After hanging up the phone, the taxi turned around and headed for the outskirts of City S.
Thirty minutes later, Ye Yanxi arrived at an abandoned factory. There were low and dilapidated houses and a bumpy concrete road. It was a scene of decay and desolation.
The road was filled with a pungent odor. Ye Yanxi covered her nose all the way and walked towards the workshop.
In the shadow of the workshop, it was pitch - black. One could hardly see one's own hand in front of one's face. The sound of footsteps echoed clearly in the empty room.
"Minghao, where are you?"
As she called out, there came a rustling sound from the corner. Ye Yanxi instinctively walked towards the source of the sound.
The low - lying workshop was in a dilapidated state. The moonlight outside the window shone in through the broken glass. By the moonlight, Ye Yanxi saw a vague figure under the window. It seemed that someone was sitting there.
A teenager stood up from the ground, with a smile in his voice. "I knew you wouldn't leave me alone."
Ye Yanxi's adoptive parents had been childless for many years after their marriage. Then they brought her home from the orphanage. Ye Yanxi was only five years old that year.
But not long after she came to the Ye family, her adoptive mother got pregnant. The next year, she gave birth to a pair of twins, Ye Yanxi's younger brother Ye Minghao and younger sister Ye Weiqi.
Now, at the age of sixteen, Ye Minghao was already much taller than Ye Yanxi.
"Go home quickly. It's so late and you're running around everywhere. Mom and Dad will be worried." Looking at her younger brother who was half a head taller than herself, Ye Yanxi instinctively took a step back.
The bright moonlight shone on Ye Yanxi. She seemed to be covered with a layer of gossamer, as graceful as a startled swan. She was as beautiful as a fairy in the Moon Palace.
Ye Minghao walked over with a grin. "Yanxi, it's enough that you worry about me!"
"Don't be so disrespectful!" Ye Yanxi frowned and made a fist as if to punch him. "I'm your elder sister. Don't call me by my name directly from now on!"
"Chu Beize and He Man are already engaged. They'll get married at the end of the month!"
"I know. I don't need you to remind me." At the mention of Chu Beize, Ye Yanxi felt inexplicably angry. Then she turned around and left directly. "Since you're okay, go back quickly. I'm leaving!"
"Who says I'm okay?" Ye Minghao staggered and fell heavily to the ground.
Ye Yanxi paused. She took a closer look at Ye Minghao and only then noticed some bloodstains on his face.
"What's going on? Did you fight with someone again?"
"Aren't you not going to care about me?" Seeing Ye Yanxi stop, Ye Minghao smiled like a sly fox.
Ye Yanxi was too lazy to talk to him. She walked over and pulled him up from the ground. "I'll take you to the hospital first!"
Just as she helped him walk a few steps, Ye Minghao twitched the corner of his mouth and cried out in pain, whining.
Ye Yanxi was speechless. She could only support him as gently as possible, letting half of his body lean directly on her shoulder. "Are you feeling better?"
"Um... I feel much better like this."
They rushed all the way to the hospital. The doctor pointed at the X - ray and said that Ye Minghao had broken two ribs. The situation was serious and he needed to be hospitalized.
Ye Yanxi first called her adoptive parents and asked them to come to the hospital. Then she immediately went to go through the hospitalization procedures.
When she walked back with the hospitalization form, she didn't notice at all that she had left her phone on the window of the ward after making the call.
Ye Yanxi led her adoptive parents into Ye Minghao's ward. She stood in the corridor outside the ward. From time to time, she could hear the roar of her adoptive father Ye Junze, mixed with the quarrel of her adoptive mother Lu Manwen who doted on her own children.
The nurse who came to deliver the medicine stopped their quarrel. She hung up the drip for Ye Minghao. When she left, she repeatedly instructed that no noise was allowed in the ward so as not to disturb the patients' rest.
When Ye Junze came out of the ward, he saw Ye Yanxi standing in the passage.
"Dad." Ye Yanxi called out with a smile.
Ye Junze looked at Ye Yanxi lovingly. "Xiaoxi, move back home. It's not safe for a girl to live outside alone."
Before Ye Yanxi could speak, she heard a cold snort from inside the ward.
When she was first adopted, Lu Manwen was really kind to her. However, since Lu Manwen had her own children, her attitude towards Ye Yanxi had taken a 180 - degree turn.
Knowing that she had become a burden, Ye Yanxi had rented a house near the school since she started college, always using her busy schoolwork as an excuse.
At this moment, when she heard Ye Junze mention moving back home, she just smiled faintly. "Dad, I have a lot of schoolwork. I also need to take the French proficiency test. It's more convenient for me to live outside..."
Hearing this in the ward, Lu Manwen said sarcastically, "The adopted one is just ungrateful. It's not even as good as a cat or a dog. A cat or a dog would wag its tail when it sees you."
"Don't go too far in front of the children!" Ye Junze got angry when he heard her words.
"Since everyone is here, I'll just say it straight today." Hearing this, Lu Manwen walked out of the ward. She gave Ye Yanxi a very disdainful look. "The company's performance has been bad recently. All the family's money has been invested in it. You'll have to solve your own tuition fees from now on!"
"How much can the tuition fees be? You..." Ye Junze's face turned ashen.
Lu Manwen didn't even look at him. "Chu Beize is engaged to someone else. She's an outsider now. Why should we still spend money on raising her? You've always protected her like this. I even suspect that she's your illegitimate child!"
"You..." Ye Junze was so angry that he almost raised his hand to slap Lu Manwen.
"For an outsider, you still want to hit me!" Seeing this, Lu Manwen was so angry that her face was distorted. She pointed her finger with a gemstone ring at Ye Junze's nose. "As long as I'm alive, you'll never give her a single cent."
Ye Junze was trembling with anger. Fortunately, Ye Yanxi grabbed his arm in time to stop him from being impulsive.
Lu Manwen cursed and went back into the ward. Ye Junze's face was pale. He looked at Ye Yanxi apologetically. "Xiaoxi, you won't blame Dad for being useless, will you?"
"Dad, it's all my fault. Don't blame yourself. I've always been a trouble to you." Ye Yanxi smiled and gently comforted Ye Junze. "I've found a part - time job as a translator in a company. I can support myself. As for the tuition fees, I can find a tutoring job on weekends. Don't worry."
When Ye Yanxi said this, Ye Junze felt even more indebted to her.
"Xiaoxi, you've been very sensible since childhood. Remember, the Ye family will always be your home. If you have any difficulties, tell Dad in time."
"Got it. Thank you, Dad."
After leaving the hospital, Ye Yanxi returned to her rental house. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the sofa tiredly.
It was getting late. She wanted to check the time, only to find that she hadn't brought her phone back.
She couldn't remember where she had left it. She rummaged through the whole house but still couldn't find it.
Ye Yanxi panicked. She went out and borrowed a phone from a neighbor to call her own number. Fortunately, it wasn't turned off.
The phone was answered. A deep male voice came from the other end. "Hello..."