Chapter 279: Broken hope
Capital City Airport. Even though he lived in the capital city, he rarely came to this place. This was only his third or fourth time coming here.
The voices of people around her made Chen Xue silently open her eyes, watching the incompatible world around her. Gently, she whispered, “So many people…..”
It had been many years since she had seen this many people at once.
“They……Are they all good people like big brother?” She said in a weak voice that only she could hear, gently asking this question. Actually, she was still attached to this word. If one could remain in this world, then who would be willing to die.
“This world has many good people. Chen Xue is so good, they will definitely love you. When your illness is better, many people will care about you like your elder sister and many people will want to be your friend. Don’t you want to have a lot of friends, right?” Ye Tian Xie hugged her as he moved forward. His eyes were looking straight forward, ignoring all the strange gazes the people around him gave him.
“Un…..I always wanted to…..have friends. Only, since I was young, I have always been in bed, never having a friend…..There was only elder sister by my side……”
“Then I will become Chen Xue’s first friend, alright?”
“Un!” The voice was very soft, but it was filled with joy.
Not long passed and two people who saw them quickly approached to greet them. They quickly said, “Hello mister Ye. Young master Zuo has arranged for us to wait for your arrival. Please come with us.”
Obviously Zuo Po Jun had told them how urgent this matter was and not to waste time with words. They quickly turned around to guide the way, but once he took a few steps, Ye Tian Xie’s phone rang.
“Mister Ye, it would be best to turn off your cell phone before boarding.” The two of them reminded him.
Ye Tian Xie took the cell phone and looked over the name…..Liu Qi Yue.
She was calling now……
He received the call, “Elder sister.”
“Little brother Tian Xie…..You are going to America and then to Lyle Star, right?” Liu Qi Yue’s voice came from the phone. That calm voice contained a trace of helplessness, but it also had its natural charm. Even Chen Xue with weaker hearing than normal people had a strange feeling from this voice.
“Yes.” Ye Tian Xie simply replied with a single word.
The cell phone was silent for a bit before Liu Qi Yue’s faint sigh came through, “I already know about everything that happened. To make you do something like this, it must be a special girl…..However, little brother Tian Xie, even if you arrive in America and can immediately leave for Lyle Star, do you know…..Just how long it would take to go from earth to Lyle Star?”
Ye Tian Xie: “…….”
“An one way trip takes seven months. A round trip takes fourteen months.”
Ye Tian Xie froze on the spot, his expression freezing, becoming incomparably stiff. A deep sense of helplessness filled his entire body. He was weak to the point that…..the phone fell out of his hands and onto the floor, releasing a sound from the contact. He could not hear anything Liu Qi Yue said afterwards.
It wasn’t that he forgot this issue, but he was avoiding it the entire time…..He hoped that interstellar flight would be like intercontinental flight, taking two-three days at most. But with Liu Qi Yue’s words, he was ruthlessly brought back to reality.
Interstellar flight wasn’t just movement through space, but rather travelling long distances in space. How could it be measured with travel time of earth standards? One billion per person was simply a sky high price, something that never happened before on earth.
Chen Xue closed her eyes and leaned in against his chest. She forcefully leaned in against him. Everything that Ye Tian Xie had heard, she had also heard.
The sound of the cell phone falling to the ground made the two of them turn around. The stunned expression Ye Tian Xie had surprised the two of them and they quickly came forward to ask, “Mister Ye, what happened?”
Ye Tian Xie did not hear them at all. From his chest, Chen Xue slowly looked up and her crystal like eyes looked at Ye Tian Xie, “Big brother, let’s not go to Lyle Star, alright…..I don’t like that place…….This place is so noisy……”
Ye Tian Xie’s eyes came back to focus. He slowly looked down and said in a gentle voice, “Then…..Where will we do?”
“Let’s go…..to a quiet place covered in green grass, alright…..I haven’t gone in a long……long while to a place covered in grass.” She said in a voice that was as weak as a breeze.
Ye Tian Xie turned around and said to the two people, “Do you have a car?”
His voice was very calm, but that calmness filled the two of them with fear. They nodded at the same time, but one of them said, “Mister Ye, didn’t you want to…..”
“We’re going back…..We’re going to a quiet place covered in grass.”
His words were like heavy stones falling down on their hearts. They could tell in that moment that this was an incredibly terrifying man because with just his voice alone, he could cause such tremors in their hearts.
Ye Tian Xie hugged Chen Xue as he left, not continuing on the journey to America……In that moment, other than going where Chen Xue wanted, he did not have any other goals. He didn’t know what he should do to save this young girl’s life. He walked back on the road he used to come here, with each step feeling incredibly heavy, almost as heavy as his heart.
The green grassy plain was boundless. There was a little stream flowing through the plain, not knowing where it was going, but it released the pleasant sound of water flowing. The grass was green and the river stream was clear. In the polluted capital city, this was like the final pure land on the outskirts of the city.
When the two people Zuo Po Jun arranged sent them here, they silently left. Other than the occasional bird call or the sound of insects, there was only the sound of the gentle breeze. Looking around, there was not a trace of another person.
“Do you like this place?” He asked with a faint smile.
“Un…..So beautiful.” Chen Xue’s star like eyes looked around, looking over everything around them. Today, she could finally see the most pure and beautiful natural scenery. The scenery she saw at this moment was enough to completely satisfy her.
“Then let’s come here everyday from tomorrow on to play, alright?” The clear and pleasant wind had a kind of biting cold to it. Ye Tian Xie looked forward, speaking with a faint smile.
“I wish…..I could come here every day.” Chen Xue’s eyes reflected the pure green colour, that was as pure as her heart. Slowly, she leaned her head against Ye Tian Xie’s shoulder and said in a weak voice, “Big brother, let me lie in your chest, alright?”
Ye Tian Xie’s eyes slightly trembled, but he sat down on the grass and carefully hugged Chen Xue’s weak body in his chest. Although it was his first day meeting her, in this short amount of time, he had formed a deep string of emotions with her that could not be broken. He was willing to be reckless for her and he felt bad for her……He even felt pain for her.
“Big brother, why are you…..so good to me?” She laid there in his chest, listening to his heartbeat, speaking in a faint voice.
“Because I like Chen Xue.” Ye Tian Xie said in a gentle voice.
“Un……Hee.” She gave a laugh. Although that laugh was soft due to her weakness, it was like the charming sound of an immortal, shaking Ye Tian Xie’s heart. “I am…..really happy……Big brother, can you…..call me Xue’er like elder sister?”
“Xue’er…..” He looked down and looked at the young girl lying in his embrace. His hand was softly caressing her hair.
“Un…..Big brother, can you agree…..to Xue’er’s…..request…..?” Her voice was becoming even weaker, weak to the point that Ye Tian Xie’s heart filled with intense pain. His heart told him that if this girl were to really leave right now, he would go crazy and do something that even he did not dare think about.
“Xue’er, tell me…..I’ll agree to anything you say.” He spoke in a voice that was slightly trembling. Because this…..was her final…..final request and final desire.
“Big brother…….Promise Xue’er that you will let…..elder sister live in your home, alright? I want elder sister…..to no longer suffer any pain at all.”
“Alright…..Alright, I let Chen Xin stay in my home, never letting her leave. I will protect her, not letting anyone bully her…..I will let her have peace and happiness forever, not suffering any pain.” His voice was slightly trembling and even his body began to tremble. He used his most firm and most honest voice to speak in her ears, giving her a commitment that he would never break in his life.
Even with her life ending, she was still worried about her elder sister……For such a good girl, why would she need to suffer such a bitter life.
“Hee……Big brother, you really are good……In this world, you are like elder sister. You treat Xue’er the best.” She closed her eyes in satisfaction and felt her body become lose strength. She muttered, “Before meeting big brother, I had thought that when I died, it would be elder sister being with me…..In the end, I never thought……that it would be with big brother…..in big brother’s embrace. So comfortable….I wish…..I wish I could always stay like this…..”
His embrace was so warm. She already could not remember how long it had been since she had been loved and protected like this. She clinged to this kind of feeling. Being able to slowly end her life in this feeling, she had no fear of dying at all.
“What nonsense are you saying? Xue’er…..how could you die. Didn’t you say that….you would marry me? You can’t break your promise.” Ye Tian Xie looked up and in his line of sight, the green grass had turned to the grey colour of death.
“Big brother….I like you…..I really like you…..If there is another life…..Even if elder sister likes big brother, I will definitely…..be selfish and marry you…..”
Her small hands were pressed against his chest and with the last bit of strength she had, she gave him this beautiful vox.
“Xue’er……”
“Big brother…..” Chen Xue looked up and her eyes began to lose focus as she stared at the distant sky. Her voice was as soft as the most gentle breeze, “In this world…..Is there really a heaven…..”
In this world, was there really a heaven?
She honestly looked in the sky, looking at Ye Tian Xie above her. In her eyes, her mind, and her soul, she was forever imprinting his image…..
Her eyes lost the final colour and they slowly closed. That little hand on his chest slowly fell down, falling limply to the ground. Her face was covered in a satisfied little smile, but the corner of her eyes had a single clear tear fall down.
Even though she suffered through her pain, she had never shed a single tear before.
The world became quiet as if it had died. The gentle breeze became piercingly ice cold. Ye Tian Xie hugged the little girl as he gritted his teeth and tightly closed his eyes. He tightly gripped his fists, as if he wanted to destroy his own bones…..But he, could not feel any pain at all.