When it was almost time for dinner, Li Ziye went to a nearby fast food restaurant to buy a fast food meal. When she was paying, she suddenly thought of Bai Yuwang. She herself didn't know why she thought of him, maybe at this moment she felt that she was so similar to Bai Yuwang.
She was not nice to Bai Yuwang, but Bai Yuwang was very nice to her.
Ye Xiang told her to get lost, but she bought him food with a smug look on her face.
Maybe people really have a previous life. They must have owed each other something in their previous life, so they are trapped in a hopeless pursuit in this life.
After Ye Xiang finished washing the last car in the morning, he was about to change his clothes and rest, when he saw Li Ziye standing outside the car wash shed carrying a takeaway.
Li Ziye waved at him a little awkwardly.
His brows knitted together, and he took off his gloves and threw them on the ground. His face was darker than the bottom of a pot. He didn't say a word, and walked straight towards Li Ziye. His steps were so fast that Li Ziye couldn't react in time. When he stood in front of her, she almost fell back in fear.
But after stumbling, she managed to stand firm, and Ye Xiang showed no intention of reaching out to help her.
It seems that the scenes in TV dramas where the heroine falls down and the hero reaches out to hug her don’t happen …
But Ye Xiang's gaze was so fierce that she was startled again before she even had a chance to recover. If he didn't want her to help, then she wouldn't help... She just thought that he would be very hungry after being busy all morning, so she bought him a meal.
However, Ye Xiang looked unconvinced, with a frighteningly sharp look in his eyes. He reached out and snatched the takeaway from her hand, then turned around, walked a few steps, and threw it into the trash can.
Li Ziye froze in place again, unable to move... She really didn't expect that doing this would make him so angry.
Ye Xiang turned around and glared at her, his eyes emitting flames: "Li Ziye, who do you think you are? A saint? Why are you doing this? Are you pitying me? Sympathizing with me?"
Li Ziye shook his head desperately: "I didn't... I just wanted to be nice to you... I..."
She was stared at by those eyes and couldn't even speak clearly.
Ye Xiang took a deep breath, as if trying his best to suppress the anger in his heart: "I don't need anyone to be nice to me, please put away your extra sympathy!"
Li Ziye was speechless after hearing what he said. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence from his throat: "I'm sorry..."
Her eyes were moist... She really didn't like to cry, she thought crying was a sign of weakness, but Ye Xiang could always easily stimulate her tear glands, as if tears would flow out of her eyes at any time.
Ye Xiang didn't say another word to her. He just turned and walked into the store, leaving her with a resolute back.
Li Ziye stood there alone for a long time, then seemed to wake up, turned around and walked away.
She knew that if she continued to stay there, it would only annoy Ye Xiang.
He is now like a hedgehog whose quills have been pulled out. Perhaps, whether with good intentions or bad intentions, he does not want others to peek into his vulnerable side.
Li Ziye could understand his feelings, and her heart suddenly calmed down. She did not blame Ye Xiang, but she could not think of any way to be good to Ye Xiang without hurting him.
Sometimes, she really hated herself for not being smart enough and not being able to come up with any good ideas.
After that encounter with Ye Xiang, Li Ziye often passed by that car wash shop, but he never met Ye Xiang there again.
She knew that he must have gone to work somewhere else, and he knew she would come again so he just left.
Thinking of this, she smiled bitterly.
She tried hard to avoid people who tried to be nice to her, and she wanted people who were nice to her to avoid her. Fate likes to play tricks on people.
…
In a blink of an eye, it was the night of New Year's Eve. Father Song and Song Chuling had pasted window paper-cuts and spring couplets, Mother Song and Li Ziye had made dumplings and cooked hot pot, and the family was having a great time.
But now Li Ziye remembered that when he was in the countryside, he used to celebrate the New Year with his adoptive parents, grandparents, uncles and a large family. Although the meals were not as rich as they are now, a large group of people gathered in front of an old TV, watching the gala and chatting about family matters, which made him feel warm in his heart.
But now, in such a big house, with semi-strangers in her family…she felt inexplicably sad when she thought of this, so she said very little at the dinner table. When they raised their glasses to wish each other well, she just smiled quietly.
Father Song turned around and patted her head: "Zi Ye, the New Year should be lively and joyful. If you spend the New Year with a sad face, you will be unhappy in the next year."
Li Ziye nodded: "I understand." There was still a faint smile on his face.
"You... I really don't know what to do with you." Father Song sighed deeply, raised his glass and drank a whole glass of juice - he couldn't drink alcohol because of his illness.
Song Chuling quickly came to Li Ziye's rescue: "Dad, what are you talking about? Ah Ye is so well behaved, what else do you want to do to her? Are you going to make her suffer several times more? Then I'll be jealous."
Father Song smiled helplessly, sighed and didn't answer, and raised his chopsticks to pick up the food. Suddenly his hand shook, and the chopsticks fell on the table, and then he coughed violently, as if he was going to cough out his lungs. The whole person was shaking violently, and his face gradually turned pale... Song Chuling was the first to react, rushed over to support Father Song, tried to help him breathe, and then called Li Ziye: "Aye, call an ambulance!"
Mother Song went to the kitchen to serve the dishes. When she came out, she saw Father Song looking ill. She was so scared that her hands went limp and the plate in her hands fell to the ground in an instant, shattering into pieces.
Li Ziye was actually also shocked... Although she knew that Mr. Song was sick , she had never seen him fall ill, and the doctor had always said that Mr. Song was doing well, so she always thought that maybe he would recover.
But this time, she felt for the first time the power of a serious illness… When Father Song almost fell down in front of her, she truly felt that Father Song might die in the next second.
…
Father Song was pushed into the emergency room. Mother Song sat on a bench and cried bitterly. Song Chuling was beside her, patting her back to comfort her. Only Li Ziye sat quietly on the bench on the other side, not saying a word from beginning to end.
She didn't know what to say? Comfort? She had always kept her distance, but now she couldn't say a word of comfort.
Anxious, crying? She couldn't cry either. Although she was indeed worried, she didn't cry.
But when Grandma Song arrived, she saw the expression of "numbness and cold-bloodedness" on her face. Grandma Song's anger was ignited almost instantly, and she pointed at her nose and said angrily: "Your parents spent so much effort to bring you back from the countryside, and they have been taking good care of you during this period, and they have also found the best school for you. Is this how you treat your father?"
Li Ziye listened to her scolding quietly. The blood in his body seemed to cool down in an instant. His eyes also changed from the initial anxiety to a deep and cold one.
Grandma Song didn't mean to stop: "You are such an ungrateful person! Tell me, your dad has been hospitalized so many times, how many times have you come to the hospital to visit him? How can you be so busy at school that you can't even come to the hospital to take a look? If you were half as good as your brother, your dad wouldn't have come to the hospital in anger today!"
Li Ziye still said nothing... She knew that it would be useless for her to say anything now.
What Grandma Song said was true. She didn't care about Father Song at all, and it did make Father Song very upset.
She was tired. She had endured enough criticism since returning to the Song family, and she really didn't want to cause herself any more unnecessary trouble.
Song Chuling also heard Grandma Song's unreasonable scolding, and hurried over to hold her back: "Grandma, stop talking, Dad will be unhappy if he sees you talking about Ah Ye like this. Let's wait for Dad to come out safely, okay?"
Grandma Song glanced at Song Chuling and then heaved a sigh of relief: "Chuling, what I am most satisfied with your parents is that they gave birth to a well-behaved grandson like you. I just don't know why you, this 'good sister', didn't inherit even a little bit of the good bloodline of the Song family."
Li Ziye sat there, and although she didn't say a word, she clenched her hands tightly, her nails dug deep into her flesh, almost pinching her palms to bleed... Grandma Song's words were really like a poisonous knife, which not only made her feel pain, but also made her feel like dying...
Obviously, she was the one who was abandoned. Obviously, she was the one who was given up . Obviously, her growth trajectory was very different from Song Chuling's. Why could these people still righteously ask her to love her parents as much as Song Chuling did?
Maybe blood is thicker than water and she should tolerate everything, but she really can't tolerate it... This is also the reason why she has never been able to integrate into this family.
They pulled her out of her original life and forced her to adapt to their pace of life. Although everything they did was in the name of doing it for her own good, in fact they were just trying to make her adapt to them.
No one cared what she thought, no one cared what she needed, she was just a tool that was forcibly dragged back to fill the gaps in their hearts.
Thinking of this, she almost couldn't breathe.
Li Ziye didn't notice that Ye Xiang, who was standing not far away, happened to see the whole scene. Ye's father drank too much and got alcohol poisoning. Ye Xiang took him to the hospital, but he didn't expect to see Li Ziye being scolded.
His brows knitted slightly...
He didn't expect that Li Ziye also had such an unknown wound. She had always been a loner in school, and was even scolded by her classmates because of her "coldness and arrogance"... He thought that her family was well-off, so she had so much free time to "be nice to him".
But now it seems that she is not much better off than him, just look at her desperate eyes.
It was not until the early morning that Father Song was pushed out of the emergency room. All the members of the Song family followed the emergency cart into the ward. The doctor said that Father Song was no longer in danger of death and his condition was under control.
Li Ziye did not join in the fun, she was still sitting in the empty corridor . Just when she thought no one would notice her anymore, a white shadow suddenly flashed before her eyes. She looked closely and found that it was a lunch box. When she looked up, she saw Ye Xiang looking down at her, his expression was still as cold as before, and his voice was also hard: "It's just to repay the favor from last time."
Li Ziye was stunned for a moment, a little unbelievable, and did not reach out to take it... She really felt like she was dreaming! Otherwise, how could Ye Xiang send her a takeaway and say he wanted to repay the favor?
Seeing her hesitate for so long, Ye Xiang was a little displeased, and frowned: "Do you want it or not? If not, I'll feed it to the dog."
Li Ziye finally came to his senses, snatched the lunch box, and pinched his face - it hurt.
She was not dreaming. Was Ye Xiang in front of her really there?
Ye Xiang looked at her reaction and felt a little amused, but he still kept a cold face and turned his gaze away indifferently: "I don't like to owe others favors. Now we are even."
Li Ziye held the lunch box, speechless for a long time. He had thrown away the lunch box she bought for him last time, so there was no such thing as owing him a favor. At most, it was compensation for hurting her self-esteem...
After coming to his senses, Li Ziye quickly said to Ye Xiang's back: "Thank you."
Ye Xiang didn't say anything, just walked forward on his own.
Li Ziye added: "Thank you very much for the previous times. No matter why you helped me, I really... thank you."
Ye Xiang snorted disdainfully, then put his hands in his pockets, turned and walked towards the elevator, disappearing from her sight.
Li Ziye held the lunch box in his hand and stared blankly for a while, then happily opened it and started eating.
The meal was quite rich, with vegetables and meat. It should be difficult to buy takeout on New Year's Eve, but Ye Xiang actually bought her one.
But just as she was about to pick up her chopsticks, Grandma Song and her group came out of the ward again. When she saw Li Ziye preparing to eat, Grandma Song's anger rose again: "Do you still have your elders in your eyes? All of us elders are sitting here without eating a single bite of food, but you are eating alone, right? It's fine if you don't respect me, but your mother and brother are also hungry, how can you not care about them, you conscienceless person?"
In an instant, all the joy disappeared, and Li Ziye covered the lunch box with a sullen face.
Seeing that Grandma Song was so angry, Aunt Song couldn't help but say a few words: "Zi Ye, now that you are back to the Song family, you are the child of the Song family. Don't always make your grandma angry. Be sensible..."
Li Ziye suddenly stood up from the bench with his lunch box in hand, and looked at these people coldly: "Then send me back."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.
Li Ziye repeated firmly: "If I'm so bad, then just send me back, and you won't have to worry about me anymore, right?"
"You..." Grandma Song was so shocked by these two words that her whole body began to tremble. "What did you say? You are so brave! If you were a few years younger, I would break your legs!"
Song Chuling hurried out of the ward and stood between Li Ziye and Grandma Song. He first said to Grandma Song, "Grandma, Ah Ye has only been home for a few months. She is not used to many things. Please give her some time to learn slowly. Don't bother with her, okay?"
Then he turned around and looked at Li Ziye: "Aye, hurry up and apologize to grandma. After all, grandma is the elder and can't stand your anger."
Li Ziye stood there without moving.
After a long time, she raised her head looked at Song Chuling, with a hint of cruelty in her eyes.
Ha, the so-called expectation for her younger sister is nothing but saying one thing and doing another. On the surface, he understands everything about her, but in fact, his position is the same as that of all the other members of the Song family.
Yes, he has lived in the Song family for more than ten years. How could he empathize with her, who suddenly appeared for a few months?
In the end, Li Ziye did not apologize. He just took his lunch box and left without looking back.
She felt cold all over, she had never felt so cold before.
She had never imagined that the biting cold could come from the blood. This kind of coldness could almost be engraved deep into the soul, and she might never forget it for the rest of her life.
In early spring, Song's father's condition improved, and the new semester was about to start. Song Chuling packed his bags and left home again. Although he intended to take a leave of absence to take care of the family, Song's father insisted that he go to school as usual to complete his studies. After all, for Song Chuling, studying was the top priority.
Since leaving the hospital that day, Li Ziye has fallen into an even more silent state. He hardly speaks at home and locks himself in his room every day when he gets home.
She didn't eat with them either, and often took her own money to buy something on the street to fill her stomach. She hated that she was living on the Song family's money, but then she thought, what they owed her was more than just money.
Song Chuling tried to apologize to her more than once, but she always blocked her way. Trust may be the most irrecoverable thing in the world. Once it is broken, it is futile to make up for it.
She no longer trusted Song Chuling, so no matter how he apologized, it was useless because she knew that next time she had a dispute with the relatives of the Song family, he would still not stand on her side.
Mother Song had always wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with her, hoping that she could at least open her heart and tell them what was on her mind.
But she just responded by locking the door again and again... It's not that she didn't want to open her heart, but that she simply didn't trust these people, these people who should have been called relatives.
In such a strange atmosphere, school started.
This should have been a bigger headache for her, but at this moment she was relieved for no reason . After all, she could choose to ignore those people in school, fight back, and no one would accuse her of being "unfilial".
There was a small test at the beginning of the school year. Song Chuling tutored her at the beginning of the winter vacation. With the peace of mind of studying during the winter vacation, her grades should have improved. However, she deliberately made many mistakes. When the results of the small test were announced, she almost got red marks in all the subjects and was almost at the bottom of the list.
When the head teacher announced the results on the report card, he specifically called her name: "Li Ziye, you are really going too far! Did you go home to herd sheep during the winter vacation? I really don't know how you got such a good grade."
Li Ziye didn't respond. In fact, she wasn't the last in the class. The reason why the head teacher called her out was entirely due to her previous argument in the office. But she didn't say anything. For the first time, she felt comfortable being scolded.
Didn't everyone in the Song family want her to be as successful as Song Chuling? But she refused.
She suddenly didn't want to be such an outstanding person anymore, because if she did, the people in the Song family would say that it was all because of the Song family's good genes, and that she, a little sparrow, would one day turn into a phoenix.
She didn't want all her efforts to be attributed to others in the end. She would not be the second Song Chuling, she would only be Li Ziye.
When she was criticized by the head teacher, the audience burst into laughter again.
Bai Yuwang came out at the right time to help Li Ziye out: "Hey, have you guys laughed enough? What's wrong with bad grades? They can go up if you just make up for it..."
"Ha, she's so stupid, how can she possibly make up for it?"
"That's right! Look how hard she worked last semester. She just read books silently every day. Haha, where did all the books she read go?"
"You just pretend to be diligent, but in fact you didn't read a single word."
Bai Yuwang's rebuttal was soon drowned out by the tide of mockery. In the end, he had no choice but to slap the table and said, "Okay, then I'll tutor Li Ziye! I'll make sure she ranks in the top 20 in the midterm exam. How about that?"
"Mr. Bai! Are you really interested in this 'iceberg beauty'? Be careful not to freeze to death!"
"Haha, that's right, Bai Yuwang. There are so many normal and good girls to choose from, but you chose to mess with her. Shouldn't you go get your eyes checked?"
Just as Bai Yuwang was about to give a speech to dispel the opposition, Li Ziye behind him suddenly poked him in the back with a pen and said in a low voice: "Stop talking, I don't need tutoring."
Bai Yuwang instantly became like a defeated rooster, and asked dejectedly, "Why? Don't pay attention to what they say, I don't care at all."
Li Ziye just shook his head: "I really don't need tutoring. I won't do well in the exam no matter how much I tutor."
"How will you know if you don't try?" Bai Yuwang was still trying to convince her, but found that Li Ziye had already lowered his head to read a novel.
Although he noticed that Li Ziye seemed to be different this time, Bai Yuwang pondered for a long time and still did not ask... Li Ziye was definitely not the kind of person who would tell everything.