Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1177: Pick a lane

Alix deserved all the love in the world.

That much, Lin was sure of. From the beginning, she had always lived in a survival mode. Living with his family was also the only means of her survival. Revenge was what kept her alive.

But it was a tiring life to live. Carrying the hatred in her heart for years and years to come had made her weary and fatigued. So he was glad to see that in Jin, she got the kind of stillness he wanted to see in her life. A life where she was loving and being loved.

So if Alix could gather the courage to give a second chance to her life, why couldn’t Lin?

Though the six years of prison were far behind him now, its shadow still clung onto Lin. Slowly creeping into his heart like poison.

"I’m sorry."

The chain of his thoughts broke and he stared at Shui, puzzled by her sudden apology.

Shui was staring at the first-aid kit for a long time, trying to gather her thoughts. Eventually, she looked up and met his gaze.

"I shouldn’t have lashed out at you that day. I believe that is a big part of the reason you keep seeing yourself only in terms of a criminal."

"No, that’s not it."

"No, that’s exactly how it is. You don’t have to deny it to make me feel better. I let my anguish get the better of me, and I snapped at you. Even though you dutifully served your time and were doing your best to live an honest life, I still brought up the past. But over these past few days..."

Shui clasped an unused cotton ball in her hand.

"I came to realize why Jun agreed for your parole. For sometime, I wasn’t sure of his decision, but now I see why he chose to do so. He has worked with you closely in Sky and knows what kind of a person you are. He could trust you that you wouldn’t break his trust again and that you deserved to live a free life. He wanted to move on, you wanted to move on but only I couldn’t."

"Please don’t downplay your grief, Miss. Han," Lin’s expression hardened. "It feels like you are blaming yourself for being unable to move on and that’s far from being right. I deserved your retaliation, so please don’t talk like that."

Seeing a strange wave of anxiety pass across his face made Shui taken aback for a moment.

"No, I’m not downplaying my emotions. I just feel I should have tried to understand your side too."

"For the things we made you go through, you really don’t have to try to understand me. Or Yahui. It’s a fact that we hurt you. You are not obligated to be kind to us."

"...You are really a stubborn man. Well, fine. I won’t be kind to you, but you can be kind to yourself, right? Toward your brother too, right?"

"It’s difficult."

"Well, you have to pick a lane," she frowned. "Otherwise, you will just stumble into a hellhole if you don’t accept anybody’s kindness. Eventually, your heart will turn bitter and bitter like a bitter gourd. That’s not a good thing."

"..."

Lin was trying his best to not laugh but even he couldn’t stop his lips from curving into a smile.

Bitter gourd...that’s some way to see it.

"Thank you for applying the medicine."

"Are you diverting the subject?"

"...I’m genuinely thankful."

"Well, as long as you don’t think anything stupid about leaving your brother."

As they left the underground ring, Lin saw that he got back to back missed calls from Cai.

"Where were you Bro! I was so worried!" He asked a rapid-fire of questions the moment Lin dialed his number.

"I’m sorry. I was just out for fresh air."

He felt Shui’s prying gaze.

What kind of fresh air did you get in an underground boxing ring?

Lin felt uncomfortable with her intense gaze and slightly turned away, making her scoff.

"So you are coming back, right?" Cai cautiously asked.

Lin smiled. "Yes, I am."

Cai didn’t say it, yet he could sense a distinct sense of relief in his voice.

"Cool! So if you are on your way anyway, then can you buy some stuff from the grocery store, hehe?"

"You didn’t do that?"

"Ugh..."

"Okay, I will get the things. Send me the list."

"Thanks a bunch, Bro! That’s why I love you so much!"

"Hm. I love you too."

They hung up and he observed an odd expression on Shui’s face.

"Yes?"

"Yeah, you are really like Jun. Oh my gosh, you are so doting toward your brother. You cannot even scold him for not buying the groceries. Jun could never scold Jin either."

He nodded. "I cannot scold Cai. He is...I don’t know how to explain it. I just cannot scold him. But Yahui used to do the part. They always fought."

Shui rolled her eyes. "Because you are too soft. Somebody had to take the reins. Since Jun couldn’t scold Jin either, it was always the twins who did the part. That’s why he is so fond of Jun. Jin would cutely say to eat spaghetti and Jun would run into the kitchen to make it for him."

"Oh. Yahui wasn’t like that. She would actually lock Cai in the room if he troubled too much."

Shui gasped. "Just like the twins! I cannot believe it. She used to do that? When I see her with the kids, she looks so different."

"I think only Cai got the special treatment."

"Now she is running a cult in the Liu family. You should see the kids following her like a bunch of chicks."

Suddenly, a huge shadow enveloped them and they looked up. Shui blinked, recognizing the boxer from before whom Lin defeated in the ring.

"So this is where you were, huh?"

Ugh, this smells like bad news...Is he salty about the loss?