Qiao Zixin strode into the study and packed her things into boxes. She heard her second aunt outside the door loudly criticizing her, and everyone in the room chiming in with their comments. Within two minutes, Qiao's mother banged on the door and told her to come out.
Qiao Zixin put on her coat, opened the door, and went out. Her mother immediately grabbed her suitcase and scolded, "What are you doing? How can you be so disrespectful to your elders? Who are you trying to embarrass us during the New Year? Do you think you can just take this place for granted now that you've made a little money outside?"
Qiao Zixin looked at her coldly, "What kind of house do you think you are? Do I even have a room here? Do you know what I like to eat? Sometimes I really want to ask you, did you pick me up? You've been trying to please Qiao Zhipeng for all these years, has he ever called you 'Mom'? Has he ever given you a single penny? Aren't you afraid that if you treat me like this now, no one will take care of you in your old age?!"
Mrs. Qiao gasped, and everyone else fell silent. No one had expected Qiao Zixin to explode. They only lectured her because they thought she was gentle and easy to bully, and because she was filial to her mother and always dared not contradict them. What was wrong today? Was it because they introduced her to a boyfriend? Or because Aunt Qiao said something unpleasant? But she'd said much worse things before.
Feeling humiliated by the crowd, Qiao's mother angrily retorted, "You! You've really grown up! Could you have grown up without me? In all these years you've been away, have you ever been filial to me? Aren't you going to take care of me in my old age? I think you need to be taught a lesson!" With that, she raised her hand to slap her across the face.
Qiao Zixin suddenly dodged to the side, causing her mother to stumble and nearly fall, her hand slipping from her grasp. Qiao Zixin put on her sunglasses, seemingly creating distance between them, and said coldly, "Don't worry, before I turned seventeen, you gave me food, shelter from the rain, and paid my tuition until my second year of high school. When you're old, I'll still give you food, shelter, and medical insurance. Of course, don't expect anything else; I have no obligation to raise your stepson. I don't think we need to see each other again. Let's leave it at that."
Qiao Zixin, exuding an aura of dominance, strode towards the door. Everyone was momentarily stunned by her imposing presence, and no one dared to stop her. By the time they recovered, Qiao Zixin had already changed her shoes. Seeing the expressions on Zhang Hao's family's faces, Aunt Qiao felt humiliated and, in a fit of anger, said, "Oh, you've really made something of yourself! You don't want to acknowledge your mother anymore?! I said a few words to you and you ran away from home! Are you trying to make me the culprit? Your temper is too much! Brother, how did you raise your daughter?"
Mr. Qiao was very proud, and now that the whole family had made a fool of themselves, his face darkened terribly. He pointed at Qiao Zixin and said sternly, "Don't ever come back after you walk out this door today! I'll pretend you don't exist in the Qiao family!"
Qiao Zixin put her hand on the doorknob, glanced back at him, and said, "Perfect, I don't want to be part of your family either. Since you despise me so much, you must also despise the dirty money and gifts I give you. You're using the house and car now, so consider this my way of repaying you for giving me a place to shelter from the wind and rain all these years."
She looked at the others, and finally her gaze fell on Aunt Qiao. "Those of you who have borrowed money from me know the truth. Just because I don't hold it against you doesn't mean I've forgotten. If you mess with me again, don't blame me for hiring a lawyer. From now on, I won't give you anything anymore. Anyway, you all have respectable jobs, are successful and capable. I'm just someone who relies on my youth, so I should save up some money for my retirement."
Qiao Zixin stepped out of her house and slammed the door shut, shutting out the noise inside. She quickly entered the elevator and went downstairs before her mother could chase after her. She put on a scarf and hat to cover herself up, called a taxi, and soon left the neighborhood, completely leaving this home that wasn't really home behind.
Both Qiao's mother and Qiao Zhipeng called her, but she checked her phone and blocked all their contact information, never wanting to have anything to do with them again. Over the years, besides buying them houses and cars, she had given Qiao's mother 100,000 yuan a year for living expenses, and sent expensive jewelry and various gifts home during holidays. She didn't owe them anything.
Qiao Zixin sat in the back seat of the car, closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She couldn't describe her feelings. She seemed to have no emotions at all. She just quietly made her way to the hotel where Xu Zifan was staying.
Xu Zifan hadn't slept all night. He had just closed his eyes for a short while when he heard a knock on the door. He put on his bathrobe and went to open it. He was somewhat surprised to see Qiao Zixin pulling a suitcase. "What's wrong?"
Qiao Zixin hadn't felt anything at all, but the moment she saw him, her nose stung, tears welled up in her eyes, and she took a step forward to hug him tightly, whispering, "You really will be good to me for the rest of your life, right?"
Xu Zifan instantly thought of what those netizens had said, but Qiao Zixin's condition was not right, so he immediately patted her back and said, "Yes, I've always been here."
Qiao Zixin closed her eyes and hugged him tightly. She stood up and smiled, "I have no family anymore. From now on, it'll just be the two of us celebrating the New Year together!"
Xu Zifan led her into the house, pulling the suitcase in as well, and asked, "What's going on?"
Qiao Zixin shrugged, taking off her coat as she smiled faintly, "I don't know if they're jealous or what, but they kept belittling me, almost accusing me of being promiscuous. Qiao Zhipeng's second aunt even brought her nephew to meet me on a blind date, saying he was a civil servant with a stable job. She acted like I should be grateful if he took a liking to me. With that lecherous look on her nephew's face, if I wasn't afraid they'd gang up on me, I would have slapped him! In the end, my mom not only didn't help me but also wanted to hit me. In a fit of anger, I broke off all ties with her and have nothing to do with them anymore. I've decided that when my mom gets old, I'll support her according to the law, and that's all."
Xu Zifan noticed her eyes, still slightly red from the earlier excitement, and knew she wasn't as calm as she appeared. Breaking ties with her only family member—no matter how determined she was, her emotions would be complicated. Having known Qiao Zixin for so long, he understood her feelings.
Like him, I also want to have a warm home, and abandoning my family is definitely not an easy decision.
Xu Zifan rearranged the bed, let Qiao Zixin sit down first, and took his clothes to the bathroom to wash up. He thought of the tricks in the post for making girls happy, eliminated the overly ambiguous ones, and only picked a few that were suitable for their relationship. Then he took a shower to clear his head.
When he came out, he found Qiao Zixin asleep against the headboard. He wondered how early she had gotten up that morning; she must not have been getting a good rest in that kind of place. He took off Qiao Zixin's shoes, gently picked her up and moved her around, tucked her in, and made sure she was comfortable in bed. Then he wrote a small note and placed it on the bedside table before taking his wallet and leaving.
He first rented a car, then inquired about the best restaurants in the area and booked a private room and a New Year's Eve dinner. In between, he browsed the local forum and bought two tickets for the movie "Life Is Beautiful." The movie was sold out, and he had to pay five times the price to find a seller. Finally, he found a fireworks wholesaler and paid a high price to transport a truckload of large fireworks to a lakeside in the suburbs and set them off at midnight. The extra price was a confidentiality fee; he didn't want anyone else to participate. The wholesaler naturally agreed; setting off fireworks at midnight was considered a lucky start to the new year, and business was all about that—it would surely bring prosperity in the coming year, so he had to make sure things went well.
Qiao Zixin woke up and called Xu Zifan, asking, "Where did you go? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I'm out buying food, I'll be right back. Is there anything you'd like to eat?" Xu Zifan finished his business, checked his watch, and parked his car in front of a restaurant.
"No, just buy whatever you want to eat."
"good."
Xu Zifan pulled his scarf up to cover half his face, put on his glasses, went into the restaurant to order four dishes that Qiao Zixin liked, and quickly took them back to the hotel.
Qiao Zixin cheered when she saw the food. Although her family didn't care about her, she had Xu Zifan who always looked after her, and she should be content. Greedy people get nothing. From now on, she only wanted to cherish Xu Zifan's kindness and hoped never to lose him.
She glanced at the weather outside the window and said, "It's not very cold today. Shall we go for a walk by the lake? It's too stuffy in the hotel."
"A movie is showing today, how about we watch it first and then go to the lake?"
"Okay," Qiao Zixin opened her phone and searched, then frowned in annoyance, "There are no tickets left."
Xu Zifan took two tickets out of his pocket and handed them over, "I just bought these, the seats are pretty good."
Qiao Zixin took the movie tickets in a daze, looking at his serious expression, unsure whether he wanted to ask her to a movie or simply wanted to see how the film was received. But she had never gone to the movies with someone she liked before! Qiao Zixin smiled and said happily, "It's almost time, let's go. I haven't seen a movie in years, I want to buy a big bucket of popcorn and a large Coke."
"Okay, let's go." Xu Zifan's expression softened when he saw her smile.
The two disguised themselves and blended into the crowd unnoticed. They had already seen the movie at the premiere, but watching it in a theater with so many other people felt special. Especially for Qiao Zixin, who was growing increasingly fond of Xu Zifan, watching a movie with him like a couple was truly fulfilling. She couldn't help but glance at Xu Zifan every now and then, her eyes full of smiles. Xu Zifan, seeing her genuine happiness, finally confirmed that what he'd read in the post was accurate; it seemed his arrangements hadn't gone wrong.
After the movie, Xu Zifan took Qiao Zixin out to eat, and Qiao Zixin was even happier. She had never felt this kind of festive joy while eating New Year's Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala before. Although it was just the two of them, and it wasn't lively at all, she felt that even the air was filled with warmth, and a warm current kept flowing in her heart, making her feel especially happy.
After dinner, she thought she was going back, and felt a little regretful that time had passed so quickly. The hotel didn't have any extra rooms, so Xu Zifan would probably take her back to her room soon, and then he would find a small hotel to stay in for the night. She didn't want to part with him so soon; she wanted to spend New Year's Eve with him. Unexpectedly, Xu Zifan's car didn't drive towards the hotel at all, but instead headed towards a lake in the suburbs.
Qiao Zixin asked in surprise, "Are we going to the lake so late?"
"Yes, it looks better at night."
Qiao Zixin was taken to the lakeside without knowing why. She got out of the car and looked around. There was no light except for the moonlight. What was there to see?