Unexpected Visitors and a Cold Reality

As dismissal approached, footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the door. The girl, clutching a mop, initially dismissed it as someone merely passing by. However, as the footsteps drew closer, and then a password was entered into the lock, her tension mounted. Her pink eyes fixed intently on the heavy door. ‘A thief? A robber?’ When alone, such wild thoughts were inevitable. A faint fear stirred within her, yet rationally, she still believed it was more likely Liu Yinuo returning. After all, it wasn’t even dismissal time yet, and Liu Yinuo would need time to travel back from school. The door swung open. The figures who entered were neither thieves nor Liu Yinuo, but a middle-aged man and woman. They both appeared remarkably young, showing barely any trace of age, clearly the result of extensive upkeep. The woman, upon seeing Ye Xingmian holding the mop, registered a flicker of surprise. Yet, she quickly recovered, stepping forward with a warm smile gracing her lips.

“Oh my, I didn’t expect anyone else to be home. Are you Nono’s classmate?”

‘Nono?’ It sounded like Liu Yinuo’s nickname. If so, these must be Liu Yinuo’s parents.

Clutching the mop handle, the young girl gave a small, nervous nod.

“On a snowy day like this, why isn’t the heating on? Aren’t you cold? And by the way, little one, what’s your name?”

The heating, once turned off at noon, hadn’t been reactivated. While the indoor temperature hadn’t dropped rapidly, it certainly wasn’t cold.

The woman switched on the heating, then exchanged a glance with her husband. The man, understanding immediately, offered Ye Xingmian a friendly smile before taking his wife’s handbag and retreating to the master bedroom.

Seeing the girl remain silent, the woman sighed faintly. She approached, taking the mop from Ye Xingmian’s hands.

“I… I’m called Ye Xingmian…”

As these were Liu Yinuo’s parents, the girl was eager to leave a good impression. She spoke in a hushed tone, her entire demeanor cautious and tentative.

“Ye Xingmian?” A slight frown creased her brows; it was an unfamiliar name. She took the mop, casually leaning it against the wall.

“You don’t need to mop the floors manually here. Look, there’s a robot vacuum and mop over there.” She leaned in, tinkering with her phone for a moment, and soon, the robot whirred to life.

“See? Just set it like this, and the robot will mop the floor automatically.”

“Oh…”

The girl’s expression fell, a sense of disappointment washing over her. Her afternoon’s diligent work now seemed entirely futile.

“Speaking of which, isn’t school still in session? Ye Xingmian, why are you here?”

“Ah… I… I have a fever… the class monitor brought me here at noon… she helped me get leave…”

The woman’s expression immediately shifted to one of sudden realization.

“Oh, I see, so Nono took leave at noon to come home and look after you, Ye Xingmian.”

“Mm… I’m sorry…”

“No need to apologize. Aren’t you tired from standing, Ye Xingmian? Come sit on the sofa, don’t be nervous.”

The girl obediently moved to the sofa and sat down.

The woman, in turn, settled opposite her.

“My husband and I heard about Nono taking leave at noon, and we were worried, so we decided to come home early.”

“Mm…” Her inner questions answered, the girl nodded, a hint of awkwardness in her demeanor.

“Ye Xingmian, why did you come to our house with Nono instead of going to a clinic with your parents for an injection?”

The question posed was far too difficult for the girl to answer. She hesitated for a long moment.

“Because… my adoptive parents are still at work, they couldn’t make it to care for me.”

“Hmm? Don’t you just need money to get an IV drip at a clinic?”

“I… I don’t have a phone…”

Observing the girl’s increasingly anxious responses, the woman gradually pieced things together. The girl’s family circumstances, it seemed, were not ideal. She keenly picked up on several keywords: adoptive parents, no phone, unable to care.

A frown creased her brow; she had a rough understanding of the girl’s family situation now.

‘Lost both parents (?) adoptive parents neglectful, not even buying a phone for the girl in this internet age, not even knowing their child has a fever?’

Her gaze subtly shifted. Feigning gentleness, she coaxed, “Ye Xingmian, are you and Nono very close?”

The girl shook her head repeatedly.

“No… I… the class monitor and I only just met today.”

“Hmm… Auntie has two small questions for you, Ye Xingmian. May I ask them?”

“You may…”

“Alright. You see, Auntie is the kind of parent who cares deeply about her daughter’s academic performance. Since she was little, I’ve enrolled Nono in all sorts of tutoring classes, all so she could get into a good university for the college entrance exam and have a bright future. So, I wanted to take this chance to ask you, Ye Xingmian, how has Nono been performing at school recently? Has she been studying diligently, or has she shown any undesirable tendencies like puppy love?”

The girl looked up, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know…”

‘He struggled even to take care of himself; how could he possibly have time to pay attention to others?’

“Hm, alright. Auntie has one more thing she’s curious about: what’s your class ranking, Ye Xingmian?”

At a question concerning himself, the petite boy’s body trembled slightly. He lowered his head, appearing utterly lacking in confidence.

“Um… my ranking… it’s probably a bit below average…”

Just then, the man who had gone into the master bedroom emerged. He held a phone in his hand, sat beside Liu Yinuo’s mother, showed her something, and whispered in her ear.

‘What were they looking at? What were they saying?’

While organizing things in the bedroom, Liu Yinuo’s father had been eavesdropping on the conversation in the living room. Upon hearing them discuss grades, he retrieved his phone and began searching for something in the class group chat. Thus, the content on the phone they were currently viewing was, naturally, Class 14’s report card.

As she read, Liu Yinuo’s mother’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

[Rank: 34 Name: Ye Xingmian Gender: Male]

“Male?”

Covering her mouth, she whispered to her husband. The man nodded, his expression slightly grave, and Liu Yinuo’s mother’s tone grew oddly peculiar.

“They don’t look like it…”

For Liu Yinuo’s parents, who always held high standards, a rank of 34 was already considered quite poor. Moreover, the revelation that Ye Xingmian, whom they had assumed was a girl, was actually a boy, struck a sensitive nerve. This, coupled with his family circumstances…

Ye Xingmian merely watched their interaction in a daze, his heart growing increasingly anxious. He had no idea what they were looking at or what they were saying. He only felt that when the woman looked up at him again, her gaze had grown significantly colder.

“Ye Xingmian…” she began, her tone slow, as if carefully choosing her words. “Look, you’re both in your final year of high school now, and the college entrance exam is right after the New Year. Nono’s grades have always been excellent; she’s expected to get into a prestigious university. So, Auntie just wants to advise you both: matters of maintaining relationships can wait until after the exam. Ordinarily, you should keep some distance so it doesn’t affect your college entrance exam, don’t you agree?”

‘The implicit meaning of her words was for Ye Xingmian to actively distance himself from Liu Yinuo.’

How could the boy not understand such a simple truth? Yet, Liu Yinuo had been so gentle at noon, allowing him to briefly forget the chasm-like disparity between them, letting him momentarily indulge in that beautiful fantasy. Now, Liu Yinuo’s mother, with her subtly worded admonition, had brutally thrust him back into cold reality.

For some reason, he felt his heart tremble. His body felt even colder than before the heating was turned on—much colder.

It was as if a faint flame had extinguished in his eyes, leaving his pink gaze gradually vacant.

“I’m sorry… I understand…”

“Right, your immediate priority now is…”

Liu Yinuo’s mother seemed poised to say more, but the living room door suddenly swung open, drawing her attention.

“Dad? Mom? Why are you back?”

Standing conspicuously at the doorway was Liu Yinuo, home from school. She frowned, her gaze falling upon her parents seated on the sofa in the living room.