Chapter 168: Blaming Who?

Words : 1295 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

They chatted about this year’s songs and dances, and this year’s skits. A family of three, eating peanuts and sunflower seeds while chatting idly, the atmosphere was very pleasant. When Cheng Lie returned, their laughter paused for a moment. "Xiao Lie is back?" Cheng Guomin quickly smiled at Cheng Lie. Cheng Lie glanced at them and headed upstairs. Just like before, he showed no change, and as always, the Cheng Family paid him no attention. However, after Cheng Lie went upstairs, Cheng Huai also stood up and followed him upstairs. As soon as Cheng Lie entered his room and was about to close the door, Cheng Huai grabbed the door. "Hey, fool, you’ve been out for so long, what were you up to?" Cheng Lie looked at Cheng Huai, remaining silent. There it was again, always the same reaction. Cheng Huai found it utterly boring. Every time he faced Cheng Lie, it felt like hitting a pillow. But, given that Cheng Lie was a fool, it was just the way he was, leaving Cheng Huai helpless. Indeed, he’d rather deal with a fool than a normal little brat. After all, fools are easier to handle compared to normal people. "In a few days, you’ll stay at home by yourself. Hehe, someone like you, who’s so useless, is only fit to stay here." In a few days, the whole family was heading to his grandparents’ house, and there was no way Cheng Lie would be taken along. Being a fool, he could only be locked in his room, with the family’s servants watching over him and bringing him food. Every year, Cheng Lie spent the holiday like this. Cheng Huai mocked Cheng Lie for a bit and, seeing no reaction from him, lost interest. The last time Cheng Lie hit him, he still hadn’t gotten his revenge. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but Cheng Guomin forbade him from touching Cheng Lie, and he didn’t dare defy him. Nonetheless, in his heart, he had plotted revenge against Cheng Lie thousands of times. But if he couldn’t physically retaliate against Cheng Lie in real life, he felt his anger couldn’t truly be soothed. He had already instructed the servants to "take care" of Cheng Lie properly. Thinking of this, Cheng Huai smiled and turned to leave. Cheng Lie caught that smile. It was a malicious smile, full of bad intentions. Cheng Lie understood—it was certain that Cheng Huai would try to retaliate during Cheng Guomin’s absence. But was it really that easy? Cheng Lie didn’t concern himself too much with Cheng Huai’s plans for revenge. He opened his palm to reveal a few Swiss candies. Because they had been held in his hand for so long, they were beginning to melt. Cheng Lie opened a drawer, took out a box, and placed the Swiss candies inside. The box was filling up with candies of various flavors, all given to him by Yun Shifei in the past, the ones he hadn’t finished eating. He had slowly started tolerating the taste of sweetness, but couldn’t enjoy it as much as Yun Shifei did, who was obsessed with sugar—he only occasionally thought to eat one. Outside the window, the sound of fireworks continued to echo. What a lively and prosperous scene. Sitting there alone, he touched the scarf wrapped around him. On his perpetually cold face, a trace of warmth emerged. This year, he was lucky to meet a new friend who had shown him light. He thought to himself that he wanted to cherish this bond. ... Over the following few days, Yun Shifei accompanied Yun Tiancheng everywhere. She met several relatives, who all looked at her with a mix of complicated emotions and surprise. They showed her great concern, asked her how she was doing, gave her lots of snacks to eat, and handed her a pile of red envelopes. Yun Shifei knew that these uncles, aunts, and cousins mostly didn’t live in South City but were scattered across the globe. They had seized the opportunity to return for the New Year and finally meet the child who had been lost for so many years. In just two days, Yun Shifei had collected a big stack of lucky money. When she returned home that night and counted it, it added up to more than a thousand yuan. In this era, more than a thousand yuan was a lot of money. After the New Year, Yun Shifei instantly became quite wealthy. Seeing Yun Shifei happily clutching her red envelopes, Yun Tiancheng laughed and asked, "Didn’t your dad give you enough lucky money? Look at you!" At that moment, Yun Shifei felt Yun Tiancheng looked at her the same way she had once looked at her pet when it showed disloyalty. Humph, she wasn’t disloyal at all. So she nodded dutifully, "Of course, Dad gave the most and the best, but these are from my uncles; they mean something different." See, she had become much better at speaking now. Yun Shifei was a little pleased with her progress. Yun Tiancheng laughed, "Tomorrow, we’re going to your grandma’s house. Have you prepared a gift for her?" Yun Shifei nodded, "I made a cake myself. Grandma will definitely like it." This cake had taken her tremendous effort to make—an arduous task. As a lover of sweets, she found the cake incredibly delicious, so she believed Old Mrs. Xu would like it too. "I knew Shi Fei wouldn’t need anyone to worry about her." The more Yun Tiancheng interacted with this daughter, the more he discovered her mature and sensible side. She hardly needed anyone to fuss over her. How much hardship had she endured growing up to become this way? Yun Tiancheng didn’t know. He had seen many children, most of them like Yun Sisi—innocent, carefree, and able to get whatever they wanted by simply whining to their parents. But Yun Shifei wasn’t like that. She never expressed any desires; she accepted what was given to her without asking for more. Recently, Yun Tiancheng had finally realized what Yun Shifei liked. Seeing how happy she was counting her lucky money these past few days, Yun Tiancheng thought, perhaps money was what Yun Shifei valued most. It was unexpected—this girl loved money so much. Maybe it was because she had been afraid of poverty for so long. Looks like he’d have to give her more pocket money in the future. But Yun Tiancheng didn’t know the real reason. It was because Yun Shifei had suffered so much due to lack of money in her past life. Later, she had learned that many things in this world couldn’t be relied upon. Only money wouldn’t betray her, only money could give her security. Yun Tiancheng seemed to remember something and asked Yun Shifei, "Tomorrow, you might see your mom." He had called Xu Ya once before, asking if she wanted to join them for dinner. Although they were currently separated, they weren’t officially divorced. Yun Tiancheng still had some feelings for Xu Ya. The separation had reduced their conflicts, and he thought a family reunion during the New Year would be lively. But Xu Ya had told him she was going back to her parents’ house with Yun Sisi. So, tomorrow, when they went to Old Mrs. Xu’s house, they would see Xu Ya and Yun Sisi. When Yun Tiancheng said this, Yun Shifei didn’t seem surprised or emotional in any particular way. "It’s alright, we’re mainly going to visit Grandpa and Grandma," she said with a smile. Yun Tiancheng’s heart couldn’t help but ache. Yun Shifei had once yearned so much for a better relationship with Xu Ya, but now things had ended up like this. Who was to blame for all this?

Chapter 168: Blaming Who?

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