Chapter 446: Family Photo and the Protagonist (Combined)

I definitely need to go talk to her; Anna's condition has stabilized, but she was only discharged not long ago—crying herself sick wouldn't be good.

After patting his brother's head—smart in some ways, foolish in others, yet understanding everything—Li Ang put down his newspaper, rose from his seat, and walked out of the spare room toward Anna's chamber.

This old house on Veteran's Alley wasn't originally the four siblings' home; it was assigned to them by the military after they forcibly withheld part of the pension, and it was nearly five times as old as Li Ang.

The house was old and dilapidated overall, poorly lit, and had no toilet; besides the small living room connected to the kitchen, there was only one main bedroom and one spare room.

The smaller spare room had always been occupied by Li Ang; as for Anna's so-called room, it was actually the main bedroom she shared with her two younger siblings.

Creak.

As the rusty door hinge groaned, Li Ang pushed open the door and stepped into the main bedroom, immediately seeing his sister sobbing face-down on the bedding.

Like Li Ang's spare room, this small main bedroom held only a single bed; when William and Melanie were little, it was barely enough, but after the two troublemakers grew a bit, it became cramped.

So Li Ang collected some wooden planks and bricks from outside, added an extension to the old bed, padded it with quilts and their parents' old clothes, hoping his siblings could sleep more comfortably—though due to the materials, the added section was slightly unstable and the bed frame often shook.

Anna was now lying on this extension; with each muffled sob, the newly built half of the bed swayed twice, making her hips sway too, twitching with each breath—clearly comical, making Li Ang chuckle.

"Brother! You're laughing?!"

Hearing Li Ang's quiet laugh, Anna, lying on the bed, grew even angrier; rarely did she throw a tantrum, but now she kicked her two pale, bare feet angrily into the air, then blurted out:

"It's all your fault for spoiling them! When they were causing trouble before, you always stopped me from hitting them! Now they're shoving horse dung into my mouth! And you're still laughing?!"

"Uh…"

Too embarrassed to explain what he was actually laughing at, Li Ang shifted his gaze away, scanning the room's furnishings as he changed the subject:

"I just think hitting their bottoms alone won't work—they need to understand why they're being punished, or they'll think misbehaving is justified after getting beaten.

Just look at William—he's already figured out exactly how many times he'll get spanked for each kind of mischief. So clearly, reasoning matters."

"But they only listen after they've been beaten!"

Anna, always gentle and rarely voicing opinions in front of Li Ang, became fiercely assertive when it came to disciplining her siblings.

Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she turned over, pouting as she argued:

"You spend so little time with them—you have no idea how infuriating they are!

Melanie isn't unaware of right and wrong—she just thinks she can trick her way out of it! William's even worse—he doesn't cause trouble often, but his thoughts are always strange, like… like…"

She struggled for a long time to find words to describe her brother's odd thinking, then, frustrated, slammed her fist on the bed and declared:

"They just need to be controlled! If we don't act now, it'll be too late when they grow up!"

"Yeah, yeah, control them! Definitely control them! Next time, I won't stop you!"

After echoing her words, Li Ang sat beside the bed, gently stroking his sister's back as he soothed her:

"But try thinking positively—they're certainly mischievous, but they've never bullied anyone; previous incidents weren't entirely their fault… hmm… let me think."

Recalling a few past incidents, Li Ang spoke with a complex expression:

"This time, they caused trouble because someone said you wouldn't come back; last time, during a game, a kid called William a wild child; the time before that, they stopped a fat kid named Jack from bullying someone;

The time before that, when I worked as a dock laborer and got fired for being too weak, people in the alley gossiped; before that, it was because your nighttime coughing disturbed neighbors, and they called you a consumptive…"

The more Li Ang and Anna recalled why their siblings caused trouble, the more pained their expressions became.

They hadn't noticed before, but now it was clear: though mischievous, each incident had a reason—they weren't just "naughty," they were trying, in their own way, to protect this fragile little family.

If only I, as their older sibling, had been stronger back then, if only I'd shielded them from more of life's cruelty, maybe they wouldn't have had to be so "mischievous," and could've grown up as happy, innocent, ordinary children…

"Don't think about that now."

Seeing the glistening tears in his sister's eyes, Li Ang realized further comfort was making things worse—he quickly changed the subject, reached for a faded old photo album on the bedside shelf, and wrapped his arm around Anna's thin shoulders:

"I've got a job now with the Police Department; after my probation ends this year, William and the others can enroll for free—no more fighting with alley kids. So let's leave the past behind. Our family will only get better…

By the way, the last time we looked through this album together was over two years ago, when I had a high fever. Today's still early—if you're feeling well enough, would you mind flipping through it with me again?"

"Mm…"

Leaning into Li Ang's side as he guided her, Anna, her eyes still red, took the album, gently caressing its worn cardboard cover before opening it and slowly turning the pages.

"This is Mother when she was young."

Opening the first page, she pointed to a faded group photo showing a woman in military uniform, her features resembling Li Ang's, radiating bold vitality, and explained softly:

"Mother told me… told us… this was taken when she passed the Mechanical Engineer Academy and was assigned to the Artillery Adjustment Class. And this is Father…"

Anna's soft fingertip lifted slightly, pointing to a tall, handsome black-haired man in the back corner, smiling warmly.

"Father and Mother were classmates; after graduation, they were both conscripted into the same unit, grew close, and then… you came along. The next year, I was born…"

As Anna gently turned the pages, Li Ang watched the unfamiliar man and woman—from meeting, to knowing each other, to falling in love—finally standing together in a small chapel, dressed in formal attire and wedding gowns, embracing with tears of joy. His heart warmed.

Unlike the cold, cruel reality, the moments frozen in the album felt so warm; even with heavy fading from time, their smiles remained radiant and dazzling.

Wait… was Anna really such a lively child when she was little?

The album's happiness continued—Li Ang stared at the golden-haired girl beaming in the photo, and without thinking, reached out to gently stroke the little Anna's bright hair.

In his memory, Anna only ever smiled softly at him, or else clutched her lips while coughing, or furrowed her brow in pain—he'd never seen his sister laugh so joyfully… What had stolen her smile?

Seeing that the album was already half-turned, though Melanie and William hadn't even appeared yet, the unspoken answer rose naturally in his mind.

"Uh… I just remembered—I still have some work unfinished!" Knowing full well how cruelly this perfect family would end, Li Ang stiffened, regretting his stupid idea to bring out the album, and apologized to Anna:

"Let's stop here for now? You're tired today—better rest early."

"Mm…"

The slender girl softly agreed, seemingly unaware of his unease, closed the album, and smiled faintly, nodding slightly.

But after Li Ang fled, she didn't rise—instead, she reopened the heavy old album and slowly turned to the last page.

On the back cover, where the most important photo should've been, a torn old photograph was pasted.

The person who tore it had been furious, even crumpling the fragments; many edges curled up, and despite careful handling, they couldn't be fully flattened—even the faces were incomplete.

On this strange photo, the couple who had appeared many times earlier in the album—now dead for six years—still smiled happily at the camera, standing together beneath a sign written in cursive: "Family Portrait."

But before them wasn't the four siblings—two boys, two girls—but only one child, about eight or nine, holding each parent's hand, beaming at the camera with pure joy.

Anna reached out, traced the child's face with her finger, pressed down the curled edges, revealing the same golden hair as her mother's. Seeing the unfamiliar smile on the girl's face, she bit her lip hard.

Then, as if making a decision, she used her nails to scrape off the glued fragments one by one, found a matchbox and a small bucket in the room, and tossed all the pieces into the iron bucket.

With reluctant eyes turned away, Anna struck a match, lit a wad of cotton, dropped it into the bucket, and burned the last family photo of her parents and herself into black ash at the bottom.

…

Hmm… I seem to have forgotten something yesterday.

Unaware of what had happened after he left, Li Ang, a worker with no days off, rose from his small bed as dawn barely broke.

After checking the scrap paper he used as a memo, he sighed helplessly—he'd left the photo session halfway yesterday, worried it would remind Anna of painful memories, and completely forgotten to confirm his birthday with her.

Now… she and William probably haven't woken up yet. I'll ask when I get back tonight.

Glancing at the still-dark main bedroom, Li Ang shook his head, abandoned the idea of asking now, picked up a stack of old newspapers, quietly opened the door, and walked to work under the fading stars.

Huh? Where's the coffee stall?

When he reached the usual spot, Li Ang was surprised—the coffee stall, which should've been open in this chilly weather, wasn't there. The merchant, named after Charle's Department Store, hadn't shown up today.

After circling two nearby streets without seeing old Charle, Li Ang gave up on his promised half-price coffee, slumped his shoulders, and walked across the street to another small stall, ordering the cheapest coffee.

Admittedly, though old Charle's stall charged exorbitant prices and served stingy portions, the "experience" was unmatched—other stalls might give more, but they simply didn't have that same flavor.

With a heavy sigh, he downed the scalding coffee in three gulps, then rose to leave—when he noticed a familiar face at the next table.

That man… wasn't he also a regular at old Charle's?

After confirming he hadn't mistaken the face, Li Ang hesitated briefly, then stepped over.

"Excuse me."

Before he could even ask his question, the man pointed across the street and grinned, interrupting:

"Oh! Aren't you old Charle's future son-in-law?"

???

What? I've only bought him coffee a few times—and paid every time! How am I his son-in-law?

Seeing Li Ang's confusion, the man—probably in his fifties—laughed twice, explained the nickname's origin, then asked cheerfully:

"You came to ask why old Charle didn't show up today? I actually know!"

He gestured for Li Ang to sit down, then continued:

"I saw him last night—his wife got involved in a business deal with someone, accidentally fell into a trap, lost a lot of money, and fainted right there from rage.

Luckily, she was saved by a kind young passerby, so nothing serious happened, but she'll need to rest for nearly a month.

Old Charle told me he'll be taking care of her and seeking justice from those people—he won't be setting up his stall for a few days."

"…."

Business… trapped… lost big money… fainted from rage… saved by a kind passerby… why does this sound familiar?

After hearing about the other "Mrs. Charle," Li Ang scratched his head uncomfortably—this coincidence was absurd.

Logically, if my stealing documents from the Waterworks Company counts as "passing by," then these two Mrs. Charles' stories are identical.

As for whether these two Mrs. Charles are the same person, or whether this coffee-seller Charle is the same as the Charle from Charle's Department Store…

That's impossible!

Thinking about the absurdity of such a coincidence, Li Ang smirked inwardly, mocking himself harshly.

You meet a coffee-seller on the street, and he turns out to be one of the top three richest men in the capital; yesterday, on an assignment, you happen to save his wife's life; today, someone tells you he's considering you as his son-in-law to inherit his chain of department stores across the capital…

Stop kidding yourself—do you really think you're the protagonist?

(End of Chapter)