The road back was long, and the sky was already shrouded in pitch-black mist.
Only at the edge of the sky was there still a thick, blood-red canopy, but it was no longer conspicuous, like a lamp in the night.
The streetlights along the road lit up one after another, casting a bright path down this old street.
Ye Xingmian walked along the road. There weren’t many people in her sight; it seemed she was the only one.
‘To be honest, I’m a little scared.’
In many horror movies, this is exactly the time when ghosts appear. Ye Xingmian had been afraid of the dark as a child, and she was still a little scared now.
‘I always feel like there’s something terrifying staring at me from the darkness.’
She swallowed nervously.
This thread of fear pulled her out of her previous thoughts, and she finally freed herself from those chaotic musings.
Although she had experienced something like this before—trudging home in the dead of night amidst a heavy snowstorm—the atmosphere then was different from now.
Back then, everything before her eyes was a vast expanse of white; apart from herself, there was only snow and cold.
But now it was different. Now…
‘Anyway, I’d better hurry home.’
She quickened her pace and soon arrived at the slightly old front door of her home.
The door was closed but not locked. She opened it, and a pungent smell of alcohol hit her nose.
She couldn’t help but frown.
As far as she remembered, her foster mother didn’t drink. Only her foster father would have a little when he was upset, but not to the point of being dead drunk—though he would show signs of intoxication.
At such times, her foster father tended to be irritable. Perhaps to vent his dissatisfaction with work, he really liked to hit people when drunk.
So Ye Xingmian had to avoid him at those times.
After all, he had never hit Lin Ziyan, and rarely had conflicts with Xu Ming. Most of the time, it was her he hit.
Her survival experience since childhood made her nerves tighten the moment she smelled alcohol.
But the house was very quiet. There was no sound of talking, just a lifeless stillness.
Only from the direction of the dining room came the sounds of eating.
She lightened her steps and quietly peeked over.
***
At the dining table, her foster parents sat facing each other, eating in silence. Beside her foster father was a bottle of baijiu and a small cup containing some transparent liquid.
With every sip, her foster father sighed, as if worried about something.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem drunk. With such a strong smell of alcohol, Ye Xingmian had thought he was completely smashed.
She glanced at the floor and immediately discovered the real source of the alcohol smell.
There was a pile of broken glass on the floor, along with a puddle of liquor.
It was easy to imagine that something had happened earlier, causing a bottle to accidentally break, leading to the scene she saw.
This discovery made her hesitate, but in the end, she walked out normally.
“Xingmian? You’re back. Why are you so late?”
“That alcohol on the floor…”
Ye Xingmian pressed her lips together.
“Ah, that. It was my turn for duty today. When I came back, for some reason your uncle absolutely wouldn’t let Ziyan drink.”
“The father and daughter got into an argument, and they accidentally broke a bottle. I haven’t had time to clean it up yet.”
Xu Ming shook her head to herself and sighed.
She finished speaking, and as if to corroborate her words—
“You’re still drinking! Still drinking!” Xu Ming scolded Lin Cheng.
“Is it a big deal? Don’t stop me, you hear me!”
“Don’t you think about why I’m drinking? If she’d just listen, I—”
“Enough. You stop drinking too. Your daughter not letting you drink is for your own good.”
“Tch…”
Xu Ming frowned. Seeing that she couldn’t stop Lin Cheng, she simply gave up dissuading him.
She turned to look at Ye Xingmian.
“Xingmian, come here. I need a favor. Take this to Ziyan.”
She handed over a basket.
Ye Xingmian took it hesitantly. It was heavy, quite substantial.
“This is…”
“Lately, Ziyan keeps refusing to come down for meals, so I bought a special basket for delivering food. When your uncle and I go, she won’t even open the door, but she’ll open it for you.”
“So I’m counting on you, Xingmian. Today, you said if she doesn’t send it, she won’t have dinner tonight. Your dinner is in there too. Just take it to her and eat together with her.”
Ye Xingmian fell silent.
‘This means… so there’s no room for choice.’
‘Tonight is like this, what about the future?’
‘It’s probably like this day and night. She could hardly imagine it.’
“Okay…”
“Then I’ll leave it to you. Just bring it out after she’s done eating, and I’ll wash it.”
“Mm.”
“By the way, Xingmian, have you and Ziyan gotten closer lately? Your relationship never seemed this good before. These days, she’s willing to let you into her room.”
Xu Ming’s tone was strange.
Ye Xingmian’s expression showed discomfort.
‘She noticed?’
‘This is getting dangerous. What should I do…’
Fortunately, Xu Ming seemed to have just mentioned it casually. She smiled and changed the subject.
“But men and women should maintain boundaries. Since you two grew up together, it’s still not appropriate to get too close, you know?”
After she said this, Lin Cheng turned back and shot her a fierce glare, making her shiver involuntarily.
“Mm…”
Anyway, she took the basket and went up the stairs.
She had washed her hands beforehand, so there was no need to worry about hygiene.
She recalled the words Lin Ziyan had said before leaving school. She felt that Ziyan had really changed a lot, become somewhat different.
After hesitating for a moment, Ye Xingmian knocked on Lin Ziyan’s door.
A somewhat suppressed voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
After a moment, the door opened, and Lin Ziyan, who was much taller than her, appeared.
“You came?”
Lin Ziyan showed a smile.
“Mm, Uncle and Aunt asked me to bring you dinner.”
Lin Ziyan casually took the food basket from Ye Xingmian’s hand and placed it on the table.
“Have a seat.”
She pointed to a chair placed nearby.
After doing all this, the atmosphere became somewhat silent.
After a long moment, Lin Ziyan spoke.
“About what happened this morning, I want to apologize.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, the promise that if Qin Haiyue came looking for you, I’d protect you. I didn’t follow through… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind.”
Ye Xingmian thought she had said something comforting, but she didn’t notice Lin Ziyan silently clenching her fist.
After a moment, she let go, not letting Ye Xingmian notice anything unusual.
“Qin Haiyue didn’t cause you any trouble, did she? And… I just thought of this, when school let out?”
“No, I left a bit later. Maybe she didn’t have the patience to wait.”
The real reason might not have been a lack of patience.
Ye Xingmian suddenly remembered that this morning, Qin Haiyue mentioned that Luo Xi had been going to her house every afternoon these past two days.
‘Maybe that’s why she didn’t block me at the school gate?’
Regardless, Lin Ziyan seemed relieved.
“That’s good…”
As she said this, she raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Let’s eat. Um, what do you want to do tomorrow?”