(From Ye Xingmian’s perspective)
As school was about to end, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed outside the door.
At first, the girl holding the mop thought it was just someone passing by, so she didn’t pay it any mind, until the footsteps drew closer and someone even started entering the passcode for the door. Only then did she grow nervous, her pink eyes staring fixedly at the thick, heavy door.
A thief? A robber? When you’re alone, it’s hard not to let your imagination run wild. She was faintly scared, but reason told her it was more likely to be Liu Yinuo coming back. Although it wasn’t time for school to end yet, and besides, it would take some time for Liu Yinuo to get home from school.
The door opened. The ones who entered weren’t thieves or robbers, nor were they Liu Yinuo, but a middle-aged man and woman.
They both looked very young, showing hardly any signs of age. It was obvious they’d spent great effort on maintaining their appearance. The woman was visibly surprised to see Ye Xingmian holding a mop, but she quickly composed herself and came over first, a smile blooming on her face.
“Oh my, I didn’t expect anyone to be home. Are you Nono’s classmate?”
Nono? That sounded like Liu Yinuo’s nickname. In that case, they must be Liu Yinuo’s parents.
Clutching the mop handle, the girl nodded lightly, looking a bit tense.
“Why haven’t you turned on the heat on such a snowy day? Aren’t you cold? Oh right, little one, what’s your name?”
The heating had been off since noon, but the room hadn’t cooled down quickly, so it wasn’t exactly cold. The woman turned the heat back on, glanced at her husband, and the man immediately understood, smiled at Ye Xingmian in a friendly way, then took the woman’s handbag and went into the master bedroom.
Seeing that the girl remained silent, the woman sighed helplessly and walked over, taking the mop from Ye Xingmian’s hands.
“I…I’m Ye Xingmian…”
Since these were Liu Yinuo’s parents, the girl wanted to leave a good impression. She spoke softly, and her whole demeanor was cautious.
“Ye Xingmian?” The woman frowned a little. It was a name she hadn’t heard before. She set the mop aside by the wall.
“You don’t have to mop the floor by hand. Look, there’s a sweeping and mopping robot over there.” She went over, fiddled with her phone for a while, and soon the robot started moving.
“You see, just set it up like this and the robot can mop the floor by itself.”
“Oh…”
The girl seemed a little disappointed. All her hard work that afternoon seemed pointless.
“Speaking of which, isn’t it still school time? Why are you here, Ye?”
“Ah…I…I had a fever…the class monitor brought me here at noon…she helped me take leave…”
The woman suddenly put on an enlightened expression.
“Oh, I see. So Nono asked for leave at noon to take care of you.”
“Mm…Sorry…”
“No need to apologize. Aren’t you tired from standing, Ye? Come sit on the sofa, don’t be nervous.”
The girl obediently came over to sit on the sofa.
The woman sat down across from her.
“My husband and I heard that Nono took leave at noon, and since we were worried, we asked for leave and came home early.”
“Mm…” That cleared up her doubts, and the girl nodded awkwardly.
“So, Ye, why did you come here with Nono instead of going to the clinic with your parents for an IV drip?”
The question was hard for the girl to answer. She hesitated for a long while.
“Because…my foster parents are still at work, they didn’t have time to take care of me.”
“Hmm? But for an IV at a clinic, isn’t money enough?”
“I…I don’t have a phone…”
Seeing the girl grow more and more anxious, the woman seemed to realize something. It appeared that the girl’s family conditions were not very good. She keenly picked up on several key points: foster parents, no phone, no time for care.
She frowned, already having a rough idea of the girl’s family situation.
Lost both parents (?), foster parents neglectful, and in this internet age didn’t even buy the girl a phone, not to mention not knowing when their child had a fever?
Her gaze changed slightly. Pretending to be gentle, she coaxed, “Ye, are you close with Nono?”
The girl shook her head repeatedly.
“No…I…I only met the class monitor today.”
“Hmm…Auntie has two little questions for you, is that alright?”
“Okay…”
“Alright. Auntie is the kind of parent who cares a lot about her daughter’s grades. Ever since Nono was little, I signed her up for all sorts of tutoring classes, just so she could get into a good university and have a bright future. So I want to take this chance to ask: how has Nono been doing at school lately? Has she been studying hard? Or has she shown any bad tendencies, like puppy love?”
The girl looked up, her eyes full of confusion.
“Sorry…I don’t know…”
She could barely take care of herself, so how could she spare attention for others?
“Alright then. Auntie is also a bit concerned about your own ranking in the class, Ye?”
At the question about herself, the petite girl trembled slightly. She lowered her head, sounding lacking in confidence.
“Um…ranking…seems to be towards the lower middle…”
Just then, the man who had gone to the master bedroom returned, holding his phone. He sat next to Liu’s mother and showed her the screen, whispering something in her ear.
What were they looking at, talking about?
While sorting things in the bedroom, Liu’s father had also been eavesdropping on the conversation in the living room. When he heard them talking about grades, he took out his phone and searched the class group for something.
So, what the two were looking at on the phone now was naturally Class 14’s grade sheet.
As she read, Liu’s mother’s frown deepened.
[Ranking: 34 Name: Ye Xingmian Gender: Male]
“Male?”
She covered her mouth and whispered in her husband’s ear. The man nodded, his expression a bit heavy. Liu’s mother’s tone became odd.
“Doesn’t look like it…”
For the Liu parents, who always had high standards, ranking 34th was already pretty bad. Not to mention that Ye Xingmian, whom they thought was a girl, turned out to be a boy—this struck a nerve for them, and combined with the girl’s family situation…
Ye Xingmian simply stared at their exchange, growing more and more nervous. She had no idea what they were looking at or saying. She only felt that when the woman looked up at her again, her gaze had turned much colder.
“Ye…” she said, speaking slowly as if choosing her words, “You see, you’re in your last year of high school. After New Year’s, it’ll be time for the college entrance exams. Nono’s grades have always been good, and if nothing goes wrong, she’ll get into a prestigious university. So Auntie wants to give you some advice—relationships and such can wait until after the exams. Usually, you should keep a bit of distance so as not to affect your studies, don’t you agree?”
The implied message was for Ye Xingmian to actively distance herself from Liu Yinuo.
But how could the girl not understand such a simple truth? Yet, Liu Yinuo had been so gentle at noon, letting her briefly forget the chasm between them and lose herself in a beautiful daydream. Now, with Liu’s mother’s tactful words, she was pulled back into cold reality.
For some reason, her heart felt like it was trembling. Her body was colder now than when the heat had been off—much, much colder.
It was as if a weak flame had been extinguished in her eyes, and the pink pupils gradually lost their shine.
“Sorry…I understand…”
“Right, your most important task now—”
Liu’s mother seemed ready to say more, but just then, the living room door suddenly opened and her attention was diverted.
“Dad? Mom? Why are you home?”
Standing at the door was Liu Yinuo, just back from school, frowning as she looked at her parents sitting on the sofa.
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