Miss Forensics – Chapter 131.2

The final battle (5)

Lin Ge examined the glass bottle for a while, only to belatedly come back to his senses, threw down his pen, and chased after her.

“Wait… wait for me! Where did you catch the butterflies?!”

The slightly chubby young Lin Ge, who had been wearing glasses since a young age, ran with a wheeze.

Lin Yan pointed to the backyard and said, “It’s right there, where there are many butterflies!”

The two of them ran around the garden with butterfly nets for the whole afternoon, and finally collapsed on the grass.

Lin Ge rested his head on his arm and lay down, saying, “It’s great that you came. Nobody used to play with me before.”

“No one used to play with me either.” Lin Yan, with dirty hands, watched the butterflies flutter around in the glass jar.

Lin Ge sat up, his eyes showing some excitement.

“Then let’s play together from now on. In spring, we can go catch butterflies, and in the summer, there’s a river in the woods. I wonder if there are fish there. My mom always doesn’t let me go over there…”

Lin Ge said, feeling a bit discouraged.

“But I haven’t finished my test paper yet. She won’t let me come out to play, even if I finish it…”

Mother Lin is always worried that he will get into some danger, not allowing him to run or jump. Even if there’s nothing wrong, the most entertainment he can have is staying at home watching cartoons.

At that time, Lin Yan didn’t understand the regret on his face. She watched the butterflies in the glass jar fluttering around but unable to fly out, feeling sorry for them.

So she said, “Let’s release it.”

Lin Ge nodded and took out his own jar. The two of them together unscrewed the lids, watching the butterflies flap their wings and fly into the sky. They cheered and enjoyed a pleasant day.

That night, Mother Lin found out that Lin Ge hadn’t finished his test paper and made him kneel in the living room.

Setting aside the plant specimen he had prepared for his mom, he obediently knelt down, head lowered and palms outstretched. Unexpectedly, a small figure rushed in from outside without a word and knelt down beside him.

Lin Ge was stunned, as was Mother Lin. After a moment, she set down the bamboo stick she was holding to punish him and lifted Lin Yan up, wiping her face clean with a handkerchief.

“Yanyan, you’ve been running around all day and haven’t eaten, right? Come on, Auntie will take you to eat something,” Mother Lin said as she carried Lin Yan in her arms.

Lin Yan nestled in her embrace, looking at Lin Ge kneeling on the ground. Lin Ge raised his thumb discreetly to indicate that he was okay.

As Mother Lin walked away with Lin Yan, leaving the large living room with just him alone, the little boy finally relaxed his straightened back, knelt on his own legs, and heaved a sigh.

Over those three years, the two of them grew up together. Lin Ge had gotten used to following the rules, while Lin Yan, although young, was full of creativity and always had fresh ideas in her head.

In spring, they picked flowers and caught butterflies. In summer, they went to the river to fish, catch cicadas, and chase crickets. In autumn, they collected white fruits hidden under the leaves of gingko trees. Lin Yan bit open one, her expression suddenly freezing, but she didn’t say anything.

Lin Ge eagerly looked at her, saying, “How is it, delicious?”

The child reached out her chubby hand and offered a handful, sweetly saying, “It’s delicious, brother, try it.”

Lin Ge impatiently peeled open several fruits and put them in his mouth, only to spit them out in disgust from the bitterness.

“You, Lin Yan, dare to trick me!”

Lin Yan had already disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Winter was her favorite season, not only because of the snowfall, allowing her to go outside to build snowmen and have snowball fights, but also because during the Chinese New Year, Auntie would give her lucky money, and Lin Youyuan would also come back.

Since the day they were reunited, the two of them had only met a few times in the past three years. The young Lin Yan had seen too many scenes of family reunions in cartoons and always held expectations for the role of a father.

On the day before New Year’s Eve, she was busy making her paper lantern. Lin Ge helped her create a lighting device with batteries and small light bulbs, carefully adding it inside. Her small hands held the scissors unsteadily as she gingerly cut the red paper.

Lin Ge was in charge of sticking the paper strips she cut onto the lantern.

“Lin Ge, do you think he will like it?”

“Yes, the lantern Lin Yan made is the most beautiful lantern in the world.”

On New Year’s Eve, he did indeed come. Lin Yan hid behind Auntie, clutching her leg, with the small lantern hidden behind her.

After Lin Youyuan checked Lin Ge’s homework and asked him a few questions, the young boy answered fluently.

Satisfied, he nodded and signaled the butler to give the red envelope. As Lin Ge took the red envelope and stepped back, he heard him calling her name.

Lin Yan hesitated as she walked up slowly, the word “Dad” still lingering unspoken. Seeing her hesitant and shy appearance, Lin Youyuan furrowed his brows slightly.

The small lantern that had been painstakingly made was naturally thrown into the trash under the pretext of being frivolous.

The next day, Lin Ge was teaching her to count ice popsicles, “One ice pop is 1, two ice popsicles are 2…”

Before he could finish, Butler Lin entered with a group of people, bowing.

“Young Master, following the orders of the Master, I’ll be taking the young lady home.”

Lin Ge was shocked, feeling a sudden strong sense of reluctance. Lin Yan had already been picked up by Butler Lin.

He followed her out, trailing behind from a distance, puffing up his cheeks and shouting loudly, “Yanyan, don’t be afraid, study well, big brother will come find you!”

That year, Lin Yan was six years old, and he was thirteen. After that, Mother Lin enrolled him in a winter study camp abroad, and throughout the whole winter break, he didn’t see her again.

When school started in the spring, after enduring until the end of the school day, Lin Ge quickly packed up his things, eagerly ran to the elementary school section to find her, only to see her being cornered by someone, subjected to a flurry of punches and kicks.

Lin Yan fought back, using her school bag to hit the boy, but she was pushed away. She fell to the ground, scattered books everywhere, as the boy slapped her.

“Where did this bastard come from, a despicable creature born of other people, also surnamed Lin, also studying in the same school as me, how dare you hit me!”

Surrounded by the group of boys and girls, Lin Yan hid her head, while Lin Ge, with a surge of resolve, rushed forward and shielded her protectively.

“Stop, Lin Cheng, she is your sister!”

Before the words had even finished, as if unable to hold back, Lin Cheng slapped his glasses off, the frame falling to the ground and the lenses shattering, causing his eye to swell.

With a disgruntled tone, Lin Cheng stopped, “What kind of sister is she? Just a bastard born of a wild woman. Lin Ge, if it weren’t for you, I would have beaten her to death today.”

The group dispersed like scattered birds and animals.

Without his glasses, he felt a little uncomfortable. He rubbed his eyes, crouched down to pick up the broken glasses frame, put it in his backpack, and turned to hold her hand.

“Let’s go, Yanyan, let’s go home.”

Lin Yan dragged her tattered school bag with the zipper open, and went with him like that.

After a while, she stopped in her tracks, her shadow elongated by the setting sun.

Lin Yan buried her head, a water stain falling on the ground.

“Brother, am I a bastard?”

Lin Ge was taken aback, squatting down, his expression gentle as he wiped away her tears.

“No, you’re not. Your name is Lin Yan, and you are my sister.”

At that moment, he may not have realized that his simple words had become a source of eternal warmth in her childhood.

Lin Yan’s appearance opened a window in Lin Ge’s troubled life, and Lin Ge brought the first ray of sunshine into her gloomy life.

Of course, if it weren’t for the events that followed, they might have been good siblings for a lifetime. However, since Lin Yan already knew the truth, she could no longer remain indifferent.

There was one thing she could never let go of.

Lin Yan gritted her teeth, and with difficulty, she uttered those two words, “Chu Nan…”

Lin Ge, who was kneeling on the ground, smiled slightly, lifted his head—the glasses frame askew, casting a sinister and cruel light through the lens.

“Do you want to know where she is? Haha… Guess for yourself.”

As if struck by a blow to the head, a bolt from the blue.

Lin Yan’s body swayed slightly, nearly collapsing to the ground. Her eyes reddened as she lunged forward, grabbing his collar tightly, pulling him back. With a bang, they collided with the shelf, causing bottles and cans to come crashing down on them.

Lin Yan roared, “It was you?!”

At this point, her voice still held a hint of disbelief.

Lin Ge smirked, “Yes, it was me. When I had just returned to the country, I found out that you were getting close to someone else. I wasn’t your only friend, your only good brother anymore, was I? You had her by your side, and I wasn’t happy. I admit I was jealous. When she died and you only had me left by your side, so I…”

“Shut up!” Lin Yan couldn’t bear it anymore. A surge of blood rushed to her head, her eyes were burning, and tears streamed down her face. She impulsively picked up the fallen dagger from the ground and ruthlessly plunged it towards his chest.

“For this kind of reason, what kind of messed-up and inexplicable reason is this? You targerted an innocent girl for this? Her life hasn’t even reached one-third! She had no future, no future at all, but you are still alive, living so well!”

Song Yuhang did not stop her outburst. She knew that saying these words out loud was better than keeping them inside. Just standing by and watching, she felt an endless sadness. How much pain must be in Lin Yan’s heart.

While Lin Ge had the ability to resist, he did not dodge. Instead, he slightly tilted his head, closed his eyes, and submitted himself to the strike.

He knew that Lin Yan could not bring herself to bring down the knife.

He understood her, not any less than Song Yuhang.

As expected, the sharp knife only went in an inch into his heart and couldn’t go any further. Lin Yan trembled all over, gritting her teeth, with only one thought in her mind.

Her brother killed her best friend.

Her brother killed her best friend.

Her brother killed her best friend.

……

Tears suddenly rolled down Lin Yan’s eyes, “Chu Nan, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… It’s me who harmed you.”

In that split second of distraction, a sly smile crept onto Lin Ge’s lips. He lightly ran his wrist over the blade, causing the bound rope to fall off.

“Lin Yan, be careful!” Song Yuhang quickly pushed her aside, a bullet grazing her shoulder and tearing through her clothes, causing a flesh wound.

“Song Yuhang!” Lin Yan was held tightly in her arms, a wave of bloody smell hitting her.

“I’m fine!” She stepped back with the person in her arms, placing them in a safe place.

“You stay here and don’t move. Find a chance to escape on your own. Duan Cheng will be waiting outside to help you.”

“I don’t want to—” Lin Yan tried to get up but was pushed back down. Song Yuhang leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Listen to me.” With that, she grabbed her gun and rushed out.

Just as Song Yuhang peeked out, a spray of bullets came flying towards her. She quickly dodged back, sparking off metal shelves.

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