Inside the bedroom.
I had already lain down on the bed.
Ye Zhaoxuan was lying on her side, hugging a little blanket. Her face was hidden behind a few messy wisps of hair, and I could only make out some snowy-white short locks.
My daughter had stayed in this position the whole time. Before I left the room and after I returned, she hadn't changed much. It seemed she'd fallen asleep from the very beginning.
Only...
After I got into bed, she rolled over just a little.
Outside.
Ye Ranxing wolfed down two sesame flatbreads, a little sniffling, pitiful look still on her face.
The next second.
All the vulnerability on her face vanished in an instant, leaving only a gaze of unshakable resolve.
What was done was done. Punishing herself was completely pointless.
It was nothing but a coward's way of running away.
She was already thinking about what Ye Xiaoyao had said as she gripped a towel in her little hand and wiped herself down.
A moment later, her hair still wet, she quietly walked into the house without making a sound.
She didn't disturb Ye Xiaoyao's routine. Her presence was so faint it was as if nothing had happened at all. She simply curled up in silence on the little bed in the corner that belonged to her.
Once, she'd been like someone standing alone against the whole world.
After all that wandering, it seemed nothing had changed.
Her two older sisters still hated her.
Ye Qingxian wouldn't even look her in the eye once.
And she—no longer needed anyone's pity.
Ye Ranxing let out some dark energy, finally drying the dampness in her hair.
She curled up on the bed, yawned, and fell asleep.
The next day.
Ye Zhaoxuan sat on the swing, swinging her little