XG 30 - Don't you have a spine?

"I won't stop protecting you. I just want to know why so that I can fix it-"

"Fix it?" She cut him off with a scornful look. "Do you always change yourself whenever people dislike you? Don't you have a spine?"

Instead of getting angry, Chen Yibo smiled as if he had reached his goal. "You finally stop acting."

The mockery on her face immediately disappeared. She gazed at him coldly as if watching an incurable idiot. "So what if you are rather good at reading people? Why do you still stubbornly cling to those people that dislike you? Do you aim to be a Holy son or something?"

Chen Yibo's brow knitted, pondering over her words. After a long while, he hesitantly asked, "Are you angry because of my father?"

Her eyes flickered, which answered his question.

Chen Yibo smiled as if relieved. "I know he preferred my elder brother more than me. Even I would pick my elder brother instead. My elder brother is talented, just like my father and he could help him with his work. I must not lack behind them, so I study hard to improve myself so that I could be of help-"

"Stop that idiotic smile," Wong Xue Guo cut in coldly. "Also stop with those idiotic nonsenses. Be of help? They want none of that. That's why your father abandoned you here instead of bringing you along with them. How many times did you see your father anyway? Less than a month's time per year? Is it worth it to work yourself tirelessly to get that heartless father of yours' attention?"

"What kind of attention do you want from him anyway? Love? Respect? He only gave it all to your protégé brother.” Wong Xue Guo leaned forward, cradling her cheek with a palm, and smiled like a seductive devil that tempts a poor mortal to walk down the dark path. “Why bother with all these when you could live for yourself? Acting like a good boy all the time is so tiring, isn't it? Why not just have fun, relax, and enjoy your life?"

"It's not tiring for me," Chen Yibo replied, feeling warmed from Wong Xue Guo’s worry for him. "Studying and learning new things makes me feel fulfilled. I'm also doing it for myself, to make myself a better person that could contribute to society. I believe there will be one day my father will praise me for doing a good job."

Truthfully, his words made her even more irked, but they also had her swim up from the sea of red haze that nearly swallowed her rationality. She had thought she had made peace with it, at least most of it, but today she realized the injured little girl hiding deep in her could easily overpower her when she let her guard down.

"That would take days, weeks, or years. Or maybe that won't happen even after you die," Wong Xue Guo taunted and the only sign that she was affected by his words was the slight trembling of her hands.

Naturally, as someone that had visited her house occasionally and had seen the Wong family interaction, Chen Yibo knew her parents were the same as his father, with great distance between the parent and child. "I notice your mother is treating you very well. I'm happy for you."

...How Gary Stu of you.

When Chen Yibo did not speak, he was like a cool handsome boy that charmed everyone. Just like a perfect male lead in the romance novels she read. But once he started speaking, he was like a sunshine boy that only saw the good of the world.

You and I could never coexist with each other!

Chen Yibo was easily satisfied by sprinkles of love, but Wong Xue Guo had learned her lesson long ago and hardened her heart to love herself more. She could still love her parents, but she must never let them hurt her again. Her mother's sudden change of attitude towards her did warm her heart, but she was wary that it would suddenly stop and her mother would go back to normal.

After all, she had heard her parent’s indifference towards her safety when she got kidnapped and the kidnapper called them for ransom. She suffered for two days while her parents ignored the kidnapper’s warning not to call the police if they wanted her to stay alive.

Fortunately, the kidnappers were not cruel and did not go through with their threat when the police arrived, or else Wong Xue Guo would have died at the age of twelve.

Humans do not change easily.

Suddenly feeling tired, she no longer has any interest in talking and ignored the envy shooting at her from Chen Yibo’s eyes.

They returned to Wong’s residence after Chen Yibo finished packing and took a quick shower.

On their way back, they saw their opposite neighbour with seemingly all their family members present, from young to old, busily moving their luggage into their car. Both of them stopped and silently watched the entire family hurriedly drive away, clearly in a hurry to leave.

No one knows if they were late with plans of going on a trip or they had received a tip about the danger of the virus and were now heading to safety.

Chen Yibo's happy mood of clearing things with Wong Xue Guo dimmed from the somber reality. He thought she would have said something about their neighbour, but she just continued walking back with a calm expression.

Five years as neighbours and classmates still had Chen Yibo unable to understand Wong Xue Guo well. He had assumed she would use the opportunity to mock the fleeing neighbour, or to hammer that his father might not even show him concern after he died since it was true that his father had not secured a way to safety for him, much less a single call.

But he knew his father did not bother doing these things because Wong family would have protected his son on his behalf. It was proven when Mrs Wong told him to follow them to Crocus.

Was he being too judgmental for thinking she was such a bad-mouthed and narrow-minded person?

Chen Yibo silently told himself to stop doing so and use this opportunity to get to know his family friend better. He knew he was never one that understood others well and needed more practice to understand the reason behind a person’s attitude.

The hardest one to crackdown was still his father.

A tall woman with a slim, athletic frame was waiting for them when they stepped into Wong’s house. It was obvious from first sight that this woman was a westerner with her natural-born honey-coloured hair. Her gaze was gentle towards Wong Xue Guo, but when they shifted to Chen Yibo, they became sharp and admonishing.

Why does he feel as if they were caught doing something improper?

“Miss, Madam is waiting for you at her study.”

“Okay,” Wong Xue Guo replied to her mother’s assistant, Aurora, before speaking to Chen Yibo. “There are plenty of cleaned guest rooms. Feel free to pick one for your rest. Do take a nap before we depart to replenish your energy.”

Chen Yibo was used to her hostess attitude and nodded. “Thank you.”

Aurora acted as Chen Yibo’s guide and Wong Xue Guo made her way to her mother’s study. When she stood before the white, European styled door, she caught the smell of smoke. She quickly recognized the smell of burning papers and knocked on the door with slight anxiousness.

“Come in.”

Permission granted, she opened the door and immediately zoomed her eyes at the pot with burning papers in it. Her mother was flipping through a file and pulling out papers to toss them into the burning pot. The window was open wide and the ventilation fan was on to keep the smoke out.

Seeing it was her daughter that entered, Suzie Yap hurriedly waved her out. “Don’t come in. It’s smoky here. Wait for mummy in my bedroom, okay?”

With a neutral expression that hid her excitement of being granted to explore uncharted territory, she nodded. “Okay.”

“Guo Guo has not bathed yet? Go and take one first.” Suzie Yap noticed when her daughter turned around to leave.

“Okay.” When Wong Xue Guo had the urge to bathe and get rid of the unpleasant stench and liquid from her, it was not the right time or place to do so. But now that she was given the opportunity, she found herself feeling lazy and wanted to procrastinate after getting immune to being filthy.

Humans were surprisingly adaptable creatures.