Lin Ziyan clenched her fists secretly. She suddenly felt very angry but held back from exploding.
‘Why… you were the ones who drove her away, but I have to bear the consequences…’
Lin Cheng had just touched the sofa and fell asleep. The living room echoed with his loud snoring. Xu Ming went to the bedroom to find a blanket for Lin Cheng, then picked up a broom and started cleaning.
“Zi, you should also clean up this trash. Mom doesn’t have time. If you wait for me to do it, won’t our house become a garbage dump? From now on, you have to help with these chores. It’s also to cultivate your independence.”
“Also, when you go to school tomorrow, you can’t go looking for Ye Xingmian anymore. We can’t hang around her, understand? Mom is doing this for your own good. With her gone, you might not be used to it at first, but you’ll get used to it gradually.”
“Did you hear what I said? Sigh, never mind. Later, I need to talk to your homeroom teacher and have her transfer you to another class. What do you think?”
“Smack!”
Suddenly, the sound of chopsticks hitting the table came from the dining area. Xu Ming couldn’t help but stop her movements and turn around.
“No— way—!”
Lin Ziyan finally couldn’t take it anymore. She lowered her head and said through gritted teeth.
Xu Ming was displeased. She frowned.
“Mom knows you don’t want to, but I’m doing this for your own good. Short-term pain is better than long-term pain. Don’t you understand that?”
“I said no!”
Lin Ziyan suddenly looked up and glared at her. That gaze wasn’t like looking at her own mother; it was like looking at an enemy.
Being glared at like that, Xu Ming’s heartbeat almost skipped a beat.
“If you dare to transfer me, I’ll never go to school again!”
It was a threat.
Xu Ming’s eyes widened instantly.
“What? Daughter! Daughter! Don’t do anything rash! She’s not worth that!”
Lin Ziyan didn’t eat anymore and ran upstairs without looking back. Soon, a “bang” came from upstairs.
Obviously, Lin Ziyan had locked herself in again.
Xu Ming stood still, not moving for a long time. She stared at the stairs, silent for a while.
“Cough! Arguing? Hmph, look, this is the daughter you raised!”
Lin Cheng suddenly woke up. Although his voice was still a bit slurred, he sounded like he had sobered up.
“The daughter I raised? What do you mean? What, she’s not your daughter? Let me tell you, Lin Cheng! The way she is today is all your fault! If it weren’t for you greedily agreeing to take in that little bastard back then, none of this would have happened!”
“Tch! What? Blame me? Look at yourself! The way she is today is because you spoiled her. If you hadn’t spoiled her from childhood, would she be like this now? She doesn’t care about either of us at all!”
“Hah, besides talking nonsense, what else can you do? In these twenty years, who has handled all the messy household affairs? Have you ever done even one?”
“Shut up, shut up! This afternoon, you go to work. I have a headache and need to sleep.”
“After work, I still have to listen to your nagging. What bad luck.”
“Shout, then neither of us goes!”
Even though there was a floor between them, the sound of the argument downstairs faintly reached Lin Ziyan’s ears.
In her memory, her parents rarely argued, but this time they argued so fiercely, and it was because of her.
‘Could it be that I really did something wrong?’
Lin Ziyan couldn’t help but think, but she quickly shook her head.
‘No, I’m not wrong. I just want to be with big sister. What fault is that?’
But undeniably, today’s incident had undoubtedly worsened her relationship with her parents.
Moreover, even the impression her parents had in her heart seemed to have deteriorated in an instant. She had never imagined that they, who had always been gentle to her, would show such a side.
Her heart felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
Lying in bed, she stared blankly at the ceiling. She casually picked up the toy bear and hugged it for a while, trying to comfort herself with this action, but it was useless.
She soon threw the toy bear aside.
Restlessness, endless restlessness, as if she were being roasted over a fire.
The toy bear was just a toy bear; it couldn’t replace big sister’s body.
No, it wasn’t that she wanted to touch big sister’s body or anything; she just wanted a simple hug.
However, at this point, still calling her “big sister” as if nothing had happened, wasn’t that a bit too shameless?
She, who had once had wicked thoughts about Ye Xingmian, seemed to no longer deserve to use that term.
‘If only that incident hadn’t happened, and I hadn’t acted impulsively, how wonderful would that be?’
Everything would be as usual. Every morning, Ye Xingmian would make breakfast and then knock on her door. After she came out with a face full of disgust, Ye Xingmian would humbly invite her to eat.
If she was too lazy to tie her hair, she could let Ye Xingmian do it. She could have Ye Xingmian carry her schoolbag and force her to sleep with her at night as a body pillow.
‘Was I… too excessive before?’
Although she was reminiscing about past life, what came to mind were all the days of oppressing Ye Xingmian. For a moment, she felt dazed.
‘So she… had been living like this all along.’
And such a malicious self was still shamelessly calling her big sister and asking her to return to this hell.
‘At Liu Yinuo’s home, she will surely be much happier than here, right?’
‘Don’t I like her? So I should be happy about this.’
‘That’s only natural.’
‘But still, I can’t accept it…’
‘Has the self who can realize these things actually changed?’
‘Has it changed thoroughly, no longer looking down on others like before?’
‘Probably? Maybe?’
‘I no longer hope for Ye Xingmian to come back, but will Liu Yinuo take good care of her? If it were me, could I?’
‘Can I… really do it?’
‘No, what use is thinking about this now? After all, after what happened yesterday, she must be avoiding me, right?’
‘If I go to her again shamelessly like a stubborn plaster, then I’ll really seem detestable.’
‘I’ll just keep the last shred of dignity for myself…’
‘But my heart feels empty, it hurts.’
Ye Xingmian will be better off with Liu Yinuo, she told herself.
She is useless to Ye Xingmian, will only hold her back and cause trouble, she told herself.
Regardless, she still had to go to class tomorrow. It seemed there were still some things she could do for Ye Xingmian.
She picked up the phone on the nightstand, turned on the screen, and found it was fully charged.
This wasn’t her phone; it was the phone Qin Haiyue had given to Ye Xingmian.
In other words, it was Ye Xingmian’s.
But ultimately, it was bought by Qin Haiyue.
To be honest, she was actually quite scared of Qin Haiyue. Qin Haiyue was a delinquent from a prominent family, and her own parents worked at her company.
If she offended her, it would probably be as easy as snapping her fingers to get her parents fired.
She silently turned off the phone and put it in her schoolbag.
When tomorrow comes, it’ll be fine. Ye Xingmian wouldn’t just abandon her phone.