Tan Polang pulled out a chair and sat beside Bai Mo, "Brother mo, why do I have a bad feeling about this?" he asked in a low voice.
Bai Mo glanced at him and sighed. He the spoke with a voice that only both of them could hear, "It's impossible for this to not be strange."
"They…" Tan Polang eyed the family who was sitting on the sofa, and met the gaze of Dong Yin. The gentleness and beauty that used to be on her face was replaced with a cold glare, and she was staring straight at Tan Polang. He shivered involuntarily, and inched closer to Bai Mo, "What are they doing here?"
Bai Mo was already very annoyed. In a hot summer day, a person's mood could easily be ruined by the hot weather. When somebody's mood was ruined, the person would have a bad temper. A frown appeared on Bai Mo's face when he noticed that Tan Polang had moved closer to him, "Do you think that it's the winter, you lil' brat? Why are you sitting so close to me? Don't you feel hot?"
Tan Polang grimaced at Bai Mo, "Bro, it's not like I want to," he could still feel Dong Yin's icy and cold glare stabbing into his back, "But… But…" Tan Polang stared at Bai mo with a helpless expression, hoping that he could understand his difficulties.
Bai Mo saw Tan Polang's expression, and finally noticed Dong Yin's terrifying glare as he followed the boy's sight. His frown deepened. He turned around and continued staring at the television, "Miss high and mighty really thinks that she's a Princess eh? What's with that look? Did we owe her family something in our past life?"
"What exactly is going on?" Tan Polang's was very curious.
Bai Mo did not know where to start. He sighed after a long silence, "I'll tell you later. I'm sure you'll be able to tell soon anyways."
Despite their reluctance to have anything to do with Dong Yin's family, Ye Ci and Zuo Xiaolan could agree that they could not just leave them in their living room just like that. Besides, they were almost certain that this family would not budge unless their request were fulfilled. It was just like that night all over again. Ye Ci had rejected their request so many times that she actually felt bad for them again and again. They were still trying their best to persuade Ye Ci to help. Ye Ci was impressed by the family's perseverance.
Of course, Ye Ci would definitely look up to them even more if they did not use it on her.
Ye Ci believed that she was not shameless enough, or rather, she was not the most shameless person around. That was why she could not possibly hide in her room forever. Even if she wanted to do so, Zuo Xiaolan would never allow such an action.
As she was laying on her bed, flipping through the pages of a manga, Zuo Xiaolan was already leaning at her doorway, "Say, how long do you plan to stay here, dear?"
"Until they leave." Ye Ci cast a glance at her mother and once again focused her attention on the manga, "Aren't you serving some green bean soup? What are you doing in my room?"
"Well, I can't hide away in the kitchen forever now, can I?" Zuo Xiaolan sighed, "I've already served the soup, but you're still not back yet, so I went to have a look."
"Why? They're here for you and dad. It has nothing to do with me." Ye Ci turned her back towards her mom and started mumbling, "My green bean soup! The green bean soup that I've woke up early to prepare! They've defiled it…"
"What do you mean? You know that they're only using that as an excuse. You're the one they're truly looking for. Your father and I are just Life Players who have just entered the game. Besides, they might not even know that we have started playing the game."
"So what? Since they did not say that they're looking for me, I'll just feign ignorance then. I hate it when people beat around the bush! Can't you just say what you actually want to say?" Ye Ci snorted coldly.
"It's not like we don't know them. We've known them for several years now. You know how they are! Let's go and get things over with." noticing that Ye Ci refused to budge, Zuo Xiaolan sat down beside her daughter and patted her on the back.
"Mom, what exactly are you doing here?" Ye Ci set the manga down, and turned around to face Zuo Xiaolan.
"Looking for a scapegoat of course." Zuo Xiaolan smiled sweetly as she gave Ye Ci her answer, as if it was something that was natural.
Ye Ci was baffled. She knew that her mother would not walk into her room because she was worried about her. As expected, Zuo Xiaolan was just looking for a sacrificial victim.
"Do you think I'll be able to send them off so easily?" Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, "We live here! What if they refuse to leave? We can't just move somewhere else, can we?"
"We're all counting on your now." Zuo Xiaolan knew that Ye Ci spoke the truth. The problem that they're facing could not be solved just by worrying. After a moment of thought, Zuo Xiaolan decided to test out the waters, "Little Ci, why don't you just help them out? Even if we don't like them, we don't have to keep up this battle of attrition. Besides, the investment plan that Dong Yin's dad mentioned sounds like a good plan. We shouldn't say no to money right?"
"Yes, I agree with you, mom. We really shouldn't say no to money. But, are you sure that it's really a good investment? You know how they were. Since when have they thought about us when they found ventures that could earn them money? Even if this is a good investment, I will never, ever help them out." Ye Ci shook her head.
"Why is that?" Zuo Xiaolan was curious. She had no knowledge about her daughter's feud with Dong Yin, as well as her dispute with Thousand Sunsets. She wanted to know why her daughter was acting so cruel towards Dong Yin's family. To her, even if Dong Yin's parents were absolute scum of society she was still willing to help them out due to their many years of friendship.
"Mom, not all favors can be done."
"Little Ci, since we're talking about helping them out, we shouldn't ask for something in return. If you keep asking for payment for doing a favor, you'll not be very happy." Zuo Xiaolan thought that Ye Ci refused to help because she was afraid that Dong Yin's family would take her help for granted.
Ye Ci shook her head, "Mom, helping someone just because you expect their reciprocation, is not helping at all. You know that I am not someone to fuss over minor matters. But…" Ye Ci continued after a slight pause, "You might end up in deep trouble after fulfilling certain favors even if you could gain something out of it."
"Deep trouble?" Zuo Xiaolan was alarmed. Despite being confused by Ye Ci's words, there was still a bad feeling in her heart, "Don't talk nonsense! What do you mean by getting into deep trouble? Don't scare me like that!"
Ye Ci sat up and faced her mother, "Mom, you've just started playing Fate. You'd of course think that it is just a game. However, there are many out there who do not see Fate as just another online game. To them, it is a means to create profits. As long as benefit is involved, things will get complicated. You must not think of as just a game. You're very different from Dong Yin's parents. You played the game for fun and to pass time. For Dong Yin and her family, Fate is a business."
"Little Ci, I-I don't get what you're trying to say! Are you telling me that this is all a business for Dong Yin's parents?" Zuo Xiaolan had always led a simple life. Despite being confused, she knew that Ye Ci's words meant nothing good.
"Yes, you could say that." Ye Ci mumbled before suddenly raising her head and stared at Zuo Xiaolan, "Mom, do you know how they came to our house today?"
"Huh? How would I know? I guess the drove here. They're the first among our four families to own a car. If I'm not mistaken, it's a very expensive car…" Zuo Xiaolan had the tendency to stray off topic, which was something that Ye Ci wanted to avoid.
That was why she cut Zuo Xiaolan off, "They walked into our residential area. They must've came here by bus."
"No way!" Zuo Xiaolan's eyes buldged, "Dong Yin's mother was very pampered, there's no way she would walk if an area is accessible by car."
"Do you know what happened to their car?"
"H-how would I know?"
"If I'm not mistaken, they've sold it, along with most of their family's asset." Ye Ci lower her head. She has contacted Green Hill's Moon to learn about the conditions of Dong Yin's and Yi Cang's family. They suffered a heavy blow when Thousand Sunsets lost in his power struggle against Unbridled Willow. Of course, Ye Ci would never mention the details of their downfall to her parents.
"How did you know?"
"You see, their investment failed. They lost everything they invested in Steel-Blooded Battle Spear." Ye Ci stated out the truth.
"Ahhh…"
"Why do you think they're here?" Ye Ci narrowed her eyes, "You know how Dong Yin is. We already had a fall out that night, but they still came to us today. This means that they're grasping at straws now. They're in a very desperate situation."
"So…" Zuo Xiaolan finally caught on to Ye CI's meaning, "We can't help them at all?"
"I don't mind if you want to help." Ye Ci smiled at Zuo Xiaolan.
"You silly girl! Do you think my money fell from the sky? I'm not going to burn away our money like that." Zuo Xiaolan slapped Ye Ci on the back, and stood up, "I'll go down and give your dad some supervision. Gotta make sure that he does not carelessly agree to their request. You get down there as well okay?"
Despite her reluctance, Ye Ci lazily nodded.
As Ye Ci was still laying on his bed, she heard heavy footsteps leading to her room, followed by somebody abruptly pushing her bedroom door open. It was Dong Yin. She was glaring at Ye Ci with her face flushed red, huffing and puffing loudly, as if she had just been humiliated.
"Yinyin, Yinyin, don't be like this, this is not our home, you can't just run around like that!" Dong Yin's mother was close behind, followed by Zuo Xiaolan.
Zuo Xiaolan stood at the tip of her toes and craned her neck into Ye Ci's room, giving her daughter an apologetic room, "Little Ci…"
Ye Ci shook her head, an indication for Zuo Xiaolan to remain silent, and shifted her gaze towards Dong Yin, who turned around and shouted at her mother, "Mom! I must clear things with her today! Can you just leave me alone?"
Dong Yin's mother was stunned into silence by her daughter's sudden outburst.
Ye Ci remained on her bed. She made no attempt to rise, and stared at Dong Yin calmly."Close the door." said Ye Ci in a soft voice.
Dong Yin's anger was like a fist, while Ye Ci's indifference was like a cotton blanket. When the fist connected with the soft blanket, its force was dispersed. Dong Yin stood glaring at Ye Ci at the doorway before slamming her bedroom door shut.
The loud bang reverberated around the room. Ye Ci could even feel the wall shaking as a result. Fortunately, the old house held out. Aside from dust falling from the ceiling, nothing happened. The house did not collapse.