Chapter 1 — The Last Remaining Echo

My younger sister playing with fireworks permanently destroyed the hearing in my right ear. During the makeup round of the art examination exam, I could not hear the accompanying music, causing me to fail my major-specific test. I was only missing a single qualified certificate to step into the university I had spent three whole years preparing for. After that incident, my parents took my younger sister abroad. My older brother deleted every single method of contacting her. Even Lu Chen said he would never meet her again. I always believed they were truly heartbroken on my behalf. Until seven years later, when my younger sister graduated and returned to the country. Mother handed the car keys to me.

Go pick up your younger sister.

I looked at the graduation thesis defense notification on my phone. I said,

I am not going.

I have my graduation defense this afternoon.

The living room instantly fell silent. Mother’s eyes turned red in an instant.

It has been seven years!

She was sick all alone abroad, celebrated her birthday all alone abroad, and didn’t even dare to return when grandmother passed away.

Why are you still refusing to let her go?

Father’s face also darkened as he set down his teacup.

It is true that she did something wrong back then.

But didn’t you still go to university afterward, and aren’t you about to graduate now?

Isn’t it just that one of your ears cannot hear?

Right now, you have your graduation defense and your future. What about her? She has a home but could not return for seven years.

My older brother stood at the doorway, staring coldly at me.

You only failed to enter that university.

But what she lost was an entire family.

Lu Chen, the childhood friend who had always remained silent, finally spoke up.

There is also me. Over the past seven years, I have not seen her, has not coaxed her, and has not accompanied her through any of her birthdays.

I promised to be engaged to you after graduation.

Why are you still unwilling to give her a path back home?

Must you watch her die abroad to be satisfied?

My world had already lost half of its sound. At that moment, even the remaining half fell completely silent. I changed my post-graduation workplace to the city furthest away from home. From then on. The daughter they longed to see return, the guilt they had performed for seven years, all of it no longer had anything to do with me. … On the day Shen Niannian returned to the country, mother knocked on my room door early in the morning, placing a set of keys on the desk.

Wanwan, tidy up the south-facing room on the second floor.

Your younger sister loves the sunlight the most.

I raised my head to look at her. That room was originally my piano practice room. After my right ear lost its hearing seven years ago, the piano, the dance barre, and the sheet music stand inside had all been covered with white cloth. At that time, mother hugged me and cried. She said,

Wanwan, don’t look anymore. Looking at it will make your heart ache.

I believed her. I assumed they locked that room away because they were afraid I would see the scenery and recall the past. But today, the helper lifted the white cloth, and the sunlight fell upon the piano lid. Mother personally directed people to wipe away the dust, replacing it with the white roses Shen Niannian loved, using the lily of the valley fragrance she favored, and even changing the curtains to a soft pink. I stood at the doorway, looking at the brightly polished piano, suddenly feeling it was immensely absurd. It turned out the room was not untouchable. It was simply that I was not permitted to touch it. Father hung a welcoming banner in the living room, red background with gold lettering: Welcome Niannian Home. My older brother changed into a suit early in the morning, saying he would personally go to the airport to pick her up. Lu Chen had originally promised to accompany me to my graduation defense this afternoon, but before leaving the house, he sent me a message. Niannian just returned to the country and her emotional state is unstable. I am going to pick her up with aunt and uncle. I stared at those two lines of text for a long time, finally replying with only a single word. Okay. No arguments, and no questions either. Because I knew that even if I asked, it would have no meaning. I returned to my room to retrieve my graduation defense materials. The printer was connected to the family’s cloud storage account. When I opened it, a folder appeared on the screen titled: Niannian’s Materials Abroad. I initially intended to close it, but the mouse cursor lingered on it for a long time, and ultimately I clicked it open. Inside were not proofs that she had suffered alone abroad for seven years as mother claimed, but rather photo after photo. Birthday parties, graduation trips, snowboarding videos, theater ticket stubs, gifts piling up against the walls. Every year was lively and joyful. Every year mother sent her a scarf she had knitted with her own hands. Every year father wrote a birthday greeting card. In my older brother’s travel history, every winter and summer vacation contained flights to the country where she lived. I opened a birthday video. In the video, my older brother placed a birthday hat on Shen Niannian. Mother cried through the phone screen and said,

Niannian, don't be afraid. It is not that your parents do not want you, it is just that we cannot bring you home temporarily.

Shen Niannian asked with red eyes,

Does sister still refuse to forgive me?

Father sighed,

Your sister is still young, and there is still resentment in her heart. Wait a little longer, wait until your sister is no longer in so much pain, and parents will welcome you home.

I sat in front of the computer, my hands and feet gradually turning cold. It turned out that over the past seven years, they had not lost contact with her, nor had they cruelly punished her. They were simply waiting for my pain to fade, waiting for me to no longer look so pitiful, so they could openly and honorably welcome her back. I suddenly recalled the night seven years ago, when I had just finished my checkup and had to be hospitalized. The doctor said my right ear suffered severe damage, and it was best to always have someone by my side to monitor it. But there was only one person tending to the sick in the hospital room. Mother said she had cried all day and was too tired, so she had to go home to rest. Father said the company still had matters to attend to. Older brother said the school had activities and would come visit me tomorrow. Lu Chen said the company suddenly had an urgent matter and told me to be a good girl. That night, I lay on the hospital bed, my right ear feeling as though it were plugged with something. Half of the world was noisy, while the other half was completely silent. I was in too much pain to sleep, touching my phone over and over again, but not a single person sent me a message. It turned out that on that very night, all of them were on a video call celebrating Shen Niannian’s birthday. At the very end of the folder was a group photo. The photo was taken after Shen Niannian’s first stage performance abroad. She was wearing a white dress and holding fresh flowers. Lu Chen stood beside her, holding a jacket for her. The caption of the photo read: Niannian played music again for the first time, and Brother Lu Chen said she was very brave. I stared fixedly at those words, the warmth draining entirely from my fingertips. Seven years ago, Lu Chen had clearly held my hand, saying he would never see her again. He said he would accompany me in adapting to a world that only possessed half its sound. Back then I believed him. Because he used to be the only person who did not call me flawed. But it turned out he had never stopped seeing her. He simply did not let me know. During the graduation defense in the afternoon, the instructor asked a question from my right side. It took me a beat longer than usual to react. Someone in the auditorium chuckled softly. I steadied my breathing and gave my answer, but my chest felt as though it were being crushed by something heavy, making it impossible to breathe. After the defense concluded, a photo appeared in the family chat group. Father, mother, older brother, and Lu Chen surrounded Shen Niannian. Behind them were white roses arranged by their own hands. She sat in front of my piano, tears shimmering in her eyes. Mother wrote the caption: It has been seven years, and we have finally welcomed our precious treasure home. I looked at that photograph and finally understood. They did not punish Shen Niannian for seven years. They simply hid her away and showered her with love for seven years. After the defense ended, I did not return home but instead went to the hospital that had treated my right ear seven years ago. Initially, I only wanted to request a copy of the hearing impairment certification for my post-graduation employment files. After recognizing me, the first question the doctor asked was,

Why didn’t you proceed with the second-stage auditory nerve repair surgery after that?

I froze in place.

What repair?

The doctor frowned and opened my old medical record. Line after line of text appeared on the screen. The right auditory nerve is not completely necrotic. If surgery is performed within three months, the recovery rate is over seventy percent. The surgical cost of four hundred eighty thousand yuan has been paid in full. The payer was father. The emergency contact was listed as Lu Chen. Looking at that payment slip, my heart ached fiercely for a fraction of a second. It turned out they had once been so close to saving me. But on the very next page was an application to cancel the surgery. The cancellation date was one day before Shen Niannian went abroad. The reason recorded on the form was: The family lacks funds to pay tuition for art school abroad and purchase a piano for the youngest daughter, therefore temporarily postponing the surgery. The doctor sighed.

Back then, I advised your mother that your surgery could not be delayed. Once the optimal recovery window is missed, it is very difficult to recover afterward.

But she said the youngest daughter’s psychological state was very poor and she had to be taken abroad for treatment immediately.

She also said she had to buy the youngest daughter a new piano to help her start over.

I gripped the copy in my hand tightly, my fingertips gradually turning cold. The doctor spoke again,

Your mother cried very bitterly on the phone back then.

She said Wanwan was already deaf in one ear, but if Niannian could no longer play the piano, her entire life would be ruined.

I suddenly burst out laughing. It turned out my ear had not been without a chance of being cured. It was they themselves who had scratched my name off the hospital’s surgery schedule. It turned out they had not lacked four hundred eighty thousand yuan. It was simply that they felt my chance of regaining my hearing was not as important as a new piano for Shen Niannian. When I brought the copy back home, Shen Niannian was sitting in the living room opening gifts. She wore a bright dress with a rosy complexion. When she spoke, she still retained her fragile, cautious demeanor from the past.

Sister, you are back.

Mother bought her a brand-new upright piano, saying this was the first gift upon her return to the country. Father smiled and said,

You haven’t touched the piano at home for seven years. You can play whenever you want from now on.

My older brother stroked Shen Niannian’s hair.

Niannian worked so hard relearning the piano abroad back then, and now she can finally come home and play.

Lu Chen stood beside the piano, helping her adjust the bench to the most comfortable position. I suddenly recalled what he had said while sitting beside my hospital bed seven years ago:

Shen Wan, I will be your right ear from now on.

But thinking about it now, perhaps he also felt that the opportunity for me to hear the world again was not as important as Shen Niannian being able to play the piano once more. I placed the copy on top of the piano. The paper was very thin. Yet as it landed, it felt like it struck everyone across the face. The living room instantly fell silent. Mother’s expression changed.

Why did you go to the hospital to investigate these things?