The servants chased all the way to Wei Wenyi's door, where they stopped, not daring to move further.
During daytime, they might have dared to enter, but at night, none of them would.
The Old Master had lost one daughter, and the remaining one had become the apple of his eye. Who would dare to act rashly around her?
"Miss! Miss, please come back!" They called out in hushed voices.
Xiao Ya had already stopped at the door, not looking back.
But thankfully... she hadn't moved further. This made the servants sigh in relief: "Miss, please calm down, the Little Young Master must have already contacted the psychiatrist to come right away..."
Xiao Ya lowered her head, ignoring the servants' voices.
She wanted to go in and hug her aunt, but she shouldn't just burst in - too much noise, too sudden, it would surely frighten her aunt.
How could she avoid scaring her and let her know that someone would stay by her side?
Xiao Ya took a gentle breath and placed her hand on the doorknob.
The servants held their breath, not daring to even exhale...
No... don't!
With a "click," Xiao Ya opened the door anyway.
She walked in.
The servants felt faint, leaning against the wall, completely speechless.
As she crossed the threshold, Xiao Ya hunched her shoulders, slowly curling inward. Tears began rolling down her face, and the little girl seemed to deflate entirely.
"Auntie," she called softly.
The room was unlit, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. However, since the curtains had been removed, some residual light filtered in, falling on the carpet at the foot of the bed.
Xiao Ya stepped closer, onto the carpet.
From her angle, she could see—the bed was empty.
Xiao Ya froze, tears rolling down to her cheeks.
Auntie wasn't in bed?
She quickly looked around and finally saw the woman standing in the corner between two walls. She was staring out the window with wide eyes, and due to her extreme thinness, her eye sockets seemed as if they might tear apart from the intensity of her gaze.
Xiao Ya's heart skipped a beat.
"Auntie, auntie," she called softly, her voice tinged with tears.
She finally reached Wei Wenyi's side.
Wei Wenyi stood ramrod straight, completely different from how she had appeared when the servants had brought her out earlier.
She was as straight as a tree, only this tree had begun to wither.
Xiao Ya reached up and touched her, grabbing her fingers.
Wei Wenyi's fingers were ice-cold, but when Xiao Ya touched them, she finally slowly lowered her head, sparing Xiao Ya a glance.
The words "don't be afraid" rolled off Xiao Ya's tongue but were swallowed back.
Instead, she said three words: "I'm scared."
Wei Wenyi mechanically rotated her eyeballs and raised her hand to touch Xiao Ya's face. She felt the tears on Xiao Ya's cheeks.
This face.
This crying face.
When sad, when scared, would always come to her.
Wei Wenyi suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse: "Sister, sister."
Xiao Ya was stunned.
Had her aunt mistaken her for her mother when she was young?
Before Xiao Ya could react, Wei Wenyi had already emotionally crouched down and pulled her into an embrace: "Don't be afraid, sister, don't be afraid."
As she spoke, she turned around.
She positioned Xiao Ya to face the corner while she faced outward.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid..." Now it was Wei Wenyi who was patting her back and comforting her softly.
The servants waited outside for a long time.
There were no shrill screams from the Second Miss, no sounds of things being thrown.
Actually, it had been more troublesome when they were abroad.
Once, the Second Miss had even pulled out a gun during an episode.
Back then, they could hear the sound of bullets shattering porcelain all over the floor.
But the Old Master had insisted on not sending his daughter to a mental hospital, determined to keep her by his side...
Sometimes the servants wondered if the Old Master was too forceful, too stubborn - would she have recovered earlier if they had sent her to a mental hospital?
"Where is everyone?" Sheng Yuxiao walked over at this moment.
The servants knew the Little Young Master was probably still dealing with that nun on the second floor, so they could only look at Sheng Yuxiao and say: "The Miss went inside."
"No sound?"
"Yes, we don't know what's happening inside."
"Then we wait."
"Wait?"
"Yes." Sheng Yuxiao looked down at his watch, "Let's wait ten minutes first."
The servants could only anxiously wonder to themselves why all these young masters and misses were so calm and collected.
Inside the room.
Wei Wenyi was still holding Xiao Ya tightly, refusing to let go.
Xiao Ya took a breath, feeling they couldn't continue like this...
She tugged at Wei Wenyi's sleeve, no longer calling her "auntie," and simply said: "I want to go to the window."
Wei Wenyi furrowed her brows, her eye corners drawing into sharp lines.
"No, it's dangerous there," Wei Wenyi uttered.
Not knowing how else to persuade her, Xiao Ya could only say: "Need to go, need to go."
Mother's position in aunt's heart seemed higher than imagined.
Wei Wenyi still picked her up and walked toward the window.
Her overly thin wrists seemed to harbor endless strength.
After a few steps, Wei Wenyi suddenly stopped, looking confused: "Sister, I've grown so tall."
Xiao Ya sniffled her sour nose and said quietly: "Because you're the big sister, of course you're taller than me."
Wei Wenyi slowly processed this, saying: "...Right."
Then she fell silent again.
When they reached the windowsill, her entire body arched, like a cat ready to pounce.
She didn't know what "sister" wanted to see.
But she brought "sister" there anyway.
Xiao Ya then raised her hand, pointing outside saying: "They ran away..."
Wei Wenyi's eyes widened: "You can see them too?"
Xiao Ya nodded: "I can see them, I'm very scared."
"Don't be afraid." Wei Wenyi held her tighter, her protruding bones pressing into Xiao Ya almost painfully.
But Xiao Ya didn't cry out in pain. She sniffled again and asked in a light tone: "They all ran away, did you chase them away?"
I...
Wei Wenyi's gaze became distant for a moment.
Did I chase them away?
Xiao Ya rested her head on her shoulder, whispering in her ear: "You're amazing, you chased them away, so I won't have to be scared anymore, right?"
How could Wei Wenyi bear to tell "sister" otherwise?
She felt as if she had fallen into a cloud of cotton, her entire being floating, both dazed and confused, as if memories were being scrambled and cut up, yet made clear again by the sensation of this embrace in this moment.
She moved her lips, struggling to squeeze out one word: "Right."
"I will protect you." Her voice grew from barely audible to increasingly firm, "Protect, protect sister. I will protect you."
There would be no fear even if they came back.
She would stand in front of "sister."
"Mm! I'm not scared anymore, you can put me down now, I'm hungry, I want to eat," Xiao Ya continued softly.
Auntie was too thin.
Holding her must be tiring, and perhaps like Xu Ji, auntie might also be lacking calcium - would she break a bone if she held her too long?
Xiao Ya was worried.
But Wei Wenyi wouldn't let go.
She held the little one firmly, her empty embrace filled more completely than ever before, as if she had been given a new anchor point.
"Eat, yes, eat, we need to eat to grow tall, let's eat, let's eat," Wei Wenyi mumbled, carrying Xiao Ya toward the lit doorway.
One meter outside the door.
The servants heard movement and turned around, instantly struck with amazement.
"Se-Second Miss?"
The Second Miss had walked out on her own?! And carrying the Miss!
Sheng Yuxiao was also stunned for a moment, then the corner of his eyebrow lifted in a wild, proud smile. He knew it - of course Xiao Ya could do it!
