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Chapter 53
The day after An MeiYun's wedding. An ZhiAng spoke in a muffled voice. It wasn't because he had any other concerns, but facing this sister whom he had just acknowledged, he truly had many reluctances in his heart. He also worried for her.
Although his personality was carefree, he was not silly. He could see ZhiXia's existence at home.
He did not need to worry about his grandparents, but his parents' hearts were still half occupied by An MeiYun. Plus ZhiXia's inability to get along with An MeiYun and his two older brothers' indifferent attitudes. After he left, he was really afraid his sister would have no one to rely on at home.
But he could not stay either.
Life at home was too smooth. His father's and second brother's jobs were also somewhat sensitive. In the past year, there had been countless disturbances at school, with many students who joined the Red Guards not even attending classes anymore, following others east and west every day, smashing this and crashing that.
Being at the forefront of this storm, after An MeiYun's matter of being sent down to the countryside was done, even if her family did not interfere, her in-laws would surely arrange a job for her.
But she was still using the An family woman's name. ZhiXia also had to start working. If he stayed in the city, it would be too conspicuous. This was also why his grandparents insisted that An MeiYun be sent down to the countryside.
Unexpectedly, she came up with this move before leaving, directly breaking away from the family's control.
Compared to being a "sent-down youth" in the countryside, An ZhiAng still preferred going to the army. Which man didn't harbor a dream of protecting their country?
"ZhiXia, your fourth brother is about to leave soon. Can you promise me one thing?"
ZhiXia: "Does fourth brother want me to go back home?"
"You and I are truly twins. You even know what I'm thinking." An ZhiAng laughed in surprise and explained, "Since you want to stay in the city, you'll inevitably have to interact with our family. Actually Dad and Mom don't not care about you either, it's just that after raising An MeiYun for so many years, they still can't let go, which is also very normal. Let's give them another chance okay? And second and third brother, those two are the emotionally aloof kind. So if you want to get along with them, you have to be thick-skinned like fourth brother. Go to them when something comes up, don't hide things. They will also help."
If he wasn't leaving in such a hurry, he wouldn't urge ZhiXia to return home to bond with their relatives. After all, with him there, he could help shield his sister.
But he was leaving soon, far from oversight. Unlike big brother who had authority and a commanding presence.
"Fourth brother, don't worry. Even without you, I won't let others bully me arbitrarily. Or there's still grandpa and grandma." ZhiXia didn't mention going back, but she knew she would eventually return anyway.
She just didn't want to go back these few days to see Zhou Nan preparing dowries for An MeiYun. She was afraid she would feel even more upset.
After An MeiYun married Lin Hao, she would still have to go back and watch, lest An MeiYun make a preemptive move that caught her off guard. That would really be a waste of her rebirth.
"That's true. With grandpa and grandma who dote on you, I really shouldn't worry." An ZhiAng was finally much relieved.
ZhiXia leaned her cheek against his back and gently said, "Fourth brother isn't worrying for nothing. I know how nice fourth brother is to me. I really really like fourth brother the most."
He left the deepest impression in both her lifetimes of memories.
Even after she died prematurely in her previous life, he still remembered her during that period of time after learning of her existence.
He said his sister should not have been buried in the deep mountains. If there was an afterlife, he would definitely not let bad people bully her again, and would be a good elder brother to protect her properly.
An ZhiAng was so happy he forgot his tiredness, and pedaled the bike faster.
After sending ZhiXia back to grandma's place, he explained he would come over tomorrow to accompany her to register her household registration, before leaving.
Grandma was sitting in the living room, clearly waiting for her.
There was food left in the pot for her. Aunt Zhou went home at night. Grandma hadn't learned to cook at her age, yet still clumsily tried to heat up food for her.
ZhiXia certainly didn't dare let her do it, quickly telling her to go rest while she handled it herself.
After eating, she also washed the pots and bowls clean before going to wash up and rest.
The sky had just brightened when An ZhiAng came over, even having breakfast here.
After the meal, they bid grandpa and grandma goodbye, then went to register her household registration first, followed by handling the job at the state-owned restaurant, settling the start date for tomorrow.
When leaving, ZhiXia saw An ZhiAng go to the kitchen and give Chef Lin two packs of top grade cigarettes.
Although the times were changing and apprenticing was no longer as cumbersome as before, gifts made people happy. Without paying some tuition, how could the master wholeheartedly teach?
After leaving the state-owned restaurant, An ZhiAng said, "There's still time. Why don't I take you to find third brother? He's at the hospital not far ahead. You can also go learn the way, so it'll be convenient to find him in the future."
"Let's not disturb third brother. He must be very busy at work now. Going over would only interrupt him. And since I'm living so close to him now, maybe he'll come to the restaurant for a meal one day and get a nice surprise when he sees me." ZhiXia said, "I want to quickly learn to ride a bike, or I'll have to walk to work every day in the future."
"Alright, let's go back to grandpa and grandma's place. The road in that alley has few people, I can hold the bike steady for you to practice."
...
ZhiXia felt she had always been quite smart. She didn't have the opportunity to learn things at first. Later during those years as a ghost, she also picked up a lot following others.
But when it came to riding a bike, it looked so easy when others hopped on and pedaled away, yet she always wobbled left and right uncontrollably.
An entire half day passed with An ZhiAng panting heavily from exhaustion. He must be resenting in his heart how silly his sister was, unable to even learn this small bicycle.
ZhiXia also felt rather embarrassed, awkwardly smiling without even daring to look at him.
An ZhiAng could only pretend to be calm and comfort her, "It's fine. Fourth brother was even clumsier than you when learning back then. It took me several months before finally managing it. Don't be discouraged. Let's try again. You'll definitely get it."
ZhiXia could only stiffly nod.
An ZhiAng held the bike seat behind her and signaled for her to pedal forward, "I won't let go this time. I'll hold it and run with you. Let's try cycling a lap like this first, see if it works."
Because An ZhiAng discovered that every time she was about to fall, it happened when he said he was letting go.
Clearly he wasn't using much strength to hold it when she rode fine.
ZhiXia nodded and started concentrating with all her might, thinking to herself that she must not fall down this time.
Or else she would tire her fourth brother out learning to bike.
Like before, knowing someone was holding it behind her, ZhiXia rode very steadily.
An ZhiAng ran behind reminding her, "Ride forward, don't look back. Fourth brother is holding it for you. Don't be afraid."
However, he secretly let go of his hands and watched the figure ahead continue riding smoothly. Only then did he smile.
Sure enough, it wasn't that she couldn't learn it, but rather she was too afraid of falling. So every time he said to let go, she would lose control.