“Ziyan, what nonsense are you talking…”
Xu Ming stared blankly.
“I said I like her! Don’t you dare touch her, did you hear me!”
“Wait, is it because the way Mom spoke just now upset you? Are you trying to piss Mom off on purpose? Tell Mom, okay? This kind of thing can’t be joked about…”
“I’m serious!”
Lin Ziyan’s face was filled with resolve.
“No… no, Ziyan. He’ll drag you down. He doesn’t even have a proper home. His father is a rapist, still in prison; his mother works outside and isn’t in good health. He’s not good enough for you…”
“I don’t care. I can support her!”
Xu Ming heard this, closed her eyes, and nearly passed out, almost falling straight to the ground.
Lin Cheng caught her.
Xu Ming took a breath and opened her eyes, now filled with resentment.
Her gaze passed over Lin Ziyan and landed on the girl behind her.
Ye Xingmian seemed to have been spacing out all this time. Her long hair hung down her back, and a blanket was wrapped around her body, faintly revealing a black one-piece dress underneath.
She didn’t seem to care about the commotion in front of her, but her eyes, looking at Lin Ziyan’s back, held a hint of surprise.
Maybe she hadn’t expected Lin Ziyan to actually say something like that for her…
Of course, Xu Ming didn’t care what she was thinking.
She raised a trembling finger and pointed at Ye Xingmian, eyes wide with fury.
“It’s you! It’s all because of you! You half-man, half-woman little vixen! We should never have taken you in. We should have drowned you when you were small!”
Xu Ming shouted.
At this point, Lin Cheng, who had been silent beside Xu Ming, finally spoke.
He stepped forward, holding a baseball bat in one hand, his cold gaze fixed on the girl behind Lin Ziyan.
A faint smell of alcohol clung to him—maybe he’d had a drink right after getting home.
“Stop talking nonsense. Even if we hit her now, we can hit. Kill her, even. Worst case, I do a few years in jail. That little bastard dares to lay a hand on my daughter? Today I’m going to beat him to death.”
He walked toward the two on the bed, carrying the bat.
Xu Ming did nothing to stop his rash act.
No obstruction meant tacit consent…
Lin Zi suddenly panicked, feeling like all the blood in her body was rushing to her head, her mind dizzy.
Mom and Dad were going to hit her “elder sister,” completely disregarding her feelings, right in front of her eyes…
That felt absurd.
At this moment, her parents seemed to have turned into completely different people—far from the gentle, kind images she’d always known. Now they were full of bigotry and violence.
So this was what her “elder sister” had been facing all along with these “foster parents”?
It was truly heartbreaking.
No one would protect her “elder sister.” Even the so-called foster parents could become the worst abusers.
Now the only one who could protect her was herself…
She absolutely couldn’t back down.
Lin Zi raised her head and looked straight at her father.
“You can’t hit her!”
“Daughter, your dad is doing this for your own good. Why can’t you understand?”
Xu Ming was still trying to reason from the side.
Lin Cheng, who had walked up to her, stopped.
The pungent smell of alcohol radiated from him—he’d clearly had quite a bit. Even so, a hint of reluctance showed on his face.
But that reluctance quickly vanished.
“You two, get out of here! If you want to hit, then… then hit me first!”
“Ziyan, step aside. Don’t make Dad say it a second time.”
His voice became much gentler when speaking to Lin Zi.
“No! If you’re going to hit her, then hit me too!”
Lin Zi didn’t budge an inch, confronting him head-on.
Lin Cheng glanced back at Xu Ming.
Xu Ming understood and walked over.
“Zi, step aside. Don’t make your dad get annoyed. If he gets annoyed, he might really hit you too. Mom can’t stop him.”
Lin Zi remained completely unmoved.
Xu Ming frowned and shot Lin Cheng a look.
Lin Cheng immediately stepped forward.
He quickly moved in front of Lin Ziyan, reaching out as if to grab Ye Xingmian straight past her.
Lin Zi noticed his movement.
But her father’s strength was too great—she definitely couldn’t block him.
She quickly thought of a way.
She turned around and hugged Ye Xingmian.
Maybe the force of the hug was a bit strong.
Ye Xingmian, who had been lost in thought, snapped back.
“Mm…?”
She lowered her eyes and saw Lin Ziyan’s head buried in her chest.
The blanket wrapped around her had slipped off from the movement, revealing the body wearing the one-piece dress beneath.
The thin, exposed clothing looked very inappropriate in this situation.
“Don’t… don’t be scared, sis. I’ll protect you.”
Lin Zi kept murmuring these words in her ear.
The sensation of their bodies pressed tightly together was unexpectedly comfortable, a bit different from before.
Like a stubborn child.
Lin Zi really seemed to be trying very hard to protect her.
For a moment, she thought about reaching out and hugging her back.
Of course, she didn’t follow through.
And Lin Zi seemed to have actually succeeded.
Because of her action, Lin Cheng stopped, his outstretched hand frozen in midair.
Eventually, he slowly pulled it back.
But her parents hadn’t given up; they just looked a bit helpless because of her behavior.
“Zi, let go of him. You’re a girl. You can’t hug him.”
“Mind your own business!”
“Mom and Dad have indulged you in many things. Whatever you wanted to do, we had no objections. But this one thing—absolutely not.”
“This is a matter concerning your entire life.”
Lin Cheng added from the side.
“Mom also hopes you can find someone you like, but that person absolutely cannot be him, understand? He’s not good enough for you. You deserve better.
“He can’t give you the life you want, and he might even hold you back. You’re a girl. You don’t need to take on that kind of burden.”
Since the hard approach didn’t work, they seemed to be trying the soft approach.
Unfortunately, Lin Zi still didn’t budge.
She held Ye Xingmian tightly, as if afraid she might run away, afraid she might be hurt by her parents’ words.
“It’s okay… sis… don’t listen to them. I like you. I don’t care. Don’t be scared… I’ll protect you. As long as I’m here…”
Her words were rambling.
Some seemed meant for Ye Xingmian, some seemed meant for herself.
Ye Xingmian was moved.
She truly hadn’t expected Lin Ziyan to go this far for her…
Considering that by saying this, she was staking her entire future.
The hand behind Lin Ziyan’s back quietly lifted, then quietly lowered.
Her eyes dimmed, and she was silent for a long time.
Meanwhile, Xu Ming’s frown deepened.
“In a moment, go separate them.”
She said to Lin Cheng.
Lin Cheng nodded, standing by, ready.
“How about this, Ziyan. First, let go of him, okay? I think we’re all a bit worked up right now. Let him go, let’s calm down, and then we can all talk together.”
She seemed to be offering a compromise.