“I… I’m telling the truth…”
Lin Ziyan clearly didn’t believe it at first. But seeing the girl biting her lip with that pitiful, helpless look, her suspicion couldn’t help but waver a little.
Still, she refused to fully accept it. She had overheard her parents say before that Qin Haiyue was actually some rich young miss. So why would someone like that give things to this girl? Unless… unless it was because she used to bully Ye Xingmian a lot, and now she had suddenly fallen for her…
Lin Ziyan didn’t dare think any further.
For some reason, just imagining that possibility made her inexplicably irritated. She thought of her own parents—they worked at the company owned by Qin Haiyue’s family. If she ended up offending Qin Haiyue because of this, what would happen?
Damn it. So annoying.
She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. Besides, she still didn’t believe that Ye Xingmian’s clothes were really from Qin Haiyue. Once again, she felt annoyed at her own parents. Compared to Liu Yino’s family, it wasn’t that big a deal. But when stacked against the Qin family? It was like heaven and earth—a gap that could make anyone despair.
If the Qin family ever got upset, their family might face the brink of unemployment in an instant.
The resentment toward their family’s poverty eventually turned into pure irritation. She needed an outlet to vent, and right now, the so-called “older brother” in her arms was the perfect target.
She hugged the girl even tighter, burying her face into the girl’s soft, fragrant hair. Feeling the girl’s small heart pounding wildly from fear, her gaze darkened.
“W-What’s wrong…?”
Lin Ziyan was suddenly holding her so tightly that the girl could barely breathe, but she didn’t dare struggle. She could only ask nervously.
The person behind her didn’t answer. The uneasy atmosphere dragged on for a while longer before Lin Ziyan finally decided to drop the topic.
So what if it really was from Qin Haiyue? The girl right now belonged to her. No one could take her away. She could do whatever she wanted with her.
That was what she told herself, but her expression still looked somewhat gloomy. Since the curtains weren’t drawn open, no outside light came in. Only the girl’s cheeks, illuminated by the dim yellow nightlight in front of them, shimmered faintly.
Fine. Let’s just treat it as if she’s lying.
With that thought, she suddenly spoke.
“Call me姐姐 (big sister).”
“Huh?”
“We agreed yesterday. Right now, I’m the big sister, and you’re my little sister. Got it?”
The girl was silent for a moment. She had long since thrown away any so-called pride. There was no point getting hung up over something as minor as a form of address.
After all, they were just strangers living under the same roof with no blood relation, right?
“姐姐,” she said, her voice rather flat and cold.
“No, no, that won’t do. Try again. Make it sweet, soft, and add a cute suffix when you call me—like this—” Lin Ziyan took a deep breath and demonstrated: “姐姐大人~ (Big Sis-sama~)”
The girl felt a wave of goosebumps crawl over her entire body.
She had no idea what kind of weird kink this was for Lin Ziyan. Was tormenting her really that fun?
After a brief silence, she tried imitating Lin Ziyan’s tone, using a voice that made even herself cringe: “姐姐大人~”
It came out sweet, sticky, and perfectly imitated—like a pampered little girl throwing a tantrum. Even the girl herself was stunned that she had nailed it on the first try. She blanked out for a second, while behind her, Lin Ziyan’s eyes lit up with obvious satisfaction.
“Yes, yes, exactly like that! Who would’ve thought—you’ve actually got some real acting talent. Good. From now on, call me that way every time.”
She smiled and narrowed her eyes, feeling as though the irritation in her heart had been swept away by that one call.
Even though she had been praised, Ye Xingmian didn’t feel happy at all. She said nothing more, only quietly shifted her sore position.
“When… are you giving me back my teddy bear…?”
She hadn’t forgotten her original purpose. Even if she got the bear back, it didn’t necessarily mean she could escape sleeping in Lin Ziyan’s arms, but she still wanted to try asking. After all, it was better to have her own things in her own hands as soon as possible.
“I’ll give it back once you’ve satisfied me.”
Lin Ziyan smiled with narrowed eyes. It was a deliberately vague standard. Satisfied? What counted as satisfied? Probably never.
Ye Xingmian’s gaze dimmed slightly.
“But I’m really curious. Isn’t it just a doll? Hm, maybe a bit expensive—two hundred yuan or so? Still, it shouldn’t be that important to you, right? You don’t seem like the type who’s super attached to that kind of thing.”
The girl didn’t want to answer. She just lay in Lin Ziyan’s arms, pretending to be dead.
“Hey! Speak!” A little annoyed, Lin Ziyan pinched the girl’s bottom again. The girl’s body jerked violently, and she bit her lip in humiliation.
She knew she wouldn’t get away without giving some kind of answer, and she had no interest in hiding it anyway.
“It was bought by my mom,” she said.
“Hm? You’re lying! That was clearly something my mom bought and gave to me, and then I gave it to you. How did it suddenly become something your mom bought?”
“I’m not lying… It was bought with my mom’s money…”
“Hm?”
Lin Ziyan hadn’t expected that kind of answer. She was genuinely surprised for a moment.
“What did you say?”
“I said! That thing was bought with my mom’s money!” The girl suddenly shouted. Lin Ziyan quickly covered her mouth—she was afraid the parents might hear, even though the master bedroom was quite far away and the chances were low.
After doing so, Lin Ziyan suddenly felt the girl in her arms trembling, her shoulders shaking gently. She paused, loosened her hand, and then heard the sound of stifled sobbing.
“Why are you crying?”
Frowning, feeling a bit troubled, Lin Ziyan grabbed some tissues from the side and wiped the girl’s tears.
“S-sorry…”
Apologizing in a tiny voice, the girl tried hard to suppress her sobs, but her voice still trembled.
Seeing her reaction, Lin Ziyan fell silent.
“You’re saying… the money used to buy that teddy bear was your mom’s?”
“Mm.”
Remembering what her parents had said on the phone today about the girl and her mother, she couldn’t help but frown.
For some reason, she felt irritated again.
“So you’re saying my parents were cheating your mom out of money?”
The girl froze for a second. But since what Lin Ziyan said was the truth, she nodded in confirmation.
“You’re lying!”
Unexpectedly, Lin Ziyan’s reaction was huge. She abruptly flipped the girl over so they were face-to-face, glaring fiercely with dark eyes.
Even though she was often cold toward her own parents, they had always been good to her. In her mind, both Lin Cheng and Xu Ming had always been decent people. Now this girl was suddenly claiming they had swindled Ye Zhiyun’s money—how could she believe it? Almost instinctively, she took it as the girl deliberately slandering her parents.
But Ye Xingmian only froze for a moment before lowering her head and saying softly, “I’m not…”
“Heh.” With a cold laugh, Lin Ziyan said nothing more. The conversation ultimately ended on bad terms.
Yet even though she was angry, when she turned away, she couldn’t help but think back on what had happened earlier that day, and doubt crept in again.
She shook her head, telling herself she was overthinking it. After all, her parents had never treated Ye Xingmian particularly well—they just didn’t want her calling her own mother. That didn’t prove anything.
“If you dare sneakily take that thing yourself, I’ll tear it to shreds.” Right before falling asleep, she threatened the girl one last time.