Even as a "normie," I'm completely oblivious to it.

"Qiuyun...when is Sasha coming? I...want to wait for her...before I leave..."

"I..."

Yang Qiuyun abruptly moved her head away, placing her hand in front of her mouth to suppress the rising sorrow and urge to cry.

Xiao Ta had said this before.

Before, when Qiuyun was leaving Northern Europe to return to Fenghai for her studies, Xiaota would ask when Qiuyun would come back, because she wanted to wait.

Because if you don't wait... you'll never get to wait any longer.

But this time, you won't be able to wait...

Qiu Yun didn't have time to inform Elisa. She was already taking a huge risk by rushing over herself. Elisa... she didn't have an intelligence source like Lin Yin, so she probably didn't even know about Xiaota's current situation.

But... only for the next second.

Yang Qiuyun heard a series of hurried footsteps coming from the corridor outside.

Qiuyun and Xiaota both knew about the sound of running.

Little Tower whispered again, "Autumn Charm... she never lies to me after all..."

"Little Tower! Little Tower!"

The door was pushed open again, and Alyssa, with blonde hair and panting heavily, rushed in with a look of anxiety on her face.

Lin Yin didn't stop her from outside because she knew about their relationship.

This is the last time we'll see each other...

Elisa could tell at a glance what was wrong with Xiaota, and she rushed over to check on her.

But all she heard was a sentence from Xiaota.

"Sasha...thank you."

"Thank...don't thank me! Don't move! I'll go get the doctor right away!"

However, as soon as she stood up, Yang Qiuyun grabbed her arm.

"Autumn Charm?!"

"Sasha...that's enough..."

Yang Qiuyun's eyes were red, and she gestured to Elisa to check on Xiaota's condition.

Her breathing grew weaker and weaker; the pain in her body had probably reached its peak and then subsided, leaving her without any sensation.

Xiao Ta was also forcing a smile, shaking her head on the pillow.

That's enough.

Little Tower has already suffered enough.

Even if we manage to extend her life by a few more days with a very small probability, wouldn't that just mean she'd suffer for a few more days?

I think... what we should do now is to accompany her on the last leg of her life's journey.

26. Go see her.

Xiao Ta's two most trusted friends, his two childhood saviors.

They sat on either side of the hospital bed, one on each side, each holding one of her hands.

Before I knew it, we were like family.

Little Tower...already

She was unable to speak; she was in a state where she could no longer make a sound.

She can no longer feel pain, but what she sees is no longer the endless darkness she felt when she was all alone, but rather a warm and radiant sun.

Elisa tilted her head back and choked back a sob. She placed her hand on her face and remained silent for a long time.

This scene is so reminiscent of when she and Qiuyun were children, lying on the haystack, one on each side, holding Xiaota's hand, looking at the distant clock tower, and dreaming about the future.

Little Tower said back then that she wanted to live to be eighteen and come of age, so that she could still see the clock tower with everyone by then.

When I grow taller, will my perspective on the clock tower change?

Elisa told her not to say such discouraging things, that she was only eighteen and would definitely live to be a hundred.

As for the perspective... um! I don't know, maybe I'll be able to see further when I grow taller?

At that time, Yang Qiuyun, this genius little girl, analyzed things for the two of them from various perspectives and altitudes, leaving Elisa and Xiaota completely stunned.

At this point, the heart rate monitor connected to Xiaota's vital signs had stabilized.

Xiao Ta's life... a life of suffering and hardship, finally ended in warmth and without regrets.

Elisa buried her face in the headboard, refusing to let go of Xiaota's hand, not wanting Qiuyun to see her crying face.

But the sobbing in her voice was impossible to hide.

“I’m going back to Northern Europe the day after tomorrow… After Xiaota is cremated, I’ll bury a fake one in Fenghai to deal with your situation. I’ll take Xiaota’s ashes home… and bury them next to the haystack where we used to lie together. Then… Xiaota can look at the clock tower every day.”

She was finally able to reunite with her beloved husband.

Her husband perished in the ocean, and his remains could not be recovered. However, Elisa and Yang Qiuyun buried his most frequently used medical equipment next to that haystack.

Little Tower also found its home there... Finally, she no longer had to endure hardship and could be reunited with her husband.

"I...I'm really going to Northern Europe this time."

Yang Qiuyun wiped away the tears that she couldn't stop from the corners of her eyes and whispered in Xiaota's ear.

“Little Tower...you don’t want to leave that little house we gave you abandoned, right? After all, you cleaned it a lot when you could stand up. I’m planning to live next to you.”

“I want to transform your little house into a huge seaside villa, bigger than the one I live in. I’ll clean it for you every day… You said you wanted to raise pigeons, so I’ll raise them for you. You wanted to grow vegetables, so I’ll do that with you… Every day we’ll take a beach chair together, feel the sea breeze, and look at the distant clock tower, with Elisa, Yuzhe, and Yuche by our side. Would you be satisfied with this kind of life?”

Miracles always seem to happen to the little tower.

Its heartbeat, which had been fluctuating around the horizontal line, actually rose and fell violently a few times after listening to Elisa and Yang Qiuyun's words.

Then... it finally became level, and the machine emitted a beeping sound, announcing the end of the patient's illness.

“She heard it.”

Yang Qiuyun said this.

Qiuyun and Sasha smiled at each other and both gripped Xiaota's hand tightly.

They genuinely admired Xiaota's life.

She is truly a girl who, from beginning to end, neither wants nor will leave any regrets.

Get some sleep.

Small tower.

...................

That's roughly how it happened.

Yang Qiuyun's gaze swept across Yu Zhe and all the way to Lu Ling and Lu Yao at the very back, telling them the final outcome of the whole incident.

“Little Tower is gone… As promised, Elisa and I brought her ashes back here, and she lies on a small hill less than a kilometer from here. From there, you can see the clock tower in the distance.”

“Thanks to Xiaota, the Su family split up, and all the radicals except for Second Uncle gave up their actions against me because in their eyes, I was already dead. A dead person is no threat. Of course... I think you should understand now why Yu Zhe and Yu Che also need to be kept in the dark.”

"Your second uncle has kept his promise... He has been secretly protecting you all these years and has created many favorable conditions for your growth. Yu Zhe, I think you should be able to feel that, right?"

"Yes..."

Yu Zhe had already vaguely sensed this.

He had previously realized the threat posed by the various branch families, which is why he cooperated with Yu Che to strike at the branch families and consolidate the main family. This process proceeded quite smoothly, almost unbelievably so.

Besides Yu Zhe consistently making decisions that maximized benefits, there was likely a force secretly helping the main family under Yu Zhe and Yu Che's leadership to quickly consolidate the overall interests of the Su family.

This must be the result of my second uncle's hard work...

He couldn't hand the Su family over to Yang Qiuyun, who had the surname Yang, but Su Yuzhe, who had the surname Su, was a different story.

Second Uncle is willing to help Yu Zhe guide the Su family to its current stable and powerful state.

These things seem insignificant now that things have calmed down.

But now it's not just the sentimental Little Lychee who's in the mood; even Mo Lingyun, who's usually the most composed, is wiping away tears.

They were all crying more heartbrokenly than the last, and these tears were not for how difficult the past had been.

It was... for Aunt Xiaota.

It turns out that there really are people like her in this world, who remember a kindness for a lifetime and insist on staying true to themselves even in the face of death.

"Auntie Xiaota is so pitiful..." Little Meng, the little girl, was already crying her eyes out. "I wonder what happiness means to her."

It doesn't mean anything... but she really tried her best, she really tried to live! Waaah... why is fate so unfair...

Yu Zhe himself was also feeling bad.

But he's incredibly busy right now.

Because the girls were all in a bad mood after hearing the story, Yu Zhe had to comfort them one by one. What could I do? I really couldn't bear to see girls cry! Especially since they were girls who touched Yu Zhe's heartstrings.

"Xiao Zhe, you're crying too..."

"Please, Sister Ye, don't expose me now, okay..."

Watching her son bustling around.

Yang Qiuyun smiled knowingly.

This peaceful and harmonious scene we see today... is truly hard-won.

Little Tower contributed an immense amount of effort to this scene, burning itself out with its life force.

Recently, Qiuyun saw a quote online that said, "There is no such thing as a peaceful life; it's just that someone is bearing the burden for you."

That's absolutely right...

Even though some have already fallen, their descendants must still move forward, so as not to disappoint her expectations.

Xiaomeng is right, fate is just that unfair.

But that's what makes Xiaota so proud. She said there's nothing unfair about it, and she feels very content and happy.