Chapter One Hundred and Nine

"You appearing by my side? Don't make me laugh. Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? Don't I know how you treat Xiao Jian? Xiao Jian even told me you haven't been good to him. If I had known, I would have taken him to live at my place." Yu Xingyue brought up the matter of Xiao Jian, but Lin Zimo remained silent.

"That's a different matter. Yu Xingyue, will you please come out?" Knowing that Lin Zimo was dodging the subject, and reacting to her presence, the following conversation ensued.

"I'm just not used to Xiao Jian coming to our house. Having another boy in the house makes life feel a bit strange," Lin Zimo explained.

"How do you expect me to believe you?" Yu Xingyue said, slightly angry. "It was my mother who told you to come here, wasn't it?"

Lin Zimo nodded and said, "How can you face everyone in this state? Don't you care about anyone else's feelings?" She used the current situation to remind him: how was acting like this any different from a petulant child? It seemed incredibly immature.

Yu Xingyue roared, "Get out! I don't want to see you again!"

"Don't force me to use force, okay?" Yu Xingyue kept rejecting her, and in his anger, he switched to Japanese, "Baka wa ore ga ketanda!" Roughly translated, it meant: "You idiot, don't think I won't kick you!"

Yu Xingyue didn't understand Japanese, so he didn't know the exact meaning, but he could tell it was an insult.

Receiving no response from inside, Lin Zimo kicked open the door and stepped directly into the room. The sudden sound caught Yu Xingyue off guard, startling him.

"You really dared to kick your way in. It seems you're forcing me to fight!" Yu Xingyue took a fighting stance. Lin Zimo was not intimidated in the slightest; for her, a fight was the best thing that could happen—after all, she hadn't stretched her limbs in a long time.

"If you want to fight, then let's fight. I want to see if my skills have regressed over these past six months." It had been half a year since the pandemic began, and training with the Tianyuan Team had been suspended for just as long.

"Hmph!" Yu Xingyue snorted in annoyance. Don't think that just because she could pull off a few combos, she wouldn't be gasping for air soon. But when his rage spiked, it was his moment to erupt.

The two wrestled together, and what was supposed to be a persuasion turned into a brawl. "Come at me! Even though I'm a girl, I won't go easy on you." Before she finished speaking, she lunged at him with a kick. Six months was a long time, and Yu Xingyue's reaction speed had dulled, but he barely managed to block her leg, his arm stinging painfully from the impact.

"Damn it!" Yu Xingyue roared at her, abandoning all restraint and using every ounce of his strength to fight back.

Lin Zimo's lips curled upward. She didn't view this as a fight at all; in her mind, this was a match. Her opponent was the currently despondent Yu Xingyue, and her goal was to keep him lucid. Losing a loved one was painful, but wallowing in grief was no solution. It had only been a few hours since his father passed away, and to see him in such a state deeply worried Yang Shuting—it was the first time she had ever seen him like this.

Hearing the commotion in the room, Yang Shuting wanted to check on them, but Sun Yao stopped her. "The best thing to do now is not to disturb them. Young people go through these things; youth is meant to be a trial, and this is Yu Xingyue's trial."

That might be true, but she was still worried. Sun Yao's words made sense, yet she felt helpless.

The details of the fight are omitted. Ten minutes later, Yu Xingyue's stamina was completely spent, and he was losing. Lin Zimo had also been struck by his forceful kicks. Yu Xingyue had unleashed his "free-style rapid strikes" on her.

Once the flurry of kicks ended, Yu Xingyue no longer had the strength to stand. Lin Zimo, having been struck several times, felt her body trembling slightly. Seeing that he had no intention of continuing, she stopped as well.

"That should be enough for now, you jerk," Lin Zimo said, panting.

Yu Xingyue lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "I get it now. I really am a piece of trash. I can't even beat you, and I used to be..." Before he could finish, Lin Zimo grabbed his collar and slapped him across the face.

He hadn't expected the slap; it was sudden and snapped him out of his daze.

Lin Zimo released his collar. Yu Xingyue clutched his left cheek, laughing bitterly, "Hahahahahaha, so I am a piece of trash. I've been insulted by you after losing."

"How much longer are you going to keep this up!" Lin Zimo shouted. "This isn't the version of you I wanted to see. Are you going to run away and retreat just because your father died? I know he did terrible things to you and your mother and abandoned you, but he's gone now, and he isn't coming back. You can't blame all these mistakes on yourself alone!" She pointed at him.

"Blame me? Tell me, what did I do wrong?" Yu Xingyue asked, his eyes turning red as she touched upon his deepest pain.

"He abandoned you and your mother, but he hadn't had it easy all these years either. Now that your debts have been paid and he's returned, if it were me, I'd grab him by the collar and beat him up to vent my anger!" Lin Zimo was breathless, but continued, "He just missed his son and wanted to see him, yet he was met with cold glares and verbal abuse. If I were your father, I would certainly be heartbroken. He owed you and your mother too much."

Hearing this, Yu Xingyue fell silent. Lin Zimo’s words made sense. The events had passed so long ago, yet he still hadn't let go—the hatred for Yu Chun was still there. Unless he resolved this inner conflict, he would never be able to grow up. Lin Zimo was offering him sage advice.

"I hope my words make you think. I don't want to see you like this; I want to see a brand-new Yugo, you hear me?" With that, Lin Zimo left the room, leaving him alone.

When she emerged, Yang Shuting immediately stepped forward, concerned. "How is he? Is he doing any better? Are you hurt? I heard the noise inside."

Lin Zimo looked at the bruises on her arms and forced a smile. "It's just a small injury, Auntie. I'm no delicate flower; I'm a tough girl." She patted her chest, then coughed a few times.

"It looks painful. You should come to my room and apply some medicine before you head back," Yang Shuting said, unable to bear sending her home in such a state.

"Then I'll trouble you, Auntie." After they entered her room, Yang Shuting turned to Sun Yao. "Go check on Yu Xinyue; I'll tend to Lin Zimo."

After they divided the tasks, Sun Yao went to the room while Yang Shuting applied the medicine. During the process, Lin Zimo couldn't help but yelp, "Ouch!" Yang Shuting was being as careful as possible, but Lin Zimo gritted her teeth and bore it. Once finished, she stood up and swung her arms. "I feel much better now."

"Lin Zimo, come here for a moment." Yang Shuting signaled for her to sit beside her. She spoke earnestly, "From your conversation with Xingyue just now, I could sense your feelings for him. You have those kinds of thoughts about him, don't you?"

Lin Zimo knew exactly what she meant. She blushed and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Auntie."

"I've lived long enough to know what a young girl is thinking. Tell me, what is it you like about him?"

Yang Shuting's sharp intuition made Lin Zimo feel nervous. Since there was no point in hiding it anymore, she admitted, "I don't know when it started, but I just find this little idiot to be stupidly adorable. Perhaps it's that personality of his that I've come to like."