Zhang Huai stared at her, stunned. ’She rembers everything?’
He didn’t bother to hide his expression, so Juhua saw his look of astonishnt when she glanced up at him. She then heard him ask cautiously, "We were just ssing around back then. One ti, you wanted to eat an egg. Your brother was carrying you on his back, so I climbed a tree to get so bird eggs and even fell. Do you rember that?"
Juhua grew wary. ’What is this kid trying to do?’
’Could he have discovered that I’m different?’
She searched her mories and, sure enough, found the story about getting the bird eggs.
At that mont, she suddenly felt that she had never truly explored or appreciated the original Juhua’s mories. Just like everyone else, she had overlooked the little girl’s inner world, only knowing that she was obedient and diligent.
Back when she first arrived, she had only scanned through these mories like watching a movie on fast-forward, getting a rough understanding of her surroundings. She had no interest in paying attention to anything else within them.
When she was four, she ate a chicken egg and was still smacking her little lips, wanting more. So, Qingmu and Huai Zi went to get bird eggs.
The base of that tree was overgrown with thorny bushes. Qingmu, carrying her on his back, didn’t dare put her down.
Huai Zi had said, "You just keep carrying Juhua. I’ll go up."
So the seven-or-eight-year-old boy spat on his palms, scrambled up the tree in a few moves, and tucked the bird eggs into his shirt. On his way down, however, his hand slipped. He hastily grabbed a branch, which bent low under his weight, bringing him closer to the ground and breaking his fall. But because he was protecting the eggs, he still ended up landing flat on his bottom, and a thorn scraped his arm.
With tears welling in her eyes, she had struggled down from Qingmu’s back and asked, "Brother Huai Zi, does your butt hurt?"
Huai Zi had said nonchalantly, "Doesn’t hurt a bit."
After the bird eggs were boiled that day, she ate three, and Zhang Huai took two ho for Zhang Yang to eat.
That little girl’s world was simple and closed off. Besides her brother, the person she looked forward to seeing most was Zhang Huai bringing little brother Yangzi over to play. She would often sit on the doorstep, gazing at the village road and thinking, ’Why isn’t Brother Huai Zi here yet? Is Aunt Zhang’s family busy?’
Whenever Huai Zi brought Zhang Yang over, she knew to protect and dote on Yangzi.
Whenever they had sothing to eat, Huai Zi would always tell the little Yangzi, "Eat a little less. Sister Juhua is a girl, you should let her have more."
It was a bond so deep it was hard to tell if it was familial or romantic. Zhang Huai was incredibly special to her; he was basically another older brother.
Everyone thought she wanted to marry Zhang Huai. In truth, though she was wholeheartedly devoted to him and liked him, she had never dared to hope for such a thing. Or perhaps, she herself hadn’t figured out if her feelings were familial or romantic.
She always thought, ’Brother Huai Zi will marry a pretty sister-in-law soday. But pretty like who?’
She had barely t any of the girls in the village, so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t picture what a pretty sister-in-law would look like.
’How could a Juhua like that have jumped into the lake?’
As she searched through these distant mories, for a mont it was as if she could see that lonely little girl sitting on the doorstep, gazing expectantly down the small road...
Her eyes grew moist—for that lonely, innocent little girl, and for the love she had been given.
She knew Zhang Huai had grown suspicious.
’It makes sense. Her family sees her every day, so they don’t find the changes jarring. They just think she’s beco a bit braver after falling into the water, which is a good thing. People who don’t know her well, like izi and Liu Xiaoi, barely interacted with her before, so they have no basis for comparison. Only Zhang Huai, who knew her best yet hadn’t seen her much lately—could it be that he was comparing her every ti they t?’
Little did she know that Zhang Huai’s suspicion was triggered entirely by the different attitudes the two Juhuas had toward him.
Zhang Huai looked at Juhua’s sowhat sad eyes and thought, ’If you rember all those things, why are you so different toward now? If you were ignoring because you’re angry, that would make sense, and I wouldn’t find it strange. But you don’t look like you’re angry with at all. It’s more like this is just how you are now. But how can you act like nothing ever happened between us?’
Juhua glanced at the silent Zhang Huai and thought, ’I’d better be more careful from now on and not get too carried away. If people really find out my soul has taken over this body... oh god, would they burn as a monster? No, they won’t. I know everything about the original Juhua. I can answer anything anyone asks.’
At this thought, she felt a bit more confident and forced a smile at Zhang Huai. "Brother Huai Zi, you still rember that I ate three bird eggs? The ducks I’m raising are about to start laying. When they do, I’ll pickle so eggs and bring them to you."
Perhaps because she felt guilty, or perhaps because of the wave of emotion from just now, her tone was a little placating.
Juhua rembered both things Zhang Huai brought up, which made him feel a little better. He smiled and nodded at her, then looked at the plums and warned, "These taste good, but don’t eat too many. You’ll get a stomachache."
Juhua nodded quickly, then said goodbye and headed ho. On the way, she thought about the original Juhua and felt a little down.
anwhile, Zhang Huai returned ho, his mind full of doubts, unsettled by the idea that had sprung from the depths of his heart.
But Juhua clearly had a strong mory of the past. When he had ntioned eating peaches that one ti, she rembered getting a stomachache and even that the fuzzy peach skin had little prickles. And the bird eggs—she rembered eating three of them. She obviously hadn’t forgotten the past!
’That’s true,’ he thought. ’If Juhua had forgotten the past, Uncle Zheng, Aunt Zheng, and Qingmu would have known.’ (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to co to Qidian to vote for recomndation and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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