Reunited after eight years: the older girl he adored in his youth!

Chen Lin stood rooted to the spot.

It was her.

Sister Xiaoyue.

Eight years.

Time seemed to have favored her, leaving no marks of hardship on her face.

But those eyes had lost their light.

She kept her head lowered, her hands helplessly twisting the edges of her faded jeans. She seemed utterly disconnected from everything around her.

Li Xiaoyue.

Chen Lin felt a weight settle over his heart.

"Xiao Lin, these are the people I found to help out. How do you want to assign them?" Chen Guofu broke the silence with his booming voice, oblivious to his nephew's reaction.

Chen Lin snapped back to his senses.

He forced down the emotions surging inside him and, with difficulty, tore his gaze away from Li Xiaoyue to look at the other unfamiliar women.

"Hello, aunties. I'm Chen Lin."

He managed a reasonably composed smile. "Thank you all in advance for your work in the kitchen. Aunt Zhang will assign your specific duties. Your pay and benefits will match hers and the others', if not better."

The women immediately beamed and chimed in with eager agreement.

Chen Lin sent the other five aunties to familiarize themselves with the kitchen. Soon, only he and Li Xiaoyue remained in the courtyard.

"What... what should I do?"

Her voice was so soft that she seemed afraid of disturbing even the dust, and it carried an uncontrollable tremor.

Chen Lin's heart lurched again.

He turned back to Li Xiaoyue.

Her head was still lowered, but she seemed to have mustered all the courage she possessed just to ask that question.

In the summer afternoon, the cicadas shrilled themselves hoarse, their cries setting his nerves on edge.

The two of them stood there without speaking.

An awkwardness and heaviness hung in the air, almost suffocating.

Finally, Chen Lin spoke first.

His voice was dry and rough, as though sandpaper had scraped his throat.

"Sister Xiaoyue!"

Her name was like a rusty key, prying open a door that had long been sealed.

Behind that door was the girl in a white dress, walking step by step into the depths of the reservoir.

The girl he had dragged from the icy water onto the bank, her body cold, without a trace of breath.

And the girl who, under his clumsy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, had coughed up her first mouthful of water, warmth finally returning to her lips.

"Little brother, you shouldn't have saved me."

"If you die, the water ghost will drag me down to take your place. Don't do that to me."

With the most absurd excuse, the boy had persuaded that soul bent on death to stay.

From that day on, she had been his fairy-like older sister, the girl at the heart of every hazy, beautiful adolescent dream.

He had been her savior, the only ray of light that had dared shine into her dark life.

Until, two years later, her husband, who had cerebral palsy, died in an accidental fall.

Her vicious in-laws accused her of bringing about his death, confined her to their home, and forced her to remain a widow for the rest of her life.

Later, Chen Lin went to the city to study, and they lost touch completely.

The tide of memories receded.

Looking at the woman before him, her head lowered, afraid even to meet his eyes, Chen Lin was overwhelmed by conflicting emotions.

He spoke softly.

"Sister Xiaoyue, it's been a long time..."

Li Xiaoyue's fingers twisted the hem of her clothes so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

She slowly lifted her head. Her eyes, once bright as stars, now seemed veiled beneath a thick layer of dust, filled with exhaustion and the scars of life.

"Xiao Lin... it's been... a long time."

It took Chen Lin a while to fully pull himself free of his tangled thoughts.

Seeing Li Xiaoyue standing there so helplessly, as though the world might abandon her at any moment, something deep inside him softened completely.

"Sister Xiaoyue, you went to college. From now on, you can manage my accounts."

Chen Lin's voice was quiet, but it held a certainty that brooked no refusal.

At his words, Li Xiaoyue jerked her head up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She waved both hands frantically and shook her head so hard it seemed ready to fall off.

"Xiao Lin! No, I can't! I never even finished college! And it's been almost ten years. I've forgotten everything! I can't do it!"

Chen Lin ignored her objections, his attitude firm.

"I believe in you."

"Ten thousand a month, with a bonus at the end of the year."

He remembered perfectly well that Li Xiaoyue had majored in accounting.

Although she had dropped out in her sophomore year, someone as bright as her was more than capable of handling the accounts for his little farmstay.

A monthly salary of ten thousand was an astronomical sum in this tiny village.

If he paid her too much, he feared the others would gossip, which would only make things worse for her.

There would be plenty of time to give her a raise once the farmstay grew.

Li Xiaoyue still tried to refuse, her eyes reddening with anxiety. "Xiao Lin, I really can't do it. You should find a professional. I don't want you to lose money because of me..."

That hopeless marriage and eight years of confinement had worn away all her assertiveness.

Perhaps her decision to walk into that icy reservoir had been the bravest thing she had ever done.

Chen Lin settled the matter outright.

"That's settled! If I say you can do it, you can!"

Watching her hands continue to twist her clothes nervously, with nowhere else to rest, Chen Lin had an idea and called out in his mind.

Clear Wind, Bright Moon!

"Meow~"

Two white shapes shot out of the house like arrows loosed from a bow.

Two sweet little-girl voices sounded in Chen Lin's mind at the same time.

[Master~]

[Master, give me a cuddle!]

Chen Lin gave them a meaningful "look," and the two kittens understood at once.

With graceful feline steps, they walked over to Li Xiaoyue's feet. One gently rubbed its fluffy head against her trouser leg, while the other promptly flopped onto the ground, exposing its soft, snow-white belly and letting out a sugary-sweet meow.

"Meow~"

Li Xiaoyue had never seen kittens so attuned to people. She stared, utterly captivated.

Instinctively, she crouched down and tentatively reached out to stroke Clear Wind's head.

The silky fur and warm body felt like a faint current flowing through her fingertips, instantly soothing her taut nerves.

She began carefully playing with the two kittens. At last, for the first time in eight years, a faint, heartfelt smile appeared on that face so often clouded by gloom.

Though it vanished in an instant, it was like a glimmer of light piercing the dense fog that enveloped her.

Watching them, Chen Lin let out a soft breath of relief.

Sure enough, cats were a cure for everything.