Ch5 - “Gege doesn’t need work, doesn’t need to be tired, Hania will raise Gege!”

Morel didn’t dare to sleep with his didi. When his didi fell asleep, he sat on the floor and fell asleep leaning against the wall. 

At midnight, his symptoms seemed to worsen!

He was covered in sweat. In one moment it was like he was locked in an icehouse, and in the next, it felt like he had stepped into a volcano. When he was hot, he would pour cold water over himself, and when he was cold, his entire body trembled and he wrapped himself with a towel, his lips cracked and purple. Sometimes he couldn’t bear it anymore and scratched his skin. The itchy lumps had already grown into painful tumors and were black with foul blood oozing slowly from it…”

At times, he couldn’t resist the urge to kill himself with the dagger…at least it would be better than being tormented to death like this, bit by bit!

But in the moments where his pain ebbed, he would look at his didi sleeping soundly on the bed and feel ashamed for the thought that flashed through his mind. 

No! He can’t fall no matter what, at least not now…

If he died, what about his didi?

Hania was only 7, how would he survive? Would he be sent into an orphanage? He knew how pitiful the children there were! He didn’t want his didi to be like them…

He pushed himself up and step by step, walked outside.

He must hurry…he felt more and more strongly that for him, even sleeping was a wasteful luxury!

In the dead of night, a 12-year-old boy walked into the plaza and tore down the advertisements covered in fly shit from the wall.

On the second day, he received the help of a kind person and picked out the advertisements relating to boarding schools from the pile. Then the moment the book shop opened, he went inside and flipped through the French-English dictionary with shaking hands, studying those advertisements with care.

He only returned to the hotel at 10 o’clock. 

The moment he opened the door, his didi ran out from inside!

“Gege, where did you go??”

“I was reading some books…Hania, why didn’t you eat the bread I left on the table? Were you not hungry?”

“I wanted to eat with gege…Gege are you alright, your face is so pale!” 

Morel sighed; he was too tired.

He felt like his head was going to explode. He sat down in a chair, placed the advertisements on the table, and rested for a long time before feeling a little better. His voice was somewhat hoarse, “It was just cold outside…Gege is fine.”

Suddenly, he felt something warm around his neck…

Morel reflexively dodged away! 

But when he raised his head, he saw that Hania’s eyes were round with fear, “Why are there black things on gege’s neck…”

Morel tightly rewrapped the scarf around his neck and scoldingly told his didi to go wash his hands. His brows are scrunched and he said with impatience, “It’s just some dirt I got on myself by accident. In the future, you are not allowed to touch me!”

Hania finished washing his hand and was silent. He sat on the far edge of the bed, his head down and his back turned to his gege.

Neither spoke to each other for a long time. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Ktf qjqfgr kfgf abb ygluta…la kjr abb ygluta…atf kbgvr kfgf mgjkilcu ilxf rqlvfgr!

Morel strenuously massaged his temples. He composed himself for a moment and tried his best to appear happy, saying with a smile, “Hania…I heard that there’s a very good boarding school in this town. There’ll be bread, milk, and cheese for you to eat and drink every day, and the teachers there will teach you French, Latin, and theology, and there will be children from different parts of the world…they’ll be around your age…isn’t that great? Hania, gege will send you there…what do you say?”

Ljclj ralii vlvc’a rqfjx, yea tlr rwjii rtbeivfg kbeiv rtjxf ogbw alwf ab alwf. 

Zbgfi mbeivc’a rff la; ijguf vgbqr bo afjgr tjv ibcu vgfcmtfv Ljclj’r ugjs mbiijg.

He continued to say, “I found several places today that seems quite nice. There’s an English Arts Boarding School located in the southwest and they teach you to play the violin there. The slightly further one is the Milan Boarding School, which focuses more on theology, and the closest one is the Pérouse Academy, although it’s a bit costly, but…”

Hania’s voice was barely audible, but it made his gege freeze.

“Are you sick?” 

Morel stared at him with a blank look, not having processed the situation.

Hania turned around and Morel realized that his didi had been crying all along and was a hideous mess.

Hania used his sleeves to wipe his tears. His blue eyes were stubborn and unwilling. He tried his best to suppress his sobbing, but his voice still cut off intermittently, “Gege, you’re sick, aren’t you! That’s why you don’t want Hania anymore? Hania isn’t stupid…Hania doesn’t want to go to the boarding school, we don’t have the money to begin with…”

He couldn’t hold back anymore and started wailing! 

Morel was stupefied, he didn’t know what to do…he had no idea that his didi was aware of everything! Hania rushed over and hugged Morel’s waist. No matter how Morel tried to push him off, he refused to let go!

“Gege, don’t leave me…hic, hic…Hania can’t be without gege!! Hania doesn’t want to go to boarding school…Gege, you should use the money to treat your illness!”

Morel used all of his strength to push Hania away, “Hania, gege is doing this for your own good. Gege’s illness is contagious…if you touch gege, you might also…”

“Hania isn’t afraid of dying!” 

For Morel and Hania, this was the darkest period of their life.

But even when they were afraid, there was a beautiful feeling alive in their hearts.

Their bonds as brothers, the feeling of relying on each other, it was the healing balm for their young but scar-riddled hearts.

But Morel had already made up his mind. 

He wasn’t as naive as his didi. He knew there was already no hope for him, but he couldn’t drag his didi down with him.

He secretly decided on a school.

Pérouse Academy. It wasn’t the best school, but he felt the most assured leaving his didi there. The academy was located near Yucca Park in the Perrou Plaza, it was close, had a beautiful environment, a sound reputation, and a steady number of applicants each year. His didi could learn French and fine arts there.

The tuition was steep, costing 100 francs a year. Morel didn’t have that much money, but he would find a way. 

He went to the pawnshop and took out the necklace he had kept hidden away, carefully handing it to the old man with a hawk nose. The old man scrunched his brows and looked it over with a magnifying glass.

He took out a small lamp and shone it over the olive-colored stone with a rhombus shape.

The olive-colored stone actually began to turn red! Its color grew darker and darker until it was scarlet, its luster shining like blood, or a red lotus, gradually spreading within the clear stone like it was blossoming.

The old man quickly called over his assistant and the two whispered with each other for a moment. 

He then gave the stone to the assistant.

He turned to Morel and smiled, “Little brother, the quality of your ruby isn’t bad. I’ve always been an honest businessman and won’t trick a little kid like you. Your stone, yes…it’s worth 500 francs. So, are you willing to sell it?”

Morel was overjoyed. 500 francs, it was enough for his didi to study at the boarding school for 5 years!

5 years… 

At that time, he would be the same age as he is now and should have graduated…

At that time, he would already learned how to survive and wouldn’t suffer any losses.

“I’m selling!” Morel’s voice was firm.

The old man very straightforwardly gave him a pouch of gold, and Morel carried it carefully in his arms. He exited the shop. 

Naive Morel, did he know when he walked out the door, just how excited the people of the black-hearted shop were?!

They had been doing this business for so many years, but this was their first time seeing such a valuable gem!

How was this an ordinary ruby?!

It was clearly an ice blood lotus with only a few present in the world! Such gemstones were formed by human blood; they were refined by the heavens, forming only on the icy peaks after countless coincidences and were extremely rare! Even a small piece of it would cost a fortune. As for a piece large enough to make a pendant, its value simply couldn’t be measured in francs. Even kings may not have such a priceless treasure. 

And they got it from a kid for only 500 francs! It felt like they were dreaming!

Poor Morel didn’t know any of this.

Even though blood appeared in his urine today, he was still in a great mood. He took his didi out of the hotel and told him cheerfully that he had gone to the doctor just now. The doctor gave him some medicine and he was already much better.

His didi was overjoyed upon hearing this. 

He was like a little monkey, running around Morel in circles.

Morel felt like he could hang on a little longer. He took his brother and they ate in a restaurant for the first time. He let his didi order whatever he wanted. The two ate chicken wings, fruit salads, cream bread, baked potatoes, and Yorkshire puddings…

In reality, Morel only ate a little because the moment he took a bite, he would feel nauseous and the fishy taste of blood filled his mouth.

He sat quietly in his seat and watched his didi eat with a smile. 

Wave after wave of sharp pain stabbed his head and the tumors covering his entire body hurt so, so much…to the point that he felt numb.

“Gege, why are you not eating?” Hania asked, his mouth covered in oil.

“Gege is full.”

“So fast? Gege’s appetite is so small!” 

“Hania is still growing and should eat more. If you eat more…you’ll become tall in the future.”

Hania’s eyes were bright, “Will Hania be as tall as gege?”

Morel thought about it, “You’ll be taller than gege…much taller…”

“Really?” 

Hania was so happy that he jumped up from his seat.

“Yes.” Morel reached out his hand that was wearing a sterile glove and picked up a napkin to wipe his didi’s mouth.

His eyes inadvertently saw his own wrist and he froze.

Because black blood had trickled down his arm and gathered at his wrist; like a snake’s imprint, like death’s footsteps. 

He retracted his hand, maintaining the smile on his face, and his didi didn’t notice anything wrong.

He pulled his scarf tighter, knowing those terrifying things would eventually crawl up to his face.

His didi continued to laugh happily, his curls sticking out on his head, and his pale-colored eyes looked beautiful, “When Hania is taller than gege, Hania can carry gege up the mountains when gege is tired. And when gege falls asleep on the chair, Hania can carry gege onto the bed…Hania can be like how gege is now, cooking for gege, mending gege’s clothes, wiping gege’s body, taking care of gege! Hania can also go out to make money. Hania will make lots and lots of money and buy lots and lots of bread and milk so gege will never go hungry…”

Morel listened to him quietly and his nose soured. 

He forgot about the pain wracking his body, but a stab of pain came from his heart instead.

Hania’s voice seemed to be making an oath, “Hania will polish shoes and sell flowers instead of gege. Gege only has to wait at home for Hania to return! Gege doesn’t need work, doesn’t need to be tired, Hania will raise Gege!

“You dummy, what are you saying.”

Morel’s voice was very quiet, like sunlight disturbing the dust. 

Hania ignored his gege’s words. He was completely immersed in his beautiful vision of the future and was smiling sweetly.

His entire person was like the meaning of his name, full of happiness, and the image was deeply etched into Morel’s mind.

The birds in the plaza took flight, their shadows passing over the restaurant’s light blue curtains, and the faint scent of roses blew in through the cracks of the window.

Morel looked at his didi with a peaceful expression. 

The sunlight shone on him and his jade-colored eyes were nearly transparent. They were full of meanings that Hania didn’t understand.

As Hania continued to battle with the food, Morel tilted his head and two streams of tears escaped from his eyes.

Hania, Gege also wants to go to the future that you speak of!
　
But sorry…Gege can’t see it anymore.