Ye Mo lowered her eyes, her expression seemingly hurt, but she quickly raised her head again, looked at her Aunt Ye, and said bravely, "Aunt, it's okay. I believe my cousin didn't say such a thing; I probably misheard."
As she spoke, a look of sadness appeared on her face, yet she tried her best to appear indifferent.
Seeing her like this, Aunt Ye became even angrier and said sternly, " Fang Yi'en, if you say another word, you can go back to your own home!"
Fang Yi'en's momentum instantly deflated. He glared angrily at Ye Mo, only to receive an innocent yet provocative look from her.
Fang Yi'en immediately gritted her teeth, her expression turning ferocious.
Ye Mo and the others temporarily settled in the old house.
Having come to Q Province, how could we not go out and play in the snow and ice? Ye Sen had already had a blast, taking the kids out to play everywhere every day. Ye Baozhu and the others had also invited Ye Mo, but Ye Mo declined.
Ye Mo: What a joke! In this cold weather, she must be crazy to go out and play.
Whenever you ask her to go out and play, her answer is always the same: No way!
The refusal was very strong, and could be described as resolute.
However, her not going out doesn't mean her life at the old house is peaceful and stable, since some people don't like her.
" Sister Baozhu, has Ye Mo bullied you...?"
Finding some time, Fang Yi'en and her cousin Ye Baozhu got together to talk. Fang Yi'en looked at Ye Baozhu worriedly and asked her, "If she bullies you, tell me, and I'll get revenge!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Baozhu's face showed a forced expression, and she said sadly, "No, she didn't bully me."
Looking at her expression, Fang Yi'en didn't believe her at all and immediately said, "No, she must have bullied you, otherwise why would you have that expression?"
Ye Baozhu shook her head and said softly, "... I just feel that after she was found, it's like my parents don't like me anymore, and even my older brother likes Ye Mo more now."
She gave a wry smile and said, "But it's not surprising. In the end, Ye Mo is my parents' biological daughter, while I'm just an outsider. I only ended up in the Ye Family because I was deliberately switched with Ye Mo."
Fang Yi'en couldn't stand her words and puffed out her cheeks, saying, " Sister Baozhu, don't say that. In my heart, you're my cousin! Ye Mo is nothing!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Baozhu looked at him with immediate emotion, " Yien..."
She lowered her head, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said, "Thank you, Yien. Hearing you say that makes me much happier."
Looking at Ye Baozhu's expression, Fang Yi'en felt his sense of justice about to burst forth. He patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Sister Baozhu, I will avenge you. I won't let that woman bully you so easily!"
Ye Baozhu: "... What do you want to do?"
***
Ye Mo doesn't go out to play; he just lies in the old house every day playing on his phone, playing games, or sleeping.
She has a habit of taking a nap, usually starting around 1 p. m. and sleeping for an hour or two. On this day, as usual, after eating lunch and resting for a while, Ye Mo lay down on the bed for a nap.
Her breathing slowed in the room as she gradually drifted into a deep sleep.
Just then, a rustling sound came from outside the half-open window of the room. Someone crouched down and sneaked to the window of Ye Mo's room. At this moment, a low voice came from the window.
"... Yien, do we really have to do this? If we do this, will it..."
Not very good.
"What's wrong with that? We're not doing anything bad, we just wanted to scare him!"
Outside the slightly ajar window, two furtive figures were hiding. One of them was Fang Yi'en Ye Mo knew fairly well, while the other was a chubby boy, about the same age Fang Yi'en, around twelve or thirteen years old, and still in junior high school.
Fang Yi'en was carrying a bag that bulged occasionally, clearly containing a live creature.
Ye Yongxin said worriedly, " Sister Momo is a girl. What if we scare her with a rat and frighten her badly?"
Fang Yi'en snorted coldly and said, "It's better if he's scared. I'm going to scare him. Who told her to bully Sister Baozhu? I'm going to avenge Sister Baozhu! It's all because of her that Uncle and Aunt have neglected Sister Baozhu, and that's why Sister Baozhu is so sad. She stole Sister Baozhu's place!"
Ye Yongxin: "But what if we get found out?"
Fang Yi'en raised an eyebrow and glared at him. " Ye Yongxin, have you forgotten how good Sister Baozhu was to you before? Now that Sister Baozhu has been wronged, don't you want to avenge her?"
He scoffed, "Hmph, if you don't want to, then leave. I'll do it myself!"
Ye Yongxin: "... I didn't say I was unwilling."
Hearing this, Fang Yi'en's expression softened considerably. He continued what he was doing, opening the cloth bag he had brought and carefully emptying its contents through the window.
Squeak squeak squeak!
Four black mice landed on the ground, squeaking as they scattered throughout the room.
After throwing the rats away, Fang Yi'en and Ye Yongxin quickly left the scene. Once they were out of Ye Mo's reach, Fang Yi'en put her hands on her hips and laughed triumphantly.
"Just you wait, girls are terrified of rats. We'll hear her screaming in our class soon!"
He and Ye Yongxin squatted on the ground, peering towards Ye Mo's room, their eyes filled with excitement and anticipation—he hoped to hear terrified screams coming from that room.
However, the two waited for one minute, two minutes... ten minutes, and ten minutes passed, but there was still no movement from the room.
Ye Yongxin: "... Yien, why is there still no movement? Could it be that she didn't see the mouse in the house?"
Fang Yi'en: "Maybe she was sleeping too soundly?"
He hesitated, wondering if he should make some noise to wake her up. Otherwise, who knew how long she would sleep? What if she slept all day?
Just as Fang Yi'en was thinking this, she heard Ye Yongxin suddenly whisper beside her, " Yien Yien! She's out! She's out!"
They're out? Who?
Fang Yi'en didn't realize who Ye Yongxin was talking about for a moment, until he looked up and saw Ye Mo walking in their direction.
Ye Yongxin asked anxiously, "What do we do, Yien? She's coming over, she's walking towards us. Does she know what we're doing?"
Fang Yi'en was also a little flustered at this point. He tried to suppress his panic and said, "What are you afraid of? As long as we don't say anything, who will know what we've done?"
Seeing Ye Mo approaching, he stood up, trying to straighten his posture to appear more confident. When Ye Mo reached him, he puffed out his chest and, suppressing his nervousness, asked:
"What you do?"
Ye Mo didn't speak, but remained silent, looking down at them.
Just Fang Yi'en was feeling uneasy, wondering what Ye Mo was up to, she suddenly saw Ye Mo smile at them, a smile so bright it was dazzling.
The next second, before Fang Yi'en could react to what was happening, his collar was suddenly pulled open, and Ye Mo stuffed something into it.
It wasn't until a squeaking sound came from inside their clothes, along with the sensation of something alive wriggling on their bodies, that Fang Yi'en realized Ye Mo had stuffed something into his and Ye Yongxin's clothes.
"... Rat, rat, it's a rat!! Ahhh!"
"Help! Help--"
The two of them immediately started jumping and scrambling around like they had springs in their feet, constantly tugging at their clothes, trying to shake the rat that had been thrown inside.