The wind was quiet.
I stood with my hands hanging at my sides.
For the first time in my life, I felt the pain of being alive.
I even began to doubt the meaning of my existence.
After a while, I swallowed the grievance welling up inside me, glared at her, and said, "Ye Qingxian is rich, but that's her money. Why would I want her spirit stones? Do you think I can't survive on my own? Do I not have hands and feet?"
"Shouldn't a person stand tall and live with a strong backbone?"
"Why are you always thinking about the spirit stones other people have?"
"Never mind that she isn't my Dao Companion yet. Even if she were, her spirit stones would still be hers. If I want to spend spirit stones, I can earn them myself. If my daughter wants to use spirit stones, I'll do everything I can to earn them for her. That's what it means to have a person's backbone."
"When you eat someone else's food, your mouth gets short; when you take someone else's things, your hands get short. Once you accept another person's gifts, even your words will carry less weight."
"Whether it's love or friendship, it needs to be equal."
I had no intention of letting myself become someone of lesser standing.
Ye Ranxing was completely stunned.
Those words hit like a thunderclap, shaking her to the core.
A moment later, she stammered, "Even if you really only have that many spirit stones, I lost, okay? Give me a little more, and next time I'll earn it back for you."
"Or ask Ye Qingxian to lend you some."
Seeing how matter-of-fact Ye Ranxing sounded, I looked at her with a strange newness in my eyes.
"Gambling again? You still want to