Xia Ye Zhao halted in his tracks, his entire body stiffened for a moment before he suddenly turned around, âWhat did you call me?â
The rims of Ye Xingguangâs eyes were blurred by tears in an instant.
She didnât even know why she felt wronged. Her brother had done nothing wrong. He was just such a person, deeply loving his own sister and unable to bear anyone hurting her. Whether it was her or Xia Yanyan, he was a good brother to both, but she still felt wronged, a persistent sense of grievance.
Blaming him for not recognizing herâ¦
Blaming him for protecting Xia Yanyan and not herâ¦
Irreasonably blaming to the point where even she felt that she was just being capricious.
But thatâs how people are, although one should be rational, they simply canât control their emotions. Her eyes, blurred with water mist, were locked onto the sudden gaze of the man, her lips tightened into a lineâ¦
Xia Ye Zhao stared at her misty eyes, abruptly feeling as if his heart had been stabbed.
âMiss Ye, what did you just call me?â
Ye Xingguang didnât respond, her teeth clenched tightly, she unblinkingly fixed her gaze on Xia Ye Zhao, whose hand was still resting on Xia Yanyanâs shoulder.
It was unclear how long she watched, then she closed her eyes in pain.
Thinking about the time when she was six years old, struggling in the roaring waves of the sea, hopelessly calling out to the only warm figure in the world, she kept calling for him, brother⦠brother⦠brotherâ¦
But all that answered her were the roaring waves.
Thinking about the following six years in that foreign world, when everyone had someone to rely on except for her. When she was seen by others as a threat to the inheritance and faced isolation, ostracization, and assassination attempts, all she clung to everyday was the prospect of staying alive, striving for survivalâeven if just barelyâbecause surviving meant growth. And only then she would have the possibility of going back to find the only brother who had ever loved her.
But after all the torment, when she finally experienced the sunshine and the dew once again, she realized that she didnât want to go back at all.
The figure of her big brother was merely a source of comfort during her suffering. When she finally got through all the hardships and was able to resolve all problems on her own without relying on anyone, the word âbrotherâ was left with only tenderness deep in her memory.
With these thoughts in mind, Ye Xingguang started running, fearing that if she stayed any longer, she would become completely unreasonable in her brotherâs eyes.
As Xia Ye Zhao watched her receding figure, his lengthy legs unconsciously moved to follow her.
Xia Yanyan watched as her brother started to walk away, and she clutched his arm, âBrother, where are you going?â
âYanyan, go back and change your clothes by yourself,â Xia Ye Zhao resolved to find Ye Xingguang to clarify, wondering whether her calling him âbrotherâ just now meant what he had been suspecting all along.
A ludicrous thought crossed his mind, convincing even himself that he must have gone mad.
Xia Yanyan was relentless, âBrother, forget about her, accompany me back to change clothes, I feel coldâ¦â
Even so, Xia Ye Zhao didnât stop but kept going until he heard his fatherâs concerned voice, âYanyan, whatâs wrong?â
Xia Ye Zhao, who had walked some distance away, turned around only to see his sister collapsing in the wind. He promptly ran back towards Xia Yanyan.
Ye Xingguang sprinted out of the Xiaâs family home and stopped at the entrance, troubled about what she should do next.
She didnât understand why she was so restless, surely itâs just a photograph. Why did it make her as anxious as an ant on a hot pot?