To Covet (GL) - Chapter 24

Yu Zhouwan put her hands, which had been clasped for a wish, back on her knees and silently watched the farce unfold.

“Is it entirely my fault?” Yu Hanyang retorted, full of self-righteousness. “I didn’t know the money was needed so urgently. I’ve already figured out a way to replace it, and I haven’t messed up your business. I swear, you women always like to harp on small things. If you just talked to the client and told them to postpone it for a couple of days, they would surely…”

Shi Yunya glared at him, signaling him to shut up and not embarrass her in front of the kids.

She couldn’t think of any more insults, so she rolled her eyes and went into the study without looking back. Yu Hanyang rushed after her, not even sparing a glance for his daughter in the living room.

After the lighthearted atmosphere was broken, no one tried to start a new topic. Everyone was staring at each other. Yin Sien got up to turn off the lights. This time, she found the switch with perfect precision.

The only light in the living room came from the candles. It was as if someone had pressed the mute button. When Yu Zhouwan sat up straight again, led by a girl with a round face, everyone became lively again, singing a disorganized “Happy Birthday” song and urging Yu Zhouwan to blow out the candles.

Yu Zhouwan closed her eyes. The expression on her face as she made her wish was so sincere in the candlelight.

I was distracted, listening carefully, but I couldn’t hear what the two of them were discussing behind the study door.

The exquisite cake was cut into different-sized pieces with a plastic knife. Chocolate shavings were scattered everywhere.

They planned to play a game of Werewolf and UNO after cutting the cake. A chubby girl suddenly stood up and said she had to leave. Before the game was halfway through, others began to leave one after another.

Yu Zhouwan offered to walk them downstairs, but they refused, saying that they were all going together and it was no trouble.

I tidied up the cards on the coffee table. There was still a lot of cake left, so Yu Zhouwan packed it and put it in the fridge.

“It’s better to celebrate your birthday outside next time,” I said, seeing her unhappy expression. I was curled up on the sofa with my hands behind my head, joking. “Maybe a fast-food restaurant or a boba tea shop?”

Yu Zhouwan ignored me and dumped all the leftover cake into the trash, including her own slice.

“I’ve always celebrated it outside before, at a restaurant, and then we’d go have fun, watch a movie, or go shopping,” Yu Zhouwan said, cleaning up the crumbs on the floor. “I just thought, since this might be the last time we’ll all be together, it would be more suitable to have a chat and talk at home.”

I held my slice of cake and took a bite of the fruit filling.

“Besides, my mom and I had already agreed that she wouldn’t come back too early tonight.” She looked at the clock on the wall. It was not even 8 p.m. yet. “Do you think he got caught moving money from the company?”

I was not surprised. I bit my fork, tilted my head, and looked at Yu Zhouwan. “Of course. He used to steal money from my mom’s savings account all the time to buy lottery tickets. When he had more money, he would go into stocks and stuff like that.”

Yu Zhouwan had never seen how bad a person could be. I was used to it. If the one scolding Yu Hanyang just now had been Yang Chun, he would have already beaten her half to death.

But if Shi Yunya continued to indulge him, she would not be far from becoming the next Yang Chun.

“Your mom…” Yu Zhouwan’s lower lip turned white. “What kind of sickness did she have that…?”

“A heart disease,” I said, remembering the messy prescriptions and the folded death certificate in the storage box. “Myocarditis that turned into an acute myocardial infarction. We couldn’t save her.”

“Was her heart always bad?”

She asked cautiously, but I felt nothing in my heart.

“More or less, but it got serious after she gave birth to me. Before that, it was only mild myocarditis.”

“What about him? I mean… Dad,” she said the word with great effort. “Did he…?”

“Was he very bad to you and your mom back then?”

“Him? He was no different from a dead person,” I said, throwing the paper plate with the cream on it into the trash. “He took the money my mom used for medicine to go have fun. I wished he would never come back.”

When Yu Hanyang wasn’t home, Yang Chun would hug me and tell me stories while we watched TV. When he came home, he only brought Yang Chun’s endless screams.

Only Shi Yunya treated him like a treasure and spoiled him. Just wait and see. Pitying a man never ends well, I thought to myself.

“Do you believe he’ll change?”

I asked Yu Zhouwan. She didn’t answer. Her eyes drifted from my face to her toes.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter if you believe him or not. It’s enough that your mom believes him. She loves him so much,” I said sarcastically.

For the first ten-plus years of her life, Yu Zhouwan never made room for a “father” in her life.

One day, he suddenly became an important part of her family and took away her mother’s attention, making her feel like a stranger in her own home.

Even though he was deliberately nice to her.

The study door opened. Shi Yunya still looked angry.

“Wife, I was wrong,” Yu Hanyang said, dropping to his knees and tightly hugging Shi Yunya’s legs. “Wife, please forgive me. I really know I was wrong. I was so stupid. I must have been out of my mind to make such a huge mistake.”

Shi Yunya shook him off. He raised his hand and gave himself a loud series of slaps on the face, then knelt on the floor, sobbing and banging his head.

I stared at his face, and a shiver went down my spine. He would do the same thing after beating Yang Chun—suddenly kneel and beg for forgiveness.

Yu Hanyang turned to look at me. I looked back at him, unafraid, like I was watching a good show.

“What good was that money to you?” Shi Yunya slowly calmed down. “How are the clients and the team going to look at me now? You took the down payment, and not a single cent went into the project. If the board hadn’t been afraid of damaging their reputation and bought me some time, I would have lost my job.”

“You didn’t go gambling, did you, Yu Hanyang? Tell me the truth.”

“I didn’t! I didn’t! I swear! I’ve never touched a card table! If I’m lying, may I be struck by lightning five times over!” Yu Hanyang swore with his hand in the air.

He was kneeling on the ground, truly looking repentant. Shi Yunya covered her eyes in frustration but ultimately gave in.

“Stop kneeling. It’s embarrassing,” she said, giving in.

“Wanwan, did Mommy scare you just now?” Shi Yunya reached out to touch the loose hair on her daughter’s forehead. “I’m sorry. I forgot you were coming home with your classmates for your birthday.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Yu Zhouwan stared at Yu Hanyang, who was shakily getting up, and pushed her mother’s hand away.

“Mommy knows you’re angry with me, thinking that not only did your parents not spend your birthday with you, but we also embarrassed you by fighting in front of so many of your friends.”

She wanted to hug her daughter, but Yu Zhouwan pushed her away.

“Wanwan, fighting is a small thing. Look, your father and I have already talked it out.”

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t married him.”

Shi Yunya didn’t expect her daughter to say something so harsh. Yu Hanyang was also stunned. He frowned, wanting to get angry, but swallowed his anger.

I was watching the show from the side, enjoying it immensely.

“Don’t you care how much I’ve been through? Your father moved some money from the company and got caught. I ran around trying to solve it.”

“So, what did you marry him for? To have him steal the money his ex-wife needed for her medical treatment? Now he’s here to steal your money. Are you happy?”

Yu Zhouwan couldn’t get through to her. She left Shi Yunya and ran out.

“Yu Zhouwan, who told you these things?”

Shi Yunya looked at me. I was watching a soap opera on my phone, and I met her gaze with an innocent look, continuing to peel a tangerine and put it in my mouth.

She changed her shoes and went out to find her daughter.

I brushed off my clothes and followed her out.

“Yu Keyi, what did you tell her?”

“I didn’t say anything,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I gave Yu Hanyang a bright smile. “I’m hungry. Can I have some money? I’m going out to get something to eat.”

“I don’t have any money on me,” he snapped.

I held a steaming bowl of oden and looked out the convenience store’s glass door at the two blurry figures across the street.

Yu Zhouwan’s clothes were so thin that she looked out of place among the people who were all bundled up.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, and I wasn’t interested. Yu Zhouwan briefly looked in the direction of the convenience store. I didn’t hide. I put my hands in my pockets and walked out slowly.

“You still resent me for marrying your dad, don’t you?” Shi Yunya said, holding her forehead. “Wanwan, I thought you would want a complete family.”

You’re the one who wanted it, I thought, rubbing my nose at the intersection. Shi Yunya’s back was to me, so she couldn’t see me.

“Do you… dislike that child? Even though your dad and I want you two to be sisters, if you can’t accept her…”

The pedestrian light turned green. I knew Yu Zhouwan’s eyes were on me. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t look back or listen to her mother’s answer. Instead, she walked with big strides across the street.

The warmth from the late-night snack was short-lived. I rubbed my hands and went home, immediately filling the bathtub with water.

The colder it got, the more I relied on hot water. The water heater in my small shack in Shucheng was often unreliable, so I hadn’t had a good shower in days.

I instinctively locked the bathroom door, then unlocked it, pulled the curtain shut, took off my clothes, and sank into the tub.

The hot water made my body feel itchy and sore.

What would Yu Zhouwan say? I closed my eyes and let my mind wander in the warm steam. I couldn’t find a reason for her to deny it, so I was sure she would nod and say yes.

I got used to the water temperature, tied up my hair, and slid down, only leaving my knees and shoulders above the water.

I pretended not to hear the door being unlocked. A shadow approached through the shower curtain and stopped about a foot away from me.

“I said, Yu Zhouwan,” I said, moving my legs and making a splashing sound. “You’re not actually going to turn against me like your mom said, are you?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled back the curtain.