After Black Moonlight revealed her true feelings, everyone panicked.

Lu Sijian started dreaming again.

In her dream, it was still that beautiful courtyard, and she was still sitting under the drafty eaves playing the erhu.

The wind was biting cold, and her fingers were frozen stiff, but she still had to pull the bowstring again and again.

The aroma of food wafted over, and she felt as if her stomach was on fire. She was hungry, cold, and sleepy, but she tried her best to straighten her back and make herself look proper and dignified.

She could sense the contempt and disdain others had for her father, so she felt even more compelled to behave properly and not embarrass him.

After the piece was finished, the person inside came out and asked, "Why aren't you smiling?"

She gently lowered the bowstring and politely asked, "Uncle, why do you have to smile?"

The erhu's timbre is inherently melancholic; even in cheerful pieces like "Horse Racing," it mostly expresses vigorous vitality rather than joy.

Besides, when listening to music, we should focus on the music itself, not on whether the performer is smiling or not.

The man was stumped by the question, but a voice came from the side, "You come here asking for a favor, and you still have that stern face, how can you be so shameless?"

He was a boy a little older than her, with red lips and white teeth, a tall and slender frame, and a cunning glint in his eyes.

Thinking he knew a lot, he looked up at the man with a smile and said ingratiatingly, "Uncle, I'm good at smiling when I dance, would you like to see?"

The man looked at the boy with amusement for a moment, then said, "Then you'll dance a bit, but you have to wear the clothes we specify."

When the clothes arrived, both the boy and Lu Sijian were stunned.

It was an excessively revealing dance dress, along with a very long wig.

Even children could sense the malice and unease in this situation.

The man smiled maliciously, "Hurry up and change and put on makeup. If you dance well, we'll solve all your family's problems."

The boy gritted his teeth, then quickly put on a fawning smile. "Okay, uncle, I'll wear it. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

The boy danced very well, and the man instructed him on how to laugh and what movements to make.

Lu Sijian stood to one side, holding her erhu, watching the farce unfold before her with bewilderment, until she felt a strong gaze upon her.

Someone in that house has been watching this side.

That malicious, greedy gaze, like the forked tongue of a venomous snake, licked at me.

Lu Sijian felt as if her heart had been struck hard. Still young, she didn't understand why, but she instinctively sensed danger.

The boy's performance was appreciated, and the man invited him in for a meal to warm him up.

The problems the boy's family encountered will also be easily solved.

From the outer courtyard, separated by a wall, came the ecstatic voice of a middle-aged man. After being reminded, he restrained himself and told his son to be good.

The boy smiled smugly at Lu Sijian, "See? You only get food if you behave. If you don't, your dad will have to go hungry and freeze with you!"

Lu Sijian instinctively grabbed the boy's wrist, but the boy slapped it away without hesitation.

As she watched the boy's retreating figure, a voice inside her screamed, "Run! Don't go to that house! Don't listen to me! Don't laugh!"

……

Lu Sijian woke up with a sudden, intense heart palpitation; it was still dark outside.

She got up and left the warm room, went to the terrace, sat with her knees drawn up on the cold chair, and looked at the dim streetlights in the yard.

She's afraid of the dark.

In the original owner's memories, there were countless nights when she would run out of the dark house, sit under the streetlights, and sit there from the darkness until the first light of dawn.

Until that day, her older brother found her sitting in the courtyard.

The boy gently reached out and pulled her out of her loneliness and fear.

Because of this, she unconditionally stood by her elder brother's side, supporting and helping him, even if it meant harming her own interests.

From the very beginning, her father had warned her that her elder brother's doting on her was for ulterior motives, and that she should not be easily fooled.

But so what?

Even if this sincerity is tainted with self-interest and calculation, he is still her brother.

They are connected by blood, sharing the deepest blood ties in the world, which no one can sever.

So she would do her best to help her older brother achieve whatever he wanted.

"What are you thinking about?" the system couldn't help but ask.

Her inner thoughts are currently very jumbled and unreadable, probably related to her dreams.

Lu Sijian came to her senses: "It's you, Tongzi! Your sudden voice startled me. I thought it was a ghost."

system:【……】

Lu Sijian recounted the dream, then asked, "Was this the original owner's true memory?"

The black-haired priest remained silent in front of the control panel.

The divine kingdom detected that the planet's timeline was later than this time; the past time could not be retraced or observed, so it could not give an accurate answer.

"I think so." After a long while, he finally said softly.

Fortunately, it had been processed by the system, so the mechanical voice sounded devoid of any emotion.

Since she keeps having the same dream, it's very likely that it's a memory from her past.

Lu Sijian suddenly chuckled softly: "So it really happened."

That smile was like the moon reflected in water or a flower in the mist—incredibly beautiful, yet ethereal and distant, as if it would vanish in the blink of an eye.

The black-haired priest clenched his fists in an instant, feeling as if something had gently bitten his heart.

"Tongzi, do you know? My family was very poor when I was a child, so I vowed to earn lots and lots of money and never suffer from poverty again." Perhaps the night was too quiet and long, and the disturbed person could not calm down for a long time and could not help but want to confide.

"My father, after suffering setbacks, only knew how to hide away and drink heavily, drowning his past glories in alcohol and refusing to wake up. I had no choice but to leave home and perform on the streets to earn money."

"Sometimes when you encounter bad-tempered adults, you not only get tricked, but you also don't get a penny; sometimes when you encounter children in scenic spots, you get bullied even more."

The children's evil was innocent yet cruel; knowing she had no one to rely on, they bullied her even more.

They would steal her money, splash water on her, dirty and damage her clothes and erhu, and even push her into the river.

Half of the fights she's ever had were during that time.

It was around that time that she realized the civility and etiquette her parents taught her were useless, far less effective than a fist.

Lu Sijian lowered her eyelids and said softly, "If given a choice, who wouldn't want to be a little princess, always dignified, elegant, and graceful?"

The black-haired priest lowered his eyes to look at the other person's beautiful profile, his fingertips slowly tightening.

“At that time, I often thought how wonderful it would be if I had an older brother, so that he could protect me from being bullied.”

The black-haired priest remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "[If possible...]"

He suddenly stopped. If only what could be done?

—Your brothers have all abandoned you; they are not worth it at all.

—If possible, let me be your older brother.

Just as those words were about to spill out, reason returned, and he stopped himself from saying them.