The Past; Our Brother . . .
Li Yunxuan, the only woman except for Shuang and Han, was also in shock. She kept asking herself one question. "Why wouldn't Shuang and Han mind? It doesn't make sense! If the young Lord Ye said those words to me, I would at least glare at him if not turn furious. This is so wrong! How come? It seems people are right about the two ladies. They are truly pure-hearted. They are ultimately pure. Their hearts are absolutely pure!"
"Oh? The liquor is good too!" Yue Shuang raised the liquor bowl and drank it up without looking at it. Then she inhaled through her teeth, smiling as she spoke, "I still remember when we were kids. Sister and I were both disabled, lying on the bed. Brother went out for food. He stole half a jar of liquor at that time... It was the first time I had the taste of alcohol..."
"That's right..." Yue Han remembered too. She giggled. "We were five years old if I remember it right. I took the first sip of our life and got drunk..."
"Me too... Hahaha..." Yue Shuang smiled innocently. Her eyes were filled with warmth and recollection of the past. She felt like they were in that broken cottage again.
The brother and sisters still remembered eating the remains of others' meals, holding half a broken jar of liquor...
One sip for him, one sip for them...
They were enjoying it... They were satisfied...
That day, their brother got hit again. He was bleeding on the corner of his mouth, with a crippled leg, holding and protecting the food and liquor so well. He had lost the food to those guys who beat him up, and those guys stepped on it... He was lying on the floor when they stepped on his food. But then when those guys left, he picked the food up and wrapped it well again...
He hurried home with the food and liquor in his arms with swollen lips. The jar was broken because those men hit him with it. His head broke the jar.
His head was still bleeding...
"Do you remember, Yue Shuang?" Yue Han was recollecting the past while chewing the Land Dragon meat with satisfaction, and she said, "This meat... I mean it... It chews exactly as the cowbells brother stole for us..."
Yue Shuang was chewing it too. She answered, "Of course I do. It was the first time we ever ate meat. Cowhells are so stiff... I could barely chew it. However, I just didn't want to spit it out... I kept trying to chew it... When we finished the cowhells, my cheeks were sore for several days..."
"Me too! I swallowed one after a hell of an effort, and then put another piece into my mouth. I just wanted to finish the meat, because all I learned was that meat was good. But... you and me, we ate all the cowhells... Brother didn't taste any. Not even one tiny piece..." Yue Han said. It seemed she was slightly sobbing.
The two ladies kept talking about the past as if nobody else was present.
Cha Nantian, Zhan Yunfei, and the others were all touched. "They seemed happy when they talked about their past like they could still feel the warmth from it. However, it was such a miserable story. The two dominant figures, who shocked the entire Qing-Yun Realm, turned out to have such a piteous childhood..."
"It turns out the two ladies have such an unspeakable past..." Zhan Yunfei sighed and looked at his brother disciple Zhu Jiutian.
Zhu Jiutian saw the hint in his eyes and understood what he meant.
Zhu Jiutian also sighed. He felt pain and sour in the heart as well.
"Childhood..."
"Brother Zhan and I used to be two negligible little beggars in our childhood. We used to get punched and abused every single day just for some food..."
"Every time when we recollect the past, the pain will relive in our hearts. I thought what happened to us was an incomparable tragedy in the world. However, it turns out the two dominant ladies had exactly the same experience of childhood. They even had worse lives."
"Many great figures in Qing-Yun Realm... got their opportunities in various miseries... That was the moment they thrust up to the top... Because of what they had been through in their past, they were more flexible and resilient than others. They always know how hard it is for them to get what they have today. They always value what they have at present!" Li Yunxuan sighed.
"That's true. Because of all the miserable hardships they have been through, they stand more stable and firm than others!"
Zhan Yunfei sighed and said, "The purest desire in their hearts gave them tremendous flexibility, fierceness, and toughness. They shared the same thought which was deeply stamped in their hearts... They would rather die than go back to the life they used to have! They couldn't allow themselves to experience the same pain again!"
"That's right!" Tears flickered in Zhu Jiutian's eyes.
The two ladies' story reminded him of the miserable days he used to live with Zhan Yunfei.
"The great clans, big sects, and dominant forces have many talented kids. Those kids are always starting from a high position. They are talented. They are smart... But most of them can't reach the top! Because they lack hardships of the nature of lives!"
"The hardships, the miseries, and the sufferings are the true wealth of one's life!"
Zhan Yunfei made a sigh and said, "However, most people just destroy such wealth after it was accumulated to a certain level!"
"Not really," Cha Eun Xiao smiled. "Only people like you brothers, or the two ladies, recollect the miserable past, it could be a valuable and priceless memory!"
"The sufferings might be an inspiring story of those who eventually made a success. They would keep talking about it with satisfaction. It is definitely enjoyable to recollect the poor old days. However, for those who have suffered greatly but eventually failed, misery means misery, and nightmare means nightmare. It is painful and unbearable to remember!"
Cha Eun Xiao said something meaningful.
Everybody else stopped their chopsticks and listened to him quietly. After being lost in thoughts for a while, they finally nodded to agree.
Yue Shuang raised her head up and stared at Cha Eun Xiao. Her eyeballs rolled round and round, and then she nodded too. In the end, she just lowered her head to keep on eating.
She was so incredibly adorable.
"The misery of the two ladies has pushed them well, so they finally have the current achievement! It is a pride!" Cha Nantian spoke gently and raised up his liquor bowl.
Everybody drank up, to show respect to the ladies.
Yue Han wiped her mouth and solemnly said, "That's right. We sisters have been through too much. We won't belittle ourselves and pretend to be modest. However, I have to add one thing to the conclusion. For the two of us, what makes us proud are not ourselves, but our dear brother."