"Yah!" Kailin jumped back in shock at the twisted smile on Mo Yan's face.
After hearing his story, her heart swelled with a mixture of sympathy… and unease.
This side of him felt unfamiliar. Chilling, even.
"S-So… what happened after that?" she asked hesitantly.
"After?" Mo Yan's tone turned cold. "My mother and the bullies' parents were summoned to the school. Of course, without understanding the full picture, she immediately blamed me—said I had disgraced her teachings and caused a disaster. She even slapped me across the face… right in front of the teacher."
Kailin's fists clenched, and she stomped in frustration.
"What the hell?! You were the victim!"
Mo Yan gave a bitter laugh. "Isn't that always the way? The world is unfair—and yet, somehow, fair. The police got involved. I told them everything, right there in front of everyone. All the years of pain and humiliation—I laid it all bare. At that point, I no longer cared about appearances or judgment. I figured: murder requires a life in return. If I died, so be it. But before I died, I wanted to see the fear in their eyes. That alone would be worth it."
He took a deep breath and continued, calmer now.
"Fortunately, the police conducted a thorough investigation. The judge ruled it as excessive self-defense, and since I was still a minor, I was exempted from punishment. Even so, I was expelled. Afterward, fearing revenge, my mother took me and moved to a different city. From then on, she treated me with a kind of guilty devotion—caring for me meticulously, trying to make up for the past."
He gave a soft snort.
"Hmph. Easy for her to feel guilty now. But what about the wounds from before? Who's going to patch those up?"
Kailin lowered her head, her voice tinged with sorrow.
"I never imagined your past would be so… painful. I always thought I had it rough, but compared to you…"
She paused for a moment, then looked up.
"Want to hear my story?"
Mo Yan blinked, surprised by her sudden shift.
"I'm not actually my dad's biological daughter. He found me abandoned on the street. My original parents were like your mom—obsessed with grades. They valued my test scores more than they ever valued me. Even my interests, my preferences—none of them mattered. I was like a machine. Whatever they said, I had to do. I had no freedom."
"Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore… so I ran away."
"You walk out that door, don't bother coming back!"
Those were her mother's final words, shouted at her tear-streaked face as she left the house. That day, Kailin made her choice.
She wandered the streets for seven days. When hungry, she scoured garbage cans or eyed the discarded leftovers behind restaurants. When thirsty, she'd sneak into diners and drink tap water from the restroom. At night, she slept on bus stop benches. If she saw police, she avoided them. If kind strangers offered help, she ran away in fear.
Then, one night, she met Master Zhao.
He'd just finished work and was heading home when he spotted Kailin lying on a bench. He gently approached her.
"Where are your parents, little one?"
"Me? I don't have a family… not one I want to go back to…"
"He brought me back to his auto shop. Took me in. Treated me like his own daughter. Got me into middle school and taught me everything he could using his car-washing gigs," Kailin said with a heartfelt smile.
"I've been helping him at the shop ever since graduation. I wanted to build up the business with him, make it something great. But now…" she trailed off with a sigh and waved her hand. "It's been days. I wonder if Dad's worried."
Mo Yan listened in silence, a look of deep thought on his face.
"Sigh… Every parent wants their child to succeed, to live the dreams they couldn't. But they don't realize that their expectations become pressure—and that pressure becomes a burden no child should have to carry."
He exhaled, then said calmly, "Well, we've said what needed to be said. Let's head back. We shouldn't keep Zixuan and Zhao Heng waiting."
"Mm." Kailin nodded.
…
At the inn, Zixuan tossed and turned on the bed. Eventually, with a sigh, she sat up.
"Still awake?"
"…Huh?" Zixuan turned in surprise.
Zhao Heng stood in the doorway.
"Wait, how did you get in here?" she asked.
Zhao Heng gestured toward the wide-open door. "You didn't lock it. Still waiting for Kailin and Mo Yan?"
Zixuan nodded. "Yeah. What about Tianlang?"
"He's out cold in the other room. I couldn't sleep either. Figured I'd wait for them too."
He gave a small smile. "Since we're both up… care to talk for a bit?"
"…Sure. Come sit," Zixuan said with a sigh, motioning him over.
Zhao Heng walked over and sat beside her.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
After a pause, Zhao Heng said, "I heard you're a science student. From the way you handled injuries earlier, I'm guessing you studied medicine?"
"That's… not really your business, is it?" Zixuan replied bluntly.
Zhao Heng shrugged. "Just curious. But if you don't want to say, that's fine."
Zixuan sighed.
"…You're right. I did study medicine. In reality, I was adopted from an orphanage by my grandmother. She had two sons and daughters, but they were always too busy with work to visit her."
"She was elderly and frail. When she got sick, no one was there to care for her. And with no financial support from her children, she couldn't afford the expensive treatments. That's why I chose to study medicine—to take care of her myself."
"I see… But I thought med students were always super busy?"
"They are." Zixuan hugged her knees and continued. "After graduating, I started working as an intern at a city hospital. I even assisted in surgeries sometimes. The days were long. But it wasn't quite as unbearable as people make it sound."
"Everyone has shift rotations, and after a diagnosis or surgery, we get a short break—even if it's brief."
"Sounds exhausting," Zhao Heng commented.
"Who said it wasn't—hm?" Zixuan suddenly blinked and turned toward the wall.
Tianlang's head had just emerged through the wall, peeking into the room, looking utterly absorbed in their conversation.
"Tianlang?! Didn't Zhao Heng just say you were asleep?"
Tianlang's upper body was halfway through the wall, the rest still in the next room. He lay sprawled across the floor, eavesdropping with rapt attention.
If Kailin saw this, he'd never hear the end of it.
Tianlang nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I was asleep. But these walls are way too thin. You've been chatting so long it's impossible not to wake up."
"Then use the door!" Zixuan shouted, hands on her hips.
~~------------------------
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