Chapter 224: Argument

The person standing before Lin Ziyan was indeed Ye Xingmian.

However, her face held none of the helplessness Lin Ziyan had expected, nor any trace of that pitiful demeanor.

Ye Xingmian simply stood there quietly, wearing the same clothes she had on when she left, carrying a schoolbag stuffed with books, clutching that little toy bear in her arms. Her gaze was as calm as a still lake.

It was as if…

The nine months away from home had never happened.

She had just stepped out for a bit and quickly returned, like she’d simply gone out to buy something.

Lin Ziyan didn’t know how to break the ice. The smile on her face stiffened slightly, but she made no move to step aside.

In the end, it was Ye Xingmian who spoke first.

She pressed her lips together, then said with a hint of hesitation:

“Um… Ziyan, long time no see.”

The atmosphere felt somewhat awkward.

Lin Ziyan didn’t mind much, though. Hearing Ye Xingmian’s voice, her expression actually turned a bit delighted instead.

If she was willing to initiate a conversation with her, then that meant…

At the very least, she still had a chance, right?

“Yeah! Then… why don’t you come in first? Are you hungry? My mom hasn’t come back yet. Want me to take you out for a meal?”

“No need.”

Ye Xingmian shook her head and silently walked past Lin Ziyan, stepping inside.

She set her schoolbag down to the side and said casually:

“I still have class tomorrow, so I want to head upstairs and tidy up my room.”

“By the way… sis, why did you come back? Did someone bully you? Do you want me to…”

“I’m not your sister.”

Ye Xingmian cut her off.

“Huh?”

Lin Ziyan turned back with a crestfallen look.

However, that claim didn’t really hold up, and the air fell silent for a moment.

“At least on paper…”

“Then… bro?”

“Forget it. Call me whatever you want.”

Ye Xingmian let out a soft sigh.

“No one bullied me. I came back for other reasons. I’ll probably stay here until I finish my exams, then leave right after.”

“Wait, that soon?!”

Lin Ziyan’s attention was completely diverted, and she stopped dwelling on the reason Ye Xingmian had come back.

Because of her surprise, her voice came out a bit loud.

“Yeah…”

“Then… is that all? Isn’t there anything else you want to do? You came back here, so there must be something you want to accomplish, right?”

For some reason, Lin Ziyan’s expression seemed to carry a certain expectation.

Ye Xingmian shook her head.

“No.”

Her answer extinguished the light in Lin Ziyan’s eyes completely.

“I see…”

Lin Ziyan lowered her head slightly, looking rather dejected.

“Do you want me to help you clean your room? You might not be able to manage it alone.”

Even so, Lin Ziyan still wanted to earn some goodwill by offering to help.

Since she hadn’t brought up what happened that afternoon, it meant she still had a chance, right?

That was what Lin Ziyan thought.

“No.”

However, Ye Xingmian simply shook her head again, showing no intention of agreeing.

Her reply was polite and restrained, leaving Lin Ziyan with no hope to cling to.

Lin Ziyan’s mood seemed to sink along with the sunset on the horizon.

But just then, heavy footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the master bedroom, followed by a pungent stench of alcohol.

“Hey… cough… Ziyan? Who’s at our house?”

It was Lin Ziyan’s father, Lin Cheng.

He was holding his head, his voice thick with hungover grogginess. He shook his head and finally managed to focus on the two people standing in the living room. His eyes flew wide open, revealing the bloodshot veins within.

“Ye Xingmian? You little bastard, how dare you show your face again?!”

“I’ll beat you to death!”

He glared with bulging eyes, grabbed a broom from against the wall, and moved to strike.

Seeing the situation turn bad, Ye Xingmian hastily backed away a few steps.

Why was this happening?

She’d called Aunt Liu. She should have known she was coming back, so why was she still being hit?

Was this all a trap?

There was no time to think. She was already preparing to flee with the bear in her arms.

After all, no one was blocking her path, and a drunk who just woke up probably couldn’t catch her anyway.

But to her surprise, Lin Ziyan panicked and rushed forward, spreading her arms wide to shield her.

“Dad! Don’t you dare hit her!”

This caught Ye Xingmian off guard.

After all, Lin Cheng was still drunk right now, and he might just hit Lin Ziyan along with her.

“Shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else.”

Lin Cheng wore an annoyed expression and casually shoved Lin Ziyan aside.

However, Lin Ziyan immediately grabbed hold of his arm again.

Even though she was so scared that her eyes were squeezed shut, her hands held on tight. Lin Cheng found himself unable to take another step forward.

“Don’t!”

She had waited for this for so long…

She had only just come back. How could she let her be driven away like this…

But Lin Cheng merely frowned. The overwhelming strength of a grown man mercilessly shoved her to the ground.

She could only let out a pained cry, utterly powerless to resist.

“Sis…”

She could only look helplessly toward Ye Xingmian at the doorway.

If she left like this, would she ever come back?

Please, no…

Ye Xingmian had been about to leave.

It seemed the Lin family didn’t welcome her after all.

But the rustling sound of plastic bags behind her made her stop in her tracks.

Xu Ming had returned, holding groceries she’d just bought.

She seemed to have heard the argument inside and immediately called out:

“Lin Cheng! What do you think you’re doing?!”

She then quickly stepped in front of Ye Xingmian, shielding her from view.

The situation left Ye Xingmian’s mind in a whirl.

Why did her foster parents seem to be at each other’s throats like this?

Xu Ming’s sharp rebuke sobered Lin Cheng up a bit, but it didn’t do much good.

He frowned.

“What are you doing? Get out of the way! I’m going to teach this little bastard a lesson today!”

“You let her come back? Why did you let her come back?!”

“I’m the one who told her to come back!”

“This is what Ziyan wants. Do you want Ziyan to keep going on like this?”

Suddenly being brought up, Lin Ziyan staggered to her feet, hugging her own arms, looking at a loss.

“Hah? What nonsense are you spouting?”

“I’m spouting nonsense? I think you’re the one who hasn’t sobered up yet!”

“Who hasn’t sobered up? Who was the one who drove her away back then?”

“Go back to bed right now!”

“You want to fight? I’ll beat you too!”

“Try laying a finger on me!”

As the situation threatened to escalate further, Ye Xingmian grew more and more confused.

Still, watching the two of them argue, she surprisingly found that she couldn’t muster much emotion.

If anything…

She almost felt a little pleased.

But regardless, her foster mother was speaking up for her now, right?

She had no idea why the two of them had such a huge conflict. It was strange.

But no matter what, she probably shouldn’t be having thoughts like that.

While the two of them were busy arguing, Lin Ziyan seized the opportunity to run over and grab her arm.

Ye Xingmian caught on and followed her upstairs, hurrying into Lin Ziyan’s bedroom on the second floor.

The argument downstairs didn’t seem to escalate further, or perhaps the room’s soundproofing was too good to make it out clearly.

In any case, after so long, stepping into this bedroom again, Ye Xingmian had no time for nostalgia.

She looked at Lin Ziyan, who seemed hurt, and felt like she should probably comfort her.

“Are you okay?”

“I… I’m sorry…”

“What? Why are you apologizing?”

“I promised I’d protect you before, but I still couldn’t do it…”

“I got pushed down so easily. I’m sorry…”

She was apologizing for something like this?

Ye Xingmian was taken aback.

This really didn’t seem like something Lin Ziyan would do.

Where had that arrogant attitude of hers gone?