Brother! This is the adoption certificate. I don't want your sister-in-law!

In November, the water level of the Xiangjiang River is not high, revealing large areas of gray-white mudflats on both banks.

Several egrets strolled along the water's edge, occasionally lowering their heads to peck at something in the mud.

A breeze blew from the river, carrying the fishy smell of water and the chill of late autumn, making Su Wan Ning's bangs a little disheveled.

Su Xiao suddenly stopped.

He stood on the riverbank, his hands in his pockets, gazing at the distant river.

The river water shimmered with a dark gray hue in the evening light, and waves surged in layers, crashing against the embankment and breaking into white foam.

Su Wan Ning took a few steps before realizing that the person beside her hadn't followed, so she turned around and glanced at him.

He just stood there, his face turned to the side, the river wind making his hair a mess.

"Late Lemon".

His voice wasn't loud, and it was somewhat scattered by the river wind, "I'm sorry about what happened before."

Su Wanning was stunned.

She looked at Su Xiao as if she were looking at someone she didn't really know.

Su Xiao didn't look at her; her gaze remained fixed on the distant river.

He spoke slowly, as if he were saying something he had thought about for a long time before finally saying it.

"I was immature before. I was immature when my parents were alive. During the years you were in junior high school, I didn't take care of you much, nor did I spend much time with you."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. "Back then, I didn't deserve to be your brother. You had to shoulder so much all by yourself."

Su Wan Ning's fingers curled up gently inside her sleeve.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

apologize.

These two words coming from Su Xiao's mouth are even rarer than winning first prize in a math competition.

In her memory, her brother never apologized.

I didn't apologize for locking her at home when she was little, I didn't apologize for publicly calling her a tagalong, and I haven't apologized for ignoring her all these years.

Now he stands by the river, his hair blowing wildly in the wind, and apologizes to her.

She didn't know where to put this "I'm sorry".

It's too hot to hold in my heart, but I can't bear to leave it aside.

Su Xiao still didn't look at her.

He had kept this in mind for over twenty years.

In his past life, he sat in the empty villa and spoke to the air many times, but the air never responded to him.

In this lifetime, he finally had the chance to say it to his living, breathing sister.

Su Wan Ning turned her head away.

"Why are you apologizing...?"

Su Xiao turned to look at her, her tone different from usual.

There was no joking around, no carefree attitude; he was very serious.

"I treated you badly before, called you a tagalong, wouldn't let you follow me, and ignored you at school. You got the worst grades, got into fights, skipped classes to go online, and made you lose face in front of your classmates."

Seeing him shake his head with a self-deprecating expression, Su Wan Ning stood there stunned.

A breeze from the river blew over, and a few strands of her hair fell onto her face.

Her lips moved, her voice cut into small segments by the wind: "I'm not a child... I don't need your apology."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Besides, I also have my flaws..."

Su Xiao looked at her and smiled.

My younger sister is still so gentle...

Su Wan Ning blushed from his laughter, and the little bit of tenderness she had managed to muster vanished instantly.

"What are you laughing at? It's so annoying!"

She turned and stormed off, her steps as fast as if she were riding on wheels of fire.

Su Xiao smiled and shook her head, then strode after him.

He figured it out: every time his sister was poked, she would speed up and walk forward; this was Su Wan Ning's unique way of being shy.

As the two were walking, cries for help suddenly came from the riverbank.

Su Xiao paused and looked in the direction of the sound.

A group of people had gathered on the embankment not far ahead, and some of them were taking pictures with their phones.

A middle-aged woman knelt on the riverbank, her hair disheveled, her voice hoarse from shouting, her hand outstretched towards the river, almost falling in, but was held back by two middle-aged women beside her.

There was a little boy, about seven or eight years old, struggling desperately in the river.

His head bobbed up and down, his arms flailing wildly across the water, the splashes getting smaller and smaller.

He probably slid down the embankment. The current looked calm in this section, but the undercurrent was actually very strong. The boy was carried further and further away by the current.

Su Xiao glanced at it and subconsciously took a step forward.

Before I could even take a step, my arm was grabbed tightly.

Su Xiao turned around and found that Su Wan Ning was holding his arm tightly with both hands, almost hanging on his arm.

"What are you doing?"

Su Wanning asked with a wary look.

She stared into his eyes, her tone as hard as nails, "You're not allowed to go down!"

Su Xiao opened her mouth, as if to say something.

Su Wanning didn't give him a chance to speak, "Can you swim? This is the Xiang River, not a swimming pool! Do you know how many people drown every year?"

Her speech became faster and faster, until she was almost shouting.

More and more people gathered on the shore, and the sounds of camera clicks and chatter filled the air.

The boy's mother was crying so hard she couldn't make a sound, and collapsed to the ground.

Su Xiao stood still and glanced into the river.

The boy's struggling movements began to slow down, and the intervals between his surfacing became longer and longer.

Su Xiao wasn't the kind of person to act rashly.

He calmly analyzed the situation. The boy wasn't far from the shore, and he was a fairly good swimmer. He was 90% confident he could save the boy.

While hesitating, Su Xiao suddenly remembered something and turned around.

Not far behind, at the tip of Orange Isle, the huge statue of a young man stands in the twilight.

Facing the rolling waves of the Xiang River, I looked across the river and gazed into the distance.

Su Xiao glanced in that direction and already knew the answer in her heart.

Although I am neither a member of the Communist Youth League nor a member of the Communist Party, I used to be a proud Young Pioneer!

He resolutely pulled his arm out of Su Wanning's grasp.

"I'm confident that I can pull him out of the river in one go at this close range. If I drag him out any longer, the child will really die in the river."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. I'll save you if I can, and I won't force myself if I can't." He looked at her, his tone unusually serious. "Wait for me on the shore, don't come down."

"No!"

Su Wanning immediately spoke up.

But Su Xiao had already walked forward, taking off her coat and throwing it on the rocks on the shore.

Su Wan Ning quickly caught up, but it was too late.

With a "plop," he jumped into the river.

People on the shore noticed that someone had jumped in, causing a commotion.

Some people shouted, "Someone has gone into the water!", some turned their phone cameras around, and some even applauded.

The air was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Only Su Wan Ning stood still, her face as white as the first layer of frost that forms on Orange Isle in winter.

Her hand was still in the position of grabbing his arm, her fingers trembling slightly.

The moment Su Xiao jumped into the river, the water splashed very high.

The water of the Xiang River was colder than he had expected, a cold that pierced his bones like needles, stabbing from his feet all the way to his scalp.

He took a deep breath, regulated his breathing, and swam toward the boy.

The boy was still struggling, but he had no strength left and his body was sinking into the water.

Su Xiao went around behind him, put her arm around his armpits from behind, and lifted him up.

The boy seemed to have grasped at a last straw, and he clung to Su Xiao, almost dragging him into the water as well.

"Damn it! I was trying to help you, don't drag me down with you like a water ghost."

Startled, Su Xiao quickly adjusted her angle and leaned back to pull herself back.

The shore is getting closer and closer.

The faces of the people on the shore are now clearly visible.

The boy's mother knelt there, desperately reaching out her hands, while the crowd cheered and the sound of camera shutters clicking like a flock of sparrows.

Su Wan Ning stood at the front of the crowd, her hair blowing wildly in the wind, her lips moving as if counting how many meters he had swum.

Suddenly a wave crashed down.

It wasn't the kind of small waves that push in along the embankment; it was an undercurrent that came from the side, with a force as strong as if someone had kicked him underwater.

Su Xiao choked on a mouthful of water, and her body sank down for a moment.

He felt the boy in his arms sliding down, so he quickly lifted him up and, with his last bit of strength, raised the boy high and pushed him toward the shore.

The boy's mother screamed and plunged into the shallow water, grabbing her son in her arms.

A cheer and applause immediately erupted from the shore.

Su Wan Ning also rushed forward two steps, the water reaching above the soles of her shoes.

Su Xiao's head briefly floated on the surface of the water before sinking back down.

Her pupils contracted sharply, as if something inside her had been ripped off.

The string that had been taut since the day of her parents' funeral, the shell she had been desperately holding up... shattered!

Su Wanning completely broke down and screamed out in a hoarse voice.

"elder brother!"