Liu Yun'er filled the sink with water and washed her face. She didn't know when she had buried her face deep in the water, allowing water to enter her nose and mouth, snatching away the thin air.
A voice echoed in her mind:
"Go to sleep. After falling asleep like this, when you wake up, all this will just be a dream."
Liu Yun'er gave up the instinctive struggle for survival of her body. She wanted to just let herself sink into sleep in the water and never wake up again.
Just as Liu Yun'er's eyes were about to slowly close, Liu Qiaozǐ rushed to her side and tugged at her body.
Liu Qiaozǐ's face turned red from the effort. Finally, she managed to move Liu Yun'er. The weak Liu Yun'er collapsed to the ground and slid onto the toilet floor.
Liu Yun'er seemed to be in a daze, staring blankly at the ceiling without blinking.
Her mind was blank, but suddenly a thought popped into her head.
"People with post - traumatic stress disorder will constantly recall the painful experiences at all times in the future.
They will never forget and will always live in pain."
But.
She was clearly the victim. Why.
Why did the victim have to bear all the pain.
While the ones who really deserved punishment were living a carefree life without any sense of guilt.
Liu Yun'er wanted to raise her hand to cover her eyes, but even the slightest movement made her whole body ache.
It felt as if her body had been run over by a car. The unbearable pain made it hard for her to move even a little.
Tears were the most worthless thing. Even though Liu Yun'er's eyes were already completely red and swollen from crying, and she could hardly see clearly.
The tears still kept flowing. But she had no choice. She could only rely on crying to vent her dissatisfaction and emotions. No one could understand her.
Liu Qiaozǐ covered Liu Yun'er's eyes with her small hand and wiped away her tears with the other.
Liu Qiaozǐ helped up the despair - stricken Liu Yun'er who was lying on the ground. She carefully took out a handkerchief and wiped the dirt that hadn't been washed off Liu Yun'er's face.
Liu Qiaozǐ didn't mind that Liu Yun'er was dirty. Her small body scurried back and forth between the sink and Liu Yun'er.
She patiently wiped Liu Yun'er's face and hands clean.
Her soft voice kept comforting Liu Yun'er.
Liu Qiaozǐ bustled around in the toilet and picked up a few relatively intact textbooks.
She didn't mind the footprints on the schoolbag. She patted off the dirt and put the books in it.
Liu Qiaozǐ placed the schoolbag beside Liu Yun'er's legs, then sat down beside her. She snuggled closely against Liu Yun'er, using her body heat to warm the cold - bodied Liu Yun'er and accompanied her.
Liu Qiaozǐ imitated the lullaby in the cartoon. She gently patted Liu Yun'er and sang a lullaby to soothe her emotions.
Liu Qiaozǐ's actions greatly comforted Liu Yun'er's heart.
I don't know how much time had passed. Liu Yun'er stopped crying. She really fell asleep under the lullaby of a child. Her head rested on Liu Qiaozǐ's small body, and her whole body leaned on her.
The sun shone through the window like broken gold and landed at Liu Qiaozǐ's feet. A butterfly fluttered up, flapping its colorful wings, and came to Liu Qiaozǐ's side.
Liu Qiaozǐ didn't startle Liu Yun'er. Her attention was completely attracted by the butterfly's figure, but she never moved her body. Even though her legs had long been numb, she didn't startle Liu Yun'er.
Liu Qiaozǐ waited until Liu Yun'er woke up before she tugged at her clothes and stood up.
There were also dirty things on Liu Qiaozǐ's body, but she was very optimistic. With a smile on her face, she said:
"It's already dark. You'd better go home quickly, or your family will worry. Stay away from them next time. They'll forget about it after a while."
Liu Qiaozǐ was about to turn around and leave after saying that.
But suddenly she felt a pull from behind. She turned around in surprise and saw that the owner of the hand was Liu Yun'er.
She said weakly:
"There's no one at my home. Can I go to your home?"
Actually, Liu Yun'er was afraid to go home alone. She was scared. She was afraid of running into Li Zhizhi and her gang again and getting beaten up.
She could only grab this only straw in front of her. She could only rely on Liu Qiaozǐ.
Unexpectedly, Liu Qiaozǐ's eyes lit up. She nodded happily and said:
"Sure."
The two of them were like two lonely boats docking together, relying on each other.
The two of them somehow ended up going back to Liu Qiaozǐ's home together.
All the way, Liu Qiaozǐ was in a great mood. Her little mouth never stopped. She held Liu Yun'er's hand and skipped along the country path.
Liu Qiaozǐ kept talking about all kinds of things.
From her words, Liu Yun'er learned that she came from a single - parent family.
Her mother was out working hard alone and only had very little time to accompany her.
But in kindergarten, because of her outstanding appearance, the teacher sometimes showed favoritism towards her, which made the other children jealous and isolated her.
The dejected Liu Yun'er was also intrigued by what she said. She frowned and asked puzzledly:
"Being isolated must feel really bad. Why are you smiling so happily?"
Liu Qiaozǐ's smile became even brighter. She pulled Liu Yun'er's hand and walked backwards. She said:
"It doesn't feel bad at all. Because I have the best mother in the world. Having her is enough. And now I have you too. You're the only one who didn't scold me after I drove away the bad guys, so I like you very much."
Liu Yun'er had already heard Liu Qiaozǐ praise her mother many times on the way.
No matter what the topic was, it would always end up being about her mother. Her tone was full of pride.
Liu Yun'er felt inferior. Even such a small child had the courage to help others, while she didn't even have the courage to fight back.
Liu Qiaozǐ's home wasn't very big, but it was extremely warm. There were cute decorations in every corner of the room.
All the way, Liu Qiaozǐ kept trying to make Liu Yun'er laugh. Liu Yun'er's mood gradually improved. She picked up a small ceramic piggy bank on the table and asked:
"Did your mother give this to you too? It's so cute."
Liu Qiaozǐ's eyes curved into a smile when she saw the piggy bank. She took the piggy bank from Liu Yun'er's hand, held it up and looked at it against the light, and said:
"Of course. The kaleidoscope next to the TV and the small bag on the shoe cabinet were all bought by my mother. She's the best mother in the world. It's just that she's working very hard to earn money to support me, so she doesn't have much time to accompany me. But it doesn't matter."
"Look. You can see how much money is inside the pig from here."
Liu Yun'er was slightly dazed looking at the beaming Liu Qiaozǐ at this moment. She was really too good - looking.
Even though the stains on her school uniform, just looking at her made one feel that their soul was healed. She was so pure that one didn't dare to touch her.
Liu Yun'er lowered her eyes dejectedly and thought:
"Sure enough, only such a child deserves her mother's love."
Liu Yun'er asked the question she most wanted to know. She asked:
"Why did you help me?"
Liu Qiaozǐ nodded as if it was the most natural thing in the world and said:
"Of course I had to help you. I know that when you're being beaten, you feel extremely desperate. You just want someone to reach out and help you. Don't worry. My mother came back yesterday. She won't be back until 18 days later."
"We'll sleep together tonight. Finally, there's someone to accompany me."
Liu Qiaozǐ's eyes were full of anticipation as she imagined the feeling of having someone to accompany her.
After hearing the answer, Liu Yun'er looked at Liu Qiaozǐ in surprise. What she said was exactly what she had been thinking. Just as she was about to ask Liu Qiaozǐ how she knew that she had always been hoping for someone to save her.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
There was a sound of someone pounding on the door from outside.
Then a charming female voice came:
"Open the door quickly. Mom's back."