Chapter 193 - 144: The Conflict Intensifies

Chapter 193: Chapter 144: The Conflict Intensifies

’Is this really my daughter?’

’I worked my fingers to the bone to raise her, and now she’s made such a huge mistake. Not only does she show no remorse, but she dares to say something like that to me?’

She felt her head start to spin from a lack of oxygen.

Leaning against the wall, she forced herself to take a few deep breaths before calling Yan Li again.

No answer.

She tried again.

Still no answer.

Fuming, she opened her WeChat conversation with Yan Li.

Mrs. Yan: Your temper is getting more and more out of control. I’m your mother! I say a few words to you, and you want to disown me?

Mrs. Yan: I never dreamed my own daughter would say something like that!

She searched her heart. All these years, even though life had been hard, hadn’t she, as their mother, tried her best to give them everything? What more could she do?

Mrs. Yan: Even if we sever our ties today, she still has to apologize to Xiao Ran!

Yan Li couldn’t believe it. Even after she had said something so extreme, her mother was still refusing to let it go.

Reading the messages, the explosive feeling inside her became uncontrollable. In an instant, she slammed her phone onto the floor.

’Why? Why has no one ever cared about me?’

At this moment, she even felt a little envious of Yan Xici.

’Why couldn’t she be the older sister?’

’We were both born from the same mother, so why do I have to be the only one to bear all this suffering?’

Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks.

...

Meanwhile, Yan Xici spent a full two hours editing the video of the great fish lake cleanup from that morning.

Then, she posted it.

While waiting for the comments to roll in, her thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to Xiao Ran.

He had gone to work at the school around noon. A glance at the time told her he should be getting off soon.

The thought that someone might still be making fun of Brother Xiao Ran over this incident made her heart ache.

The hanging chair swayed gently as she sat in it, phone in hand, staring blankly at her sister’s WeChat profile picture.

Even though her sister had already posted an apology video, she knew it was far from enough.

After all, the people who had seen the original video had seen it. The damage was already done.

There was an apology video, but there was no telling how much it could make up for.

After hesitating for a long time, she typed out a message.

Yan Xici: I know you’re mad at me, but can you please not take it out on Brother Xiao Ran, especially not like this?

Yan Xici: If I hurt you, I can apologize to you, but our issues shouldn’t involve innocent people.

But in the end, she was the one who had caused all of this.

She absolutely couldn’t watch Brother Xiao Ran take the fall alone while she hid like a coward.

Yan Li was leaning back in her chair, letting her tears flow freely. Not only were her hands and feet cold, but her heart was also frozen.

It seemed as if only her scalding tears could prove that she was truly alive.

Just as her emotions had finally started to settle, she heard her phone buzzing on the gray rug.

She sniffled.

’Whatever. It’s already come to this, but business has to go on,’ she thought.

She got up, walked over, and squatted down to pick up the phone.

A crack ran down the middle of the screen, surrounded by a web of smaller fractures.

She opened WeChat and saw the messages from Yan Xici.

For a moment, Yan Li felt it was hard to breathe.

Her mind felt sluggish.

Her legs lost their strength, and she collapsed onto the floor.

’Even at the very end, I couldn’t bring myself to blame her for this, so how can she point her finger at me so brazenly?’

’What gives her the right?’

’Just because she’s the younger sister?’

Yan Li: Why do you think I dragged him into this? Don’t you know perfectly well?

Yan Li: What exactly do you want from me?

Staring at the fractured words distorted by the cracked screen, Yan Li felt her own heart break along with it.

In truth, if they were face to face, if Yan Xici could see Yan Li like this and feel her sorrow, her own heart might have ached as well.

But alas, they were separated by the distance of two phones.

Looking at the cold, emotionless words, all Yan Xici could feel was her sister’s overbearing attitude.

Her heart sank. ’Why? Even now, she still doesn’t realize she was wrong?’

’What more does she want?’

’Isn’t that what I should be asking her?’

’What more will it take for her to leave me alone, to leave Brother Xiao Ran alone!’