CH 28

“What are you doing!?”

Luo Yao hated when people touched her hair. Ever since she got this hair style, her friends would always come up to tease her, touching her and making her annoyed. She vowed that whoever touched her again would get beaten. 

The little one’s hand just touched her hair and she reflexively reached out to stop him. But she didn’t pay attention to her strength, so when she slapped him, the hit on the little thing’s soft hand made a loud smacking noise. 

It was a very loud, crisp sound and Luo Yao herself was stunned.

Lin Keai went still, utterly dumbfounded. He’d looked at the little twisted braid swinging around and couldn’t help but reach out to touch a little. But then his hand was hit hard.

With a blank face, Lin Keai rubbed his little hand where the skin was quickly turning red. At first he pouted but then immediately burst into tears.

Luo Yao had only hit him out of instinct and she hadn’t meant to hit so hard. At first, she felt sorry but then she saw that Lin Zhixia’s brows furrowed and the little guy started crying loudly. Seeing him look so pitiful, her heart grew annoyed again. It wasn’t her fault!

“I didn’t hit him on purpose! What is there to cry about??”

Lin Keai was still stunned but he tried his best not to cry. His suppressed tears hung on his eyelashes, ready to fall. But when Luo Yao shouted, he was completely frightened all over again. Xiao Ai’s face scrunched up and he started to cry.

Lin Zhixia hurried over to coax him and Luo Qin also gently rubbed his red hand for him. Luo Yao looked at them acting like a family of three and became more and more angry.

“Is he faking?? There’s no reason to cry like this. He reached out and grabbed me first!”

“Luo Yao!”

Luo Qin’s voice was cold and his expression was dark. Lin Zhixia cut off what he wanted to say by stepping in front of him and walking up to Luo Yao with Lin Keai in his arms. 

“Luo Yao, Keai didn’t ask your permission before touching you. He was in the wrong,” Lin Zhixia patted the little guy’s back and said softly, “Xiao Ai, say sorry.” 

The little one had tears in his eyes and he was still clutching his fingers. He sobbed as he apologized. 

“My baby is so good,” Lin Zhixia kissed him, wiped the tears from his face and then looked at Luo Yao coldly, “Keai apologized. Now, isn’t it your turn?”

“You want me to apologize to him? Are you stupid?” Luo Yao rolled her eyes, “You’re so good at pretending, a real great actor! Since you love when people apologize, what about my brother? Have you ever apologized for what you-“

Luo Yao spoke quickly, voice loud and cutting. Her words were like a sharpened bamboo pipe, stabbing straight into people’s ears, echoing harshly in the quiet house. 

Suddenly, two words interrupted her, the voice that said them quiet but full of power. 

“Get. Out.”

Luo Yao looked at Luo Qin in disbelief. Her brother was looking at her coldly. He’d always worn a cold and indifferent face but now his expression was colder than the snow outside, piercing her heart like ice. 

Luo Qin’s voice was not loud but it was wrapped in clear anger, holding great power. 

“Luo Yao, get out.”

Lin Zhixia was stunned. He turned to look at Luo Yao and saw that her face flushed bright red with embarrassment. 

He had never seen Luo Qin speak to anyone like that.

Luo Qin couldn’t be considered a good-natured person but he was rarely ever visibly angry. 

Luo Yao didn’t get along well with Luo Zhengyan. When she was in school, she didn’t dare to tell Luo Zhengyan if she got into trouble. She always relied on Luo Qin to help hide her misdeeds. The trouble she made was always minor but very frequent. 

She was proud of the fact that she was able to get away with making trouble with no consequences. Luo Zhengyan would have never let her get away with anything but Luo Qin was different. He was indifferent to her ways when her dad would have thrown her out. Maybe Luo Qin was occasionally annoyed by her but he was never angry. 

But today, Luo Yao only said a few words to Lin Zhixia. He was nasty and awful and she hated him! But Luo Qin was standing up for this bastard and telling her to get out!!

And she had barely hit that kid!

“Brother,” Luo Yao voice sounded aggrieved and she felt humiliated. She cried and said, “What’s wrong with you? Just because of him you’re kicking me out?”

“Keai is so young and even he knows to apologize for doing something wrong. Luo Yao, what about you?”

“I…”

Luo Yao was still struggling as Sister Li, who had been watching, hurried forward and pulled on her arm. She led Luo Yao forward a few steps and urged, “Miss, just say sorry to Mr. Lin and the young master. The snow is so heavy outside, it will be hard to walk anywhere. Don’t make any more trouble.”

Luo Yao sneaked a look at Luo Qin but found that he was still expressionless. He obviously had no intention of letting this go. She glared at Lin Zhixia angrily and quickly spat out two words, “I’m… sorry. “

“Also, if I hear you talking like that to Zhixia again,” Luo Qin’s gaze was fierce, “I will cancel all your credit cards.”

Speechless, Luo Yao was on the verge of crying uncontrollably. Just because of this trivial matter, she was almost thrown out of the house and her money was threatened! Luo Qin and Lin Zhixia had put up a united front and made her a vicious enemy! 

Luo Yao felt so aggrieved that she lost her appetite. She turned and ran upstairs, slamming her bedroom door loudly. 

In the silence, Lin Zhixia felt awkward. Luo Yao had been mean to Lin Keai, so Lin Zhixia was also very upset when she said those words. He knew that Luo Qin would speak for them but he hadn’t expected Luo Qin to lecture Luo Yao so unmercifully in front of them. 

Comparing Luo Qin’s past indifference to the way he acted just now, Lin Zhixia experienced a confusing mix of feelings. 

Lin Keai was too young to really understand what had just happened so after a few moments, he stopped crying, forgetting why he was upset in the first place. He’d been about to eat before he was upset so he immediately turned off the tap and turned his attention to the dishes on the table, muttering to himself about all the nice food. 

Lin Zhixia heard that Xiao Ai’s voice was still thick from crying but his sadness had completely disappeared. Lin Zhixia sighed, hugged Keai close and sat down. 

Luo Qin sat opposite them.

Luo Yao’s words made Luo Qin feel very guilty. Four years ago, although Luo Qin had seldom come home to see Lin Zhixia, he still occasionally heard the cold words Luo Yao constantly said to Lin Zhixia. At the time, Luo Qin hadn’t cared to stop her, letting her say whatever she wanted. 

He could only speculate what she said to Lin Zhixia when Luo Qin was not around. As he sat, Luo Qin’s face showed his complex feelings. 

Compared to Luo Qin, Lin Zhixia seemed to be fine. He calmly fed Lin Keai food and chatted with him. The longer Lin Zhixia remained so calm and peaceful, the worse Luo Qin felt.

Obviously, Lin Zhixia was used to being ridiculed by Luo Yao. He wasn’t upset at all. 

Lin Zhixia noticed that Luo Qin was quietly sulking but he didn’t say anything. After all, the affairs between Luo Qin and Luo Yao, this brother and sister, had nothing to do with Lin Zhixia.

After a moment, Luo Qin said, “I’m sorry. What Luo Yao said just now, don’t take it to heart.”

Lin Zhixia was silent. He wasn’t sure how to respond.

The apology echoed in his mind and he realized that Luo Qin had said ‘I’m sorry’ many times these past few days. 

Luo Qin had apologized for himself, his father and now his sister. 

Emotionally, Lin Zhixia was unbothered by what had happened. But after hearing so many apologies, Lin Zhixia realized that Luo Qin was very affected. 

After dinner, Lin Zhixia took Lin Keai into the living room to watch cartoons. He didn’t pay attention to what Luo Qin was doing. 

The cartoons that children watch were too noisy. Lin Zhixia accompanied Lin Keai to watch for a while but finally couldn’t bear the visual and auditory torture. Holding a cup of hot tea, Lin Zhixia went to the other side of the living room and stood in front of the large windows, watching the snow fall. 

This window looked out over the south garden behind the manor and Lin Zhixia saw a crooked, ugly snowman in the yard. Standing next to it was Luo Qin, staring at it as if in a trance. 

Big, fat snowflakes fell heavy from the night sky and Luo Qin was standing all alone in the yard. His cold, aloof manner matched perfectly the snow scene around him. 

Seemingly noticing that someone was looking at him, Luo Qin raised his head to meet Lin Zhixia’s eyes. He looked a little surprised but then he smiled lightly at Lin Zhixia. He pointed to the snowman next to him, his eyebrows rising to give his face an expectant expression. 

Luo Qin didn’t realize it himself but he seemed to be pleading for praise. 

Lin Zhixia pursed his lips and made a mouth shape for the word ‘ugly’.

The snowman wasn’t very far from the window and Luo Qin could tell what Lin Zhixia had said. He turned his eyes back to the snowman, staring blankly at it. It was a bit of a blow to his ego for Lin Zhixia to simply respond with an abrupt and rude ‘ugly’. 

Luo Qin never showed such a dumb, shocked look. The contrast was too big from normal and Lin Zhixia couldn’t help laughing out loud. 

“Dad!”

Lin Keai called out to Lin Zhixia cheerfully so Lin Zhixia turned from Luo Qin, who was still depressed about the snowman, and went over to Lin Keai. 

The little guy hugged Lin Zhixia’s legs, raised his head and said to him in a sweet voice, “Dad, I want to drink milk.”

“Okay, Dad will go and make it for you,” Lin Zhixia hugged Lin Keai. He went to the sofa, pinched his fleshy face, and warned him, “Don’t run outside, understand?”

Lin Keai nodded his head, “Okay!”

Luo Qin walked inside, still covered in snow. Lin Keai warmly greeted him and invited him to sit down on the couch. Luo Qin smiled and picked the little guy up, carrying him over to the large, floor to ceiling windows. 

He pointed to the snowman outside and said, “Look, the snowman is finished.” 

Lin Keai’s eyes lit up, “Wow!”

He was so excited that he tipped his whole body forward, falling against the window to look out. 

Luo Qin looked around. Not seeing Lin Zhixia, he asked the little dumpling in his arms, “Keai, where’s your Dad?”

“He went to get Xiao Ai some milk!”

“Then let Uncle take you to see if it’s ready.”

Lin Keai was still looking out the window, muttering happily to himself. 

Waiting for the milk to heat up, Lin Zhixia chatted with Sister Li in the kitchen. 

When Luo Qin entered, Sister Li immediately left. Lin Zhixia turned his attention to Luo Qin but the man didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, Lin Zhixia asked, “What’s wrong?”

Luo Qin suppressed his words for a moment and then said in a rush, “The snowman…is it really that ugly?”

Unexpectedly, Luo Qin was still thinking about that. Lin Zhixia laughed. 

Luo Qin looked at him dejectedly and sighed, “But Keai and I like it. So it’s not ugly.”

Then he asked, “Why does Keai like snow so much?”

“You like it, too,” Lin Zhixia said lightly. Seeing Luo Qin’s puzzled look, he added, “The puzzle you gave Xiao Ai before, isn’t the pattern on it a little house in the snow?”

Luo Qin was stunned and he thought about it for a moment. When he was a child, he remembered really liking snowy days. But he had never been allowed to play in it like Lin Keai and could only dream of jumping into the large snowdrifts. 

“Is it hereditary?” Luo Qin murmured but after speaking, he remembered that Lin Zhixia might not want to hear this sentence. After all, Lin Zhixia was still very secretive about Luo Qin’s blood relationship with Lin Keai.

But Lin Zhixia’s expression was the same and he asked, “Then is his gluttony also inherited from you?”