mad at me?”

The girl’s big eyes were clear as water.

She was wrapped in a coat she had grabbed casually.

Her long black hair was uncombed, scattered casually around her slender neck, making her look even more delicate and fragile.

It was so late, and it was raining.

Lu Nian knew that her phone call was simply unreasonable fuss.

Originally, Lu Nian had prepared herself for Qin Si to hang up the phone indifferently or to mock her.

The young man’s dark eyes looked away. “…I didn’t have anything to do tonight, so I came to pick something up.”

So, it was just a coincidence, he happened to come by.

She was really lucky.

Lu Nian relaxed a bit in her heart.

Actually, to be precise, her mood had inexplicably improved a lot after Qin Si appeared.

Although they still maintained their distance as usual, forget about any romantic umbrella-sharing scene in the rain.

Qin Si probably would prefer to get wet in the rain rather than share an umbrella with her.

She said, “Then I’ll go with you.”

Qin Si didn’t ask her what was wrong, which relieved Lu Nian greatly.

Right now, she just wanted someone to be with her.

If she were forced to say what was wrong specifically, it would involve too much, and she couldn’t say it or even explain it.

Human joys and sorrows are not shared by others.

Lu Nian understood this principle.

She knew that Qin Si understood it even earlier than she did.

Lu Nian’s voice was low, “I don’t want to go back and sleep tonight.”

She didn’t want to see Zhang Qiuping now, and she was even a bit afraid to go back to the Lu family.

She even had a ridiculous idea of ​​running away to stay in a hotel.

The young man’s steps paused, even his figure froze.