Witches, please stop thinking about me!

Wearing a faded school uniform, Zhao Yingying, carrying recyclables she had collected on the street and medicine she had bought for her mother, walked into the residential area.

Her deliberately messy hair covered her thick, round-framed glasses and her small face in the middle.

He glanced quickly at the fifth floor as was his habit, then hurriedly lowered his head and walked towards his home.

In the hallway, several pieces of cardboard were quietly placed on the ground.

Skillfully picking them up, three origami cranes fell from the cardboard shell.

The green and blue hues filled my vision, and the fatigue from studying was swept away by the appearance of the three origami cranes.

The corners of her mouth unconsciously pursed up as she carefully picked them up.

In the living room, Zhao Yuru was facing her phone with a cracked screen, learning to knit small dolls from the videos on it.

"I'm back."

"Hmm~"

Hearing her daughter's happy, nasal voice, I watched as she immediately disappeared into the small study.

The sound of the tube being turned came from inside, and Zhao Yuru knew that her daughter had received Lin Jiu's origami cranes again.

A smile appeared on Zhao Yuru's face.

The arrival of the origami cranes was one of the few happy moments for my daughter.

But that smile was quickly masked by a sense of melancholy.

Although Lin Jiu's family situation wasn't great either, it was still much better than having a burden like me in my own family.

Yingying's personality is a bit... I don't know what will happen to her in the future.

But no matter what, they are both good children...

Lin Jiu bought today's groceries and walked into the community. She glanced at the kitchen in Zhao Yingying's house, where she could hear noises coming from, and seemed to realize something.

The words of Zhao Changlin unconsciously surfaced in my mind, recalling the accident that caused such a dramatic change in both families.

In that accident, both his mother and Zhao Yingying's father passed away, and Zhao Yingying's mother even had both legs amputated.

The Zhao family, which was already earning a meager salary, collapsed instantly, and he himself became an orphan.

Eighteen years old, the legal age of adulthood, yet I was forced into adulthood.

Compared to my peers, I seem a bit old, but there's nothing I can do about it. Living alone, I always have to consider a lot of things.

Back home, Lin Jiu familiarly turned on the gas stove and started cooking.

Speaking of which, the first time I cooked for my mother when I was in elementary school, I made a plate of blackened stir-fried cabbage. It was truly something else...

Lin Jiu was startled when her phone suddenly vibrated, and she instinctively took out her phone.

I thought it was Liu Mei, but it turned out to be a notice in the class group chat about going out to play in the water, asking anyone interested to sign up, with a deadline of the day after tomorrow.

He gave himself a light slap and cursed himself under his breath for being despicable.

But I can't blame myself for being so despicable; that girl was so beautiful, it was like she was a vision of a two-dimensional being.

It's perfectly normal for a normal man to like big and long things.

Do you really like that kind of delicate little girl kneeling on the bathroom floor, her fleshy legs covered in white stockings, looking at you pitifully?

It doesn't seem like it's impossible...

After a quick dinner, I sat on the sofa, Liu Mei's image lingering in my mind.

Lin Jiu summoned the black crown and stared at it.

Did you do this?

The black crown certainly wouldn't answer his question. After thinking it over, Lin Jiu decided to go downstairs to do something.

From now on, it will be a cold, impersonal employment relationship. Don't think about any of that nonsense.

When Lin Jiu came downstairs, she stretched and was about to go for a walk in the park when she saw Zhao Yingying, wearing that old pink dress, pushing Zhao Yuru out of the house.

Two large clamps made of iron rods and a snakeskin bag were placed behind the mother's wheelchair.

In front of Zhao Yuru's empty legs was a bag containing dozens of plush toys.

"Lin Jiu, are you going out?"

"Hmm, Aunt Zhao, are you planning to set up a stall?"

"Yes, I knitted some plush toys and plan to sell them on the street."

"Well, since I've got nothing else to do, why don't I go with you?"

Even without turning around, Zhao Yuru noticed that her daughter trembled slightly.

"If you don't mind, let's go together."

"What do you mind..."

Lin Jiu walked up to the mother and daughter, took the bag full of yarn dolls from Zhao Yuru's arms, and carried it.

Are your university courses busy?

"It's alright, it's easier than high school, but it's not like what the teachers said, that you can just play around when you get to college."

"If you play around like that, you'll really ruin your life."

"so..."

Zhao Yuru asked Lin Jiu as many questions as possible about things to pay attention to in college, and Lin Jiu told her as many problems as she could about what she had discovered.

Zhao Yingying quietly pushed her mother, listening attentively.

These are all Lin Jiu's brother's experiences; you should remember them well...

If you enroll as a day student, you don't have to pay accommodation fees, saving you over two thousand yuan a year...

Arriving at the bustling night market, Lin Jiu took the opportunity to buy water at a convenience store and casually picked up a piece of waste paper to write two sentences.

Buy a toy, leave behind a hope.

[Handmade yarn dolls, all items are priced at 20!]

These days, you need to have a GG (a degree in China) for everything. If you don't have a GG, nobody will know what you do.

Back at the stall the mother and daughter had set up, Lin Jiu squatted down and stood the waste cardboard upright.

After Zhao Yingying helped her mother arrange the dolls, she brought her a QR code tag for payment and hung it up.

"Mom, I... I'm leaving..."

Zhao Yuru glanced at her daughter, then at Lin Jiu, who was squatting in front of the stall adjusting the doll's appearance.

"Why don't you stay here and keep Mom company?"

Zhao Yingying glanced at her mother, then at Lin Jiu.

After a long hesitation, he spoke again in a low voice.

"I need to save money..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuru pursed her lips, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.

Go home early.

"Um..."

After Zhao Yingying nodded, she picked up a snakeskin bag and a large pair of clips from behind her wheelchair, took the bottled water Lin Jiu had bought for her, and turned to leave.

Lin Jiu glanced at Zhao Yingying, whose back was hunched and who looked even smaller.

"Aunt Zhao, you're all alone..."

Zhao Yuru looked at Lin Jiu, who seemed hesitant to speak, and nodded with a smile.

"If you don't mind, I'll feel more at ease with you by my side."

"What's there to complain about... I'm going then!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Jiu got up and chased after Zhao Yingying.

The yellow streetlights shone through the broad leaves of the white paulownia trees onto the trash cans, creating a stark contrast between the groups of high school students and middle school students playing with their parents and the petite figures in front of the trash cans.

Zhao Yingying received a scholarship, and her tuition and fees were also reduced or waived.

But she wasn't the only one in her family, and the scholarship couldn't cover their expenses.

Take out the empty bottle, shake off the liquid, and put it into a snakeskin bag.

There are two reasons for doing this: one is that recycling stations don't accept empty bottles containing liquid, and the other is that the liquid inside is very complex.

The messy hair blocked the view on both sides, and even if it was just burying one's head in the sand, it still concealed the view of those around.

It fragilely protected that pitiful little bit of self-esteem deep inside her heart.

After filling the empty bottle, she took out the iced mineral water that her brother Lin Jiu had bought, unscrewed it, revealed her fair chin, and tilted her head back slightly to take a sip.

"Make way!"

A familiar voice came from behind. Turning around, I saw Lin Jiugu carrying plastic bags filled with empty bottles he had picked up from somewhere, squeezing through the crowd and walking towards me.

The petite figure, holding a bottle of mineral water, stared blankly at the tall figure standing in front of her. Lin Jiu took her snakeskin bag and put the bottle inside.

The burning sensation in her eyes blurred the yellow light from the streetlights, and she pursed her lips tightly.

Once all the bottles were packed into the burlap sack, the small figure turned and walked forward.

He would stop and turn his head slightly every two steps until he saw the figure, and then continue forward.