Chapter 130: An Adopted Daughter?

Mr. Jin lit his third cigarette.

Amidst the swirling smoke, he let out a long sigh. "Your temper is far more stubborn than Nana's, and you're nothing like your mother. Who on earth did you take after?"

"If Miss Jin had lived a life of hardship and strife since childhood like I have, I fear she would be just like me."

"Are you blaming me?" Mr. Jin frowned. "A-Yao, it is true that you have suffered greatly in the past, but that was only because I did not know of your existence. Now, I truly want to cherish and care for you."

"How do you intend to cherish me?"

Mr. Jin stubbed out his cigarette. "Publicly, I can acknowledge you as my goddaughter. While I cannot disclose the truth to the world, I will certainly treat you exactly as I treat Nana."

"A goddaughter?" Jiang Yao silently clenched her fists.

"A-Yao, don't be so rigid. Some matters are not as simple as you imagine. Your Aunt Jin has a weak heart and knows nothing of these things. Furthermore, although her father has passed away, her maternal family..."

"Uncle Jin!" Jiang Yao interrupted him, enunciating every word. "I think it is better if I continue to call you Uncle Jin."

Mr. Jin's expression darkened. "Are you saying you refuse to acknowledge me?"

"The threshold of the Jin family is far too high for me to climb."

"Child, you are far too young. Do you have any idea how many people would line up and break their necks just for the chance for me to name them a goddaughter? Do you have any idea what it means to be a goddaughter of the Jin family?"

Jiang Yao stood straight and bowed respectfully to Mr. Jin. "I don't know, and I have no need to know. I only know that I cannot grovel for a pathetic scrap of fatherly love. For so many years, I have long since grown accustomed to a life without a father, and it will remain the same in the future."

"You..."

"Uncle Jin, I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave. I will pretend that I heard nothing today; you may pretend that I was never here."

With that, Jiang Yao turned and walked out the door with resolute determination.

At the entrance, Jin Nana and Mrs. Jin happened to be returning, nearly colliding with Jiang Yao.

"Hey, where are you going? We're about to eat." Jin Nana reached out to stop her.

Jiang Yao’s gaze rested lightly on the hands of Jin Nana and Mrs. Jin, which were clasped together.

Snow-white skin—the hands of someone who had never done a day of manual labor. They were nothing like the calloused hands of her own mother. On their wrists hung high-end, top-grade jade bangles.

Jiang Yao gave a slight nod to Mrs. Jin, then turned and strode out of the Jin residence without looking back.

Inside the study, Mr. Jin emerged at some point.

"Dad, what's wrong with her?" Jin Nana asked, looking blankly in the direction Jiang Yao had disappeared.

Mr. Jin, who had always been gentle with his daughter, wore a rare stern expression. "Let's eat."

Jiang Yao ran out of the Jin estate alone. The snow was falling harder and harder.

Her footsteps crunched against the ground. She pressed on through the wind and snow, wiping the tears from her face as she walked. Her small face was already frozen bright red. There were no taxis to be found here, and the bus stop seemed impossibly far away, as if she could never reach it no matter how she walked. Suddenly, her foot slipped.

She fell hard onto the snow. Finally, she collapsed into the snowdrift and wept bitterly.

She had a father after all; it turned out she still had kin in this world. Yet, facing this reality, her heart felt a recurring, stinging ache. She was his daughter—a daughter whose existence was previously unknown and who would never be acknowledged in the future. He would never realize that while he was doting on and protecting Jin Nana, his other daughter was enduring the bullying and beatings of other men.

He said he wanted to make amends. But all he could offer her was money. How could he ever compensate her for a childhood that had never known kindness? Jiang Yao thought that it would be better to pretend she never knew the truth; at least then, her heart might feel a little lighter.

Dazed, she finally reached home—that old, dilapidated building.

"A-Yao!"

Jiang Yao regained her senses and saw Ye Yiyi standing there.

"How did you end up like this?"

Jiang Yao looked utterly disheveled.

"Didn't you say you were going to the Jin family for dinner? Why are you back?" Ye Yiyi asked as she pulled Jiang Yao inside.

"Yes, why am I back?" Jiang Yao murmured, repeating Ye Yiyi's words. "Don't you have work to do?"

Ye Yiyi smiled faintly. "I finished early today. I thought I should at least see you for the New Year, so I came over." She shook the two large bags of groceries in her hands. "Let's have hot pot."

The two of them entered the room and busied themselves with washing vegetables and boiling water. However, the atmosphere lacked the joy of previous years. Both were lost in their own thoughts.

Before long, the spicy hot pot began to boil. Sitting by the window, watching the pitch-black night and the swirling snow outside, they began to eat. The sound of firecrackers drowned out the sound of Jiang Yao's falling tears.

"A-Yao," Ye Yiyi finally broke the silence. "What happened today? Did the people at the Jin family bully you?"

Jiang Yao shook her head, looking up at the colorful fireworks outside. "Someone just suddenly said they wanted to acknowledge me as their goddaughter."

"Who? Mr. Jin or Mrs. Jin?" Ye Yiyi was surprised. "You should accept it, A-Yao! Once you're acknowledged, let's see who would dare bully you again!"

Jiang Yao said nothing; she lowered her head, picked up her glass, and downed it in one gulp.

Ye Yiyi pursed her lips, poured herself a drink, clinked her glass against Jiang Yao's, and tilted her head back to drink.

"Hey, are you sure you should be drinking right now?" Jiang Yao stopped her.

Ye Yiyi gave a self-deprecating smile, then threw her head back and drained the glass completely.

"Forget it, A-Yao. I've made up my mind."

As she spoke, a smile played on her lips, but her eyes were brimming with tears. Ye Yiyi was a beautiful woman, and even in this state, she looked exceptionally moving.

Jiang Yao looked at Ye Yiyi's tearful eyes, smiled in return, and poured more drinks to clink glasses with her again.

"Alright, let's not talk about anything unhappy today. Let's just be ourselves and have a good drink."

No sooner had she spoken than Ye Yiyi's phone began to vibrate. On the screen, the name "Luo Yixian" flashed repeatedly.

Ye Yiyi glanced at Jiang Yao, gritted her teeth, and hung up the call. Not long after, the phone rang again. Only then did Ye Yiyi answer, pressing the speakerphone button.

"Where the hell have you been? How dare you hang up on me?!" A torrent of abuse erupted immediately.

"Is there something you need?" Ye Yiyi steadied herself.

"The role we agreed on is gone. You ask if there's something I need? Get your ass back here right now!"

Ye Yiyi's expression was visibly panicked. It was the psychological trauma left behind by long-term abuse...