Lin Qingyi did not reach out to take the item Xia Beiji was offering.
Xia Beiji had no choice but to retract his hand, his smile stiffening.
Song Julan, who was standing to one side, witnessed the entire scene and let out a cold snort. "Lin Qingyi, after three years in prison, it seems you haven't learned much else, but your temper has certainly grown."
Ignoring Xia Beiji, he grabbed Lin Qingyi by the wrist and dragged her forcibly toward the black Porsche.
"We’re going home. Stop making a spectacle of yourself out here."
The tension on her injured finger caused a sharp pain. Lin Qingyi frowned and finally spoke, her voice slow and quiet.
"I’m not going back."
"That place is not my home."
Her throat felt incredibly parched, and her voice sounded far less gentle than it once had.
Song Julan was simultaneously taken aback by the change in her voice and incensed by her words.
"Lin Qingyi! How long are you going to keep acting out?"
After the outburst, Song Julan remembered the instructions from his father and stepmother. He forced his anger down and softened his tone.
"Dad and Aunt Zhao miss you. Lin Qingyi, please stop causing trouble."
"Mom and Dad know you don't like Yueyue, so they had her move to an apartment in Haicheng this morning."
"Lin Qingyi, can’t you be as sensible as Yueyue? She has never been so far from home in all these years. To keep you from being upset when you saw her, she didn't sleep a wink last night and rushed off to Haicheng overnight..."
Hearing this, Lin Qingyi found it nothing short of ironic.
Song Yueyue was heartbrokenly cared for the moment she left home for the first time.
But what about her?
She had been stolen at birth, lived a life of displacement and terror until she was eighteen, and when she finally found her family, how had they treated her?
With indifference, alienation, and even cold detachment.
The idea that her father and aunt missed her was a joke. If they truly missed her, why had they ignored her completely for the past three years?
"Qingyi, if you don't want to go back, I have a vacant apartment on North Street. You can stay there for now until you're ready to return to the Song family..." Xia Beiji interjected at the perfect moment.
Lin Qingyi ignored him.
Compared to Xia Beiji, who had committed perjury to send her to prison, the Song family at least offered her a way to survive.
Lin Qingyi knew she couldn't escape today.
Moreover, her ID and household registration were still with the Song family, and even the grandmother who had raised her was still living in a hospital owned by them.
If she wanted to leave the Song family for good, she would have to return there once more.
In the end, Lin Qingyi followed Song Julan toward the black Porsche.
Xia Beiji watched as Lin Qingyi got into Song Julan's car. He kept his eyes on them as they drove away until they vanished from sight, only then slowly lowering his gaze.
He looked down at the bag in his hands, his eyes filled with dejection.
Xia Beiji picked up Lin Qingyi’s student ID, his gaze fixed on the naive, youthful face in the photo.
The girl in the picture was thin, but vibrant, her eyes crinkled in a smile.
This was Lin Qingyi before she went to prison.
Back then, she always had endless words for him. She would get angry when she was bullied, cry over an abandoned kitten by the side of the road, and squint her eyes to give him a sweet smile whenever she ate something delicious...
When they were at the orphanage, she would always follow behind him, calling him "Brother Beiji" with a sweet voice, and she even wished on her birthday that she would marry him when she grew up.
Regrettably, fate was cruel.
The beauty of the past had vanished like mist, and in those beautiful eyes, there was no longer any room for him.
Now, she treated him like a stranger, unwilling to spare even a single glance in his direction.
Xia Beiji’s throat tightened; his chest felt as if it were being crushed by a heavy weight, making it hard to breathe.
He carefully traced the image of her with his fingertips before tucking the student ID away, keeping it close to his heart.
*Buzz—*
His phone vibrated. Xia Beiji checked the caller ID, took a deep breath, and answered.
"Brother Beiji, I’ve arrived in Haicheng. Did you pick up Sister Qingyi?"
A soft, delicate voice came through the phone.
Upon hearing Song Yueyue’s voice, a doting smile couldn't help but touch the corners of Xia Beiji’s lips.
"My brother picked her up and took her back. Yueyue, are you adjusting well in Haicheng?"
"It's alright. The scenery here is nice, but I'm afraid to go out," Song Yueyue said in an affected, dainty tone. "If only Brother Beiji could convince Sister Qingyi to help me once more... then I could go on vacation in Haicheng with my brother. Mom, Dad, and my uncle and aunt would be happy too."
"Don't worry, she will."
—
The car pulled into the garage of the Song family villa.
Before getting out, Song Julan glanced at Lin Qingyi in the rearview mirror.
"When you see Dad and Aunt Zhao, rein in that temper of yours. Don’t upset them."
Song Julan’s gaze was full of warning and even a trace of disdain; he didn't look at her as if she were his sister, but rather like some sort of beggar.
Lin Qingyi did not respond to his warning.
She reached out to open the door, but for reasons unknown, her movement seemed to provoke Song Julan, and she heard him curse under his breath.
"You unpresentable thing."
With that, Song Julan got out of the car and walked away, not caring in the slightest whether Lin Qingyi could keep up.
—
"Aunt Zhao, stop waiting. With her high-and-mighty temper, she absolutely won't—"
"Qingyi!"
When Zhao Suihua caught sight of Lin Qingyi, she hurried over, reaching out to embrace the daughter she hadn't seen in so long.
Lin Qingyi instinctively recoiled.
"Lin Qingyi!"
Almost the instant she moved away, Song Julan’s shout rang out.
Zhao Suihua looked at the gaunt, unrecognizable version of Lin Qingyi standing before her, and upon meeting those hollow, detached eyes, her tears began to fall.
"It’s alright, it’s alright. Julan, don't yell at your sister. She might just feel that she's dirty and is afraid I'll mind."
With that, Zhao Suihua took Lin Qingyi’s hand and led her to the sofa to sit down.
"It’s okay, Qingyi. Auntie doesn't mind."
"Qingyi, are you hungry? Suihua knew you were coming back today, so she specifically made your favorite braised fish," Father Song said, rolling his wheelchair over.
Hearing Father Song’s words, the pain in Lin Qingyi’s heart, which she had just managed to soothe, flared up again.
She didn't like braised fish at all.
That was Song Yueyue’s favorite.
What Lin Qingyi liked was sweet and sour fish.
On the very first day Lin Qingyi returned to the Song family, Song Yueyue had cried at the dinner table because the nanny had only made sweet and sour fish and not the braised fish she loved.
And what had her father done then?
He had dumped the sweet and sour fish she loved into the dog's bowl and ordered the nanny to make braised fish for Song Yueyue instead.
He could have easily kept the plate of sweet and sour fish, but to ensure Song Yueyue didn't feel that he was neglecting her just because Lin Qingyi had returned, he chose to ignore her preferences entirely.
So, even now, that favoritism had never truly belonged to her.
"I'm not hungry," Lin Qingyi said. She didn't want to spend any time with this hypocritical couple.
She rejected Father Song’s self-righteous kindness.
The smiles on the faces of Father Song and Zhao Suihua froze.
Just before Song Julan could fly into a rage, Lin Qingyi spoke again, her voice slow.
"May I go to my room now?"