Chapter Sixteen: Meeting in Prison

  Li Nanfang often dealt with such matters due to work and directly found the person in charge of the prison, helping to arrange a meeting between Xing Ye and Hui Ye.

  It's not a meeting separated by iron bars, but a special meeting room. The room is small, with two sofas inside and several chairs against the door.

  Ye Zi Luo Hui stared at his sister in the meeting room in surprise, it had been two years since any family member came to visit him. Earlier, the instructor said a family member was coming to see him, and his first reaction was that his father had arrived, but he didn't expect it to be his sister.

  "Brother" turned around in the middle of the night and found Kaguya entering, rushing over to hug him and bursting into loud sobs.

  "Don't cry, don't cry, silly girl. Do you see that your brother is unhappy? Still crying." Hui Ye patted Xing Ye's back, and his own tears fell down. The impulsiveness of the past had led to today's situation, and the longing for loved ones had always accompanied him for more than two years.

  "Alright, let me take a good look at you. It's been over two years since we last met, and Little Yezi has grown into a big girl." Huiye supported Xingye as she sat on the sofa, "The only thing that hasn't changed is your habit of crying easily."

  Staring at the bright night, feeling very good, and physically seeming to be a bit fatter than when working in the quarry.

  "You're laughing at me? I was worried you'd lose weight and become unrecognizable here, but..."

  "I didn't expect I'd still be fat, did you? It's not as terrible here as you thought, life is quite regular." Hui Ye helped Xing Ye wipe away the tears on her face.

  "He's not fat, he's just muscular." Xīng Yè felt his arm full of muscles and touched the scar at the corner of his eye "What's this? Did someone bully you inside?"

  Hui Ye pulled down her sleeves, "Nothing, it's just that old thing from back then, isn't it ugly?"

  Seira gazed seriously at Kaguya on that starry night, and Kaguya smiled and struck a pose for her.

  "Poof" laughed first on this starry night, "Not bad, quite cool, more masculine."

  "You're so young, what do you know about being manly?" Hui Ye was also amused by her and pinched her little nose, this was a childhood gesture that Hui Ye often used to tease her.

  "Don't pinch me, I'm not a kid anymore." Xīng Yè often replied like this when she was little.

  The two of them smiled in tacit agreement, as if they had returned to their childhood.

  "Why did you come alone? Where's Dad? Is Mom's body okay?"

  As Kaguya asked questions, Hoshizora's smile froze on her face and gradually turned serious.

  "What's wrong? What happened to you on this starry night, is something the matter?" Hui Ye looked at her with a serious expression and asked anxiously.

  Before coming, I thought about how to tell my brother about the death of our parents for a thousand times, but when facing Hui Ye, I still didn't know how to say it.

  Xing Ye didn't respond, Hui Ye became anxious "What's going on? Is it mom? Has something happened to mom?" Hui Ye knew her mother's illness was hard to cure and she was just dragging out the time. Seeing Xing Ye's distress, she feared that she might already be gone.

  Taking a deep breath in the starry night, he slowly began to speak.

  "Years ago, my old dad went to the construction site in the county and worked overnight. He fell from the fifth floor and died before he could be taken to the hospital." Xīng Yè didn't dare look up at her brother's face, but saw his hands shaking violently as he gritted his teeth and continued: "After mom found out, she lost all motivation to live and soon followed him."

  Kaguya grasped Tsukuyomi's hands tightly.

  "Is everything you said true?"

  A nod in the midst of hardship and struggle under the starry night sky.

  Luo Hui covered his head and wept bitterly, this young man in his twenties cried like a child.

  Xīng yè qīng lǒu zhù gē gē de tóu, xiōng jiě liǎng yòng dà kū lái fā xiè zhe nán guò de qíng xù.

  Translation:

  At night, she gently held her brother's head, and the siblings used loud crying to vent their sad emotions.

  Li Nanfang outside the door let out a soft sigh, usually when meeting there would be prison guards accompanying them, but today because of Li Nanfang's relationship, they allowed the siblings to be alone together, so he and the guard were just outside the door, which is why he could hear the conversation between the two siblings clearly.

  Both parents died, and her elder brother was imprisoned. It's heartbreaking to hear that the little girl's small shoulders bore such a heavy burden.

  Thinking about the impression this girl left on me, brave, calm, sensitive, persistent, and now adding strong, what kind of environment made this flower-like girl not have any frivolous rebellion or arrogance like most girls her age.

  Looking at the two who were still crying, he couldn't help but speak out: "Stop crying, make the most of your time and talk for a bit."

  The two of them remembered that their meeting was limited in time, and they hastily held back their tears, for there were still a thousand words to be said.

  "Who is he?" Kaguya asked.

  Seiichi didn't hide anything from her, and told her everything that had happened the day before. Although she intentionally spoke lightly, Kaguya was still aware of the danger her sister had faced the day before, and thinking about the injuries she might have sustained, Kaguya's heart skipped a beat.

  "Dad and mom are gone, what will you do? Who will take care of you?" Huiye had been immersed in the sorrow of her parents' death until now, but she suddenly realized the big problem at hand. Her little sister was still in school, their parents were gone, and she herself wasn't around, so how would her sister's life go on?

  "I'm not a kid anymore, brother. I can take care of myself and work too. You don't have to worry about me." Xing Ye comforted him.

  "Aren't you going to school anymore? The society is so chaotic, as a girl from a good family, you will be bullied." Hui Ye regretted her impulsive decision for the first time since the incident, if she was free now, at least she could take care of her sister's life and shield her from wind and rain.

  "I've already dropped out of school, and I'll go back to study after saving some money. Actually, you don't have to worry about it, many girls from my hometown start working after graduating from junior high school."

  She had thought about it for a long time the night before and decided not to tell Kaguya about her grandfather's family for now. If they didn't welcome her, she would never tell Kaguya that she still had relatives, and just let the siblings rely on each other.

  "How can you be compared with them?" Hui Ye said unhappily. Which of those girls has the talent and beauty like my sister?

  "What's different? Oh, do you think I'm dumber than all of them?" Xing Ye intentionally misinterpreted her brother's words just to make him relax.

  "You clearly know I didn't mean it that way, you're so clever, you should continue studying, the dark waters of society are too deep, you're not suitable to come into contact with them too early," said Hui Ye worriedly.

  "Brother, people will always grow up, just like little chicks can't stay under their mother's wings forever... some things are unavoidable..." Xing Ye's gaze was firm as he stared out the window.

  Kaguya wanted to say something more, but thinking of her own powerlessness, she realized that saying anything would not help Hoshizora in any way. The brother and sister fell silent once again.

  "Brother, behave well and try to get out early. Although it's windy and rainy outside, with you by my side, I'm not afraid of anything."

  "Alright, it's time for your meeting." The prison guard outside shouted loudly.

  Kaguya almost reflexively stood up, "Take good care of yourself, I'll be right back"

  "I'll calm down and come see you again, you must take care of yourself." Xīng Yè watched as his brother's figure disappeared through the doorway, and he collapsed onto the sofa, tears that had just stopped flowing starting to fall once more.

  I thought I had seen the cruelty of the world and my heart had become numb, but it turned out that my longing for family affection was still buried deep in my soul, never lost. When faced with it again, I am still that weak and dependent little woman.

  "Let's go." Li Nanfang walked up to Xing Ye.

  Getting up in the middle of the night, wiping away tears, days have to go on, crying can't solve problems, walking out of this room and becoming that simple, sentimental, lovable Luo Xingye again.

  "Brother Li, can you please go and tell the prison authorities that my brother knows our parents have passed away? This might affect his mood, so please ask them to pay extra attention to him and prevent him from doing anything extreme." Xing Ye's tone automatically changed Brother Li's title to Brother Li.

  "Hmm, you've thought of everything, they have a professional psychological counselor who handles this kind of thing, come with me."

  Li Nanfang went to the office of the person in charge he had just found, told him about Kaguya's situation, and the other party promised to take good care of her with a mouthful of agreement. Xing Ye thanked him repeatedly.

  "It's all right, let's go." Li Nanfang said.

  "Did you get his confession?"

  Li Nanfang looked at her and didn't say a word.

  The starry night followed closely behind, quietly sticking out its tongue.