PSW - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

What was there left to be unclear about, to not recognize for what it was?

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about? You think you're all grown up now, that your wings have hardened-" Before her mother could finish, her father tugged at her arm.

"Listen to our child. It's good that she changed her name. The name Yu Yinan sounds nice, too. Your mom and I aren't educated people; we didn't know how to pick a good name back then. Your current name is very nice," her father said with a smile, feigning a boundless tolerance and affection that she had yearned for in her childhood but never received.

In her childhood, no matter how her mother scolded, beat, or burdened her with heavy chores, her father was always present but silent. Occasionally, he would even say things like, "You're the older sister. Is that any way for a sister to act?" Even when she was sick, she had to go to school, and when she came home, she had to cook, do laundry, and clean up everything. Her younger brother didn't even have to scoop his own rice. It didn't matter if her homework was done, how heavy her academic load was, or how good her grades were; what mattered was that she had to tutor her brother. Her academic improvement was unimportant—only her brother's mattered.

Really, why was she reminiscing about the past? Why was she still feeling soft-hearted? Why did she still harbor some inexplicable expectation? So many years had passed, and upon seeing them again, she realized they hadn't changed in the slightest.

Their hypocrisy was so blatant they couldn't even maintain the pretense. Did they think such a perfunctory attempt at coaxing her would work? Did they still see her as that little child who wasn't even allowed to have her own piece of candy?

Yu Yinan looked at Yu Yaozu, her dear younger brother, the "good" brother spoiled by their parents' boundless favoritism.

Yu Yaozu suddenly took a step back, his expression turning ugly. "What are you looking at me for?"

Yu Qinan, Yu Yaozu. From the moment they were born, one was in the dirt while the other was in the heavens.

"Don't interfere with my life. From the day I left, I no longer had parents." Yu Yinan's tone was calm as she watched her mother's face contort with rage and her father's brow furrow. Listening to her mother scream things like, "You ungrateful brat!" "I raised you for so many years!" and "What was the point of giving birth to you?!" she suddenly let out a laugh. Then she threw her head back and roared with laughter until tears streamed from her eyes.

"Hahaha..." Yu Yinan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes as she laughed. "You know this is the apocalypse, right? Killing people isn't illegal anymore."

"You can't kill people inside the shelter, but your precious son has to go out on missions, doesn't he?" Yu Yinan's laughter subsided slightly, but a smile remained on her lips. She spoke softly, "You're renting, right? It would be very easy to find out your room number. The temperature is rising day by day... it would be perfectly normal for a house to spontaneously combust one day, wouldn't it?"

"You know perfectly well how you treated me when I was a child. You would never treat your son that way. Your son isn't a servant, but I was. Your son has value, but I don't. You love him, but not me." Yu Yinan's tone grew harder and colder. She lifted her chin slightly and sneered, "I thought you wouldn't even dare to show your faces in front of me."

"If I were really that easy to manipulate, how do you think I've managed to survive out here all by myself?"

"How... how can you talk like that..." The mother's bravado faltered at the mention of her son. She wanted to retort but couldn't find the words. When Yu Yinan's gaze fell upon her, she instinctively looked away, not daring to meet her eyes.

This was the apocalypse. Supporting her parents? No one could force her to. Even the shelter had no such rule.

"Don't push me." Yu Yinan smiled. She looked at the father who had once seemed so imposing and unassailable in her mind, only to realize he was just an ordinary man. And her brother? He was an ability user too, but under her intimidating presence, he couldn't even think of resisting.

"...Your mom and I were wrong. We don't expect you to forgive us..." The father fell silent for a moment before speaking, choosing his words carefully. But before he could finish, Yu Yinan raised a hand and waved him off.

"How did you get my information?" Yu Yinan looked at them, studying their expressions. "You didn't even know what I look like. It's impossible that you just came looking for me on your own."

"...We received a note." After a moment of hesitation, Yu Yaozu confessed. He was genuinely frightened by Yu Yinan's current state. The energy contained within her flames was immense; he'd never imagined his sister could be so powerful. And her threat... he was truly afraid of that, too.

He handed over the note. "We don't know who gave it to us."

The characters looked as if they were printed, and there were no fingerprints or other traces on the paper.

Yu Yinan took the note, glanced at it, and stuffed it into her pocket. She nodded slightly. "Don't show your faces to me again. Don't make me remember things that anger me. Otherwise, one day I might lose control... Heh."

"You only have one son. Remember that."

With that, Yu Yinan turned and walked away.

The family only snapped out of their stupor after she had walked so far away that her back was no longer in sight.

"What a sin, what a terrible sin! To have raised such a creature! She was threatening us just now, wasn't she? Does she want to kill us!? How dare she!" Once Yu Yinan was out of sight, the mother collapsed to the ground, wailing and slapping her thighs.

"Get up! Do you really think she wouldn't dare?" The father hauled the mother to her feet. His voice deepened with an imposing authority, almost a roar. "I told you to treat her better back then, but you just had to be so biased!"

Calling her a "losing investment," "water that would eventually be splashed out," and... other, worse things.

"Is that my fault? Is it my fault? What were you doing all that time? And now you blame me? You dare to blame me?"

"Wasn't I busy working every day to support this family? How did you raise her?"

Seeing his parents about to fight, perhaps even physically, Yu Yaozu finally snapped. "Enough!"

"I don't have a sister, and you don't have a daughter. If you don't want me to actually get burned to death by her one day... then do as she says." Yu Yaozu gritted his teeth. "She's very strong." He was no match for her.

Those last three words were met with a final, heavy silence from all three of them.

---

After quickly walking away, Yu Yinan stared at the less-than-empty streets of the shelter, feeling momentarily lost. The sky was still a dreary gray, and a cold wind blew past. As a fire ability user, she didn't feel the chill, but for some reason, her heart felt cold.

But it wasn't because she had cut ties with that family.

Watching from the sidelines as they shamelessly harassed the staff member, Yu Yinan's heart had completely died. She couldn't let other people's mistakes bind her for a lifetime, she thought. She had finally escaped that sea of misery. Her homeroom teacher had helped her so much in secret, even enduring pressure she shouldn't have had to. As someone who had received such help, she couldn't look back. She couldn't hold out any more hope for that family.

If they really refused to give up and came to harass her again... perhaps she truly couldn't bring herself to kill her parents, but she would feel no guilt at all in dealing with her dear brother. He was their precious son, after all!

Yu Yinan took the note from her pocket. The printed characters on it were simple and direct.

【Your daughter, Yu Yinan, is a fire ability user inside the shelter.】

Yu Yinan closed her eyes and sighed deeply. It wasn't that she wanted to suspect Zheng Yi, but... who else could know her situation so clearly? Chu Yi? But Chu Yi knew nothing of her past or her relationship with that family. Only Zheng Yi... only Zheng Yi...

Moreover, Zheng Yi knew what kind of people they were. By providing the two key pieces of information—that she was an "ability user" and "inside this shelter"—she would have known that family would never let the opportunity go. They would absolutely find a way to track her down. After all, in their minds, she was still the daughter who was born to serve them.

But... that was Zheng Yi.

Why...

Yu Yinan lowered her gaze, her warm breath turning into puffs of white mist. Could it be that Zheng Yi did this just to help me? Did she see how upset I was, how trapped in my emotions, and use this method to force me to harden my heart, to make me see that family's true colors? But... but when they'd run into them at the mission center, the confusion on Zheng Yi's face hadn't seemed fake.

Yu Yinan's nose began to sting. She pulled her clothes tighter, put on the hood of her down jacket, and, clutching the note in her pocket, walked silently back toward their apartment.

I'll go ask Zheng Yi.

Instead of letting her thoughts run wild, it was better to just ask. Whatever answer Zheng Yi gave, she would... she would...

...accept it. She would believe her.

That was Zheng Yi, after all. The Zheng Yi who smiled sweetly at her every day and called her Jiejie. The Zheng Yi who secretly slipped her chocolates and candies, who shared half of all her food. Yu Yinan could even recall them huddling together for warmth during the heavy snows of the extreme cold period. Just thinking about it made her feel as if the warmth and scent of Zheng Yi still lingered on her hands.

She refused to believe that Zheng Yi would do anything to hurt her.

"Little Saint..." The soft sigh was lost in a puff of white breath. Yu Yinan entered the building and climbed the stairs, one floor after another.

She stood at the door, hesitating for a long time before gently inserting the key into the lock. She opened the door almost silently and stepped inside. To be honest, Yu Yinan had imagined what Zheng Yi's reaction would be when she returned. Maybe she would rush over, calling out "Jiejie," or anxiously ask if she was okay, if those people had hurt her. She had envisioned all sorts of scenarios. But there was nothing.

Nothing at all.

The empty apartment sent an irrepressible panic rising from the depths of her heart. As if waking from a dream, she rushed inside. When she turned and saw a lump under the covers on the bed through the open bedroom door, the panic finally subsided a little.

But for that one instant, Yu Yinan felt her mouth and hands go numb. She walked into the bedroom silently, quietly approached the bed, and gazed at Zheng Yi's sleeping face.

...She had actually just fallen asleep?

Was she just too tired? Or did she think I wasn't coming back? Then what about before? Was all of that fake? Was it all just an act?

Yu Yinan's mind was a mess, but seeing Zheng Yi sleeping so soundly, she shamefully let out a sigh of relief.

In silence, she used her ability to raise the room's temperature, then tiptoed out and gently pulled the bedroom door closed.

Sitting on the wooden chair, Yu Yinan smoothed out the note, the pad of her finger rubbing against the neat, printed characters. The dim, overcast sky failed to illuminate the room, only plunging her deeper into shadow.

She sat there stubbornly for so long she might as well have been a statue.

A flame flared to life, consuming the note. Yu Yinan's eyes fluttered closed as if in a sigh, and she cleaned away the ashes.

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