The White Cloth and a Cold Dinner

“I’m home—”

Lin Ziyan called out, drawing out the last syllable. She swapped her shoes for slippers at the door, then headed straight into the house.

“Oh, Ziyan, you’re back? Hurry and wash your hands. Your dad bought roast duck; we’ll eat together soon.”

“Mm.”

Lin Ziyan casually tossed her backpack aside, then ran a hand through her long hair. Her gaze swept around the room, as if searching for something.

“Where is she?”

“Her?”

Lin Ziyan frowned slightly.

“Ye Xingmian, didn’t she skip class this afternoon? Is she not home?”

“Oh, don’t even get me started,” Lin Ziyan’s mother sighed, a faint annoyance creasing her brow.

“When I left, I told her to do chores. But when I came back, the floor was only half-mopped, and she was just lying there asleep. I had to wake her up for her to finish the rest.”

“And now?”

“She’s sleeping upstairs,” her mother replied, pointing towards the attic.

“Oh.” Lin Ziyan nodded, saying nothing further. She wasn’t truly concerned about Ye Xingmian, merely curious.

After hearing her mother’s explanation, she walked to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and prepared to wash her hands for dinner.

“Hm?”

Her peripheral vision inadvertently caught sight of the washing machine beside her. The young woman’s movements suddenly halted as she frowned, staring at something on top of it.

“What is this…”

Wiping her hands dry with a towel, she carefully picked up the item, gazing at it with confusion. It was something that shouldn’t have been there.

A strip of… white cloth?

It didn’t look like anything the family would own.

She brought it closer and sniffed; it carried a familiar scent. Had she smelled it this morning?

Unable to recall clearly, she simply took it out of the bathroom and headed to the kitchen to ask her parents.

“Did either of you put this cloth here?”

Lin Cheng, who was stir-frying, and Xu Ming, who was helping, turned their heads to look at her almost simultaneously.

“No.”

The young woman then shifted her gaze to her father, who also shook his head.

“Alright.”

Her tone was slightly odd. After a moment’s thought, the young woman decided to take the item to her own room for now.

Her room was directly across from the stairwell. As she rounded the corner, she encountered Ye Xingmian, who was sluggishly descending the stairs.

Ye Xingmian had changed clothes. Gone was the unusually thick outfit Lin Ziyan had seen earlier in the day, replaced by something much lighter. She wore only a single layer underneath a jacket.

Her complexion was poor, utterly lacking in vitality. Her eyes were half-closed, and her face was unnaturally pale. Her steps were unsteady, as if she had no strength. She covered her chest with one hand and her stomach with the other, whether for warmth or some other reason, Lin Ziyan couldn’t tell.

Upon seeing Lin Ziyan, she seemed startled, her eyes widening slightly before quickly dimming.

“Ziyan…?” she asked weakly. “Are you home from school…?”

“Mm.”

Lin Ziyan replied casually, not giving the other young woman much thought. She opened her bedroom door, preparing to step inside.

“Ah… that… Ziyan… wait a moment…”

Called to a halt, Lin Ziyan frowned and turned back. She saw Ye Xingmian, hesitant and looking somewhat uneasy. Though her voice remained weak, her gaze was fixed on the item in Lin Ziyan’s hand.

“Could you… please… return that to me…” she requested, pointing at the cloth in Lin Ziyan’s hand.

“Hm? This is yours?”

“Mm…”

Narrowing her eyes, and recalling the scent she’d noticed that morning, Lin Ziyan leaned a little closer to the young woman. She sniffed the air around her.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” the young woman asked timidly, unnerved by Lin Ziyan’s strange behavior.

“No, nothing,” Lin Ziyan replied expressionlessly, stepping back half a pace.

At this, Ye Xingmian visibly relaxed. She looked up, hope in her eyes, and pleaded, “Um… could you give me back my thing now?”

“What do you need this for?” Lin Ziyan questioned, her tone accusatory.

“I…”

It was something profoundly important to her, yet Ye Xingmian, exhausted and hungry, couldn’t conjure an excuse to demand it back. She couldn’t possibly blurt out, ‘This is my chest binder, give it back to me, quick!’ could she?

With her right hand covering her sensitive chest, Ye Xingmian was about to say more when a sudden shout echoed from the living room.

“Ziyan, dinner’s ready~”

The call broke the awkward tension between them. Lin Ziyan scoffed, then casually tucked the white cloth into her pocket.

“If you don’t answer me, I won’t give it back,” she declared, then turned and walked away decisively.

Ye Xingmian found herself unable to press the matter further. She was naturally thin-skinned, and asking her ‘sister’ for her chest binder was already pushing her limits. She certainly wouldn’t dare ask her under the noses of her adoptive parents; if they found out, she would be ruined.

At that point, her adoptive parents might well refuse to keep adopting her, this “neither male nor female” freak, and then everything would truly be over.

So, the young woman silently followed her ‘sister’ to the dining table.

Initially, Lin Ziyan’s parents, seated at the table, wore smiles. However, upon seeing the young woman behind Lin Ziyan, their smiles abruptly faded, replaced by cold expressions.

“Ye Xingmian, go wash the dishes,” Xu Ming commanded.

“Oh…”

She glanced at the lavish dinner spread on the table: a whole roast duck in the center, flanked by several dishes, both meat and vegetables, and three bowls of rice already served. Ye Xingmian knew there was no portion for her.

Typically, she was excluded from such family meals.

After all, she wasn’t truly considered part of this family.

Lowering her head, she walked towards the kitchen, washing dishes while listening to the lively chatter behind her.

“Here, Ziyan. Eat more, so you can grow strong.”

“I’ll serve myself if I want to eat. Aren’t you annoying?”

Her dishwashing movements paused for a fleeting moment, then quickly resumed.

The young woman neatly stacked the clean bowls and carried them to the dining room cabinet.

The family of three scrolled through their phones while eating, the steaming dishes wafting enticing aromas.

Ye Xingmian hadn’t eaten much all day; she was famished. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have suddenly fainted while doing chores that afternoon. Beyond hunger, her throat also ached, and her mind felt muddled and hazy.

“Finished washing? Go take out the trash too.”

Her adoptive mother, Xu Ming, wore a fawning smile as she served a piece of meat to her own daughter, then casually ordered Ye Xingmian.

“…Alright.”

Picking up the black trash bag, she opened the door, and the cold winter night wind rushed in. The young woman, dressed only in thin clothes, suddenly saw black as the chilly blast hit her. She quickly braced herself against the wall, supporting her body with all her strength to avoid falling.

‘What just happened to me?’

Her body remained profoundly weary. The young woman silently glanced behind her; the room was brightly lit, but no one noticed her. Looking at the ground in front, some trash had fallen out of the bag, so she quietly picked it up.

The path to dispose of the trash felt long for the young woman. She leaned against walls the entire way, her steps faltering. By the time she returned, the three others had almost finished eating.

Only scraps remained on the table; the once-whole roast duck was reduced to bones with a few bits of meat clinging to them. Xu Ming, smiling, beckoned the young woman, who had just washed her hands, to come over.

“Come quickly and eat, the dishes are getting cold. Come here, yes, over here, you can sit in my spot.”

Only then did she offer an exceptionally kind smile, rising to give her seat to the silent young woman.

The young woman scooped a bowl of rice and began to eat, accompanying it with the leftover dishes and the meager bones from the roast duck.

“Ziyan, guess what? Mommy and Daddy have a present for you today!”

Xu Ming pulled a large box from a corner and approached mysteriously.

Ye Xingmian’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to her.

“It’s a teddy bear plushie worth two hundred yuan!”

The young woman’s pupils constricted sharply; she looked utterly incredulous.

‘Two hundred yuan…’