“What rape? That sounds so ugly!”
Huo Yingyue argued, “It must have been that wretched girl who seduced Xiaoming! Otherwise, why would Xiaoming touch nobody but her?”
“Huo Yingyue, what kind of nonsense are you spouting! And you call yourself someone who attended a girls’ school!” Huo Yingnian was so furious he slammed the table hard.
“What does attending a girls’ school have to do with this? What did I say that was wrong? If Xiaoming really wanted to commit rape, he wouldn’t have gone for that wretched girl—she’s skinny as a monkey, not an ounce of meat on her.”
Huo Yingnian couldn’t bear to listen to Huo Yingyue any longer. He was about to tell her to take Liu Qiqi and leave when Liu Qiqi’s earth-shattering crying came from upstairs.
“What’s going on now?” Huo Yingnian was uncharacteristically impatient.
When Liu Qiqi was little, she had been quite adorable, even though she was just as rambunctious and prone to crying as she was now.
And people can’t help but make comparisons. Yaya was much younger than Liu Qiqi, yet Yaya was sensible and polite. Then look at this Liu Qiqi—screaming at the drop of a hat, crying at the drop of a hat, and the things she said—not a single word was pleasant to hear.
Huo Yingnian and Huo Yingyue went upstairs and found Liu Qiqi sprawled on her knees at the study door, crying as if her heart were being torn apart.
“Qiqi, who bullied you?”
Huo Yingyue went over to help Liu Qiqi up. Without waiting for her to answer, she turned and glared at Huo Jiusi accusingly. “Jiusi, you’re the older brother. You should be accommodating to Qiqi. How could you bully her?”
“Grandma, it wasn’t Brother Jiusi. It was her!”
Liu Qiqi wiped her tears and pointed at Yaya. “She pushed me.”
“Grandpa, she was the one who tried to snatch Yaya’s toy.”
Huo Jiusi took the little cat plushie from Yaya’s arms and handed it to Huo Yingnian. Huo Yingnian naturally recognized this plushie—it was indeed custom-made for Yaya by Huo Jiusi. Yaya loved it dearly and would take it everywhere she went.
But now the plushie had been torn—a lot of the little cat’s fur had come off.
Yaya was also very upset. Her eyes were red, her lips were pursed, and tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back, refusing to let them fall.
Today was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Crying would be bad luck.
Seeing Yaya like this broke Huo Jiusi’s heart. He quickly pulled Yaya into his arms and gently patted her back. “Yaya, I’ll get you a new one. No—I’ll get you ten new ones.”
Yaya shook her head. “No need. No matter how nice it is, it won’t be Little Bun anymore.”
She stepped forward and picked up all the fur that had fallen on the ground. “I’ll figure out a way to glue this back onto Little Bun. Even though Little Bun is ugly now, Little Bun is still my Little Bun.”
Clearly, Yaya hadn’t cried loudly or thrown a tantrum, but her appearance made people’s hearts ache even more.
Huo Jiusi held Yaya’s hand. “Yaya, I’ll ask the manufacturer if they can repair it. If they can, we’ll have them fix it, okay? That way Little Bun will still be the pretty Little Bun.”
Yaya’s eyes immediately lit up. “Really? Even though Little Bun is my Little Bun even when it’s ugly, it’d be even better if it could be pretty again.”
“I’ll make sure it becomes pretty again.”
“Little Devil, you’re so good.”
Yaya threw herself forward, wrapped her arms around Huo Jiusi’s neck, and kissed him on the cheek.
Seeing Yaya smile, Huo Jiusi’s mood cleared like clouds parting to reveal the sun. God knows that the moment he saw Yaya’s eyes turn red, he truly wanted to kill someone.
But while the death penalty could be waived, the punishment could not be escaped. He would remember what happened today.
Huo Jiusi’s gaze made both Huo Yingyue and Liu Qiqi very afraid. Liu Qiqi was so frightened that she immediately stopped crying and let out a loud hiccup.
Huo Yingyue snapped back to her senses, rubbed Liu Qiqi’s back, and looked at Huo Yingnian. “Big Brother, no matter what, Qiqi is still your grandniece. You…”
Huo Yingnian raised his hand to cut Huo Yingyue off and said very directly, “I can’t help with Liu Ming’s matter. Don’t come again in the future.”
“Big Brother, what do you mean by that?” Huo Yingyue’s face was full of disbelief. “I’m your sister! Are you going to cut ties with me?”
“Yingyue, haven’t we helped you enough all these years?”
Huo Yingnian originally didn’t want to drag up all these old, rotten matters with Huo Yingyue, but her behavior had truly disappointed him beyond words, and the things she said had chilled his heart.
“Yingyue, even the closest family members should treat each other with empathy. If you don’t treat me as family, why should I still treat you as family?”
“My family would never dislike my beloved wife, daughter, and grandchildren!”
Huo Yingnian shook his head with disappointment filling his eyes. “You think I don’t know what you’re thinking? I’ve actually wanted to cut ties with you and stop looking after you for a long time now. It was your sister-in-law who persuaded me again and again!”
But that kind-hearted Xiaoyue—Huo Yingyue had never treated her as a sister-in-law, but rather as an enemy.
Huo Yingyue naturally didn’t believe Huo Yingnian’s words. “You’re talking nonsense. Impossible. She couldn’t possibly be that kind-hearted.”
“Forget it. Just leave.”
Huo Yingnian waved his hand. “Don’t force me to call the guards to escort you out.”
Huo Yingyue glared furiously at Huo Yingnian. “Brother, you’re so cruel! I came to wish you a Happy New Year, and you actually want to drive us away!”
“You’ve become so impressive now that you’re a big official—you don’t acknowledge us poor relatives anymore. And to think I still considered you my brother!”
Huo Yingyue deliberately shouted loudly, just so the neighbors would hear.
But what she didn’t know was that Huo Yingnian’s only neighbor was Yue Guohuai, and Yue Guohuai and Huo Yingnian had been neighbors for decades. He knew Huo Yingnian’s temper and character better than anyone.
Yue Guohuai was just coming over to pick up Yaya and also to call Huo Yingnian.
He was afraid Huo Yingnian wouldn’t want to come over and eat with them.
“What’s going on here?”
Yue Guohuai heard what Huo Yingyue was saying as soon as he reached the courtyard gate. He quickly walked in.
When Huo Yingyue saw Yue Guohuai, she was just about to ask him to be the judge of who was right when Huo Jiusi came downstairs carrying Yaya.
Yaya loudly called out to Yue Guohuai. “Grandpa!”
“Hey, my precious grandbaby!”
Yue Guohuai’s eyes held no trace of Huo Yingyue anymore. He quickly stepped forward to take Yaya.
Yaya kicked her little feet, signaling Huo Jiusi to put her down.
After Huo Jiusi set her on the ground, she ran toward Yue Guohuai on her short little legs. “Grandpa, Yaya missed Grandpa so much.”
Yue Guohuai crouched down to catch Yaya. Yaya hugged Yue Guohuai’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “Grandpa, did you come to pick up Yaya? Did Grandpa miss Yaya too?”
“Of course! Grandpa missed his precious grandbaby so, so much. Just this little while without seeing you, and Grandpa was worried sick.”
Yue Guohuai looked at Huo Yingnian and said deliberately, “Grandpa was also afraid you’d be taken away, so he came to keep an eye on things.”
“Grandpa, how could Yaya be taken away? Yaya is very smart!”
“Then tell Grandpa, who bullied Grandpa’s precious grandbaby, hmm? Why are my precious grandbaby’s eyes red?”
The moment Yue Guohuai saw Yaya, he noticed her eyes were red. A fire immediately ignited in his heart, but he had held back from asking right away for fear of scaring Yaya.
“Grandpa Yue, it’s her!”
Huo Jiusi was not going to indulge Liu Qiqi. He glared furiously at Huo Yingyue and Liu Qiqi, who were still at the door.
