"24th Chapter: Arguing"

"Uh? Uncle, hear me out. We really aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. You've got it wrong. This house is just somewhere Siyi is letting me stay for the time being. She hurt her foot and got a fever a few days ago, so she came to stay with me. It's just more convenient this way."

Li Changle kept explaining. He couldn't let himself be wrongly accused. From the middle-aged man's aura, it was clear he was used to scolding people.

Wang Weimin glanced at Wang Siyi and asked uncertainly, "Siyi, is what this kid said true?"

Wang Siyi watched Wang Weimin with an impassive expression. Her mind was still fixed on what he had just said, and that familiar tone and familiar attitude. She hadn't said a word, and they were already trying to make decisions for her again.

She was like a caged canary, with no freedom. She couldn't decide how to live her own life. Couldn't they even let her choose who she loved?

Love and fate were things the heavens decided. Why did they want to control who she loved and what she wanted to do?

Wang Siyi was tired. She had planned to give up singing, reconcile with her family, and be a good daughter to her parents. Now she realized she'd been wrong.

Even if she gave up singing, she still couldn't reconcile with her parents. Their conflict wasn't just about whether she liked singing.

What she wanted was freedom.

What they wanted was for her life to follow a course whose every outcome they could foresee, ensuring that nothing unexpected ever happened to her.

They called it "for your own good."

But in Wang Siyi's eyes, a life lived according to their plans and expectations would make her nothing but a puppet on strings, with her parents as the ones pulling them.

Wang Siyi finally understood what had caused the conflict between her and her parents over the past few years. She'd known there was a problem, but she hadn't been able to fix it, and she hadn't known how.

"He's not my boyfriend yet."

Wang Siyi said it calmly, just that one sentence.

Hearing this, Wang Weimin let out a huge sigh of relief. His precious daughter was still unspoiled and safe.

But Wang Weimin had caught the important part: not yet! That meant Siyi really did like this brat. What was so good about him? No, he couldn't allow it.

"Good. I won't pry into why you're staying here. Just pack your things today and come home with me."

Wang Weimin made the decision for Wang Siyi outright. He couldn't let her stay here. Who knew if, after staying long enough, she'd end up giving them a big, chubby grandson?

The guy didn't look like a decent person. Siyi was so innocent, and she'd met too few people.

"I'm not going back. I'm staying here."

Wang Siyi answered firmly, without a moment's hesitation.

"You... Siyi, stop making a fuss. I came all this way. Don't make things harder for me—come home with me. What's so good about this place? Your grandfather's gone, too. I'm planning to sell this house soon. Don't come to Yangcheng again. We'll live in Jinling. I'll arrange a place for you at our school, and you can choose whatever major you want."

"I said I'm not going back. And this house was left to me by Grandpa. If you dare sell it, I'll never speak to you again."

When Wang Siyi heard that Wang Weimin was even thinking of selling the house, anger welled up inside her.

Never mind that her grandfather had left it to her; it held all the memories he'd left behind.

Li Changle was staying there, too. If the house were sold, where would he go? Even if he'd soon have plenty of money, if he left, the scene from her dream might become reality.

She'd never see him again, and he'd find a girl who suited him, marry her, and have children.

The thought made her heart ache. She couldn't bear the idea.

She didn't want to leave Li Changle either. She didn't know how much longer she'd be able to stay by his side, but she'd stopped worrying about that.

"You..."

Wang Weimin was furious. His daughter was wonderful in every way, except that she was too stubborn. She was about to get involved with some guy whose background he didn't even know.

He couldn't accept that, no matter what.

"I don't care why you're staying here. One thing's clear: you're coming home with me."

Wang Weimin delivered his final ultimatum. Wang Siyi didn't answer. She looked at him sadly.

Wang Weimin had never seen that look in his daughter's eyes before. It pained him, but he still held firm to his decision. Whatever he did, he was doing it for her own good.

Wang Siyi looked at Wang Weimin and stood up from the bed. She walked over to him, her expression desolate. Choking back sobs, she said:

"Ever since I was little, I've done all the things you and Mom wanted me to learn and do. To make you happy, I worked hard to come first, even in things I didn't like at all."

"But those weren't the things I liked. I won first place in so many competitions growing up, but I never felt truly happy."

"Then one day, Grandpa told me I sang beautifully and that he loved watching me sing. He said that was the real me. I always smiled when I sang, and I thought I sang beautifully, too. I loved singing."

"So I chose to sing and joined the entertainment industry. But you never supported me. I know the environment in the entertainment industry isn't good, but all I wanted was to sing..."

Wang Siyi kept talking, her voice growing more choked with each word. Her eyes reddened, and tears brimmed in them.

"After Grandpa died, I finally understood what it felt like to have no one supporting me. It hurt so much. There were times when I almost couldn't keep going. I wanted to reconcile with you..."

"But before I could even say anything, you started making plans for me again, just like when I was little. Couldn't you let me make my own choices? I've already given in..."

At that, Wang Siyi broke down in tears, sobbing as she spoke.

"In your eyes, I'm not allowed to have my own ideas. Whatever I do, I have to follow your plans. It was like that when I was little, and it's still like that now that I'm grown..."

"Now I'm ready to give up the thing I love most—singing. That isn't your fault. I'm the one who couldn't stick with it. But why? Why do you have to control who I love, and who I want to spend the rest of my life with?"

"I'm the one who'd spend the rest of my life with him, not you, Dad—and not Mom either. Why do you have to take even that right away from me? Just because you're my parents?"

By then, Wang Siyi was sobbing too hard to speak. She paused, then suddenly lifted her head. Her tear-streaked face turned toward Wang Weimin, and she looked at him with reddened eyes. "If that's how it is, I'd rather not have parents..."

After that, she left Wang Weimin standing there in a daze, ran out of Li Changle's room, and locked herself in the master bedroom.

She buried her face in the blankets and began to sob aloud, heartbroken. Apart from when her grandfather had died, she'd never felt this devastated. Her tears soon soaked the blankets, but she still couldn't stop crying.

Wang Siyi thought about what she'd just said. She was heartbroken over her parents' behavior, but the thought of leaving Li Changle was even harder for her to accept.

Li Changle had stopped interrupting once their conversation began. He'd wanted to let father and daughter talk things through.

He'd make dinner first. Once it was ready, they could chat over their meal.

After watching Wang Siyi for so long, Li Changle had noticed that mealtimes were always when she was happiest.

But instead of seeing the two of them come out on good terms, he saw Wang Siyi with red eyes and tears streaming down her face. She was crying even harder than she had by the stairs last time.

Li Changle's heart tightened. He tried to follow her, only to find that she'd locked the door. He couldn't get in.

He knocked on the door a few times.

"Hey? Open the door!"

"Open up, Wang Siyi!"

Li Changle was frantic. She'd already been inconsolable last time, and now she was even worse. He had no idea what the two of them had said to each other in the room.

He looked into his room. Wang Weimin was still standing there, stunned and motionless.

Li Changle didn't know what to do, but he no longer felt much respect for the middle-aged man.

He must have said something terribly hurtful to Wang Siyi, or tried to do something awful. That had to be why she was like this.

He was probably involved in the time she'd cried by the stairwell, too.

Li Changle had no choice but to sit on the sofa in the living room. Dinner was ready, but he had no appetite.

He'd gotten used to Wang Siyi sitting across from him at the table. If she wasn't there, he'd rather not cook.

Wang Weimin still hadn't recovered. His own daughter had said she wanted to cut ties with him.

He thought it over. He'd only wanted his daughter to have a better life, and he couldn't see what he'd done that was so terrible.

But in his daughter's eyes, he was a machine without feelings, like someone pulling the strings of a puppet.

What had he done wrong? He'd begun to realize that maybe his way of doing things wasn't right.

It was hard to believe his daughter could say she wanted to cut ties with him.

When Wang Siyi had run out, he hadn't reacted in time. Then he remembered the determined yet pained look in her eyes as she brushed past him.

It broke his heart. He hurried out and looked toward the master bedroom, its door shut tight.

"Siyi, open the door..."

"What Dad said might have been wrong. Don't take it to heart. Open the door, Siyi. Whatever you want to say, come out and talk it over with Dad..."

Li Changle watched Wang Weimin knock on the door over and over and talk to it. He said nothing.

Where had he been before? Apart from being a little shy and acting a bit silly when she was sick, Wang Siyi had almost no flaws.

She was gentle and generous toward others. Li Changle didn't think any kind words used to describe her were an exaggeration.

He could hardly imagine anyone making someone like Wang Siyi this heartbroken.