One evening during dinner, it seemed like last week, Lin Ziyan’s parents had said this to her.
“Mom and Dad got promoted today. From now on, we can come back often at noon.”
Lin Ziyan didn’t pay much attention then. After all, whether her parents came home or not wasn’t important to her since she ate lunch at school. So she didn’t take it to heart.
This led to her being completely off guard—she didn’t lock the door.
And now, appearing at the doorway…
For a moment, her gaze went blank as she met the other’s eyes. Her hands stopped moving.
Ye Xingmian seemed still immersed in her grief. Sensing something wrong, she lifted her head, eyes blurry with tears.
Seeing who it was, her body trembled. She instinctively wanted to cover her chest, but her hands were tied with rope and couldn’t move. Her mind went completely blank.
“Ah… Aunt…”
The visitor was Ye Xingmian’s foster mother, Lin Ziyan’s biological mother, Xu Ming.
She stood at the doorway, seemingly not expecting to see such a scene. In her hand was a bag of snacks—she had apparently just wanted to bring some food.
“You… what… are you doing?”
Hearing Xu Ming’s voice, Lin Ziyan reacted first. She quickly pulled up the blanket beside her and wrapped it around the girl beneath her.
“Mom… No… it’s not what you think…”
She almost instinctively tried to defend herself, but the panic in her eyes and her flustered movements made her explanation seem both hasty and weak. Moreover, beneath her lay the naked Ye Xingmian.
The stripped clothes, the tied hands, the raised chest—everything overloaded Xu Ming’s mind as she saw it. Gradually, she came to her senses.
“Ziyan… what are you doing with him? Why are you doing this? He must have forced you, right?”
Although the scene didn’t match her impression, in her overloaded mind, she didn’t think Ye Xingmian had turned into a girl. She still thought Ye Xingmian was a boy.
How could her own obedient daughter do something like this? It must be Ye Xingmian who instigated and forced her. Because Ye Xingmian is a boy, strong, and has a motive to do so.
Strong psychological suggestion and almost collapsing thoughts made her firmly believe in her own idea. The bag in her hand fell to the ground with a slap.
“No… it’s not, Mom. Listen to me, it’s really not what you think.”
But Xu Ming wasn’t listening to her at all.
“Lin Cheng! Come here quick! Lin Cheng! Look at what this bastard has done!”
This was the first time in Ye Xingmian’s memory that her foster mother directly called her foster father by his name. Usually, their terms of address were gentler. But she didn’t feel any real sense of this.
Stunned, being pressed under Lin Ziyan, she only felt the sky was falling.
She had escaped from the fate of being nearly forced, but was about to face an even more terrifying fate. She felt light, as if her soul had floated out of her body.
‘Would she be labeled as “molesting” Lin Ziyan?’
‘The fact that I transformed will definitely be discovered, and they will find out.’
Xu Ming left the doorway, and then Lin Ziyan hugged her tightly.
“Don’t… don’t be afraid… No… it’ll be okay… I’ll protect you… trust me.”
“Sis… Sister…”
‘Protect me?’
‘But your own body is trembling.’
Ye Xingmian didn’t believe her words. Lin Ziyan had said similar things before, but the outcome hadn’t been good. She… didn’t need Lin Ziyan’s protection…
‘No matter what happens next.’
‘Will I get beaten up?’
‘Or maybe directly beaten to death.’
‘After all, her foster parents love Lin Ziyan so much. If they decide that I, this “bastard,” defiled Lin Ziyan, then being beaten to death might not be impossible, right?’
‘In that case, even if it’s discovered, as long as they collude and pin the label of “molestation” or “attempt” on me, maybe they won’t face any punishment, right?’
She thought pessimistically.
“Can you let me go?”
Lin Ziyan was holding her so tightly that she felt a bit uncomfortable. She didn’t like Lin Ziyan’s hugs. That hug wasn’t warm, wasn’t comfortable, always too tight, making it hard for her to breathe.
Hearing her voice, Lin Ziyan froze for a moment, then slowly released her.
“Okay… okay… I… I’ll untie you right away!”
She reached behind her, and in an unseen place, she untied the rope binding her hands. Because she had maintained an uncomfortable position for a long time, her arms were very sore and uncomfortable.
Lin Ziyan, as if obsessed, then re-arranged the clothes she had torn off Ye Xingmian, wrapped the blanket around her body, and finally moved to sit in front of her.
Taking a deep breath, Ye Xingmian could see her arms trembling.
‘Is it because of nervousness?’
Sitting behind, Ye Xingmian could also hear her voice.
“Don’t… I’ll protect you… Sister… don’t worry, I said it… I said it… I won’t let you leave me.”
She looked as if she was making some kind of resolution.
Lin Ziyan was actually quite slim, looking like an average girl, just tall. Looking at her back, Ye Xingmian suddenly realized this.
In the past, she had felt that Lin Ziyan seemed infinitely strong, able to carry her around at will, and she had never won against Lin Ziyan in contests of strength.
Naturally, there was no emotion of being moved in her heart, just a bit of indifference. Neither fear nor tension, as if she had been pulled out of this world.
Ye Xingmian felt her own state was very strange, but this feeling was good. It made her feel as if she were overlooking this world from a higher angle.
Looking at Lin Ziyan’s back, she was also a bit curious about how far Lin Ziyan would go for her.
‘After all, didn’t she say she likes me?’
After a short while, the foster parents arrived at the door. Xu Ming was in front, eyes red and swollen, tears streaming. Behind her, Lin Cheng held a baseball bat he had pulled out from somewhere, his gaze sinister. They went straight into the bedroom.
“Ziyan, tell Mom, did he force you to do those things? I was wondering why your relationship has been strange these days. Did he threaten you? Did he tell you to give Mom and Dad the cold shoulder because he didn’t want to do chores?”
Xu Ming’s thought process was peculiar, and she imagined such an experience. As she spoke, she cried with heartbroken anguish.
Lin Ziyan quickly shook her head.
“No, I… I was just applying medicine to her…”
“Good daughter, do you think Mom is stupid? Does applying medicine require tying hands and stripping clothes? Does applying medicine require someone to cross-dress? He even wore fake breasts! Good daughter, tell Mom, did that pervert make you buy them with your allowance?”
Lin Ziyan simply couldn’t defend herself no matter what.
“Don’t lie to Mom. I raised you since you were little, do you think I can’t tell when you’re lying? What kind of love potion did this brat give you that makes you abandon your dad and ignore your mom, speaking up for him like this?”
Lin Ziyan gritted her teeth, looking as if she was ready to throw caution to the wind. She suddenly spread her arms, shielding Ye Xingmian behind her.
“So what if it is? I like her! Mind your own business!”