Su Ling lay in bed, his body cradled in the other woman’s arms. Gu Qingyuan’s breathing was steady, and she seemed to have already fallen asleep, but he found himself unable to drift off. He didn’t want to go abroad, yet he couldn’t find a reason to stay, even if staying were an option. His father and mother didn’t want him anymore, and now even his Elder Sister had abandoned him. Everything he had here was gone.
‘But…’ Su Ling glanced at Gu Qingyuan. ‘Is it really okay to follow a demon like this?’
‘No.’ The answer surfaced in his mind almost instantly. But he couldn’t escape…
“Go to sleep, or you won’t have any energy tomorrow,” Gu Qingyuan said softly, stroking his head. She had woken up at some point without him noticing.
Su Ling obediently closed his eyes, and immediately felt her pull him into a tighter embrace. He didn’t dare struggle; he could only lie to himself in his heart. ‘I’m just being hugged by a dog.’ Gu Qingyuan slept peacefully, completely unaware that in the heart of the person in her arms, she had been silently relegated to the status of a dog. The little thing had a milky scent mixed with the sweet fragrance of fruit, which felt very comforting. She unconsciously cleared her mind and body, becoming intoxicated by it.
The next day, Su Ling opened his eyes groggily and realized he was already in a car. Was he leaving just like that? In his imagination, they would have gotten up today, packed properly, eaten breakfast, and then set off. Instead, he woke up to find himself already on the road.
“Awake?”
Su Ling remained silent and did not respond.
“What, you don’t want to leave?”
Su Ling bit his lip. His heart was filled with both entanglement and pain; he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to leave, even if nothing related to him remained here. This was the place where he had grown up, and following her would definitely not end well. He didn’t want to be treated like a pet, didn’t want to crawl on the ground to eat with his mouth, and especially didn’t want…
“You don’t want to go? Do you think I’ll let you? I can tell you quite clearly—I won’t! To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that the collar on your neck can’t be removed, I would have put one on you myself!”
Su Ling’s body stiffened, and he slowly raised his head. What did she mean when she said the collar on his neck couldn’t be removed?
Gu Qingyuan noticed the change in the little thing through the rearview mirror. Her brow furrowed slightly as she stepped hard on the brakes and then turned around to look at him.
“Come here!”
Su Ling snapped back to his senses, startled by her sudden harsh tone. He didn’t understand why she was suddenly acting this way. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly crawled over.
“Sit here in the passenger seat!”
Su Ling didn’t understand what she was trying to do. He only hoped she wouldn’t hit him, and more importantly, that she wouldn’t force him to do things he was unwilling to do. Once Su Ling was settled, Gu Qingyuan restarted the car.
“Do you know why I called you over?”
Su Ling shook his head. ‘Who knows what kind of crazy mood she’s in now,’ he thought, his heart sinking.
“Was this collar put on you by your sister? Then she probably didn’t tell you that this collar can’t be removed, right?”
Hearing her mention the collar again, Su Ling nodded with a trace of hesitation in his expression. He dazedly stroked his collar. After his Elder Sister had put it on him, he had asked to take it off, but she had suddenly changed her mind and cried for a long time by herself. At the time, he felt terrible, thinking she had lied to him, and he had cried for a long time too. Thinking about it now, it wasn’t that his sister didn’t want to take it off; it was that she couldn’t.
“Once this collar is put on, it grows into your skin and flesh. Unless you die, it can never be removed! See, your sister didn’t love you that much. Putting this kind of collar on your neck… she wanted you to be her pet for the rest of your life! She made you her pet; she didn’t view you as a human being at all!”
Su Ling remained silent. He didn’t feel resentment toward his sister; instead, his heart felt complicated, filled with an indescribable emotion.
“What, you’re willing to be her pet, but not mine?”
Gu Qingyuan suddenly raised her hand. Thinking she was going to hit him, Su Ling’s body instinctively shrunk back.
“Hmm? I’m not hitting you, so why are you hiding? I just wanted to pat your head. Come here, lean your head over so I can pet it!”
Su Ling slowly extended his head, acting like an obedient puppy and letting her stroke him. However, behind his back, one small fist was already clenched tightly. Gu Qingyuan let out a light chuckle. Did this little thing think he was hiding it well? She glanced at the rearview mirror, seeing that clenched fist. She understood in her heart that this little thing was still disobedient and still needed to be properly trained to become more submissive.
“Alright, I’m done teasing you. If we get to the airport early, you might even see your sister!”
Gu Qingyuan withdrew her hand and started the car to continue driving forward. When Su Ling saw that she was no longer making any moves, he slowly leaned against the car door, his eyes staring out the window as he fell into a daze.
The car soon reached the airport. Su Ling’s legs were immobile. Just as he thought she would carry him to board the plane, she pulled a wheelchair directly from the trunk. She lifted him into the wheelchair and pushed him forward.
He glanced at Gu Qingyuan. She was wearing an oversized hoodie, a mask on her face, sunglasses over her eyes, and a round hat on her head, completely concealing herself. He was much the same, with the only difference being a blanket covering his legs.
During the rush to the plane, Su Ling remained silent, his eyes scanning the surroundings in hopes of seeing a certain person. But there was nothing. Even when they arrived at the boarding gate, that figure was nowhere to be found.
‘Elder Sister won’t show up…’ He thought this, yet he couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss. Even though she might despise him if she saw him, he still wanted to see her. What if… what if she didn’t look down on him and saved him?
But he waited until he stepped onto the plane and sat down in his seat, and he still hadn’t seen his sister.
“It seems the fate between you and your sister has reached its end. You didn’t even run into each other. I specifically checked her arrival time and timed it perfectly to bring you here. But it’s fine. It’s better if no one interrupts, isn’t it? That way, I can take you away in peace. Don’t look so gloomy; it makes you look very ugly, you know?”
The corners of Su Ling’s mouth barely pulled into a strained, unsightly curve. He didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh. He watched as the plane gradually soared into the clouds, yet he was powerless, forced to watch everything happen before his eyes.
‘Elder Sister, do you really not want me anymore?’
Tears fell one by one, and combined with the expression on his face, he looked even more miserable.
—
In the waiting hall below, a figure stood quietly in front of the glass, watching the plane take off. Ye Moran took a deep breath, turned around, and left the airport.