Addicted to My Cutie and Sweetie-Chapter 915: Strange and Peculiar Questions

"Do you have a brother?" Leng Jian asked.

Zhang Lingying nodded, then quickly shook her head.

The contradictory action made Leng Jian frown.

She explained, "It’s not that I have a brother, it’s that I feel I have a brother, but I’m not sure if I actually ever had a brother or if I dreamt that I had one, because I don’t remember what he looks like."

There was some urgency in Zhang Lingying’s words, wanting to express her thoughts clearly, yet fearing that Leng Jian wouldn’t understand her meaning.

When she was adopted by the orphanage, she was really too young, and she had no impression of her biological family, her parents, or any relatives at all.

But sometimes when she slept, she would dream of someone sitting by her bed, gently patting her back, soothing her to sleep while telling her that her brother was here, that her brother would protect her.

Yet every time she woke up, there was never anyone by her bed.

"Besides the brother, do you ever dream of anyone else?" Leng Jian’s eyes deepened, with emotions hidden that Zhang Lingying couldn’t discern.

"No, when the orphanage director first picked me up, I had a high fever for a long period, and then a recurring low fever. At that time, the director even worried I’d turn out to be an idiot from the fever. After I recovered, I forgot about the past. It’s strange, though; I would dream of a brother, but never of my parents. I even question if I just sprang out of a rock... But how could someone who sprang from a rock have a brother..."

Zhang Lingying was caught in self-doubt, softly analyzing her origins, entirely unaware that Leng Jian, sitting across from her, had reddened eyes filled with tears. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The dim light of the bar couldn’t entirely hide his emotions.

After a long silence, Zhang Lingying finally remembered the theme of tonight and suddenly looked up, asking, "You still haven’t told me why you suddenly called me out tonight and asked me all these strange questions?"

Upon hearing this, Leng Jian turned to wipe his eyes, turned back, and concealed all his emotions.

"It’s nothing major, just that I found out some things from the past tonight and got a bit emotional." Leng Jian paused, his mind flashing back to just learning the reason Zhang Lingying was adopted by the orphanage was that she was stranded on the shore after being rescued from drowning, a revelation that shocked him deeply.

Now that everything was laid out before him, the answers he sought were within reach, yet he didn’t dare take a step forward.

He paused, smiling as he asked her.

"How about you? Since you feel you have a brother, have you ever thought about finding one for yourself?"

"In the vast sea of people, it’s not that easy. Leaving aside the fact I’m not even sure if the brother really exists, even if he does, I can’t remember what he looks like, so how would I find him? The director grandmother said she found me by the river. When she picked me up, she thought I was already dead. Later, after inquiring around the area, she couldn’t find my family and could only take me back to the orphanage."

Zhang Lingying swirled her glass, watching the ice clink against the rim with a clear sound. She laughed, her eyes tinged red from the drink.

"The river’s reach is wide, and there are too many possibilities for how I ended up there. If I don’t search, I can tell myself maybe my family simply lost me accidentally, not that they didn’t want me. I’m living well now, and I hope they are living happiness-filled lives in this world too..."