Bitter Fruit

ZZZ: You have to eat properly, okay?

ZZZ: [head pat.jpg]

ZZZ: I’ll wait for you to come back~ Then you can kiss me O3O

The little dog in the emoji had one eye half-closed in contentment, leaning into the hand rubbing its head, tail wagging furiously.

Lin Yang could almost see Xu Zhitong in it.

Her eyes curved slightly.

Y: [head pat.jpg]

ZZZ: Feeling better after the pat?

Y: How do you know I’m in a bad mood?

ZZZ: Babe, that’s the telepathy of a married couple.

ZZZ: We’re soulmates

ZZZ: For example, I know we’re both using the thing between our eyes and above our mouths to breathe right now

Y: ...?

Y: Look

ZZZ: Oh dear

Xu Zhitong didn’t send anything else after that.

A while later, she sent a selfie.

She was at Xu Ran’s place. She must have slipped away from the dining table and taken it in the bathroom.

The camera seemed to be set to wide angle. She was pressed close to the lens, snorting smugly into it.

ZZZ: Mission accomplished!

ZZZ: My mom asked if I fell into the toilet. I’m going back now

Y: [covering nose.jpg]

ZZZ: You’re disgusted by me??

ZZZ: I’ll go back and eat sushi!

Y: I want sea urchin nigiri

ZZZ: ?

ZZZ: Fine, when you come back there’ll be some sushi on the table

“Elder sister, Mother’s here.”

Lin Zhao interrupted Lin Yang.

She stared straight at the smile on her sister’s face.

In the past, that expression had almost never appeared.

Her sister should have been cold and distant, lingering at the edges of everything, not someone who smiled so often...

Definitely not smiling this happily.

Lin Yang did, in fact, rein in the smile on her face.

She lowered her brows and glanced at Lin Zhao.

Ignoring the footsteps coming from the corridor, she asked bluntly, “So? Am I supposed to greet her or not?”

Lin Zhao’s smile froze.

Before she could recover or say anything, Madam Lin had already reached the dining room.

Lin Zhao could only glare at Lin Yang resentfully before going over to greet Madam Lin.

An Zishan also stood and politely greeted Madam Lin.

Madam Lin nodded at her.

Even if she understood perfectly well why An Zishan had come today, discussing it at the dinner table would have been beneath her, and not something she should be the one to bring up.

So at the table, aside from the soft sounds of servants serving dishes and clearing plates, it was mostly Lin Zhao and An Zishan talking.

Madam Lin occasionally said a sentence or two, asking about the situation in the An family, but not much else. To her, sharing a meal at the same table as An Zishan was probably already a great favor.

Lin Yang couldn’t be bothered to speak.

After the meal ended, Madam Lin said to her, “Miss An is visiting our home for the first time. Take her for a walk in the garden?”

Lin Yang: “...”

She sat in her high-backed chair, lifted her eyes, and looked at Madam Lin.

In a calm voice, Lin Yang asked, “Isn’t she my little sister’s guest?”

Madam Lin probably hadn’t expected her to refuse. She paused before saying, “Miss An came for you.”

Lin Yang looked at her for a moment.

Then she shook her head. “Mother, let’s talk.”

She stood up first and walked toward Madam Lin’s study.

The study was on the second floor. The floor was covered in thick carpet, and the walls were lined with oil paintings her mother had painted.

Lin Yang looked at the paintings twice.

Madam Lin came in and followed her gaze.

“Thought I’d thrown it away?”

Lin Yang said nothing.

Madam Lin gave a soft laugh. “So serious. What do you want to say?”

She leaned against the desk, watching Lin Yang as if she had all the time in the world.

Lin Yang drew a light breath.

From childhood to now, she hadn’t had much contact with Madam Lin.

Before elementary school, she had been in her mother’s arms, looking at this busy woman from a distance.

After elementary school, she had been alone in Xiao Lou, watching Madam Lin be someone else’s mother.

Every direct interaction with Madam Lin felt like a kind of pressure to Lin Yang.

It always seemed to make her remember that after she had let Mother slip away, the butler had taken her to her mother, the atmosphere was horribly heavy, and her mother had told her in the dim light, with a cold face: You were abandoned too.

She had long since grown used to being silent and obedient before a mother like this, presenting the appearance of never defying her, for survival or for atonement.

It was a habit she had learned over many years, and today, it almost drove Lin Yang to her knees.

She pressed lightly against her palm.

“Mother, I won’t go on blind dates, and I won’t enter into an arranged marriage.”

Madam Lin didn’t seem surprised. “Is that so? You’re in love?”

Lin Yang said, “Yes.”

Madam Lin smiled. She stood up, walked behind the desk, took out a cigarette case, and lit one.

When she said nothing, Lin Yang took out the bank card she had prepared and placed it on the desk.

“The money the Lin family spent raising me over the years is in there.”

Only then did Madam Lin truly look surprised.

She set down the thin cigarette, picked up the card, looked at it, and asked, “When did you earn this? You must have prepared this card a long time ago.”

She knew the allowance she had given Lin Yang over the years; there had never been any unusual spending.

That meant the money had come from somewhere else.

Lin Yang didn’t want to indulge her small talk. Her fingers pressed into her palm as she said again, “It’s enough to pay it back.”

Madam Lin set the card down and, for the first time, looked at Lin Yang in earnest, studying her carefully.

A moment of silence passed.

Then Madam Lin said, “Lin Yang, you’re actually a lot like me. I’ve always thought you were like me, not like your mother.”

Lin Yang felt that neither comparison sounded good. She lowered her eyes.

“Back then, I thought Lin Zhao looked more like Ah Yuan. She lacks business talent, and she’s too sharp, too stubborn. She’s likely to end up going down the wrong path the way Ah Yuan did.”

Lin Yang said flatly, “Maybe it’s a problem with the way she was raised.”

“...” Madam Lin froze, then laughed out loud. “That’s true. I’m quite the failure as a parent.”

She admitted it openly.

But then she said, “Still, for something like love, you’ve gone this far. In that sense, you’re even more like your mother. But you know she took the wrong road; I don’t want you to be like her and keep making the same mistake over and over.”

Madam Lin held the card out to Lin Yang.

“You’re so talented. Isn’t it a pity to leave the Lin family? You should have inherited half my shares. Such a huge group, and you’re willing to let Lin Zhao have it all?” Madam Lin looked straight at her.

“You’ve already made your decision. I won’t stop you; I never liked the An family to begin with.”

“Lin Yang, I’ll wait until the day you realize you were wrong. Then come home and apologize, and the Lin family will still have a place for you.”

“...”

Madam Lin’s voice was low, and through the hazy smoke it sounded like a devil’s seductive whisper.

Lin Yang couldn’t help but laugh.

She took back the bank card, thinking she really had nothing left to say to Madam Lin.

She wanted to go home. Xu Zhitong was probably already waiting for her in that warm, comfortable place she called home, with the sushi she wanted already bought.

“If you’re always hoping to hear an apology, Lin Corporation can expand its business and open a church confessional,” Lin Yang said. “If you want this card back, contact my assistant.”

She turned around and, ignoring Madam Lin’s ugly expression, shut the door and went downstairs.

The hallway was quiet. She went to the living room to get her bag, only to find Lin Zhao still sitting there.

Lin Zhao was staring at her intently. When she saw Lin Yang coming over, she immediately stood and hurried up to her.

“What did you say to Mom?”

Probably afraid she would complain about her.

Lin Yang thought Lin Zhao looked pathetic and ridiculous.

She stopped and looked at Lin Zhao, knowing exactly where to strike.

In a calm voice, Lin Yang said, “I said I’m in love, I won’t enter into an arranged marriage, and I’ll leave the Lin family.”

Lin Zhao was stunned. “For that internet celebrity? Y-you... are you crazy?”

Lin Yang said, “Whether I am or not has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to call me sister anymore.”

She found her small bag in the corner of the sofa, slipped the long chain over her arm, and turned to leave.

Lin Zhao was almost hopping with rage behind her.

She hurried after her, but didn’t know what to say.

What was there to say?

It had ended up like this after all. Her sister would always be the one who had that mother’s favor, whether it was her mother’s attic, her gifts, her memories, or her mother’s romantic streak. Only Lin Zhao had never managed to see her mother even once, not even by the day she died.

And now, Lin Yang really did look like Mother, leaving the Lin family.

Lin Zhao had never noticed it before: her long-standing envy of Lin Yang, even her hatred.

But Lin Yang knew.

Ever since her little sister had started hating her, she had thought about it countless times: why do people become like this?

She didn’t feel much about Lin Zhao’s reaction now. She went down the steps from the entry hall and stepped into the cool night.

There was little joy in Lin Yang’s heart.

But then she heard footsteps hurrying after her from behind.

Lin Zhao glared at her resentfully and threw out her threat:

“Do you really think that if she’s going to propose to you, the two of you will have a future? People like her are all after money. Can you please stop being so stupid? If you really walk away today, I’m not going to clean up your mess in the slums later!”

Lin Yang froze.

She turned back to look at Lin Zhao and asked, “Propose?”

Lin Zhao stiffened her neck. “Yeah. She even used your card to buy a diamond ring, and she definitely wants something bigger and bigger. Just wait...”

Lin Yang’s heart sank a little, but she didn’t show it.

She cut her off coldly. “It has nothing to do with you, Lin Zhao.”

The butler appeared at just the right moment, saying that President Lin had something to discuss and asking Lin Zhao to go upstairs.

The front door closed.

Lin Yang stood alone in the courtyard, staring blankly into the night for a while.

Diamond ring... proposal...?

The tangled mess of thoughts in her head took a long time to settle into order.

By the time the driver arrived, someone else had come to the gate.

It was An Zishan.

“Miss Lin,” An Zishan said, “you turned me down, didn’t you?”

Lin Yang: “Mm.”

An Zishan smiled. “I know. You and your lover are very much in love. When I found out today’s blind date was you, I gave up.”

Lin Yang had no interest in chatting. “You’re not going back in to socialize with Lin Zhao?”

“She’s moody and all over the place, way too hard to deal with. I came out to get some air; looks like I won’t be able to complete the mission my mother gave me...” She shrugged, then held out her phone. “Add me on WeChat. You refused the marriage alliance; there should be a pretty big cost. We happen to have a rather good project recently. Maybe you’d be interested.”

Lin Yang paused, then added her contact.

“Okay, your driver’s here,” An Zishan said as she put her phone away with a smile. “Honestly, I’ve got a bit of a selfish reason too. I can go back and tell my mom the progress was adding contact info, haha. I’ll send you the project details tomorrow.”

Amused, she left and returned to the main house.

Lin Yang watched her back for a while, then turned and got into the car.

The vehicle pulled away silently.

Without needing to say a word, the driver assumed they were heading to the place she had been living in for the past month or so: Xu Zhitong’s home.

That was her warm nest, the place she had longed for over so many years, the place that belonged to her.

Xu Zhitong must have already prepared the food she wanted to eat.

She would probably be waiting in the living room, sitting cross-legged on the thick carpet, maybe playing a game or reading a novel. When Lin Yang came in, she would jump up to hug and kiss her.

Her eyes would be bright, her breath warm, clingy and sticky, like the most deeply in-love couple in the world.

Lin Yang pinched her own fingers.

But all of it was fake; none of it truly belonged to her.

She had just broken free from one wrong choice, only to rush headlong into the bitter fruit of another.