74 Reason and Rationality, Meet Child

Qi Qing knew that she was being petty, subjecting Ming Cheng to a prolonged hug, but the older boy deserved it for making her twin cry.

She knew that Ming Cheng was aware of what her brother was going through, and that his tears and sobs were genuine, rationalising then that the other deserved this lengthy hug in revenge for the damage that he had inflicted.

It wasn't Ming Cheng's fault that he had lived a terrible life, no matter what some of the elder generations and the priests spoke of, blaming the street children for their own poor circumstances as all part of karma and that they had done something terrible to be living this particular lot in life, either back when they were too young to know any better or for their past lives that they had no control over in this life.

It wasn't really Ming Cheng's fault that her brother had cried so quickly and reacted so badly, the other boy not at all knowing about the circumstances of her twin brother's life and role, but at the same time, to see her other half of the set that they were crying and blaming himself, again, for something that he had no control over, almost broke her heart once more.

Qi Qing knew that she was being silly and vindictive, but her brother truly deserved this, the opportunity to, for once, cry out all his emotions like the little boy that he was, like the younger brother that he was, and to finally get at least some of it out of his system and into the world.

Her cry baby brother was such a ridiculously sensitive child, not at all seeing the situation as what it truly was, and making such grandiose and impossible promises that would be impossible to keep for a regular person, let alone a person who hallucinated sounds and noises in the forms of memories that were long gone in a past that always seemingly lurking around and behind every corner, ready to spring up out of the shadows of the closed doors, from underneath window sills, and always encroaching and creeping around each and every street corner, always one step too close and one step behind.

Qi Qing could not help the rush of satisfaction that flowed through her, seeing Ming Cheng squirming within the arms of her family, Qi Tao not at all stopping anytime soon with the sobs and tears, and little A-Yuan, his tiny, sticky hands gripping onto Ming Cheng's clothing in determined little fists that clutched tighter than a blacksmith's vice.

She, of course as well, held on close, grabbing at Ming Cheng's arms, and wondered when she would get to be able to call him A-Cheng.

It would probably a glorious, joyous day when she could do so, with birds flying high in the clear blue sky as the sun beamed down at them, conveying a warmth and heat that was not at all boiling, but was not cool, the perfect saccharine and sweet temperature that satisfied them all.

It would be a happy day when Ming Cheng accepted them as family.