It was a sunny summer, and the old sounds of frogs and cicadas were still in my ears.
'Be careful, Chihiro.'
The gentle words came later. The girl turned her back to him, and the clear river water flowed by her feet, dispelling the scorching heat and bringing a hint of coolness, making her smile involuntarily.
When the girl was tired from playing, the kind figure picked her up and walked along the green river.
This scene is both heartwarming and nostalgic.
"Who is it?"
Qianxun looked at the two figures, one large and one small. She felt that he was very familiar, but she could not remember his identity.
As if he was a very important person.
Then suddenly, it was gone.
One day, he disappeared from her world and left her forever.
"Crash!"
Suddenly, the scene changed, and Qianxun felt like she had fallen into the cold river water. The suffocation was like darkness, swallowing her up bit by bit.
She doesn't know where this is.
Is it a dream?
The extremely real dream, just like what happened in the past, reappeared in her body.
'It hurts.'
'Who can come and save me...'
She kept shouting in her heart, but the girl's consciousness became increasingly blurred.
At this moment, a hand reached into the water and grabbed the girl.
'Chihiro!'
It was that gentle figure again. He hugged himself and struggled with all his strength in the rushing river.
And when she regained consciousness, all she could hear were people's comments and the woman's heartbreaking cries.
'Chihiro?'
"Chihiro!!"
The same voice as the crying woman came, waking up the sleeping girl. She opened her eyes in panic: "Mom?"
"Are you awake? You can eat now."
When Ogino Yuko saw Chihiro waking up, she subconsciously looked away and did not look at her daughter.
"Mother."
Qianxun thought of the previous dream, that gentle and kind figure that made her feel extremely familiar, but then disappeared.
Was he a childhood playmate?
Or, a relative’s child?
But why doesn't she remember anything?
It was obviously such an important thing, but because of the child's forgetfulness, extremely precious memories were lost.
But my mother should know.
If it was someone she met as a child and had so much fun with her, then she would definitely not forget it.
"I just had a dream about playing by the river..."
Chihiro told her mother about her dream, but the latter became distracted from the moment she mentioned 'riverside'.
It wasn't until Qianxun finished recounting this dream that was like a real memory that her mother stood up as if she had just woken up from a dream, then trembled and covered her mouth.
There were tears in her eyes, but she didn't say anything, she just turned around and left calmly.
"Mother?"
Qianxun was at a loss, she didn't know what she said wrong.
The Ogino family has a very good relationship, and her parents love Chihiro very much.
Because Qianxun got to know Gu Yun when he was a child, and with the secret help of the latter and the Iijima family, Ogino Akio's career has flourished, and now he has become a senior executive of a medium-sized company.
The Ogino family took this opportunity to enter the upper class, and Ogino Yuko was also very busy, dealing with wealthy ladies all day long to provide support to her husband.
Although Qianxun is not smart enough, he studies very hard.
Chihiro's dream is to become a teacher, just like Mr. Sanae, to get involved with students and create precious childhood memories for them.
After graduating from the famous Sakura Manting Elementary School, the girl successfully entered a private girls' school that integrated middle school and high school.
This school has a very high college entrance rate, and the deviation value of the high school department is among the best among many private schools.
Of course, school tuition is also very expensive.
However, given the current financial situation of the Ogino family, this tuition fee is nothing at all.
"Mother!"
Qianxun got up from the bed and quickly got dressed.
Downstairs, Ogino Yuko was nestling in her husband's arms. She couldn't help sobbing because Chihiro's words reminded her of a painful memory that she didn't want to remember.
"Yeah?"
Ogino Akio is tall and put on weight because he socializes with people all year round.
But at this moment, facing his wife's pain, Ogino Akio held her in his arms forcefully: "It's okay, it's all over. The matter of the child."
"But, but Qianxun..."
Ogino Yuko didn't blame Chihiro for suddenly talking about that person. She did it unintentionally and it was an honest mistake.
But even so, Ogino Yuko has been unable to face Chihiro for so many years.
Although Yuko loves her daughter deeply and cares deeply about her growth.
But every time Chihiro looked at her, Ogino Yuko would subconsciously look away, not daring to look into her daughter's eyes.
Because she was afraid of revealing her feelings, and also worried about seeing another person in Qianxun's eyes.
"Qianxun has grown up."
"But…"
Yuko refused because she thought Chihiro was too young and was afraid she wouldn't be able to bear it.
"Teacher Iijima once said that when Chihiro asks about him, we must tell her the truth."
The Ogino couple encountered a supernatural incident in high school, and just like the Totori Yu family, they were lucky enough to meet Iijima Snail, who was out collecting stories and looking for inspiration.
With the help of the snail, the couple got over the difficulty.
Many years later, the Ogino couple lost an important person due to an accident.
In the midst of self-blame and pain, the two found Snail and asked him for help.
'I have already seen that child.'
I still remember what the snail said to them at that time: 'In our country, people who sacrifice their lives for others can become gods.'
'so…'
'Don't cry for him, the last thing the gods want to see is human tears.'
As for Qianxun's question, Snail added: 'When this child takes the initiative to ask about that person one day, just tell her.'
'This child,' Snail stroked the sleeping girl's head, 'is stronger than you think.'
"Dad, mom?"
Qianxun came down from the stairs and saw her mother who seemed to have just cried and her father who still looked solemn: "What happened?"
"Chihiro."
Ogino Akio thought about it again and again, but finally chose to follow the snail's instructions.
The old man saved the lives of the couple. He was the person that the Ogino couple admired the most, and they firmly believed in his words.
"You have grown up, and it is time to tell you some things."
"???"
Qianxun was very confused. She just had a strange dream and said a few words to her mother after waking up.
From a girl's perspective, this is a very normal thing.
Which child has never told his parents about his nightmares and dreams? Qianxun doesn't quite understand why his parents are so serious, as if the sky is falling and his parents want to take him to escape.
However the fact is...
"Oh, Ni-chan..."
Brother, Qianxun never knew that she was not alone.
Her parents have one child, and she has an older brother.
"he…"
"thousand."
Chihiro’s older brother is called Ogino Chi.
That's right, it was Chihiro's new name after her name was taken away by Yubaba - Qian.
In Japanese pronunciation, Chihiro Ogino should be pronounced ogino chihiro, while Chihiro Ogino is ogino senn.
"Then, where is he?!"
Qianxun thought of a possibility. In her dream, she struggled in the water.
It was he who rescued himself from the water.
The voice of the crying woman in the dream coincided with that of his mother, so the answer is self-evident.
He is dead.
Her brother died, in order to save her...
"He is, brother"
The previous dreams kept reappearing in my mind at this moment, with gentle embraces and kind calls.
"Click, click."
Tears couldn't stop falling from Qianxun's face. She couldn't accept it, especially the cause of her brother's death. He lost his life trying to save herself.
Self-blame, uneasiness, pain and regret, all kinds of emotions came to my mind.
"Chihiro?"
"Chihiro!"
The girl ran upstairs and locked herself in the room. She didn't know how to face this fact.
The memories of childhood have become blurry, but as his parents mentioned it again, the image of a young boy became clearer.
The other person is about the same age as himself now, a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old.
He is very gentle and pampers himself very much.
But suddenly one day, the other person disappeared from her world.
Perhaps because of the pain, Chihiro subconsciously forgot everything about the other person.
"Qianxun, come out."
Mother knocked on the door gently: "It's all over."
Chihiro did not lock the door, but Ogino Yuko did not dare to open the door and go in for fear of overstimulating her daughter.
"I killed my brother!"
Chihiro's shout came from behind the door, and she remembered everything.
It had just rained that day and the sky cleared up. She had to go to the river to play, so she accidentally fell into the rushing river.
In order to save her, her brother jumped into the water desperately and tried his best to lift her out of the water.
Finally, the two were rescued by villagers who arrived.
Qianxun survived, but her brother lost his life forever after resuscitation failed.
"It's all my fault, it's all me..."
Listening to her daughter's self-blame, the last entanglement in Ogino Yuko's heart completely disappeared.
She knew it, she knew it early on.
This had nothing to do with Qianxun. She did not intentionally kill her brother.
But after so many years, Ogino Yuko still couldn't face Chihiro. She was always afraid that she would link her son's death to Chihiro.
However, at this moment, feeling her daughter's pain, Ogino Yuko blamed herself more and more: 'What on earth am I thinking? Chihiro is obviously the most painful.'
The reason why the couple did not dare to tell Qianxun the truth was because they were afraid that she would blame herself for her brother's death and blame herself for the rest of her life.
"Huh~~"
Ogino Yuko took a deep breath. She opened the door and saw her daughter curled up in the corner of the bed.
For a moment, feeling distressed and remorseful, Ogino Yuko hugged Chihiro without waiting for her to speak.
"sorry."
"Qianxun, I'm sorry."
Ogino Yuko kept apologizing, which left Chihiro at a loss.
It was clearly her fault, so why did the mother have to apologize?
"Chihiro!"
Suddenly, Ogino Yuko raised her head and looked directly into her daughter's eyes for the first time in more than ten years.
These are such simple and beautiful eyes.
He actually hadn't looked at her squarely for ten years.
"Let's go meet your brother."
"Go back to the countryside," Ogino Yuko's words were like a ray of light, opening up Chihiro's painful heart: "Say goodbye to him!"