Seeing that Ye Xingmian was about to receive a beating for her slip of the tongue, Lin Ziyan finally couldn’t take it anymore. She slapped the table and frowned.
Although she was somewhat angry and jealous because of what had happened between Ye Xingmian and Liu Yinuo, and she had secretly decided not to be so kind to her anymore, that was a matter between the two of them. It had nothing to do with anyone else; it was her own decision.
It was one thing that her parents had hidden her mother’s phone number from Ye Xingmian, but now they wanted to beat her over what seemed like trivial matters. It was truly baffling.
“Hey, what are you two doing?”
Because she had no reservations, she asked the question directly. Xu Ming and Lin Cheng seemed to suddenly realize that Lin Ziyan was still there and froze for a moment. After that, Xu Ming had no choice but to release her grip on the girl’s collar and set her down.
She forced a smile in response to her daughter’s question.
“It’s nothing, sweetie. It’s just that Xingmian was far too disobedient this time, so Mom and Dad wanted to teach her a lesson.”
It seemed they still cared about their image in their daughter’s heart. No matter what, they didn’t want their relationship with her to become too strained.
This was also the reason why they had always hidden the fact that they were deceiving Ye Zhiyun from Lin Ziyan.
However, Lin Ziyan’s confusion did not fade.
“She only said a few words to her mother. Was it really necessary to go that far?”
She didn’t understand — she truly didn’t. She suddenly felt that her parents were like strangers. They had to be hiding something very important from her.
This included Ye Xingmian as well. The girl surely knew what her parents were hiding, but she wouldn’t say a word. Ziyan didn’t know if she wouldn’t or couldn’t.
This made her feel incredibly irritable.
Sure enough, when she asked this, Xu Ming immediately showed a conflicted expression. She was clearly afraid of being loathed by her daughter if her immoral actions were discovered.
“Sigh, it’s not just about a few words…”
“Then what exactly is it?” Lin Ziyan was already growing impatient.
However, Xu Ming still refused to say anything. Ziyan turned her gaze toward Lin Cheng, but he also turned his head away unnaturally, his eyes darting around.
“Hey! What is it? Can’t you just tell me?”
“Uh, after you get into college…”
Lin Ziyan was truly angry now. It was the first time she had felt this frustrated with her parents. That way they were clearly hiding something important but refused to speak — it was truly loathsome. She slammed her chopsticks down and glared at the two of them.
“Fine. I’m done eating. I’m leaving. You two can take your time talking.”
This was her most effective method of protest. She knew that as long as she spoke like this, her doting parents wouldn’t be able to stand it. They would either apologize, try to reason with her, or tell her the truth. However, this time was different. When she turned around and glanced back out of the corner of her eye, expecting them to stop her like they usually did, they didn’t. They simply sat back down, looking exhausted, yet remained silent.
The frustration and dissatisfaction in her heart grew stronger. She simply didn’t look back and went upstairs with a gloomy expression.
After she went upstairs, only the three of them — her parents and Ye Xingmian — remained in the dining room.
After Lin Ziyan’s outburst, the two of them no longer had the energy to discipline the girl, nor did they have the appetite to eat. Both of them looked miserable. After a while, Lin Cheng sighed and patted Xu Ming’s shoulder.
“Eat up. We have to work overtime tomorrow. Don’t lose your energy and leave a bad impression on the boss.”
Xu Ming didn’t speak. She just kept her head down, lost in thought for a long time. When she finally looked up at Ye Xingmian, she seemed to have aged several years, her face etched with obvious exhaustion.
Her eyes showed a hint of impatience, but it couldn’t hide the soul-crushing fatigue. She waved the girl away.
“Get lost. Go do the chores, wash the dishes when you’re done, and clean up the food.”
The girl was slightly stunned, and then a faint smile appeared on her face. She turned her head to hide it so they couldn’t see.
“Okay.” Her response was decisive. Unlike before, she felt very happy now. It wasn’t just because she had successfully contacted her mother; more importantly, it was because she had gained a little bit of confidence in herself.
Confidence in her own judgment.
Leaving the dining room, although her body was tired and her stomach was hungry, her eyes sparkled with a light different from before.
That light was still very weak, but as long as the seed was there, it would one day take root and sprout under the right conditions.
***
In the living room, her adoptive parents had turned off the heater before going upstairs. The temperature dropped quickly, becoming quite cold. Once the earlier, inexplicable excitement faded, the girl gradually began to feel unwell.
Cold, fatigue, and hunger plagued her all at once. As she mopped the floor, she thought for a moment and decided to sneak into the kitchen to grab something to fill her stomach.
Her adoptive parents had been watching her earlier, so she hadn’t dared to eat. Now that they were gone, she could finally sneak some food.
However, there wasn’t much to eat. Xu Ming had given her many chores, and she had been busy for nearly 2 hours. By now, it was almost midnight, and the girl’s body was exhausted. The leftover hot dishes had already gone cold. Since there was meat, the thick soup had frozen into a jelly-like substance. Unless it was heated up, it was definitely inedible. However, heating it would surely draw her adoptive parents downstairs, and if that happened, she would surely get a beating.
She didn’t believe for a second that those two had let her go because of a sudden change of heart; it was likely because of Lin Ziyan.
After thinking it over, the girl opened the cabinet and took out a steamed bun. It had been bought several days ago and was no longer soft and tasty; instead, it was cold and hard. But she couldn’t think of a better alternative at the moment, so she had to gnaw on the bun.
But the bun wasn’t inedible. The girl came up with an idea: she opened the thermos and used the escaping steam to warm it up. The bun quickly softened slightly, making it at least easier to eat.
But this took a lot of time. After eating one to stave off her hunger, she had to continue with the chores. From time to time, she looked out the window. The night sky was polluted by city lights, and no stars could be seen. Only a full moon cast its bright and desolate white light upon the earth, illuminating the lonely street at the door.
The girl suddenly stopped moving.
The moonlight was reflected in her cherry-pink eyes, and a trace of loneliness appeared on her face. Pursing her lips, she stopped dazing and continued her work.
She worked until late into the night before turning off the lights and dragging her exhausted body upstairs.
In the end, she hadn’t really gained anything.
She hadn’t gotten her mother’s phone number, she had incurred her adoptive parents’ wrath, and she was completely exhausted.
Carrying her schoolbag, she followed her memory up to the pitch-black attic. She didn’t turn on the light; the entire room was lit only by that tiny window.
She bent down, wanting to find her other bag — the one containing the teddy bear — from under the bed. However, she couldn’t find it.
She froze.