The goading tactic—or rather, this art of playing hard to get—relied entirely on carrying it through without a hitch.
After Ye Zhibai finished spouting that nonsense, she tossed her head with a dramatic flourish and actually started striding away on her long legs, heading back along the alley.
Just like some blockhead, completely unreasonable!
After she said all that, how could Lin Zihan possibly let her just walk off?
Even if she vaguely suspected it was Little Bai’er’s ploy, could she really afford not to take the bait?
At the moment when Ye Zhibai was about to brush past her.
Lin Zihan spun around.
And grabbed her arm with a sudden yank!
“Wait, Little Bai’er! I… I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything! Between good friends, there’s nothing we can’t share, no secrets held back!”
“Fine, go ahead.”
“……”
Ye Zhibai really did stop in her tracks right then, turning back coolly to play the role of attentive listener.
What else was she supposed to do?
If you’re going to spill, of course I’ll listen!
Guang Yu was ready, in the name of the gods, to bestow upon Ye Zhibai the title of “human scum.”
She fit the bill perfectly.
As for Lin Zihan.
She suddenly found herself face-to-face with Ye Zhibai, in a position where she had to bare her heart.
She swallowed hard, and for once, a flicker of genuine nervousness showed on her face.
“Little Bai’er… you really want to hear this? It might be boring, and once you do, you might feel really uncomfortable?”
“No worries. Go on.”
There was no booze here, no music.
But there were stories and the wear of time.
Listening wouldn’t hurt.
Sigh… Lin Zihan knew she was doomed to spill it all today.
With Little Bai’er being so persistent, acting like an angel to this degree, what reason did Lin Zihan have left to hold back?
She rubbed her legs together, clutching her right arm with her left hand, and bowed her head slightly.
Her golden bangs veiled half the reddish hue in her right eye.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Zihan finally spoke.
“It’s like this… how should I put it, Little Bai’er? Let me answer your question first. What I told you before—about how my mom doesn’t like kids wandering into the shop without buying flowers—that was a lie.”
She paused for a beat, then continued.
“Like that little girl just now, whenever kids come to play in the flower shop, Mom always lights up with joy. Sometimes she’ll even give them flowers for free, no matter the cost—she adores children. Hmm, Little Bai’er isn’t little anymore; you’re… a year older than me, right? But you’re still super cute!”
You lot really aren’t afraid of the cold, are you?
Even looking in the mirror myself, I feel chilled to the bone, and here you all are calling me cute?!
Fine, I’ll take your word for it. Keep going.
“Mm-hmm.”
Ye Zhibai nodded lightly, gesturing for Lin Zihan to continue.
Once Lin Zihan had cleared that up, as she delved deeper, the heaviness in her eyes grew thicker, more pronounced.
It was only the dimness of the alley that masked much of her sorrow.
“The real reason is this. My mom does love kids, but she doesn’t like kids from big families.”
At that, Lin Zihan nailed it down, summing up Elsa’s mindset.
“Mom… she’s afraid of trouble.”
Kids from big families?
Who?
Ye Zhibai’s mind turned it over for a second.
And suddenly remembered that she herself was now one of those big-family kids!
Wah, I’ve gotten rich, but…
Now I’m the one getting shunned.
Lin Zihan had already come this far.
Of course Ye Zhibai had to press for her thoughts.
“Afraid of trouble… right?”
“Yes. Back when our Lin Family collapsed, we actually had a chance to bounce back. But… some of Qihai City’s big families jumped in right then, pulling their business deals and blocking what little we had left. That’s what finished us off for good.”
“That whole time, my parents were running around, pulling strings, begging those families for mercy. But… they shut the doors in our faces publicly while stabbing us in the back privately. Dad couldn’t take the pressure… He gave up on the industries we needed to recover, sold off everything to pay the debts. I thought that was the end of it.”
“But Dad soon said he wanted to divorce Mom. He said he had no face left to stay in Qihai City. Mom wanted to stick with him, but Dad wasn’t thinking straight anymore… He blamed the fall of the Lin Family on us mother and daughter. Ahaha… it sounds ridiculous now, but there were rumors in the family back then, calling us jinxes. Some of those superstitious relatives even analyzed it, concluding that things only started going downhill after I was born. Whether Dad believed it or not… he just didn’t have the courage to face life anymore.”
Lin Zihan spoke of her father without fondness or hatred.
She didn’t hate anyone.
What good would hate do?
In the worst light, he’d abandoned his wife and daughter.
In the best, he’d cleared the debts and left with nothing, using the last of the money to buy the apartment building where Lin Zihan and Elsa now lived, plus the flower shop.
No hate, no regrets.
Just… a sense of emptiness, a bit of speechlessness now and then.
She still remembered the lost, bewildered look on her mother’s face amid the betrayal by friends and family alike.
—That powerless, despairing silhouette.
For a woman, it had all been too much to bear.
Lin Zihan gritted her teeth, then let go.
Her voice trembled for just a moment before settling back into calm narration.
She recovered fast.
“Looking back now, it makes sense. The Lin Family’s businesses were everywhere back then, hogging too much of Qihai City’s commercial pie. Once we fell, other companies could carve it up. Not to mention all those who’d long been jealous of our wealth—Dad had made too many enemies. Mom always said he was too proud and flashy in his youth, never learned to play it low-key.”
“Ahaha… and of course, there’s another reason! If we’re being honest, I was part of it too! As a kid, I was awful—always bullying other kids. Their parents could only seethe in silence back then, but they sure kept score. Now they can gossip freely over tea, laughing about how the Lin Family’s girl is half-blind, just desserts and all!”
“You…”
“Ah… sorry, Little Bai’er, I went on too long… I… I got a bit emotional there. Sorry.”
That wasn’t what I meant.
What Ye Zhibai wanted to say was:
How can you… still smile about it?
Ye Zhibai gazed at Lin Zihan.
That elegant face wore such a fragile smile.
It sent a chill down her spine.
She was talking about such a hopeless situation.
Yet Lin Zihan could crack jokes with a smile.
Sure, everyone says dumb stuff as a kid.
She’d even pranked the orphanage neighbor by yanking up their carrots once!
Did that mean any bad luck she had now was deserved?!
Clearly, that wasn’t how logic worked.
Ye Zhibai mulled over Lin Zihan’s words, thought it through, and summed it up for her.
“I get it… What you’re saying is, your mom, in every way, just can’t trust people from big families anymore. Even if I went to the flower shop, she’d think I was there to cause trouble or put on a fake act.”
“That’s right. Ah…! But Little Bai’er! I have to make this clear—among all the big families that crushed us back then, the Ye Family wasn’t one of them! I remember that crystal clear, so please, don’t overthink it! Even if the other families aren’t trustworthy, you’re special, totally different! And Zhiyun is kind-hearted too. I’m truly grateful for that!”
“……”
You have to explain that part too!
Ye Zhibai recalled how Yun’er had anxiously clarified the exact same thing just days ago. She felt grateful that her own upbringing had been so privileged.
Privileged didn’t just mean wealthy.
She let out a soft breath laced with all her swirling thoughts.
Looking at Lin Zihan before her—flustered, eyes starting to redden, yet still trying to comfort herself with more words—Ye Zhibai couldn’t help feeling a touch helpless.
You…
Have you got it backwards? Who’s the one who needs comforting here?
Now that Lin Zihan had opened the floodgates.
With no one around, she poured out all her recent heartaches to Ye Zhibai in a torrent.
“Sigh, Little Bai’er, you have no idea. Mom’s so sensitive about this stuff! Don’t laugh, but sometimes in the middle of dinner, she’ll smash the dishes right at me! Wuu, I end up cleaning till late every time.”
“Actually, Mom works so hard every day, on her feet at the flower shop from dawn to dusk! But then she comes home and goes on these revenge-cleaning sprees, like she’s lashing out at life itself. She’s exhausted, I beg her to rest, but she won’t listen. Those moments kill me! But it’s okay, I guess~ Worst case, I just help out with the chores. I handle them all anyway.”
“You won’t believe this, but with Gaokao just wrapping up, she asks me ten—no, twenty times a day if I’m confident about my scores! I swear, if they don’t meet expectations when they come out, she’ll smash bowls again!”
“And there’s more…!”
Ye Zhibai half-closed her eyes as she listened to Lin Zihan’s endless “complaints.”
She reflected on everything from running into her today—the drinks they’d bought, hiding out on the second floor of the flower shop.
Turning danger into safety, right up to this moment.
All her experiences had only served to deepen Ye Zhibai’s conviction in one undeniable truth.
She slowly opened her pale purple eyes, which brimmed with spiritual energy.
Though icy cold, they seemed to hold a gentle warmth that embraced all things in the world.
“Lin Zihan, actually… you really do like your mom, don’t you?”
Her words rang out clearly, landing with unmistakable weight.
Lin Zihan froze for a moment upon hearing them.
Then, she instinctively shook her head with a bitter smile, waving it off in denial.
“Little Bai’er, what kind of joke is that? Were you listening to what I said earlier? My mom does this every single day! She’s… I…!”
“You?”
“I…”
Lin Zihan’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Even the witty barbs she’d been unleashing at Elsa moments ago came to an abrupt halt.
This was proof that Ye Zhibai had guessed right.
Or perhaps, no guesswork had been needed at all.
A mother driven to madness and frenzy for her daughter’s sake might seem utterly irrational, constantly causing chaos.
But as her daughter… how could she truly hate a mother who had given her everything, heart and soul?
Lin Zihan clenched her fists tightly.
She lifted her head, trying to muster a smile for Ye Zhibai once more.
But the smile had barely formed before it shattered into a trembling ache, her brows twitching in pain.
She abruptly lowered her head again.
It was unbelievable—even to her—that she couldn’t force out a laugh.
That she couldn’t just brush this topic aside with a smile.
Ye Zhibai tilted her head back slightly. Night had already fallen.
Twilight had passed, and darkness now enveloped their surroundings.
But had Lin Zihan’s heart found even a sliver of light amid the gloom?
Ye Zhibai pulled out her phone and switched on the flashlight.
It cast a faint glow over the small space around them.
At last, Lin Zihan’s trembling spread from her brows to her shoulders, then uncontrollably through her entire body.
Her hands suddenly flew up to cover her cheeks.
Through the gaps in her fingers, a string of crystalline tears slipped from her right eye.
She refused to move her hands away.
But when she spoke to Ye Zhibai again, the quiver in her voice betrayed her tear-blurred eyes.
“Li-Little Bai’er? How… how did you figure it out? I clearly hate her so much… She keeps badmouthing me, smashing the beef I slaved over in the stewpot. And it wasn’t even for me… I just wanted her to eat something good for once… But she smashed it so hard… I’ve been trying so hard to avoid her, so how did you know, Little Bai’er… that I don’t… I don’t hate her?”
“Because you’re so calm about it. If you truly hated her, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“…!”
The reason they’d left the flower shop had been that sudden, unprompted cry of “Mama” from Lin Zihan.
Earlier, Ye Zhibai had found it baffling that she’d called out for her mom like that.
But now, it made a certain sense.
Lin Zihan had hidden it well, masking her feelings perfectly—except when she sank into those precious memories that belonged solely to her. That was when the cracks showed.
Like that one word, laced with a hint of coquettishness: “Mama.”
Even she herself might have believed she hated her mom.
How many years had it been since she’d truly felt her mother’s presence?
Perhaps a very, very long time.
Or maybe it had never faded, always lingering by her side.
Lin Zihan shuddered violently.
The hand covering her eyes slid down to clamp over her mouth, desperately trying to stifle the weak, embarrassing sobs spilling out.
But how could human emotions ever be contained by a mere pair of hands?
As another scalding teardrop rolled from her right eye,
A few helpless, muffled whimpers—cries she’d fought to hold back—echoed softly in the cramped space.
“Wuu…! Wuu…”
Cry it out.
Ye Zhibai had once thought Lin Zihan strong, while hiding under the covers to weep in her own moments of pain was weakness.
Now she saw it was the opposite.
Crying wasn’t weakness; it was reaching for solace, the only way to save oneself amid helplessness and confusion.
Otherwise… you’d just suffocate inside.
Ye Zhibai planted her feet firmly, patiently waiting, hoping to give her the courage to let it all out.
~~~
And thank goodness she’d braced herself like that.
Because Lin Zihan suddenly lunged forward!
Straight into Ye Zhibai’s arms!
If she hadn’t steadied herself beforehand, that momentum would have knocked her flat!
Ye Zhibai staggered back several steps before managing to support Lin Zihan’s body.
They’d barely steadied when the sobs exploding from Lin Zihan’s chest in her embrace shook them both.
“Waaahhh!! Little Bai’er! I don’t hate Mama! I really don’t hate my mom! At home, I’m always smiling… out in the world, I’m smiling too! I’ve never said a bad word about her. She cries and cries—does that mean I can cry too? If I start crying, everything will fall apart! All these years… all these years, I’ve never once said Mom was wrong. I haven’t hated her, have I? I… wuu…”
Yeah, you’re absolutely right.
Just like your mom never once resented you.
You never truly resented her either.
This twisted mother-daughter pair, for all their distortions, had never given up on each other.
Clinging to life together, illuminating one another in their own unique ways.
Ye Zhibai hesitated for a moment.
Then she spread her arms and pulled Lin Zihan into a tight embrace, offering what comfort she could.
Maybe I’m just a tiny, insignificant lamp that happened to flicker into your life.
But if I can shine a light on your true heart…
Then this little lamp of mine has served its purpose—and then some.
