Chapter 26: CH 14.1

6-7 minutes 22.02.2022

“Ziyu—-”

The door of the secret room is opened. Ye Qinghe looked at them with his worried eyes; the corner of his eyes were red from crying.

“The doctor is here so you don’t have to be afraid,” Ye Qinghe hugged Ziyu, reassuring him. “I’ll bring you out on Saturday.”

Qinghe was so afraid that his brother got hurt that his arms around Ziyu were freezing cold.

Ye Ziyu’s eyebrow flickered. He turned to look at Ye Ya, “I don’t want to see a doctor anymore, I want to eat.” He took Ye Ya’s hand, “Ye Ya also needs to eat”

Ye Qinghe was stunned.

Obviously, Ye Ya and Ziyu both needed to eat.

“Are you hungry Yaya?” Ye Qinghe looked at Yeya and asked. He had been dealing with his father’s questioning this morning and had completely forgotten that a young girl was still hiding here.

Ye Ya touched her empty belly and nodded with honesty.

“Then…” Ye Qinghe thought for a bit, “we will go find Ziyu a doctor after we eat.”

“No need,” Ye Ziyu seemed to oppose the idea. “I was just sad that Father left, so I broke some stuff. I’m good now though. Brother, just tell the doctor to go back, I’m sure he has to eat too.”

“But…”

“If you don’t tell the doctor to leave then I’m not going to eat,” Ye Ziyu turned away from him stubbornly.

Ye Qinghe had no other choice. He apologized to the psychiatrist who came in a hurry, and told the cook to bring the food to the secret room. The three sat around a small table and ate.

Ye Ya didn’t need anyone to feed her. She used her own spoon and brought spoon after spoon full of rice to her mouth. She ate with relish, and the others watched with relish. Ye Ziyu wasn’t really hungry, but still managed to eat a bowl of rice while watching Ye Ya eat.

“Father might come back at night.”

“Oh,” Ye Ziyu answered carelessly. “It’s none of my business anyway.”

Ye Qinghe knew that he was still mad, “It’s not that Father didn’t want to play with you, it’s just he’s really busy.”

“He’s always busy,” Ye Ziyu said.

Ye Qinghe lowered his vision, desolation filled his expression. He whispered, “Yeah, he has been busy ever since Mother left…”

Ye Ziyu was shocked, he bit his lips and lowered his head.

The two brothers sat across from each other, but neither opened his mouth again.

When their mother was still alive, Father would spend time with them regardless of how busy he’d be. He would pick up their calls and FaceTime them even if he were in a meeting. Though he wouldn’t have much emotions, the love he had for them was observable through his kinder eyes. After Mother and Sister both passed away, they felt the obvious change in Father’s attitude towards them.

He was more strict, more cold, more unapproachable.

“Brother, I miss Mother.”

Ye Qinghe wiped away the dampness from the corner of his eyes, “I do too.”

Ye Ziyu held his tiny pair of chopsticks while huge droplets of tears rolled down his cheeks.

Ye Ya lifted her head from her bowl, looking at the two brothers absorbed in crying, dazed. She took off the rice sticking on her face and ate it, and turned around to see a white cat with a gentle gaze on top of Ye Qinghe’s shoulder, its snowy tail lightly brushed against his cheeks. The cat licked off the tears on Ye Qinghe’s face, and jumped on the table, tilting its head to look at Ye Ziyu.

It was observing.

The white cat’s clear blue eyes reflected Ye Ziyu’s saddening face. It carefully moved toward him and scrubbed its head against the back of his hand.

Ye Ya found that very unusual.

She remembered that Mother told her that guardian spirits are only close with the guardian, not with anyone else.

“Do you know him?” Ye Ya whispered to the cat.

The white cat looked at her, shook its head, jumped back onto Ye Qinghe, closed its eyes, and disappeared.

Huh?

There’s so much bewilderness in Ye Ya’s widened eyes.

“Wh… Who were you talking to?” Ye Ziyu slowly wiped away his tears and asked, puzzled. “It’s so strange. I felt like Mother was here just a second ago and stopped feeling sad.”

Mother had a special smell, he could sense it.

Maybe Mother never left.

Maybe when he sleeps, he could see her again in his dream.

Having thought about this, Ye Ziyu relaxed much more.

Ye Linchuan was still not back at night. Ye Qinghe made the bed in the secret room. He was worried that Ye Ya might be scared by herself, so he put two dolls as tall as humans beside her. Seeing that everything is well-prepared, Ye Qinghe brought her on the bed and tucked her tightly in, “If Yaya is scared, just call Brother.” Ye Qinghe tapped on the Little Genius smart watch on her wrist, “If you need to go to the bathroom, just tell Ziyu to take you.”

Ye ya looked at the pink watch on her wrist, nodding obediently.

“Try not to make a sound,” Ye Qinghe gently stroked her soft cheeks. “I’ll let you out tomorrow.”

Ye Ya nodded again.

Ye Qinghe kissed her on the forehead, and reluctantly left the secret room.

The night had grown quiet. The lights in the mansion died down one by one.

Ye Ya was surrounded by darkness, and there was no sound outside either. She flipped around in her bed, opened her eyes and saw two dolls on the window staring intensely at her. She nervously shuddered, pulling up the blanket to hide herself inside completely.

Yet…

She kept feeling like the two dolls were walking towards her.

“Mister, I’m scared…” Ye Ya whimpered, “mister help.”

[……]

“Mister?”

[System is hibernating.]

“…”

—— Not dependable at all!

Ye Ya snorted angrily and turned on the screen on her watch in the dark. Clumsily, she searched up Ye Qinghe’s number and dialed.

“Yaya?”

Great, Brother is still up.

“The big bear is gonna eat me,” Ye Ya lowered her voice and murmured helplessly. “I’m scared.”

The voice inside the phone paused for two seconds, “Is it the dolls?”

“Mhm.”