“No.” Liu Siyin refused.
She had never thought that she would refuse Yin Man. It was probably because Yin Man was so good to her that she had the courage to refuse.
Aunt Zhang looked at Aunt He, and Aunt He looked at Aunt Zhang. Both of them had thought Yin Man would be angry. Yin Man had never allowed anyone to question her decisions, and her questions were always statements, but Yin Man only smiled. “Then we won’t go out.”
In high spirits, Yin Man had Aunt Zhang push her around, and she looked over the house from the inside out once again, then relayed it to Liu Siyin.
She was considerate of Liu Siyin’s eyes. Aunt Zhang was filled with emotion. She pointed at Liu Siyin from a distance and said, “Do you know what Miss Liu is to me?”
“The great benefactor who saved us.” Aunt He said it with force. Aunt Zhang gently shook her head. “No, she is my resignation letter.”
If Liu Siyin could help Yin Man keep improving along this momentum, then her resignation definitely would not be a dream. Aunt Zhang already had longing on her face. Aunt He glanced at her. “If Eldest Miss isn’t as moody as she used to be, I’d still be quite willing to stay in the Yin family. After all, an employer more generous than the Yin family isn’t easy to find.”
“You really are money-crazy. How does that saying go, the landscape can be altered, but one’s nature is hard to change. We’ve all watched her grow up, do you really think she’d completely change for a woman?”
“Miss Liu is a good girl.” Aunt He hadn’t seen Liu Siyin’s reaction just now, but Aunt Zhang had seen it clearly. She still remembered that pretended weakness, so she blurted out, “She may not be entirely good.”
Of course Liu Siyin wasn’t some pure little white flower. She was kind, not weak. Liu Mei had taught her many things. She was not completely without schemes, it was just a matter of how to use them, and on whom.
Besides, what was so frightening about the sound of an explosion? Back when she was in town, because Chen Si couldn’t see, during New Year’s and holidays she was often the one lighting the firecrackers. Besides, Chen Si was that beautiful blind one, so her mother needed Liu Siyin to protect her with strength.
She was not weak. She only used weakness to cover part of her sharp edges, because Liu Mei had said that a canary was supposed to be docile and lovable, just like her mother. Liu Siyin actually did not like that, but there was nothing she could do about it. Fortunately, she had always been very clear about what she needed, what she wanted to obtain. For example, when she had once married Yin Youxia, she knew very clearly that Yin Youxia did not like her, but she still turned a deaf ear to her words, because that was the best fate she could have.
For example, right now, with Yin Man. She wanted Yin Man to like her. No one had liked her for a very long time, and no one had given her warmth for a very long time.
The last person who made her feel warmth was many years ago, before Chen Si met her stepfather. She still called her “Yinyin” every day. Chen Si often said that she was her very fate, that she should be cherished with everything best. She hoped that she would find love, everlasting and devoted love, and not become like her, a canary, only to have her eyes pecked out by the eagle in the house.
But when Chen Si met that man, she gained a new family, a bigger umbrella of protection, and new children, and that Yinyin was no longer important.
She still followed in Chen Si’s footsteps. She not only became a canary, she also lost her eyes, and the beginning of all this tragedy was the day Chen Si begged her to return to the Liu family.
If not for Yin Man’s softening toward her, she might not even have lived until now.
Liu Siyin had not moved to this neighborhood for the sake of seeing Chen Si as quickly as possible. Over the years, every time she behaved very, very well, Liu Mei would take her to see Chen Si, and even then it was only from afar. That man treated Chen Si very well and seemed to have a sense of responsibility. Her younger sister was also very cute. She had once seen a family of three wearing festive red clothes from far away. That place had long since become their home, not hers.
She was an outsider, so it was enough just to take a look from far away. She had long since lost the right to enjoy family affection.
Now that she was blind, even seeing them had become a luxury, and only by living a little closer did it feel as if she could catch a trace of something familiar. She just missed Chen Si a little, and here, it seemed she could smell a little of Mom’s scent.
She was grateful for Yin Man’s indulgence. That young lady of wealth really did move to such an old-fashioned neighborhood, so she became even less able to leave Yin Man. The deeper her dependence on Yin Man became, the more she would want Yin Man.
She hoped that Yin Man could fall in love with her.
Just like how she liked Yin Man, she wanted Yin Man to like her.
Yin Man had always said that feelings were better with two people.
Only then would their feelings definitely be sweet. There would be no need to worry about her being snatched away, no need to worry about her changing her heart. If she could see Yin Man, she would definitely take the initiative a little more, kiss her, cling to her.
She had not deliberately lied to Yin Man. The instant the soccer ball exploded, she had no reaction at all. It was Yin Man who thought she was scared and reached for her hand. At that moment, the warmth of Yin Man’s palm was too much, making her unable to resist sticking close to her.
That was why she had followed Yin Man’s lead. Since in Yin Man’s eyes she was a fragile little white flower, then that was what she was.
Whatever kind of person Yin Man liked, she would be that kind of person.
But she didn’t know what kind of girl Yin Man liked. Still, no one should like being deceived. She worriedly asked, “Sister Man, will you be angry with me?”
She had thought for a long time and still couldn’t find an answer, so she simply asked Yin Man directly. At this moment, Yin Man was fussing with two small flowerpots. She felt that Liu Siyin was being far too afraid of her anger. Probably the original owner’s bad temper had left too deep an impression, but they had already moved out. If possible, she only wanted to be herself.
Not too good, but still patient Yin Man.
“Liu Siyin, I won’t get angry with you over anything. I can promise you that.” Yin Man paused, then added, “If you cheat on me, that’s an exception.”
Liu Siyin’s face immediately turned red. “Sister Man, what are you saying?”
She wasn’t joking with Liu Siyin. She now felt that the setting of this world was wrong, incomplete to the point of abnormality. Everyone thought that having feelings for many people wasn’t a sin, not even feeling the most basic guilt from betraying those feelings. She just wanted Liu Siyin to understand that she was different from those people, and what she wanted was different too.
Liu Siyin could rely on her alone.
“This matter is very important.” Yin Man repeated it again.
Liu Siyin then froze there. It wasn’t as if she had to swear a poisonous oath for it to be okay.
Yin Man pulled the curtain open a crack and looked outside. From her room, the view downstairs wasn’t very good, and it was a bit noisy too. Although Yin Zhe had renovated it a little, it was still only at an ordinary level, but outside, the people coming and going actually made it feel surprisingly full of life.
In the broad open space, children were chasing and playing. This place felt more like a home than the villa did.
They say it’s easy to grow used to luxury and hard to grow used to simplicity, but Yin Man was a little unusual. She still fit an ordinary life better. She just didn’t know whether Liu Siyin would mind. Such a heavenly beauty, she had even found it difficult to get close to her before.
The life now belonged to someone else.
What exactly was her arrival for? Could it really be to save Liu Siyin?
“Sister Man, don’t ignore me.” That voice, carrying a hint of a sob, threw her thoughts into disarray. She had thought too long and hadn’t even heard what Liu Siyin had said. Coming back to herself, she said, “Sorry, I was thinking too deeply. What did you just say?”
The wheelchair rolled over to Liu Siyin’s side. Liu Siyin anxiously grabbed her hand. “Sister Man, I only have you.”
Her expression, her movements, all told Yin Man that she depended on her very much.
Such dependence would create an illusion in oneself, that Liu Siyin could not leave her.
Her heart softened a little by little. “I only have you too.”
Liu Siyin opened her mouth, but still couldn’t bring herself to tear down Yin Man’s words. Yin Man was different from her. She still had her maternal grandparents and maternal uncle who doted on her, her brother who doted on her, a stepmother who devoted herself to pleasing her, and a younger sister… She was the brightest existence. Whatever she wanted, she would have. But she really only had Yin Man.
She didn’t know that Yin Man hadn’t lied to her. Not her own life, enjoyed while still carrying a sense of strangeness. Yin Man only had Liu Siyin too. Only Liu Siyin’s feelings for her were not built on the original owner.
It was Aunt Zhang who came over and knocked on the door that ended this brief moment of mutual leaning on each other.
The glass shattered in the living room had already been replaced with new glass, the mirror surface wiped very clean. This angle was different from the one in her room. From this angle of the window, the afterglow of the sunset outside could creep in, red and brilliant like fire.
Fortunately, the buildings in this neighborhood were all not very tall, so she got this brief glimpse of scenery. Yin Man looked a couple more times. “The sunset is really beautiful.”
Aunt He replied, “Isn’t Eldest Miss more fond of the sunrise?”
In the original owner’s memories, scenery was something lacking. Yin Man took in Aunt He’s words. She had thought that cold-blooded creatures didn’t appreciate scenery, and hadn’t expected that someone as cold-blooded as the original owner would yearn for rebirth.
She said lightly, “The sunrise is beautiful too, but you have to go to the mountaintop to see it.”
“Then isn’t that perfect, going together with Miss Liu.” Only after Aunt He finished speaking did she belatedly realize Liu Siyin’s inconvenience. The originally sweet little suggestion also became awkward for a moment. Liu Siyin, however, didn’t mind much. She just said, “If Sister Man wants to go see it, then we can go together.”
Although she couldn’t see it, she hoped Yin Man wouldn’t abandon her because they couldn’t enjoy the beautiful scenery together.
“Not going.” Yin Man wasn’t going up the mountain to attract bugs. She had gone there before too, but she hadn’t even seen the sunrise before coming back down.
When it was time to eat, Yin Man fed Liu Siyin first, then ate herself.
Actually, Liu Siyin could do it herself, but Yin Man had gotten used to feeding her, and somehow, she had developed a bit of the accomplishment of a mother hen.
She was still feeding Liu Siyin when noisy knocking sounded outside the door. If she remembered correctly, her family had a doorbell. Hearing the huge sound of the door being pounded, Yin Man almost thought their doorbell had broken too.
Thump, thump, thump.
It was so noisy it hurt her ears. Yin Man covered Liu Siyin’s ears. “Aunt Zhang, go see who it is.”
When the door was opened, Yin Man saw the group of people blocking the doorway, big and small. On closer look, it turned out to be that afternoon’s group of bratty kids, with their parents in tow, coming to the door.
“It was you who punctured my son’s soccer ball?”
She, a great villain, was actually being confronted at her door by the parents of bratty kids? The plot was getting more and more absurd.