Even After My Death
Chapter 567 - 471 Liu Yaoyao -

Chapter 567: Chapter 471 Liu Yaoyao Chapter

The atmosphere on the rooftop was tense and anxious.

The crowd below sang with growing vigor, the number of people joining the chorus increasing, some even straining their voices hoarse yet unwilling to stop.

A minority stood aside, indifferent, even going so far as to heckle the girl to jump quickly, but the majority were more concerned about the little girl’s safety.

Previously, everyone stood downstairs, partially out of curiosity, but also with the hope that they might be able to help.

Now, seeing that they might actually be able to contribute, everyone was extraordinarily enthusiastic.

Music, inherently a powerful means of emotional expression, had filled those firefighters and police officers who had just finished deploying the safety air cushion below, with a sense of being moved, even if they didn’t know whether the little girl upstairs was comforted.

No one noticed that the person who first suggested the mass singing had disappeared without a trace.

The nearing midday sun grew increasingly scorching as Captain Chen watched Liu Yaoyao, still sitting at the edge of the rooftop, and pursed his dry lips with concern.

The specially requested female firefighter gently said, "Yaoyao, can you hear that? Look how many people are downstairs caring for you, cheering you on with their songs."

"Th-thank you... But I don’t deserve it..." Liu Yaoyao shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears.

The female firefighter persisted, "How can you not deserve it? You’re still so young, at the age of blooming flowers. The world will be wonderful when you grow up. Look at me, back when I was studying, I was always the last in my grades. Pushed by my family to study, I repeated years four times before I finally got into the university of my choice."

"Every repeat year felt like a living death, unable to solve problems, learning without retaining, every day was excruciating..."

The female firefighter rambled on, narrowing the distance with Liu Yaoyao, her tone seemingly casual and confidential, "Yaoyao, what’s troubling you deep down? Tell me, and maybe I can offer some advice."

"I, I..." Liu Yaoyao bit her lip, finding it very hard to speak.

Seeing her expression soften slightly, the female firefighter quickly offered compassionately, "If you feel embarrassed to say it out loud, we can talk quietly, just the two of us."

"No! You mustn’t come over!" Liu Yaoyao suddenly snapped back to awareness, full of suspicion.

"Relax, relax, don’t get too worked up," the female firefighter urged patiently, her demeanor gentle, "Okay then, if you’re afraid of me, I won’t come over. We can talk like this. How about I ask everyone to leave, would that be okay?"

"I’ll have them all leave, and then you can whisper it to me."

After hearing this, Liu Yaoyao wrestled with her thoughts for a few seconds, then nodded.

The male firefighters who had been nearby promptly retreated, all moving back into the entrance of the rooftop.

A safe distance where voices, unless raised, wouldn’t carry.

"Yaoyao, they’ve all left, now you can speak freely," the female firefighter began.

She knew that some people who commit suicide don’t actually want to die; they’re driven to a point of no return or their psychological tolerance has reached a brink.

Suicide, too, is their last glimmer of hope for assistance from this world.

Liu Yaoyao compressed her lips, her thoughts slipping into memories, manageable recollections surfacing in her mind.

Looking at the firefighter in front of her, whose presence instinctively inspired trust and likability, Liu Yaoyao finally burst into tears and spoke, "They, they all bully me..."

"Why do they defame me for things I’ve never done... Why do they lock me in the bathroom..."

Yaoyao had memories from the time her parents divorced.

She knew it was because her father secretly gambled and racked up a lot of debts that her mother, after enduring so much, finally divorced him.

She also knew how hard her mother had worked these years to raise her.

Before junior high, Yaoyao’s greatest wish was to study hard.

And she did succeed, as her middle school exam results were among the top.

But high school life was not as good as Liu Yaoyao had imagined.

She was mocked for frequently wearing her uniform, even though she washed it anew every day.

She was ridiculed for her shoes which were patched up after falling apart, even though they were only a bit faded and still comfortable to wear.

She was also mocked by everyone for her grandmother picking up recyclables all the time, being laughed at as a trash picker, and then they would despise her, looking at her as if she were some kind of virus or bacterium.

Her notebook, placed on the desk, was torn, and there were thumbtacks under her seat... all kinds of schemes were endless.

She could endure all these.

But why...

"Why does even the principal bully me!"

Liu Yaoyao’s demeanor finally collapsed.

When the female firefighter heard these words, her expression changed.

Looking at the girl sitting in despair on the rooftop, she sharply realized that the meaning behind this statement might not be simple.

The female firefighter suddenly felt some regret.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked this question!

And her suspicions were not wrong.

After saying those words, the crushing mountain that had been pressing down on Liu Yaoyao’s heart suddenly seemed to disappear.

Of course, along with it vanished her hope for life.

Liu Yaoyao suddenly let go of the only hand that was gripping the railing.

She truly didn’t want to live anymore.

Children raised in single-parent families are inherently sensitive and timorous.

In the two months since entering high school, no matter how much she was bullied and laughed at by her classmates, Liu Yaoyao bit her lip and endured it alone, crying into her blanket at the toughest times, without letting her mother and grandmother know.

She just didn’t want to worry them.

Until recently, when the principal took her to his office.

Then one time, and another...

Liu Yaoyao had long since lost the desire to live.

"Don’t!"

Seeing her let go, the female firefighter’s eyes widened, and she instantly rushed forward.

The male firefighters, who had seemingly stepped back, were in fact closely monitoring the situation in secret, and immediately dashed forward upon realizing the danger.

The female firefighter was the closest to Liu Yaoyao and was also very fast, almost reaching the edge of the rooftop in the blink of an eye.

However, Liu Yaoyao had already been dangling over the edge, and after losing the only thing that could stabilize her, her entire body instantly fell backwards.

The hand the female firefighter stretched out missed grabbing Liu Yaoyao by a hair’s breadth.

Because she could feel, she had brushed past Liu Yaoyao’s clothes, and was just a tiny bit away from grabbing her!

A miss is as good as a mile.

The female firefighter watched helplessly as Liu Yaoyao fell before her very eyes.

She reached out her hand, her expression one of anguished fury.

The other firefighters had all lunged forward, but they all grasped at air.

Everyone seemed frozen as if they had been hit with the pause button.

Even they, accustomed to strong mental resilience, hardly dared to look downwards.

They didn’t know that as Liu Yaoyao let go for a free fall, a pale hand reached out from below and grabbed her.