CHAPTER 17: Pressure

In front of her in-laws, Xu Yanqiu still didn’t dare bring up Yi Xiaoya. She was afraid the Yi family might refuse to acknowledge her and also block Xiaoya from seeing her. That would only backfire. It’d be better to test the waters herself. After all, Xiaoya was still young, and back then, Xu Yanqiu had sent her to her cousin instead of an orphanage.

Her cousin had raised Yi Xiaoya—so in a way, she had raised her too.

“What are you standing there for like an idiot?” Xu Yanqiu’s stepdaughter sneered as she caught sight of her dazed. “Don’t bother waiting—my dad’s not coming home tonight. He’s probably shacking up at some young starlet’s place. You should know that—you were a homewrecker yourself, once. Oh, and a little celebrity too, right?”

This stepdaughter had always hated Xu Yanqiu. When Xu Yanqiu got together with her father, her mother had still been alive. Her father had countless women outside, and even though her mother hated it, there was nothing she could do.

One day, her mother passed away, and Xu Yanqiu moved in and became the official wife.

But she didn’t give birth to a son—only a daughter. And a daughter born from a mistress, even if she was born within wedlock, never really earned much attention.

At least, not from the stepdaughter. Nor did her father care much for the girl. The man had expected Xu Yanqiu to give him a son. Xu Yanqiu had even said the baby was a boy—she’d done an ultrasound.

But in the end, when the baby was born and turned out to be a girl, it was too late. They’d already gotten their marriage license.

Since they were legally married, he didn’t bother divorcing. But he no longer treated her the way he had before. Being a mistress and being a wife were different. Wives were easily despised; mistresses always stayed sweet.

“Watch out,” Tang Xinyang rolled her eyes. “Someone’s bound to take your place. You’re not irreplaceable.”

With that, Tang Xinyang headed upstairs, leaving only her back to Xu Yanqiu.

Xu Yanqiu stared at her stepdaughter’s back, gritting her teeth with resentment—but she didn’t dare provoke her. That was just how men were. Once they got something, the novelty faded. Once they had you, they went looking for someone else.

Xu Yanqiu’s husband was exactly like that. She knew he had another woman outside but couldn’t say anything. If she said too much, he’d retort that she was no better—that when she first came to him, he still had a wife. He’d accuse her of acting like the innocent one, saying if the first wife had to endure it, so should she.

It made Xu Yanqiu miserable. She had all the money she wanted, but still yearned for love. She even hoped her daughter could inherit everything from the Tang family. But her husband was still obsessed with having a son, staying with his mistress mostly to make that happen.

She and the first wife had both given him daughters—not a single son.

People liked to say boys and girls were the same, but in many people’s eyes, boys were still better.

That night, her husband didn’t return home again. He stayed out. Xu Yanqiu sat in the living room for a long time, waiting. In the end, she dozed off on the couch.

—

On Monday morning, Yi Xiaoya took the car to school. As she walked down the familiar path into campus, everything seemed just as usual. But when she entered the classroom, she noticed everyone who had been chatting suddenly fell silent and turned to look at her.

Yi Xiaoya ignored them and went straight to her seat.

The new homeroom teacher had already separated her and Xiao Caiyu. They no longer sat together. Of course, it was Xiao Caiyu who had been moved to a different seat.

Yi Xiaoya had gone to the hospital, then returned home, and later went to see Old Master Yi. She truly didn’t know that Xiao Caiyu had been reassigned, but when she saw that the seat next to her wasn’t occupied by Xiao Caiyu, she was in a good mood.

Whatever Xiao Caiyu planned to do for her birthday later had nothing to do with her—Yi Xiaoya wasn’t going to bother with it.

But Xiao Caiyu couldn’t ignore Yi Xiaoya. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to apologize. Even though she was reluctant, she still had to go over.

The school hadn’t transferred Xiao Caiyu to another class, and Xiao Caiyu herself didn’t want to switch. If she did, wouldn’t that be admitting to others that she was afraid of Yi Xiaoya? She was the legitimate daughter—how could she possibly be scared of an illegitimate one? Let Yi Xiaoya enjoy her moment of pride now; it wouldn’t last long.

Some people had one illegitimate daughter—then they’d likely have others. There was no way that person only had Yi Xiaoya as a daughter.

“I’m sorry.” Before Xiao Caiyu could reach Yi Xiaoya, one of her tag-alongs had already come over to apologize.

No one really wanted to be someone else’s lackey. They were just following their parents’ instructions—telling them to pay attention to their classmates, to avoid offending anyone, and to curry favor with the right people when necessary. They had originally thought flattering Xiao Caiyu would be enough. After all, some classmates were harder to please, and Xiao Caiyu enjoyed having people follow her around.

“What did you say?” Yi Xiaoya rubbed her ear. That voice was so soft she couldn’t even hear what was being said.

“She said sorry,” Xiao Caiyu chimed in. “We’re all classmates. It takes two to tango. We’re apologizing to you—let’s just put this behind us. This is just kids’ stuff. No need to drag the parents in and make them worry.”

Even while apologizing, Xiao Caiyu had to say all that. She was trying to stand on the moral high ground. If Yi Xiaoya didn’t go along with it, then she would look like an unfilial daughter.

“So just because you apologize, I’m supposed to forgive you?” Yi Xiaoya sneered. “Who do you think I am? Some stray dog on the street? Just sitting around waiting for you to come back? I’m my dad’s biological daughter. He cares about me—what, does that offend your eyes?”

Yi Xiaoya knew Xiao Caiyu wasn’t offering a genuine apology, so there was no need to play along.

“No, I mean—”

“If not, then why say so much?” Yi Xiaoya cut her off. “Are you trying to make me look unreasonable? What a sweet little flower you are—such a green tea b*tch.”

“You—”

“I’m not your parents, so don’t expect me to indulge you,” Yi Xiaoya said. “The road is wide enough—we can each go our separate ways. You’re not sitting here anymore, right? Then go back to your own seat. You don’t want to study? Fine. But don’t expect others to slack off too. Tch, what—thinking you’re so rich, you don’t even need to study? Gonna just buy yourself a diploma later and keep being a pretty little vase?”

Xiao Caiyu’s face darkened. She had already swallowed her pride to apologize, yet Yi Xiaoya was still giving her such a hard time.

“Oh, right, your family’s super rich, unlike me. I grew up practically in a slum, so I have to work harder,” Yi Xiaoya said. “Whether or not I get into a top university, as long as I can go to college, that’s enough.”

That had always been Yi Xiaoya’s goal—to get into college. Only with a degree could she land a less exhausting job. She knew she wasn’t someone who could endure hardship and didn’t want to do assembly line work. She just wanted to sit in an office.

“You want my parents to drag me to your house and make me apologize?” Xiao Caiyu pressed her lips together.

If Yi Xiaoya didn’t forgive her, her parents really might do that. Xiao Caiyu didn’t want to be dragged to the Yi family’s house again. She’d already been there once, and they had to stand outside while someone told them that Yi Yao and Yi Xiaoya were out.

Her parents had practically forced her to stay and wait. They really did wait for a bit, but when no one showed up, they eventually left.

“You guys really have a lot of ways to force people into forgiving you,” Yi Xiaoya said.

“You—”

Just as Xiao Caiyu was about to say something else, the class bell rang.

She had no choice but to return to her seat. She couldn’t just keep standing there.

During the break, Xiao Caiyu didn’t go up to Yi Xiaoya again. She already knew where Yi Xiaoya stood. That girl had no intention of forgiving them. If she weren’t Yi Yao’s daughter, there’s no way she’d be so smug.

Yi Xiaoya really had such a good life.

Outside the school gates, Xu Yanqiu was pacing back and forth, glancing at her phone from time to time. Why hadn’t her cousin sent her Yi Xiaoya’s photo yet?