The Hidden Bear in the Attic

The old wooden door groaned open, emitting a harsh, grating sound. Ye Xingmian, her expression laced with nervousness, ascended the stairs ahead of Liu Yinuo.

She paused at the doorway, speaking softly. “Class Monitor, this is my room.”

Liu Yinuo couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

Standing at the threshold, she was assaulted by a strong, musty odor. The room was poorly lit, with vast shadows cast by piles of old furniture on either side.

Dismal lighting, rudimentary decor, and floors and walls showing years of neglect — this was her immediate impression of the attic.

It was evident that this family had been using the space as a storage room. Perhaps it had been a junk room before Ye Xingmian moved in, or perhaps the old furniture had only begun accumulating in recent years.

Regardless, seeing the state of the place made Liu Yinuo’s heart clench instantly.

“Class Monitor… are you sure you want to go inside…?”

Hearing the girl’s timid question beside her, Liu Yinuo took a deep breath. Though she had anticipated that the girl’s living situation might not be ideal, she never imagined it could be this abysmal.

She drew another deep breath, striving to calm her turbulent emotions.

“Does Ye Xingmian usually sleep here?”

“Yes… it looks a bit messy outside, but it’s much better inside, actually.” The girl lowered her head, a profound sense of inferiority washing over her as she revealed the stark simplicity of her bedroom to the Class Monitor.

“Then let’s go in.”

As they ventured further inside, Ye Xingmian’s room indeed appeared much better than the entryway. The space was somewhat more spacious, and the window, facing the street, offered decent natural light.

Coupled with the girl’s apparent diligence in cleaning, there was no visible dust on the floor, making it a relatively normal dwelling.

Yet, it remained undeniably spartan. Liu Yinuo couldn’t even spot a single desk; apart from a bed by the window and a chipped wooden wardrobe, there was virtually no other furniture.

This truly challenged her worldview. It was inconceivable that one of her classmates lived in such conditions.

Beyond the discomfort, she also felt a surge of anger.

Frankly, Ye Xingmian’s adoptive parents were already treating her egregiously. However, Liu Yinuo found herself believing that Ye Xingmian’s biological mother, as described by Lin Ziyan, was even more reprehensible.

What kind of work could be so demanding that it kept her from seeing her child for nearly a decade? How could she be unaware that her own child was marginalized, bullied, and living in such a place with her adoptive parents?

A profound disgust for the girl’s distant mother welled within her.

Ye Xingmian still wore the scarf Liu Yinuo had given her, her expression tense.

“Class Monitor, would you like to sit? I’ll fetch you a stool.”

One of the few advantages of living here was the abundance of old furniture. However, with the girl’s limited strength, she could only manage to move small stools.

As for the heavy desks buried beneath the piles, she lacked both the strength to move them and the time to clear them out. Asking her adoptive parents for help would almost certainly result in a refusal; in their eyes, she should spend her time on chores instead.

Over time, even though some broken wooden tables were still usable, the girl never had the opportunity to clear them out.

From a corner, the girl retrieved the small stool she had sat on last night. She carefully wiped it clean with a tissue from her pocket, then offered it to Liu Yinuo.

“I’m sorry, Class Monitor, this is the only stool I have. It might be a bit wobbly…”

“It’s fine.” Liu Yinuo shook her head, accepting the stool. She sat on it, leaning against the bed frame to conserve energy.

From her backpack, she pulled out the test papers she had prepared in advance.

Just as the girl had warned, the small stool was unstable. The slightest movement sent it creaking and swaying precariously, making one fear it might collapse at any moment.

The girl watched it, a flicker of worry in her eyes.

“Class Monitor… maybe we should go downstairs instead…”

“It’s alright. Class is starting soon anyway. We’ll only stay a little longer, and I’ll just ask you a few questions to gauge your progress. Have you reviewed this test paper?”

“No…”

“What about this one?”

“Hmm, the teacher talked about this one before, but I didn’t quite understand it…” The girl shook her head blankly.

“Then let’s start with this one.”

Liu Yinuo proceeded to ask several more questions, quickly assessing the gaps in the girl’s knowledge. She frowned; there were simply too many areas the girl didn’t understand, and for a moment, Liu Yinuo was at a loss as to where to begin.

Minutes ticked by, and before they knew it, class time was drawing near. Glancing at her phone, Liu Yinuo stood up.

“Ye Xingmian, are you truly unwilling to come to my house? Your adoptive parents treat you so poorly; what do you gain by staying here? I’ll be good to you, I promise.”

She stared intently at the girl, hoping to decipher her thoughts from her expression. Ultimately, however, she was disappointed.

The girl turned her head, evading Liu Yinuo’s gaze.

“Class Monitor, I still have to wash dishes. I’m leaving now…”

She fled down the stairs as if escaping.

Watching her disappearing figure, Liu Yinuo’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper, until she could only let out a helpless sigh.

‘Why does she avoid me? Is it because of Lin Ziyan’s threats, or is she afraid of my parents? Why?’

‘Don’t be like this… I’m clearly the only one who truly cares for you…’

‘Even that mother of yours might not care about your life as much as I do, right?’

‘If she’s just an ATM, sending money to your adoptive parents from afar, then what difference is there between having such a mother and having none at all?’

She knew that presuming to judge a mother’s love for her child was incredibly disrespectful. Yet, she couldn’t help but think it.

The objective facts were clear: Lin Ziyan had said the girl’s mother hadn’t returned in a long time, and since the girl didn’t even have a phone, she probably hadn’t heard her mother’s voice in ages.

Such a person, no matter how much they loved their child or how hard they worked, was ultimately incompetent as a parent.

‘So, my dear, right now, the only one who genuinely cares for you, whose heart is with you, is me…’

‘Only I want what’s best for you. Why… why do you run away again and again? Why…’

The more she thought, the more irritated she became. Liu Yinuo felt a surge of anger rise in her chest.

She had never been an impulsive person, so why now? Why was this happening?

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down.

‘It’s alright. The road ahead is long, and she’ll have many more opportunities.’

With that thought, she finally managed to compose herself. Lowering her head to pack her backpack, her eyes inadvertently drifted towards the underside of the bed, where she suddenly seemed to spot something.

‘What is that…?’

Frowning, she retrieved the item from beneath the bed. The area under the bed had clearly been meticulously cleaned by the girl, with no accumulated dust and a floor so spotless it reflected light.

Thus, the item itself was also clean, even if it appeared somewhat old from its exterior.

Liu Yinuo stared at it, puzzled. How had this school bag ended up under the bed?

Ye Xingmian, who was always so meticulous with her chores, shouldn’t make such a mistake. Moreover, the school bag seemed to contain something.

She decided to unzip it and peek inside. Within lay… a brown teddy bear…?

‘How could there be something like this in my dear little one’s room? It looks quite new, so it must be something very precious to her. How did it end up tossed under the bed? It must have been an accident.’

Sighing at the girl’s supposed carelessness, she took the teddy bear out of the bag. She gently placed it on the girl’s bed, covering it with the blanket, and then moved the school bag to the corner where the other miscellaneous items were piled.

Estimating it was time to leave, she slung her backpack over her shoulders and descended the stairs.