In the main house, the night was dark, yet the lamps were brightly lit.
Seated in the position of honor was a middle-aged man with graying hair—though he could almost be called elderly. He was thin, wore a pair of lace-edged glasses, and carried a faint scholarly air.
He wore a black padded jacket and was currently scolding Qi Ziyue without restraint.
The gist of his words was that she had already “gone mad, so she should stay mad,” and that she had given birth to a disaster. If the Qi family hadn’t failed to kill this little troublemaker back then, it would have been fine—but now this “disaster” had repaid kindness with enmity and even tried to burn down the house.
The little child—“Little Bun”—was standing right in front of him, head lowered, looking completely absent-minded, as if his soul had drifted elsewhere.
But Qi Ziyue clearly remembered seeing hatred in the child’s eyes toward his own family during the fire.
She had never expected that this child, who had just saved people, would be attacked by the entire family.
Because he was weak, and because she herself was “crazy,” everyone directed their anger at him without any psychological burden. It was also an outlet for their lingering fear after the sudden fire.
She listened as the old man repeatedly said things like:“This child is vicious by nature—starting a fire at such a young age, who knows if he’ll grow up to commit murder?”“If we don’t send him away, the whole family will eventually be dragged down by him.”
The Qi family hadn’t separated; they all lived together in a large courtyard residence.
And the original host had given birth out of wedlock, refusing to reveal the child’s father no matter what. This had completely enraged the old man—Qi Helder, a respected educator who had spent his life teaching others.
Back then, he had even locked her up.
Who would have thought that after being confined like that, the original host raised the child to one or two years old, but eventually couldn’t withstand the psychological pressure and went mad.
Now that she was insane, the child—seen as her “stain”—was naturally treated badly by everyone. From the dream Qi Ziyue had inherited, she already sensed his situation wasn’t good—but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad. They were calling him “evil-hearted” and directly blaming him for the fire without even investigating.
Even as an adult, Qi Ziyue couldn’t help frowning.
Yet the child stood there like an outsider, silently enduring all the malice and attacks since entering the room, never once lifting his head, never once explaining himself.
The more Qi Ziyue listened, the angrier she became. She pulled the child closer and directly shot back.
This immediately shocked everyone in the room.
Ignoring their astonishment, she looked straight at the old man and said:
“As a teacher, you don’t distinguish right from wrong. You haven’t even investigated the cause of the fire, yet you’re blaming a child for it and even want to send him away. He saved you all, and this is how you repay kindness?”
“If word gets out, who would ever dare send their children to Jiang University in the future?”
The old man, Qi Helder, was instantly infuriated. Her words were so sharp that everyone in the room froze.
“Is this… really something a mad person would say?” someone thought in shock.
Qi Ziyue didn’t care at all about their reactions. She sat the child down beside her and continued calmly:
“I already said it—I did it. I started the fire.”
“The child you call a demon even ran in to save you all. And yet look at what you just called him—‘demon,’ ‘curse,’ ‘to be thrown away.’ Not a single word a human should say. And you call yourself an educator?”
At that, Qi Ning’an suddenly raised his head.
His dark eyes carried doubt and disbelief. But in the end, he said nothing. He only glanced at his mother, then quickly lowered his head again.
However, his fingers tightened around his clothes again and again.
The room buzzed with shock and confusion.
Qi Helder was furious beyond words. His voice trembled as he pointed at her.
“And if that’s true, you’re proud of it?!”
Qi Ziyue didn’t show any embarrassment. Instead, she firmly pulled the child closer and continued provoking him:
“You save people, then repay kindness with hatred? That’s what you want to teach? If this gets out, people will think there’s something wrong with your character, and that you’re raising students into ingrates. Which part of what I said is wrong?”
She pointed at herself and continued:
“A child’s faults reflect on the parents. My mistake, your responsibility. You should reflect on yourself.”
“You—!” Qi Helder was shaking with rage.
He was an educator his entire life—when had he ever encountered someone so unreasonable? And worse, it was his own supposedly “mad” daughter.
He had never met anyone so shameless in his life.
A faint laugh suddenly slipped out in the room.
Qi Ziyue’s eldest brother quickly went to soothe their father.
Qi Helder finally forced himself to calm down and asked through clenched teeth:
“What exactly do you want?”
Qi Ziyue pointed at herself and the little child, who were both covered in soot.
“I don’t want to be locked up anymore. And the child cannot be sent away.”
“We’ve been confined all this time—it’s uncomfortable. I want food, a bath, clean clothes, and a proper room. From now on, we should be allowed some movement. We’re not prisoners.”
The room fell into silence.
The eldest brother and mother cautiously approached, still shaken by her sudden clarity.
Qi Ziyue saw the old man frowning and then spoke again to her mother:
“I want water.”
Her mother froze in disbelief, then hurried off to get it, tears and joy mixing on her face.
Qi Ziyue continued:
“Father, no matter what, kindness is kindness, wrongdoing is wrongdoing. Isn’t that what you teach as a teacher?”
Qi Helder snapped back angrily:
“The fire started because of you! If we had been even a little slower, the whole family would have been burned alive!”
“And you still have the nerve to argue here?”
Qi Ziyue replied simply:
“I’m crazy, aren’t I?”
One sentence nearly made the old man explode.
He immediately said she should be sent to a psychiatric hospital, and that the child should also be sent away since his origins were unknown.
Qi Ziyue ignored all of it.
“I only want a change of room and a bit of space to move around. I saved your lives—you said it yourself, the whole family nearly died.”
Her eldest sister-in-law struggled not to laugh.
Qi Helder exhaled heavily.
“So everything you say is right?”
“Children make mistakes, elders are responsible for correcting them. If you don’t solve the problem and just lock me up, then you’re also at fault. If you let me out and I behave well, your reputation improves. Isn’t that good for you?”
“You—!” Qi Helder almost lost his temper completely.
“Do you think I’m that kind of person?!”
Even as he said it, a small voice in his heart couldn’t help but admit… there was a strange logic to it.
He shook his head, thinking he must be losing his mind.
At that moment, the mother brought water.
Qi Ziyue drank a few sips, then also insisted the child drink some. After some hesitation, the mother eventually complied.
After finishing, Qi Ziyue said:
“Family harmony brings prosperity. If I get better, isn’t that a good thing?”
“Who knows if you’re really better or just pretending?”
Qi Ziyue replied:
“Teacher, aren’t you being too rigid? People need flexibility. Even if something is wrong, you adapt and improve. Only then can society progress.”
“You—!” Qi Helder felt like he was going to have a heart attack.
He could only mutter:
“All twisted logic…”
Qi Ziyue smiled:
“If I’m using twisted logic and you still can’t argue with me, then am I really the one who’s wrong?”
The room was completely stunned.
After a while, Qi Helder finally asked through gritted teeth:
“So what exactly do you want now?”
Qi Ziyue immediately replied:
“I want a bath, food, and a change of room for both me and the child. That’s all.”
The atmosphere shifted again.
Soon, Qi Ziyue began acting more gently, even clinging to her father’s arm, pretending to be affectionate.
“Dad, just agree, okay?”
“I’m really not crazy. I just… got too sad back then, and it affected my mind a little.”
She shook his arm like a spoiled child.
“Dad, please? Please? You always loved me the most when I was little…”
Qi Helder finally couldn’t hold it in and shoved her away, walking off in anger.
Qi Ziyue blinked.
Well, that went well.
Now everyone in the room turned to her and asked anxiously:
“Ziyue… are you really okay now?”
Qi Ziyue reached out toward her eldest brother.
“Brother, hug me and see for yourself.”
He immediately hugged her.
His emotions surged; he couldn’t tell whether she was truly recovered or not.
Seeing this, Qi Ziyue took the chance to act cute again.
“Brother, I want a bath, new clothes, and food.”
She pointed at herself:
“I smell bad. The room we were locked in can’t be lived in anymore. The child has to move too.”
Her brother nodded quickly.
“Yes, I’ll have your sister-in-law prepare hot water.”
“Thank you, brother.”
She then turned to her sister-in-law:
“Thank you, sister-in-law. You’re so beautiful.”
Her sister-in-law laughed helplessly and went to prepare the bath. On the way out, she even muttered:
“This girl… who cares if I’m beautiful…”
But once outside, she still went to look in the mirror.
Inside the room, arrangements slowly changed.
Qi Ziyue’s mother, now certain her daughter was no longer mad, cried and laughed at the same time, rushing to prepare food and a new room.
As for the child… the old man still strongly resisted.
Qi Ziyue didn’t push further for now.
Instead, she went outside to find the little boy who had already run off.
She planned to bathe him first tonight.
Both of them were filthy.
If she wanted to change their situation, then the first step was simple:
Take a bath, change clothes, and start fresh.