Chapter 63: Surging
Her slender, onion-like fingertips gently swept across the thin pages of the book. The gentle afternoon sun shone down, and a few patches of light flickered on the fine black text. The dark green bamboo and rattan hanging chair on the balcony swayed slightly, making a faint creaking sound. The silence was filled with the lazy and comfortable leisure of the afternoon.
A few strands of hair had playfully escaped from the hair tie and were hanging loosely by her forehead. Xia Qiange gently placed the book on her snow-white, round thighs and tucked the hair that was blocking her vision behind her ear.
She took off the gold-rimmed glasses that were on the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyes, which were a little sore from reading for too long. The sunlight, like a faint golden powder, was sprinkled on her snow-white skin. Under the hazy halo, it was so white that it was almost transparent. The fine blue veins were faintly visible under her skin. It was as if she had been mesmerized by the flashing sunlight, and she was breathtakingly beautiful.
She had been at home for nearly a week, and she had not encountered any so-called harassment. The only one who did not like her, Xia Xinnan, had run out in a huff on the day she had returned and had not come back for several days.
Xia Changhe and Zhou Hui were not stupid. They served her with delicious food and drinks all day. They were all thinking about the money in her hand. A little over a million… was enough to make these narrow-minded frogs at the bottom of the well, who had been calculating for a lifetime, bend their snobbish spines and fawn on her in a low voice.
But the more fawning the smiles on their faces were, the more she felt that her deceased mother was not worth it. She didn’t care about the little bit of money in her hand. She would rather squander it all than let a murderer who had killed her mother get it so openly.
This was what her mother had left her. It was like a slender vine that she had suddenly grabbed at the moment she had fallen into an abyss, pulling her up. But it still couldn’t stop her from sinking into the darkness bit by bit.
The sound of something being smashed to pieces outside the door, mixed with the man’s angry roar, was a bit abrupt. Xia Qiange lowered her eyes and listened with a blank expression. She raised her hand and gently turned a page of the book, as if she had long since gotten used to it.
Xia Changhe did not stay at home for long. The man seemed to have really gotten into the business. The way he was busy with his briefcase all day was praised by the neighbors as being ambitious. But it was a bit funny to think about it. It seemed that he had risen from the ground… but he was just a hypocrite who had abandoned his family.
This kind of argument had happened more than once. Xia Changhe had had a big fight with Zhou Hui a few days ago because of Xia Xinnan’s grades. This family was just a combination of people with ulterior motives. The mistress had used her child to tie down the man. Such a despicable trick was worthy of a hypocrite like Xia Changhe.
“Why haven’t you been home for so many days? You’re messing around with those bad students at school all day. What’s with this hair dye? It’s neither human nor ghost. If you were half as good as your sister, I wouldn’t be so displeased with you.”
“You’re always talking about my sister. If she’s so good, why are you still with my mom? You can just raise her by yourself. Isn’t it because the woman before couldn’t give you a son, and you wanted one?”
“You bastard! How dare you talk to your father like that? I haven’t disciplined you for too long. You’ve completely forgotten your place.”
The sound of a slap was crisp, and it completely stopped the girl’s words. There was a moment of silence, and then the sound of crying seeped in through the crack in the door. Just as she had turned two pages of the book, the woman’s hysterical crying and cursing followed.
“Xia Changhe, you’re really not a good person. Even a tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs. This is your own daughter. How could you do it?”
“Isn’t she like this because of you? Hurry up and make her change her appearance. I don’t know what the neighbors will think when they see her. You’re really embarrassing me.”
“I won’t! I’m not staying in this house anymore. You can go and dote on your daughter. I’m leaving…”
The girl’s voice was filled with a cry, and she retorted stubbornly. There was another burst of chaotic sounds, and the sound of footsteps was getting closer. The door to the side bedroom was suddenly and roughly pulled open. Xia Qiange raised her gaze and glanced at the girl indifferently, as if she had lost interest, and then she lowered her head and continued to flip through the book in her hand.
Xia Xinnan was stunned for a moment. This room had been empty before, and she had used it to store the clutter she had bought with her extravagant spending. The originally empty bookshelf was now filled with books whose names she couldn’t even understand. The thick and large bricks were stuffed in the top few rows of the bookshelf, which made the colorful romance novels she had placed at the bottom particularly eye-catching.
She almost didn’t recognize the appearance of this room. The crowded room suddenly had a lot of space. The pure white bedsheet was spread on the bed without a single wrinkle, and the neatly folded bedding was also a monotonous black. It was clean and light, but it also seemed rigid and heavy. She had almost forgotten that the other party was only a few years older than her.
The girl was sitting on a green rattan chair, holding a book and reading silently. Her delicate skin was as white as snow under the sunlight, with a faint jade color. Her exquisite features had inherited the unique grace and gentleness of a woman from Jiangnan from her deceased mother.
“This is where I put my things. You… what are you doing here?”
Xia Xinnan had just said the words when she realized that such a question was very stupid. She lowered her gaze. The face, which was painted with smoky makeup and had a white foundation, had been ruined by her crying. At this moment, it was really a bit comical.
“Auntie Zhou asked me to stay here. Is there a problem? I’ve already tidied up your things and put them back in your room.”
Xia Qiange raised her dark and intense, dark black eyes and looked at her quietly. There was not a single ripple in her eyes, as if she were an emotionless machine. Her gaze was always so plain, and it looked straight through her ugly and inescapable self.
Her plain gaze swept over the row of romance novels and comics at the bottom of the bookshelf. Xia Qiange curled her lips and smiled, and then she slowly said, “Oh… I’ve also read a few of these books. They’re quite interesting. But… if you’re in high school, it’s better to focus more on your studies.”
Xia Xinnan was still in a daze and couldn’t speak. The surging roar in her heart was completely extinguished by an inexplicable embarrassment and shame. No matter how she deliberately made things difficult, the other party would just look at her with a faint smile, as if she were looking at a pitiful clown.
“Stop showing off here. My business is none of your business. You won’t be laughing for long. You’re a pitiful wretch that no one wants.”
She was pricked by Xia Qiange’s seemingly concerned advice, which had hit her most self-conscious weak spot. In the end, she glared at Xia Qiange fiercely and turned to leave the room.
Xia Qiange stared at the door that had been slammed shut, and the corners of her lips slowly returned to a flat line. She put down the book in her hand, and the phone on the desk vibrated slightly. She swiped open the screen and glanced at the message, and her eyes suddenly turned a deep and gloomy cold.
“Have you finished your family matters? Remember to come back to the law firm in a while. Don’t blame me for being nosy. I believe you can handle it. But there’s no need to waste too much time on such a worm. The things have already been sent to you… finish your business early and come back.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
Xia Qiange replied to the message, but her gaze was fixed on a news push from an advertisement in the message bar. The heart in her chest pounded a few times.
“The head of the Gu Group has been in office for less than a month and is going to study abroad in the North…”
