Chapter 271: Just Let Me Be Your Brother

Jane Lancaster was dreaming again.

In her dream, she was back in that beautiful courtyard, sitting under the drafty eaves and playing the erhu.

The wind was bone-chilling, and her fingers were stiff with cold, but she had to keep drawing the bow across the strings, over and over.

The scent of food drifted over, and her stomach felt like it was on fire. She was hungry, cold, and exhausted, yet she forced herself to sit up straight, to appear proper and dignified.

She could sense the others’ contempt and disdain for her father, which made her even more determined to act properly and not bring him shame.

When she finished a piece, someone came out from inside and asked, "Why aren’t you smiling?"

She gently lowered her bow and asked politely, "Sir, why must I smile?"

The erhu’s tone is inherently melancholic. Even with an upbeat piece like "Horse Racing," it expresses soaring passion and vigorous life, not laughter.

Besides, if you’re here to listen to music, you should focus on the music itself, not whether the performer is smiling.

The man was taken aback. But then another voice piped up from the side, "You’re here begging for help, how dare you wear such a long face?"

It was a boy, slightly older than her, with rosy lips and pearly teeth. His frame was long and lean, and a cunning light shone in his eyes.

Thinking he knew it all, he looked up at the man with a fawning smile and said, "Sir, I’m very good at smiling when I dance. Would you like to see?"

The man eyed the boy with a playful, cruel amusement. "Then dance for us. But you have to wear the outfit we provide."

When the clothes were brought out, both the boy and Jane Lancaster froze.

It was an excessively revealing dance costume, accompanied by a long wig.

Even a child could sense the malice and wrongness of it all.

The man laughed wickedly. "Hurry up and change, then put on the makeup. If you dance well, we’ll solve all your family’s problems."

The boy gritted his teeth, but his expression quickly shifted into a sycophantic smile. "Of course, sir. I’ll wear it. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied."

The boy danced well. The man stood to the side, directing him on how to smile, and he smiled just so. Whatever move the man ordered, he performed.

Jane Lancaster stood aside, clutching her erhu, watching the farce unfold before her in confusion. Then she felt an intense gaze upon her.

From inside the house, someone had been watching them the entire time.

It was a gaze full of malice and greed, licking over her like a viper’s tongue.

Jane Lancaster’s heart felt like it had been struck by a heavy blow. Though still too young to understand why, she instinctively sensed the danger.

The boy’s performance earned him approval. The man invited him inside to eat and warm up.

The problems his family was facing would now be easily resolved.

From the outer courtyard, separated only by a wall, came the ecstatic voice of a middle-aged man. After being reminded, he reined in his excitement and told his son to be obedient.

The boy shot Jane Lancaster a triumphant grin. "See? You only get to eat if you’re obedient. Since you’re not, you and your dad can just keep starving and freezing together!"

Jane Lancaster instinctively grabbed the boy’s wrist, but he mercilessly slapped her hand away.

She watched the boy’s retreating back, a voice screaming in her mind, ’Run! Don’t go into that house! Don’t be obedient, don’t smile!’

...

Jane Lancaster woke up with violent heart palpitations. Outside, the sky was still pitch black.

She got out of her warm room and went to the terrace. There, she sat on a cold chair, hugging her knees and staring at the dim yellow streetlights in the yard.

She was afraid of the dark.

In the original owner’s memories, there were countless nights spent fleeing a dark house, only to sit under a streetlight from dusk until the first light of dawn.

Until the day her eldest brother found her sitting in the courtyard.

The young man had gently extended his hand, pulling her out of her lonely fear.

Because of that one act, she had sided with her eldest brother unconditionally, supporting him and helping him even when it was to her own detriment.

From the very beginning, her father had warned her that her eldest brother’s affection had an ulterior motive, telling her not to be so easily fooled.

But what did that matter?

Even if that affection was wrapped in self-interest and calculation, he was still her brother.

They were connected by blood, bound by the deepest familial tie in the world, one that no one could ever sever.

So, whatever her eldest brother wanted, she would do her best to help him achieve it.

[What are you thinking about?] Sys couldn’t help but ask.

Her thoughts were too chaotic to read at the moment, likely because of the dream she’d had.

Jane Lancaster snapped back to reality. "Oh, it’s you, Sys. You scared me, popping up like that. I thought you were a ghost."

Sys: [...]

Jane Lancaster recounted the dream and then asked, "Is this a real memory from the original owner?"

Before the control console, the Black-Haired Oracle remained silent.

Aethelgard had captured that planet’s timeline after this event had occurred. The past could not be revisited or observed, so he couldn’t give her a definitive answer.

[It should be,] he finally said softly after a long pause.

Fortunately, the voice was processed by the system, so the mechanical tone betrayed no emotion.

Since she was having the same dream repeatedly, it was very likely one of her past memories.

Jane Lancaster suddenly gave a faint smile. "So it really did happen."

That smile was like the moon in the water or a flower in the mist—impossibly beautiful, yet ethereal and distant, as if it would vanish in the blink of an eye.

The Black-Haired Oracle’s hand clenched into a fist. He felt a gentle pang in his chest, as if something had taken a small bite out of his heart.

"Sys, did you know? My family was very poor when I was little. That’s why I swore I’d make lots and lots of money so I’d never have to suffer from being poor again." Perhaps because the night was so long and quiet, the disturbed young woman couldn’t calm down and felt an urge to confide in someone.

"After my father suffered a setback, all he knew how to do was hide and drink, using alcohol to wallow in his past glory, refusing to wake up. I had to leave home and busk on the streets to earn money."

"Sometimes I’d run into bad-tempered adults who would tease me and not even give me a single cent. Other times, I’d encounter kids at tourist spots, and they would bully me even more."

The evil of children is innocent and cruel. Once they knew she had no one to back her up, they bullied her with ever-increasing intensity.

They would steal her money, splash water on her, ruin her clothes and her erhu, and even try to push her into the river.

Half the fights in her life were fought back then.

That was when she discovered that all the etiquette and civility her parents had taught her were useless. They weren’t nearly as effective as her fists.

Jane Lancaster lowered her gaze, her voice soft. "If we had the choice, who wouldn’t want to be a little princess, to always be graceful, elegant, and picture-perfect?"

The Black-Haired Oracle looked down at her beautiful profile, his fingertips slowly curling.

"Back then, I often thought about how wonderful it would be to have an older brother. He would protect me from being bullied."

The Black-Haired Oracle was silent for a long time before he slowly said, [If it were possible...]

He suddenly stopped. ’If it were possible... what?’

’Your brothers all abandoned you. They aren’t worth it.’

’If it were possible... let me be your brother.’

Just as the words were about to slip out, his reason returned, suppressing what he was about to say.