So annoying!
Yun Sisi was extrely irritated.
But she didn’t dare to voice her anger. On the surface, she still had to act close to Yun Shifei.
"Sister, you’re back," she said, her face lighting up with excitent.
"Mm."
"Shifei, are you full? Do you want to make you a bowl of noodles?" Xu Ya asked with concern for Yun Shifei.
She was worried Yun Shifei might feel too restrained at soone else’s house and be shy to eat properly.
"I’m full. I’ll go back to my room now," Yun Shifei said, able to sense the subtle shift in Xu Ya’s attitude toward her.
After taking a shower and stepping out while drying her hair, she heard a knock on her door.
She walked over and opened the door—it was Xu Ya.
"Mom, what’s the matter?"
"Shifei, I went out today and saw this watch. I thought it might be useful for you, especially since you need to check the ti while studying. Take a look and see if you like it."
Xu Ya handed over a watch box to Yun Shifei.
Yun Shifei opened it up, revealing a small chanical watch.
It was simple yet exquisitely crafted.
Yun Shifei happened to need a watch—for exams, for school, and for checking the ti while doing howork.
"Thank you, Mom." She was genuinely happy.
Watching Yun Shifei smile brightly, Xu Ya couldn’t help but feel happy herself.
It seed she’d finally bought the right thing for Yun Shifei this ti.
Yun Shifei had never ntioned wanting a watch, but today Yun Sisi had comnted that her own watch was broken and needed to be repaired. This made Xu Ya suddenly think that Yun Shifei might need one as well.
Yun Shifei was engrossed in fiddling with the watch, while Xu Ya’s gaze remained fixed on her, radiating maternal love.
When Yun Shifei had first co ho, she was skinny, dark-skinned, and pitiful-looking.
A month of care had added so flesh to her fra and made her complexion fairer.
Her features looked increasingly pleasing upon closer examination.
Her almond-shaped eyes glistened, clear and bright.
Xu Ya even spotted a hint of her younger self reflected in those features.
Moreover, the girl had beco more composed now, her deanor much refined. She would only grow prettier with ti.
But even if she wasn’t pretty, she was still her own child.
Xu Ya should not have harbored even the tiniest bit of prejudice against her.
Since that incident before, Xu Ya had been reflecting on herself daily. Speaking more often with her own mother on the phone had given her a clearer understanding of what it truly ant to be a mother.
She vividly rembered a chat when her mother ntioned Yun Shifei while talking about family matters.
Xu Ya had shared her worries with her own mother.
Her mother had paused and said thoughtfully: "Xiao Ya, it’s your first ti being a mother. You’re handling things as best as you can from instinct, and I don’t bla you. Do you still recall your childhood? You were often sick, and our family was poor back then. To pay for your dical treatnts, we sold nearly everything of value—your grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ paintings and calligraphy included. Many people advised to give up on you, saying raising a sick girl wasn’t worth it. But I refused to listen because I’m your mother. You are my child; as long as I have breath left in my body, I would never abandon you..."
"Mom..." Xu Ya certainly rembered bits of her childhood, but in her mind, it hadn’t seed so tough.
Perhaps her parents were always optimistic around her, never showing the difficulties they were going through.
They’d always reassured her to take her dicine and eat well without worry.
Only now did she realize how hard things had been then.
And what her mother was trying to tell her...
"Xiao Ya, I’m not blaming you. I just want you to understand that your child—no matter how life has shaped her—she is your child. Yes, she didn’t receive a proper education before and may be seen as less desirable by others. But those are outsiders. You are her mother; you should be guiding her to learn and grow instead of resenting her. Besides, she had the potential to thrive under better circumstances—it was the adults who made a mistake, leading her to end up like this. Now that you have her back, how can you not cherish her, regardless of who she has beco? Shouldn’t you feel happy to have her ho, no matter what? Yet... yet you’ve grown resentful toward your own daughter?"
Those words from Mother Xu made Xu Ya burst into tears.
Her tears fell silently and continuously, like a stream that wouldn’t stop.
Indeed, why hadn’t this simple truth occurred to her beforehand?
Such a clear and obvious truth.
How could she... how could she have drawn comparisons between Yun Shifei and Yun Sisi?
Yun Shifei had grown up away from her parents, surviving like wild grass on her own.
Whereas Yun Sisi—she and Yun Tiancheng had carefully nurtured her as if she were a delicate bloom in a greenhouse.
They were inherently different; how could she put them side by side for comparison?
Worse yet, that resentnt toward Yun Shifei had gradually pushed her to the point of even hitting her.
Watching the obedient Yun Shifei tinkering with the watch, Xu Ya’s heart was awash with conflicting emotions.
She was definitively not a qualified mother.
After that phone call with Mother Xu, she made up her mind to beco a better parent.
Whatever Yun Sisi had, Yun Shifei would have too.
Whatever Yun Sisi had experienced in the past, she would make up to Yun Shifei as well.
Only then could she start to ease the daily guilt weighing on her.
Yun Shifei finished fastening the watch, lifted her gaze, and looked at Xu Ya. "Mom, does it look good?"
As Yun Shifei looked up at Xu Ya, she froze.
Xu Ya’s expression was somber; her eyes slightly reddened. A swirl of complicated emotions flickered in her gaze.
"Mom, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Before Yun Shifei could finish speaking, Xu Ya pulled her into an embrace.
"Shifei, I’m sorry. Mom made so many mistakes before and hurt you—that’s my fault. I don’t expect your forgiveness, but can we start fresh today? Can you give one more chance?"
Caught off guard by Xu Ya’s sudden embrace, Yun Shifei was montarily dazed.
After a while, she slowly extended her hands to return the hug.
"Alright, Mom."
Listening to the girl’s calm and simple response—such calmness built on how many past disappointnts?—Xu Ya took a deep breath and forced herself to hold back the tears threatening to fall.
Feeling remorse was no longer enough; she would need to use concrete actions to make ands.
"Shifei, do you know about the Cheng Family?"
After composing herself, Xu Ya chatted with Yun Shifei about school and then asked how she was getting along with her classes at the Cheng Family household.
Yun Shifei answered truthfully but couldn’t help asking Xu Ya about Cheng Lie.
After the events at dinner earlier, the more Yun Shifei thought about it, the more sothing didn’t sit right with her.
She couldn’t shake the sense that Cheng Lie wasn’t as happy as he appeared to be on the surface.
"What’s the matter?"
"I’ve been staying at the Cheng Family for the past two days, and I’ve started to feel that Uncle Cheng and Aunt Cheng aren’t as good to Cheng Lie as they seem on the outside."
"On the surface?" Xu Ya questioned the choice of phrase.
"I an, before, Cheng Lie would always take his family’s car to school and have als delivered by his household staff every day at noon. I figured his family must care deeply about him. But after having dinner with them today, I realized that Uncle Cheng’s way of being ’good’ to Cheng Lie is just his own idea of what’s good for him."
Yun Shifei shared her insights with Xu Ya in detail.
Xu Ya was surprised by how remarkably observant this child was.
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