A Snowy Night’s Resolve

Picking up the thermometer, she deliberately spoke in a loud voice.

“Thirty-eight point three degrees Celsius. You just came back from outside, so your actual temperature should be even higher. Tsk, tsk. How about this? I’ll ask for leave for you now, and you can recover at home tomorrow. Who knows, you might even have frostbite somewhere. I’ll stay home and take care of you, too.”

The room had been utterly silent, but then the sudden, sharp clatter of chopsticks dropping from the dining table direction pierced the quiet, sounding particularly jarring.

“Don’t…”

“Hm? Don’t what?”

Ye Xingmian’s unexpected reaction piqued her interest, prompting her to ask.

However, the girl simply recalled the events of her day, and her eyes filled with terror.

“Don’t… I can’t take leave…”

If she took leave, if she violated her agreement with Qin Haiyue again, would that kind of thing happen once more?

She spoke almost instinctively, subconsciously. Yet, she suddenly realized what she was worrying about.

Would Qin Haiyue really let her go if she followed the agreement? It shouldn’t matter anymore; why was she still so concerned about a mere breach of contract?

She couldn’t understand it, truly couldn’t.

“Why?” Lin Ziyan asked, her voice laced with interest.

This time, however, the girl said nothing, remaining silent as she continued to eat her meal, bite by slow bite.

‘Why such a strong reaction all of a sudden? Was it because she’d missed too many days of school and was worried about falling behind? It shouldn’t matter at all, right? With her grades, attending class or not made no difference; she wouldn’t understand it anyway.’

‘Ah, it must be about Liu Yinuo, after all. She wanted to see Liu Yinuo, which was why she was asking her not to arrange leave. Did she like the class monitor that much? Did she hope to see her tomorrow so desperately?’

For some reason, Lin Ziyan felt a surge of anger, though she couldn’t pinpoint the cause. Restraint was never her style, so she simply pulled out her phone, opened the class chat, and deliberately spoke into a voice message, shouting loudly: “Teacher, my brother’s fever hasn’t gone down, and he accidentally got frozen outside again. I’d like to ask for leave tomorrow to take care of her.”

As she spoke, she carefully watched Ye Xingmian’s expression. To her disappointment, however, other than a brief pause in her eating due to distraction, the girl seemed entirely unaffected.

She released her finger, and the message was sent, indicating that the teacher had been notified. Still, seeing no reaction from the other girl, she felt a pang of annoyance.

She wasn’t in a hurry to show it, though. Tomorrow was still a long day, and she had plenty of time.

Just then, footsteps suddenly echoed from upstairs. Moments later, Lin Mother hurried down, her face etched with anxiety.

“Ziyan, did you just ask for leave in the group chat?”

“Yes, I saw she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to stay home to look after her tomorrow,” she replied, gesturing towards Ye Xingmian, who was still eating.

“Who?! You little bastard, you actually have the nerve to come back?” Turning her head, Lin Mother spotted Ye Xingmian and immediately contorted her face into an expression of utter disgust.

“On a snowy day like this, you didn’t even go to class this afternoon. You only came back in the middle of the night—where in hell have you been?”

Ye Xingmian remained unmoved, continuing to eat her meal in silence, her expression betraying not a single change.

“You!”

Seeing herself ignored, Lin Mother’s anger flared. Just as she was about to stride over and teach her a lesson, Lin Ziyan quickly pulled her back.

“Mom, it’s fine. She’s back now, isn’t she? I’ve already decided everything for tomorrow. Don’t you still have to go to work? I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone at home. Don’t worry, it won’t affect my studies.”

She winked at Lin Mother.

“That’s true, she’s always so dull and clumsy. We wouldn’t want her breaking anything at home. My daughter is truly thoughtful. Hey, you little bastard, aren’t you going to thank Ziyan?”

Without responding, the girl had nearly finished her meal and was preparing to clear the dishes.

“Hey, you brat!”

Seeing herself ignored again, Lin Mother’s temper flared. In the end, it was Lin Ziyan who once again held her back, sparing the girl from further trouble.

“Alright, Mom, you should go back inside. It’s cold down here; don’t get frozen. You still have to get up early for work tomorrow.”

After finally sending her mother away, Lin Ziyan turned back to find Ye Xingmian had almost finished clearing the dining table. Lin Ziyan couldn’t help but sigh; Ye Xingmian was exceptionally good and swift at such tasks, far more capable than herself. But who would think highly of her for something so trivial?

Society was controlled by the powerful and influential; Lin Ziyan had deeply believed this truth since childhood. Ye Xingmian, however, possessed neither power nor influence, and no matter what she encountered, she could only swallow her grievances.

Rising to her feet, Lin Ziyan strolled casually past the dining table, her gaze lingering on the girl’s busy movements with a profound look in her eyes.

She knew that Ye Xingmian couldn’t leave her family’s home, at least not for a long time. This was her unique advantage and Ye Xingmian’s greatest vulnerability. She could use it to make any unreasonable demand, knowing it would be difficult to refuse.

Therefore, she found herself increasingly looking forward to tomorrow.

“I’m going upstairs. Remember to wash the dishes. And remember to get up early tomorrow, okay?”

Before heading upstairs, she casually switched off the heating. The temperature on the first floor gradually dropped, while outside, the heavy snow persisted, and the fierce wind howled against the windows like wailing devils.

It wasn’t until everything was done that Ye Xingmian dragged her cold, weary body upstairs.

She returned to the attic, filled with old objects and smelling faintly of dust.

Instead of wrapping herself in a blanket or lying on the bed, the girl found an old wooden stool. She wiped it repeatedly with a damp tissue, then hugged it close as she sat by the window.

The old stool was unstable, wobbling precariously and emitting an incessant, grating creak, much like her bed.

Gazing out the window, the streetlights flickered erratically. The snow was still falling heavily, thick and dense like a white mist. In the pitch-black night, the sound of the wind seemed strangely quiet.

‘What exactly am I holding onto…?’

She couldn’t help but ponder. Having experienced so much today, she began to doubt her entire life. She questioned whether everything she had endured was truly worth it, and whether her original aspirations warranted such prolonged suffering. She doubted her own cowardice, her own worth. Several times, she had yearned to give up, yet she found herself dragged back, dazed and disoriented, to this small bedroom nestled in a secluded attic on this snowy night.

Perhaps the luckiest thing that happened today, besides meeting the class monitor, was that this attic, at least, kept out the wind.

It was a small blessing, preventing the girl from shivering uncontrollably even indoors.

Ah, speaking of the class monitor. Why was she so kind to her? What did she want, and what could she possibly gain from her?

She didn’t understand, truly she didn’t. Her long-standing experiences had made her feel utterly worthless. Even the one thing she was good at, housework, was replaced by robots in the class monitor’s home.

‘So, it’s better to stay away from her.’

‘Stay away from the class monitor, because I don’t deserve her,’ the girl whispered softly in her heart.

‘Just like the class monitor’s mother said, I would only be a burden to her.’

As her gaze wandered, the girl inadvertently noticed the teddy bear that had been placed on her bed last night.

It was brown, plump, and had big, round, adorable eyes. It felt warm to hug, and she cherished it.

She picked it up and held it close. The girl gazed at the bear, but it wasn’t the bear that filled her mind.

‘Mom…’

It had been so long since they last met. How long? Five years? Or ten? She couldn’t remember clearly, only that it felt too distant, and her mother’s face had already blurred in her memory.

She had been doubting whether her mother truly loved her, questioning why she had been left alone here. Yet, as she hugged the teddy bear, the girl once again felt a surge of her mother’s love.

Even though it hadn’t originally been bought for her.

‘Ha… so, I’ll keep enduring…’

Clutching the little bear, the girl’s body grew warm. The dark windowpane reflected her pink eyes, inherited from her mother.

A look of resolute determination had now surfaced within them.

“I will definitely persevere, so don’t break your promise…”

“Mom…”