Chapter 329: Chapter 329 - Empty Feeling

North City, in a hospital’s VIP ward.

The injuries on Yan Jinyun’s hands and legs had already been bandaged. She changed into a hospital gown and sat on the bed. The television in the ward was switched on and the news was playing. However, it was silent.

Yan Jinyun didn’t watch the television. She sat on the bed and stared blankly at the darkening sky outside the window.

The door of the ward was pushed open. Feng Yuan had gone to buy some toiletries and food.

“Yun’er, are you feeling better?”

Yan Jinyun didn’t answer him directly. She retracted her gaze and looked at him. She said calmly, “You received the message too, right?”

It was a definite sentence.

Feng Yuan paused, “Yes, I got it.” Then, he walked over and placed the things he had bought back properly before sitting down by the bed.

He accompanied her for a while after watching the doctor bandage her wound. He received the message as soon as he walked out of the ward.

The school had sent out the message that the Year Three students would go on a collective vacation for two days and one night.

Then, he figured out what he had not figured out previously.

Jinyu pushed Yun’er down the stairs most probably because she was deliberately not letting her participate in this group trip. As for the reason, he didn’t know yet.

“She did it on purpose.”

“Feng Yuan, she did it on purpose.”

“She did it to protect me.” Yan Jinyun lowered her eyes slightly, and her tears fell.

“Even if I don’t know what she wants to do, I know that she’s protecting me. What right does she have? What right does she have to make a decision without even discussing it with me? Am I so useless in her eyes? Am I only a burden to her?”

She smiled self-deprecatingly. “Now that I think about it seriously, that does seem to be the case.”

“I actually am aware. If it wasn’t for me, she definitely wouldn’t have acted so timidly. This school clearly has her enemies, but in order to protect me and not make a move, in order to prevent others from attacking me, she actually didn’t hesitate to act in public again and again.”

“Although I don’t know her very well, I know that compared to doing things in a roundabout way, she prefers to be direct. However, in order to protect me, she didn’t find it troublesome to take such a big detour.”

“She doesn’t owe me anything. What obligation does she have to think about me?”

“The Yan Family treated her so badly. Can’t she be cruel and selfish and not care about anything? Must she learn from others to repay evil with kindness?”

Yan Jinyun grabbed Feng Yuan’s arm with her bandaged hand and sobbed, “Feng Yuan, she must have felt awful. She must have felt very awful to push me down the stairs just like that.”

Seeing that she was crying like a different person from her usual self, Feng Yuan’s heart ached for her. He sat on the bed and hugged her. He patted her back gently to comfort her, “Her heartlessness and selfishness are for outsiders, not you. Jinyu did this because she has her concerns. It’s not that you’re useless, nor that you’re her burden. She just wants you to be well.”

“In that case, let’s just go with her plan.”

“You also said that she must have felt very awful to push you down the stairs. She wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t have to.”

“Don’t say that she doesn’t owe you anything. Family ties can’t be measured by owing or not owing.”

“I don’t know why Jinyu has enemies and what kind of enemies she has, but my intuition tells me that those people aren’t people whom we can deal with. Rather than dragging Jinyu down, it’s better to follow her wishes and not get involved. Stay in a safe place and protect yourself.”

“Stay in the hospital and recuperate for the next two days. I’ll keep you company here.”

“But, what if… I don’t know what Sister is going to do? What if she’s in danger…”

“Jinyu isn’t a rash person. She knows her limits.” Although he said that, Feng Yuan was actually very worried too.

“Master Nine is still by Jinyu’s side. Don’t worry too much. If anything really happens, Master Nine is more useful than us, right?”

Hearing his words, Yan Jinyun felt even more dejected. “At the end of the day, I’m still useless.”

“Don’t say that about yourself. We’re simply good at different fields from them. It doesn’t mean that we really can’t do it. Alright, don’t think too much. Jinyu has her own ideas, and Master Nine won’t let anything happen to her. Let’s not worry about it. We’ll talk about it on Monday.”

Yan Jinyun actually knew very well that she really couldn’t help Yan Jinyu. The only thing she could do was to ensure her own safety and not drag Yan Jinyu down.

“Feng Yuan, tell me, who exactly was my sister in the past?” This was what she had wanted to ask for a long time.

She looked up at Feng Yuan, “The people in school are almost all familiar faces to us. If Sister’s enemies are really among them, could it be that those people specially hid their identities for a few years to deal with Sister?”

“If that’s the case, then Sister used to…”

Feng Yuan was also curious.

After hesitating for a while, Yan Jinyun still said what she had been suppressing in her heart, “I’ve actually seen Sister make a move. It wasn’t the time that Luo Yilin caused trouble. It was before that.”

“Sister’s skills are very good and her attacks are very fierce. I saw her accurately stabbing the dagger into the shoulder blades of a few men one by one as if that kind of thing was already common to her. She didn’t even blink.”

“I even think that Sister dares to kill.”

Feng Yuan did not deny it.

That day, when he saw Jinyu swinging the baseball bat at Luo Yilin with his own eyes, he already knew that Jinyu was a ruthless person.

“When did that happen? I mean when did you see her attack?”

Feng Yuan was just chatting casually, but after he asked this, Yan Jinyun’s face suddenly turned pale, scaring Feng Yuan.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“On the day you met Sister for the first time. I saw Sister attack that day.” Yan Jinyun buried her face in his arms. “Feng Yuan, I schemed against Sister. I even wanted to destroy her. I felt that she was blocking my way.”

“!” Feng Yuan was shocked.

He retracted his question.

Seeing Yun’er like this, she probably regretted doing such a thing more than anyone else. He shouldn’t make things worse.

“I clearly treated her so ruthlessly in the past. It’s fine if she doesn’t mind, but she’s even thinking about me.”

“I suck.”

“Alright, let the past be the past. Don’t think too much about it.”

“As for who Jinyu was in the past, Jinyu will naturally say what we should know. We shouldn’t ask about what we shouldn’t know either. No matter what kind of person Jinyu is, she’s still your sister. This will never change, right?”

He helped her up and dried her tears. “Have something to eat first?”

“Don’t say that you can’t eat. No matter what, you still have to eat.”

In the end, Feng Yuan arranged the food that he had bought. Yan Jinyun was injured on her left palm and right elbow. Her elbow wasn’t seriously injured, so she could still hold her chopsticks. Hence, she insisted that Feng Yuan shouldn’t feed her.

However, the two of them arguing about whether Feng Yuan should feed Yan Jinyun or Yan Jinyun should eat by herself had eased the heavy atmosphere.

***

Yan Jinyu returned to Mount Jing. After dinner, she went straight upstairs to Yin Jiujin’s room.

Without Yin Jiujin around, the small villa seemed especially empty.

This was the first time Yan Jinyu had spent the night here alone since she moved to Mount Jing.

She didn’t know if it was because she wasn’t used to it or because the matter of pushing Yan Jinyun down the stairs in the afternoon had affected her, but Yan Jinyu felt inexplicably strange.

She felt a little empty and congested.

She took three bottles of yogurt and went upstairs. She sat on the balcony railing and drank two bottles. Just as she was about to drink the third bottle, she recalled Yin Jiujin’s instructions before his business trip this morning. He told her that she could only drink two bottles of yogurt at home every day, so she didn’t open the third bottle.

She sat on the railing and stared at the night sky in a daze.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

As expected, Yin Jiujin called.

She picked it up. “Brother Nine.”

She felt that her voice was no different from usual, but Yin Jiujin could hear a stuffy feeling.

He put down the document in his hand and asked worriedly, “Little Yu’er, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just that when you’re not around, it feels empty. For the first time, I feel that Mount Jing is really very quiet. Other than the sounds of insects and birds outside, I can’t hear anything else.” This was not her making things up. It was indeed so.

It was obvious that only the two of them lived in the small courtyard of the villa in the past, but Yan Jinyu had never felt so empty and quiet.

Upon hearing that, Yin Jiujin chuckled. “Then why didn’t you agree when I asked you to accompany me on the business trip?”

“I have an exam today. I can’t miss it.”

Yin Jiujin, who had already found out about Yan Jinyu’s test results from the principal, said, “…Yes, our Little Yu’er is a good student. She prioritizes her studies.”

“Brother Nine, are you mocking me?”

“I’m simply telling the truth.” After saying that, Yin Jiujin couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, I’ll be back in two days. Since you don’t want to accompany me on my business trip, you’ll have to spend a few days alone.”

Yan Jinyu’s swinging legs paused, and the corners of her lips twitched slightly. “What are you talking about? What do you mean by spending a few days alone? I’m happy to be free without you.”

Actually, ever since she went to school, other than bringing her to the hot spring resort two days ago, Yin Jiujin had never crossed the line. The most he had done was hug her and kiss her deeply.

The two of them only hugged each other and covered themselves with the blanket to sleep at night.

“Then, who was the one who said that she feels empty when I’m not around?”

“…Alright, you win.” Yan Jinyu said.

“If you feel bored alone, you can ask your sister out to shop on the weekend. Don’t stay at home alone.”

Hearing him mention Yan Jinyun, Yan Jinyu’s heart sank slightly.

“There’s no need to shop. In order to let the Year Three students relax tomorrow, the school organized a group trip for two days and one night.”

“Two days and one night?” Yin Jiujin frowned. “Then, aren’t you going to spend the night outside?”

“Not only me, all the Year Three students have to spend the night outside. There are more than 600 Year Three students in Boyu. Other than some who are unwilling to go or have something to do, there should be more than 500 people including the teachers.”

“Where are you going?”

“A resort in the western suburbs of North City.”

“I heard that because there are many people and their objective is to relax, they chose that resort farm. The area is good, so it’s very suitable.” This was what the dean of students told her when he let slip.

“Little Yu’er, you just said that other than some people who are unwilling or can’t go because of something, in other words, this school trip is voluntary?”