BXBX NOVEL Chapter 76 - Why should I?
If HuMing were here, he would undoubtedly be surprised, for the middle-aged man was the very one who had claimed to be Ye QiuXue\'s father that day.
Ye Feng looked at his daughter with a face full of expectation.
This time, he had chosen to wait along his daughter\'s route home from school, and finally, his patience had paid off.
It had been some time since they last met, and Ye Feng knew all too well that his daughter had no fondness for him.
But as a father, he deeply wished to see his daughter\'s face, even if just once.
"QiuXue, I\'ve been waiting for you for a long time."
He stepped forward slowly, but Ye QiuXue\'s expression remained unchanged by his words.
She stood there, staring at Ye Feng, the man who had abandoned her.
In her eyes, Ye Feng was no different from that woman who shared her blood---both filled her with disgust.
"So what? Am I supposed to be moved to tears?"
Ye QiuXue\'s words were sharp, and the man, who had been smiling, instantly froze.
He stopped in his tracks as if unsure how to move forward.
With her arms crossed over her chest, Ye QiuXue fixed her cold gaze on the man before her and continued.
"I don\'t know what you want this time, but I\'ve already made it clear---don\'t come looking for me again. I\'m sure your wife wouldn\'t want to see this either, right?"
Ye QiuXue remembered clearly how, back in the countryside, when Ye Feng returned with his new wife. She had clearly seen the woman\'s look of disgust directed at her.
His wife told Ye Feng she would neither raise nor take her to the city.
Ye Feng chuckled awkwardly, but he didn\'t refute the woman\'s words.
In the end, it was Grandma who chased the two of them away with a broom, but before leaving, that woman still said that if she hurt her, the Ye family wouldn\'t have a grandson to take care of Grandma in her old age!
Grandma spat in the woman\'s direction and asserted that she would never acknowledge her as her daughter-in-law!
The encounter ended on a sour note.
That day, she hid in Grandma\'s arms and asked if she was a jinx.
Grandma gently comforted her, but she knew that Grandma was also crying.
From that day on, she vowed never to cry or make Grandma worry!
By the riverside, the shadows of the trees sharply divided their two figures. Ye QiuXue stood in the darkness, making it difficult for Ye Feng to see her clearly.
Ye Feng quickly shook his head and hurriedly explained.
"It\'s not like that! Your aunt actually welcomes you back. She even said she regrets what she said to you back then. If you don\'t believe me, I\'ll call her right now!"
As he spoke, the man took out his phone and called his wife.
A sharp voice quickly came through from the other end.
"Hello? Ye Feng, where the hell have you been? You\'re not even answering your own son\'s calls?!"
"I went to see QiuXue!"
Ye Feng, a bit annoyed, shouted angrily into the phone.
Ye QiuXue stood with her arms crossed, expressionless as she watched the scene unfold.
A summer breeze blew past, but Ye QiuXue still couldn\'t help feeling a chill.
"Oh? QiuXue? You should\'ve said so earlier! QiuXue, you must have heard, right? Auntie was wrong back then. Why don\'t you come stay at Auntie\'s house? It\'s dangerous for a young girl like you to live outside alone! Your father has been worried about your safety, so don\'t make him worry, okay?"
Upon hearing his wife\'s words, Ye Feng looked at Ye QiuXue with hopeful eyes.
Ye QiuXue slowly lifted her head. For some reason, she found the concept of familial bonds truly strange.
Some go above and beyond to show kindness, while others will stop at nothing to scheme against you.
What kind of life does one have to lead to not be so tired?
For the first time, Ye QiuXue questioned this.
Soon, she turned to Ye Feng, and a smile formed on her lips.
It was a smile full of fatigue and helplessness.
"Do you think that as a priority student in the city, I can help pave a long path for your son?"
Ye Feng\'s eyes widened, wanting to explain, but the woman on the phone urgently interjected.
"QiuXue, what are you saying? Aren\'t we family? Shouldn\'t family support each other? Think about it---if your brother succeeds, wouldn\'t you be happy as well?"
"When did I ever say I\'m part of your family?"
"Why can\'t you just leave the past behind?!"
"You\'re putting in all this effort because you want me to help pave a path for your son, aren\'t you?" Ye QiuXue\'s voice turned icy.
"What I can\'t understand is why you all think that I, Ye QiuXue, am so low that I should rush to make sacrifices for your son. Why do you all think I am indispensable to you?"
Ye QiuXue\'s words stung Ye Feng, while the women on the phone continued to argue relentlessly.
"Ye QiuXue, what do you mean by this? We\'re kindly offering you a place to stay, and this is your attitude?"
"Did I ask you for this? Even if you begged me to stay in your shabby place, I wouldn\'t go!"
Ye QiuXue didn\'t know much foul language, but she knew that if HuMing were here, he would have already given the person on the other end a severe scolding!
She suddenly felt a bit reflective for HuMing.
If he were here, he would surely stand up for her!
Seeing the situation getting worse, Ye Feng hurriedly hung up the phone.
Seeing his daughter\'s expressionless face, he knew that, once again, his visit had been in vain.
"QiuXue---"
"Don\'t call my name. It\'s disgusting!"
"Alright... But I still need to say this, don\'t let boys come home with you late at night. It\'s bad for your reputation."
Ye Feng remembered the boy from that night.
But at Ye Feng\'s words, Ye QiuXue couldn\'t help but let out a scoff.
"Seven years ago, when the school held a parent-teacher conference, it was Grandma who went. A classmate asked me where my parents were. Do you know what I said?"
Ye QiuXue\'s tone grew heavier as she spoke, enunciating each word clearly.
"I said, my parents are dead."
Ye Feng\'s face went pale, his entire body swaying as if he might collapse.
Seeing this, Ye QiuXue suddenly felt a hint of satisfaction inside.
She thought to herself that she must be going mad.
"Mr. Ye, please stop disturbing my life. The boy you mentioned saved my life. He came back with me because he was worried about me."
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng\'s face turned ashen, and he was left speechless.
He remembered what the boy had said to him that night.
[But you, on the other hand, your daughter comes home this late, and you have no idea what\'s happened? I don\'t think you\'re in any position to be questioning me.]
Now, seeing the hatred in his daughter\'s eyes, Ye Feng suddenly realized that he had been wrong all these years.
Not wanting to deal with the man any further, after venting all her pent-up anger, Ye QiuXue turned and left.
The only one left behind was the man standing there, unmoving.