Chapter 121: Doubt and Longing

Lin Family Home.

The light illuminated the clean tabletop, where a warm family dinner was laid out. Xu Ming and Lin Cheng were chatting about daily life across the table, while Lin Ziyan sat by herself.

She kept her head down, not looking at her phone, not eating, seeming somewhat distracted.

“Zi Yan, what’s wrong? Eat your food.”

Noticing her unusual behavior during their conversation, Xu Ming turned to ask.

Lin Ziyan slightly raised her eyes, inky black pupils swirling with indescribable emotions.

“It’s nothing…”

She picked up her chopsticks and placed a piece of vegetable into her bowl.

“By the way, where has Xingmian been hiding these past two days? Why hasn’t she come back? Should we call the police?”

She turned to seek her husband’s opinion. Truthfully, bringing this up now was already quite late.

If they were genuinely concerned, they should have called the police last night. To put it bluntly, they weren’t actually that worried, just going through the motions.

After all, in this day and age, what could possibly happen to a grown boy?

However, before she could get Lin Cheng’s response, Lin Ziyan, sitting beside her, spoke up first.

“…There’s no need.”

“Hmm? Zi Yan, do you know where she went?” Xu Ming asked, turning to her with some surprise.

“Yes, I know.”

Xu Ming nodded, appearing quite satisfied with this answer, her expression relaxing somewhat. Lin Ziyan caught this flicker of what seemed like relief.

Lin Ziyan’s gaze darkened.

“That’s good, saves us the trouble of looking for her.”

“Mom, are you happy that Ye Xingmian isn’t home?”

As soon as she said this, Xu Ming’s expression instantly stiffened.

“Happy? How could I be? No matter what, she’s a child we raised ourselves. And without her, who’s going to do the housework?”

“Your dad and I don’t have the time, and we certainly can’t make you do it, right? So don’t overthink it. Be good, go to sleep after you finish eating.”

Lin Ziyan stared straight at her for a good while but seemed unable to detect anything. In the end, she just silently nodded, seemingly accepting Xu Ming’s explanation.

“Do you still have any needle and thread? I want to sew something.”

“Hmm? Sew what? How about I help you?”

“No need, I can do it myself.”

“Alright, it’s in the cabinet by your dad’s and my bed. You can get it after you finish eating.”

Yet, as soon as she finished speaking, Lin Ziyan stood up directly and headed toward the bedroom.

“I’m done eating.”

“Ah? You’ve only eaten that little?”

“Mm, it’s not good to eat too much at night.”

Lin Ziyan left with a cold face.

From her mother’s tone just now, she had detected a hint of unnaturalness.

Why was it unnatural?

She didn’t know, she just felt in a bad mood, as if holding back a breath.

She seemed to be growing a little suspicious. Even though she felt it wasn’t right to think this way, she couldn’t suppress the thought.

Annoying, so annoying.

Her mind seemed to echo with the words Ye Xingmian had said to her that day. Though she didn’t want to believe it, her own resolve was wavering.

Pushing open her parents’ bedroom door, she found the needle and thread inside. She returned to her own bedroom and found the brown toy bear in the corner.

Its arm was missing. She rummaged around a bit more before finding it in another corner. Fortunately, it wasn’t covered in dust and still looked clean.

She reattached the bear’s arm and began sewing it back on with the needle and thread. She struggled to find a comfortable position, holding the toy bear as she sewed.

After a few stitches, she couldn’t help but frown. Something seemed off.

She realized the connecting thread was too far back, causing part of the bear’s arm to overlap onto its body, making it look strange.

She felt a flash of irritation but didn’t give up. Taking a small pair of scissors, she cut all the thread and started over.

The second attempt also failed.

The third time, the arm was crooked, looking neither here nor there.

She was starting to lose patience. In a fit of self-abandonment, she threw the toy bear onto the bed and pounded on it fiercely, venting her frustration. But against a stuffed toy, such actions naturally caused no harm.

She didn’t give up. Simply picking up her phone, she searched online for tutorial videos. After watching for nearly half an hour, she barely learned the technique.

Then she spent nearly two more hours, her arms sore, her spirit weary, yawning constantly.

A glance at the time showed it was almost midnight.

Tired.

She couldn’t help but wonder if all this effort to repair this toy bear was worth it. But thinking about it now was pointless. She’d thought about giving up many times already, but it always came to nothing.

After all, once she’d started, there was no reason to quit—that would be a waste of all the effort she’d already put in.

That was just her personality; once she started something, she didn’t want to turn back. It was also why her academic performance was good. As for changing her attitude towards Ye Xingmian, for her, that was already a significant shift.

Hah, she hoped that Ye Xingmian would appreciate her goodwill. While she was still in a good mood, she’d better come back tomorrow. Otherwise, she would get angry.

But she’d lighten the punishment a bit. After all, Ye Xingmian didn’t seem as afraid of her threats anymore, so she should be a little nicer to her. She believed she’d realize which home was better.

After all, changing to a new living environment was also mentally taxing, having to get used to a new place, new family.

She yawned again, went to take a shower, dried her hair, and lazily lay down on the bed.

For some reason, she felt inexplicably restless.

Couldn’t sleep.

Frowning, she suddenly remembered the days before Ye Xingmian had left.

She had to admit, holding Ye Xingmian was very comfortable. Her frame was small, her figure slim, lying in her arms like a little kitten, not daring to move.

She could feel Ye Xingmian’s heartbeat, the strong pulse. Breathing in that calming scent from her hair at her nose, she slept very soundly.

She missed it a little.

Just thinking about it was annoying. That girl was probably sleeping at Liu Yinuo’s house right now, wasn’t she? Probably already asleep, maybe even sleeping with Liu Yinuo?

And here she was, busy for her until now, without anyone to complain to.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She took a deep breath, hugged the newly sewn toy bear to her chest, and sniffed the now much-faded scent of Ye Xingmian that lingered on it. She couldn’t help but narrow her eyes slightly.

When will she come back? Better be soon. Then thank me. Maybe I’ll even give the bear back to you.

Then obediently be my sleeping companion.

But, would that be enough?

She felt a hollow emptiness in her heart, unsure what she was thinking.

Lying back on the bed, she recalled the scene at the dinner table earlier, recalled what Ye Xingmian had said to her last night.

What if? What if what she said was true?

What if her own parents were actually two despicable frauds?

What should she do then?

No, she couldn’t think about such things. How could that be possible? Ye Xingmian was just lashing out after being pushed to her limit by the bullying, wanting to have the last word.

And so, embracing the toy bear carrying the young girl’s scent, feeling its softness, she fell into a deep sleep.