“Tch—what’s going on? Where did he disappear to again?” Lin Cheng rubbed his hands, which were red from the cold. Xu Ming helped him take off his scarf by his side.
“No idea,” Lin Ziyan’s indifferent response came from a distance.
“That brat has been fooling around everywhere these past few days. His grades are terrible, and he won’t even do chores properly. When he gets back, I’m going to break his legs!”
“Alright, alright, calm down.” Xu Ming tried to soothe him. “Ziyan, do you still want to eat? I’ll go cook for you.” Even though it was late for a meal, she still asked out of concern for her daughter.
“Okay.” Upon receiving an answer, Xu Ming went to the kitchen, while Lin Ziyan’s father sat down on the sofa with an exhausted expression.
“Come here, daughter. Give your dad a shoulder rub.”
“Let Mom do it for you later,” Lin Ziyan replied flatly as she stepped onto the stairs to go up.
“Eh? Your mom is still cooking. How is rubbing my shoulders such a chore for you?” Lin Cheng turned his head back with some dissatisfaction, only to find that Lin Ziyan had already gone upstairs, her figure completely vanishing from sight.
He suddenly felt a bit disappointed and let out a weary sigh.
“What’s wrong? Why the sighing?” Xu Ming came out of the kitchen and happened to witness this scene.
“Nothing. Our daughter is all grown up and getting more and more disobedient. I’m just feeling a bit sentimental.”
“What’s there to worry about? Our daughter is so beautiful and has good grades. She just has a bit of a temper, that’s all. These days, that’s not a big deal. Besides, isn’t her bad temper because you spoiled her?”
“Is none of it your doing?”
“Fine, fine. Didn’t we create this trouble together? We just have to deal with it.”
Since she said that, Lin Cheng naturally didn’t say anything more.
***
After going upstairs, Lin Ziyan didn’t go to her own bedroom. Instead, she walked to the stairs leading to the attic, directly across from her bedroom. She used the flashlight on her phone to light the way up, her face extremely gloomy.
It was already past ten o’clock at night. Even yesterday, Ye Xingmian had braved the wind and snow to return before eight. In other words, if nothing unexpected happened, there was no way she was coming back.
Why wasn’t she coming back? She thought of the answer she had asked Ye Xingmian for that morning; she thought of the scene of Liu Yinuo acting all lovey-dovey with Ye Xingmian in the kitchen; and similarly, she thought of Liu Yinuo, who had unabashedly said things like “Do you want to come to my house?” even in front of her.
The answer… was already self-evident.
Her right hand unconsciously clenched into a fist, and her teeth ground together with a creaking sound. With her phone in one hand and her other hand on the attic door handle, Lin Ziyan twisted it open.
The old wooden door made its usual irritatingly sharp screech. Like her, her parents almost never came to this small attic, except to throw some junk inside. So, this place had always been cleaned and organized by Ye Xingmian herself. Lin Ziyan remembered one time when the door panel of that old wardrobe had fallen off and hit the floor; Ye Xingmian had spent a whole morning busily reinstalling it herself. Even now, it wasn’t secure, always wobbling and creaking.
The flashlight beam illuminated the dim attic, passing through the passage that was jammed tight with old furniture until it reached the place where Ye Xingmian slept. She didn’t know where to turn on the light, so besides the phone’s flashlight, she had to rely on the light from the streetlamp leaking through the small window. Lin Ziyan’s eyes scanned the area; she pursed her lips, searching for something.
The pure white light drifted around the attic, flickering and swaying. She eventually locked her gaze onto the bed. She hadn’t noticed earlier, but the middle part of the quilt was slightly bulging. She flipped the quilt up, and sure enough, what she was looking for was inside.
—Ye Xingmian’s teddy bear.
Roughly grabbing the teddy bear by its short, thick neck and lifting it up, Lin Ziyan’s eyes were filled with an unquenchable rage.
Do you not take my words seriously? Do you like going to Liu Yinuo’s house for refuge? Her house is great, isn’t it? You’re having a lot of fun staying there, aren’t you?
Originally, Lin Ziyan wanted to treat Ye Xingmian a bit more gently; after all, all she wanted was a cute maid she could get close to at any time. However, since she didn’t know what was good for her, Lin Ziyan felt she didn’t need to be so polite to her anymore.
She left resentfully, slamming the already old door shut with a loud bang. She returned to her room and looked at the teddy bear. Gritting her teeth, she ultimately gave up on the idea of throwing it away as trash.
No, she couldn’t be so impulsive. This thing was still useful; it could be kept to threaten Ye Xingmian.
As for what to threaten her with? Still in a fit of rage, Lin Ziyan hadn’t thought of it yet, but she definitely wouldn’t make things easy for her. Just as she was still pondering, a knock suddenly came from the door.
“Dinner is ready, Ziyan.”
Hearing this, she had no choice but to compose herself. She took a deep breath to suppress the restlessness in her heart and walked out with a cold face.
When she reached the dining room, her mother had already prepared simple, steaming-hot dishes and was serving rice for the three of them. Her father sat beside her mother, scrolling through his phone with a smile.
“Eat quickly, Ziyan. Go to sleep right after you finish eating. You have to get up early tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Lin Ziyan responded flatly to her mother as she sat in her spot opposite the two of them.
In the past, her parents would often be very tired and in a bad mood when they came home this late. After all, their work wasn’t easy, and they didn’t have much leisure time to spare. Although they loved their daughter very much and pampered her, Lin Ziyan didn’t really care for them much. Most of the time, they were merely like people who were related by blood but lived in two different worlds.
However, today’s situation was different. They both had smiles on their faces tonight, talking and laughing. Clearly, they were in a very good mood, unlike the usually heavy atmosphere.
Lin Ziyan didn’t know what had happened; in fact, she didn’t care. She just ate her meal in silence.
Until Lin Cheng suddenly called her name.
“Ziyan, Mom and Dad want to tell you some good news tonight!”
Raising her head with a frown, Lin Ziyan asked with some confusion, “What?”
“We might be getting a raise!”
“Oh. Didn’t you also say it’s only a possibility?” Lin Ziyan paused before speaking.
“Oh, Ziyan, can’t you say something nice? Your mom and I are in the same department. Tonight, the supervisor suddenly found us and said the group’s young miss came over to help smooth things over with our legal department. If it goes well and the company expands, old employees like us will most likely get a promotion and a raise!”
“Oh…” Hearing her father’s words, although Lin Ziyan wasn’t interested, she still nodded.
“By the way, I heard that young miss seems to attend the same school as you. If you get the chance, try to get close to her. Maybe it could bring some benefits to our family.”
Lin Ziyan frowned, feeling a bit annoyed, but she still said patiently, “Okay, sure. What’s her name? I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Her name is Qin Haiyue.”
“Qin Haiyue?” What a familiar name. Lin Ziyan thought for a while, and only then did she realize with a start—wasn’t that the name of that blonde delinquent who often bullied Ye Xingmian?
Her? A young miss of a wealthy family?
“Do you remember? Pay more attention to her usually, Ziyan. Whatever you do, don’t offend her.”
“Okay.” She nodded. However, Lin Ziyan didn’t take this matter to heart.