Devil or Angel (GL) - Chapter 14
After Zhiyu left, Yiyang got up in a daze to go wash up. She quickly cleaned herself, though the bandages on her hands made it awkward and wetting them with water was uncomfortable. She felt frustrated with herself—if she hadn’t provoked that woman the night before, none of this would have happened. Perhaps that woman was right; Yiyang might never have the chance to love or be loved in her life.
She lingered in the bathroom for a while before slowly heading downstairs. On the dining table there was still a cup of milk and a few slices of bread. She sat down to eat, but her broken mouth and injured hands slowed her down. She barely had the strength to lift the cup. Liu Ma hadn’t thought to give her a straw or make it easier.
Eventually, Yiyang gave up on drinking the milk. The bread was too dry, and she ate too hastily, choking and coughing violently. Zhiyu, who was watering the garden at the time, saw her struggle through the window. She put down the watering can and came inside.
Zhiyu felt guilty—perhaps in a past life she owed this child something. Her heart softened, and though she had just decided not to interfere, her instincts pulled her toward Yiyang.
Sitting down next to her, Zhiyu brought the cup to Yiyang’s lips and said coldly, “Drink.”
“No need for you to… help!” Yiyang coughed, the motion causing pain to her injuries.
Zhiyu, seeing her grimace, gently patted her back with one hand while guiding the cup with the other. “Stop being stubborn. Just drink.”
Yiyang reluctantly drank the milk, feeling better afterward. Proud as she was, she wouldn’t thank Zhiyu. Zhiyu didn’t mind; seeing the milk around Yiyang’s lips, she gently wiped it off with a tissue.
For a fleeting second—maybe just a moment—Yiyang felt as though the woman before her was her mother. She saw the kind of sincere care and affection that only a mother would give.
The next second, Yiyang’s expression hardened. She stood up and went upstairs. Zhiyu pouted in frustration, returned to the garden to continue watering and basking in the sun. Under the same roof, the two were now completely separate.
From her room, Yiyang looked down at Zhiyu’s busy figure in the garden. Memories of her own mother flooded back—her mother had been similarly busy with chores, flowers, and plants while her father was often absent, leaving the child to her own routines.
Through countless seasons, the flowers and plants remained the same, blooming and wilting in cycles. But the people who once nurtured them were long gone.