Frozen Out

With stiff fingers, she pushed the door. The Lin family home was situated in an old district, predominantly filled with self-built bungalows. Rumors of demolition had circulated for over a decade, yet while property prices soared, the actual demolition remained a distant, unfulfilled promise. The young girl swayed, pressing herself against the cold, iron security door.

She tried the lock. Yet, when she turned the handle and pulled, there was no response.

The door was locked from the inside.

With no other option, she huddled, shivering, and knocked on the locked door, waiting for someone inside to open it.

The wait was agonizing, her mind racing with anxious thoughts. Who would open the door? If it were her aunt and uncle, how would she answer their inevitable questions about where she had been?

She had taken the afternoon off without informing them and had only returned now. Would she be punished?

Everything was uncertain. The young girl leaned against the wall, her frail body buffeted by the biting wind and snow, making her sway.

She clung precariously to her fading consciousness. She waited for a long time, but still, no one came to open the door.

She had no choice but to knock on the door again, waiting for someone to open it.

If no one opened the door, how would she survive the night? It was far too cold; the temperature might have already dropped to around negative ten degrees Celsius.

With the ongoing snowfall, the air was cold and damp. She had no doubt that if she couldn’t get inside, she would freeze to death out here.

Perhaps there was another way out: she could go to Liu Yinuo’s house and ask for shelter. Surely the class monitor wouldn’t refuse?

‘But to leave and then immediately return,’ she thought, ‘wouldn’t that make me seem utterly foolish…?’

“Ha…”

She exhaled a soft puff of white mist, watching it dissipate into the air. The girl’s hands and feet had long gone numb, appearing unnaturally pale without the circulation of warm blood.

Curled tightly, she felt as though she no longer even had the strength to shiver.

‘It’s so cold, truly bone-chilling.’

Yet the door remained firmly shut. A flicker of despair began to surface in the girl’s eyes.

Leaning against the wall, she slowly sank to the ground, the fresh snow yielding to her weight and leaving shallow indentations.

‘Forget it. I don’t really want to go inside anyway.’

‘Just like this… is fine too…’

Thoughts of giving up resurfaced in her mind. However, the sound of a door hinge turning reached her ears.

As a spill of warm light illuminated the fresh snow, the door finally opened.

A tall girl emerged. Ye Xingmian lifted her head, meeting the scornful smile on her face.

“Oh, look who decided to come back?”

‘It seems she’s not exactly welcome…’

Her eyes darkened. Not wanting to respond, the girl turned her face away, silently lowering her head.

‘So what if she wasn’t welcome?’ she thought. ‘If they didn’t want her back, then she wouldn’t go back. She was already fed up with this life.’

‘A meaningless, frustrating, suffering existence.’

Seeing the girl ignore her, Lin Ziyan didn’t seem annoyed. A grin remained plastered on her face.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you coming in? Did your brain freeze?”

Still, there was no response. Lin Ziyan suddenly furrowed her brow.

She abruptly reached out, grabbing Ye Xingmian’s icy hand. However, the moment her hand made contact, Ye Xingmian struggled violently, as if she had received an electric shock.

“Don’t… don’t touch me…!”

Desperately, she tried to pull her hand back. A look of agony contorted the girl’s face.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The girl, weakened by the extreme cold, was naturally no match for Lin Ziyan’s strength. Moreover, Lin Ziyan had no intention of letting go.

With a frown, she pulled slightly, and the girl was yanked into her embrace.

Relying on their slight size difference, she easily held the girl captive in her arms.

“Don’t… don’t touch me… so hot… so hot…”

For some reason, the hand she had just touched felt like a searing hot iron, almost making her cry out in pain. The girl’s struggles were as feeble as a kitten trying to escape her embrace.

Frowning, Lin Ziyan pushed the girl inside and then locked both doors.

Inside, the heating was on, making it far warmer than the snowy outdoors. The faint aroma of cooked food wafted through the air.

Yet, even indoors, the girl seemed unable to recover. Her face was terrifyingly pale, and her hands clutched her chest as she instinctively curled inward.

‘Could her brain really be frozen?’

Lin Ziyan frowned, observing the girl’s unusual reactions. After a moment of silence, she took off her own coat and draped it over the girl, holding her to help her body temperature rise.

“Are you still cold?”

Her lips trembled. The girl lowered her head, remaining silent.

“…”

Her gaze grew serious. Lin Ziyan felt the situation was becoming rather difficult.

She had originally planned to exploit the girl’s pathetic return, to chip away at her psychological defenses and then seize the opportunity to threaten her. But looking at her now, it seemed another moment outside would be fatal.

She sighed, then glanced at the girl. “Go eat,” she said. “There’s leftover rice. I’ll warm it up for you.”

The girl looked up, a hint of surprise in her eyes. This was utterly unlike something Lin Ziyan would say.

She instinctively felt that something was amiss. Watching Lin Ziyan’s retreating back, she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly felt wrong.

“What are you gawking at? Are you deaf?”

‘Ah, that’s right. Now this is more like it,’ she thought. ‘This is the real Lin Ziyan.’

After a moment of stunned silence, Ye Xingmian shook her head. Complying, she sat down on a chair by the dining table, where some leftovers were still arranged. Steam rose from the rice cooker.

Lin Ziyan poured her a cup of hot water, then took the leftovers to the kitchen to warm them up. Watching her busy figure, Ye Xingmian felt a momentary sense of bewilderment.

‘What’s wrong? Why is she suddenly being so kind to me…?’

She picked up the hot water from the table; it wasn’t too hot, the temperature just right. She drank it all in one go, feeling much better.

Just then, the dishes were warmed. Lin Ziyan brought them to the dining table, and the aroma of the meat-laden food instantly stirred the girl’s hunger.

Yet, still uneasy, the girl continued to stare blankly at her “sister.”

“What are you staring at me for? Serve yourself the rice. My parents already went to bed. If I hadn’t still been awake, you would have frozen to death outside tonight!”

From her words, it seemed she expected gratitude. But Ye Xingmian couldn’t bring herself to say thank you.

Whether the door opened or not was actually irrelevant to her. In fact, she had already prepared herself for the possibility that they wouldn’t open the door at all.

Although this seemed like a “good ending” now, she still couldn’t feel happy.

Naturally, there was no gratitude to be given.

Silently, she turned her head. She took a bowl and served herself rice, eating slowly. As her stomach filled, her hands and feet gradually warmed up.

Seeing that the girl’s reaction was not what she had anticipated, Lin Ziyan scoffed with a disdainful “Tch.”

“I went to all this trouble for you, and you can’t even say thank you?”

At this, the girl’s quiet eating suddenly ceased. She looked up at her “sister,” her usually humble pink eyes now holding only a profound weariness.

She merely glanced at her, then lowered her head.

“I didn’t ask you to do any of this,” she said, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

‘I didn’t ask you to do any of this. If only the door hadn’t been locked, I could have done it all myself.’

‘Why must you act so superior and demand my gratitude? Is it just to see me humble and pleading?’

‘She was truly tired. She didn’t want to be like that anymore.’