Chapter 26: Parting on Bad Terms-Filho biológico não é tão bom quanto o filho adotado? Se você se arrepender, não me procure!(O sonho solitário do garoto de rua)

"What did you say!"

Xiao Caiyue glared at him. She never expected Lin Tian to be so heartless and show such utter disrespect for his elders! Was it really so difficult for him to just bow his head to the Xiao family?

Mother Xiao was also so shocked by his words that she stumbled back two steps.

"Mom..." Xiao Chusheng managed to steady her.

"I'm fine." Mother Xiao tilted her head back, finding it suddenly difficult to breathe. When she looked at Lin Tian again, her eyes were filled with an indelible pain. To be treated this way by her own flesh and blood—it was breaking her heart!

Xiao Ruoli, standing to the side, kept her head down in silence. Feeling stifled, she turned and walked away quickly.

"Lin Tian!" Xiao Caiyue shouted. "Mom isn't in good health, yet she came to see you first thing this morning. How can you be so cold-blooded and ruthless? Are you even human?"

*Cold-blooded, ruthless...*

These words pierced through Lin Tian, striking straight into his heart. He sneered and retorted, "Did you come here early in the morning just to stage a scene of a 'devoted mother and filial son'? To turn around and blame me for everything? You know better than anyone who is truly cold and ruthless!"

Xiao Caiyue’s expression turned icy. Her disgust for him reached its peak, and she said bluntly, "Fine, I don't like you, and I haven't been good to you, but that gives you no right to criticize Mom!"

"Caiyue, stop it..." Mother Xiao bowed her head, wiping away a tear. "It's my fault. I neglected Xiao Tian's feelings."

Hearing this, Xiao Caiyue became even more furious. She pointed at Lin Tian and scolded, "You really are ungrateful! The Xiao family raised you for half a year—is that any way to talk?"

"'Raised me for half a year'?" Lin Tian laughed in disbelief. "Is that what you call raising me? Making me eat alone every day, sleep alone in an airless attic, and endure your cold stares all by myself?"

"That’s only because you refused to come eat with us!" Xiao Caiyue retorted. "Besides, you were only moved to the attic because you hit our younger brother. Who else is to blame for that?"

"And that fire all those years ago—the whole family was trapped, so why were you the only one who didn't get burned? I have been suspicious of you ever since!"

At the mention of this, Xiao Caiyue’s body stiffened visibly, as if the memory still left her traumatized. In truth, everyone else had long forgotten the incident since there were no major losses, but she remembered it vividly. During that fire, it was Xiao Chusheng who had braved the danger to pull her out when she had passed out from the smoke. Otherwise, she was certain she would have died.

Hearing her accusation, a self-deprecating sneer curled the corner of Lin Tian's lips. To think that back then, he had fought through layers of flames to pull her to safety, only to receive this in return...

"Nothing to say now, are you!" Xiao Caiyue, seemingly confident that her suspicions were correct, threatened, "Listen to me—sooner or later, I will get to the bottom of this. And when I do, I will never acknowledge you as my family again!"

"Enough!" Mother Xiao gave a sharp, low command, though her eyelids twitched strangely. She gripped Xiao Chusheng's slightly nervous hand and said, "The past is in the past. Do not bring it up again!"

"Mom!" Xiao Caiyue stomped her foot in frustration. "Things have come to this—why are you still siding with Lin Tian?"

"Because he is my child!" Mother Xiao said through gritted teeth. Her body swayed slightly, as if her strength had been drained. She turned to look at Lin Tian and whispered, "Xiao Tian, Mom is sorry. I don't blame you for hating me. If you don't want to return to the Xiao family, I won't force you. Just focus on recovering. Mom will come to see you again."

Lin Tian watched the three of them leave, his heart entirely unmoved. He didn't pay much attention to where Xiao Ruoli had gone.

Left alone in the quiet room, he couldn't help but miss his friends from the orphanage, thinking of Bai Yun. "I wonder how she is doing now..."

Based on what Xiao Ruoli had said last night and Lin Ruyu's words before she left, Lin Tian felt that the children at the orphanage should be safe, which brought him some peace of mind.

"But why did Sister Lin leave so suddenly?"

Unable to figure it out, he felt restless. He reached out and pressed the button on the small box by his bedside. A moment later, the door opened, and the nurse who had been there earlier walked in.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just felt a bit stifled." Lin Tian hung his head, his eyes dull, his tone flat.

Seeing this, Liu Qingqing thought that since she didn't have anything urgent to do, it wouldn't hurt to stay and chat to cheer him up. As they talked, Lin Tian's mood improved, and he realized they had indeed met before.

"No wonder you looked so familiar! You're that young man who came to me to process a property transfer, aren't you?" Liu Qingqing chuckled, teasing him, "It’s only been a week or so—how did you end up like this? Don't tell me you were beaten into the hospital by some rich woman's husband?"

Lin Tian offered a faint smile, unfazed, and asked, "Doesn't Miss Liu work in the housing registration department? Why did you change jobs?"

"Oh, don't get me started. It makes me angry just thinking about it." Liu Qingqing looked at Lin Tian, thinking that telling a young man she barely knew wouldn't have any consequences, and began to pour out her grievances.

She spoke of her former boss constantly harassing her in the workplace, and how he made things difficult for her after she refused his advances. It was miserable. She only resigned because she couldn't take it anymore; otherwise, it would have been a stable job, and she wouldn't have quit unless she had lost her mind.

"Sigh, little brother, tell me, am I not miserable? What kind of life is this!" Liu Qingqing sighed toward the ceiling. At that moment, she felt like the most wretched person in the world.

Lin Tian nodded blankly. "Yeah, you're right."

*Pfft.* Liu Qingqing laughed. "Kid, are you mocking me?"

"No, I'm not. I just don't know what to say."

"Well, you're honest, at least. Unlike those other men."

Liu Qingqing’s words piqued Lin Tian's curiosity. "Unlike which men?"

"Unlike... well, you know. The kind who are two-faced. Or the ones who are total wolves in sheep's clothing but insist on putting on a refined act. That kind of person makes me sick." Liu Qingqing said indignantly. She couldn't forget the true nature of several men she had met. They would show interest in her while pretending to be pure and innocent, boasting about things they hadn't even done.

That was one of the reasons she refused to accept her former boss's advances. His hypocrisy was unbearable; even this slightly dim-witted boy who didn't know how to say flattering things looked much more pleasant by comparison.