Chapter 108: Chapter 107: Duty Fulfilled

The next morning, Xue Xingzhou took Xue Yue and Ruanruan back home.

When they got home, they found the door ajar and unlocked.

The house and the yard had been turned upside down.

“Did a thief break in? Or did you forget to lock the door when you left, Big Brother?”

Xue Xingzhou shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’ll just clean up.”

Xue Yue took out a pair of rubber boots and carried Ruanruan next door.

Liu Hongxing had heard the commotion from next door. Seeing Xue Yue approach with the child and something in her hands, she let her in.

“Is my dad home?”

Liu Hongxing pointed inside. “He’s in the house.”

Xue Yue went in, holding Ruanruan.

Xue Xingjun wasn’t home; he had probably gone out to play.

Xue Changlin was sitting on the edge of the *kang* smoking his pipe. When he saw Xue Yue come in with the baby, he quickly put the pipe down.

“Yue’er, you’re here.” As he spoke, he glanced at the child in Xue Yue’s arms.

“Is this your daughter? She looks just like you.”

Looking at her father, Xue Yue was suddenly in a daze, wondering how things between them had come to this point. Now, when father and daughter met, there was only silence and a sense of unfamiliarity between them.

’Her own father hadn’t even visited once after she’d had her daughter. He probably didn’t even care.’

Xue Yue placed the rubber boots she was holding on the edge of the *kang* and said lightly, “I went to the provincial capital a few days ago. I bought these for you.”

Xue Yue herself wasn’t sure what she had been thinking when she bought the boots. While shopping for Mr. and Mrs. He, she had suddenly thought of her own father. They had seemingly lost contact due to everything that had happened, but there was no denying that blood ties could not be broken.

Xue Yue hadn’t even told her brother before bringing them to her father.

But even if her brother had known, he wouldn’t have said anything.

After all, Xue Changlin was the one who had always been cold.

Xue Changlin looked at the boots on the *kang*. He picked them up and examined them. They were his size.

Ever since Xue Xingzhou had come looking for him last time, Xue Changlin had been on edge. He often couldn’t sleep well at night and kept dreaming about the past.

Now, looking at his daughter and her face so similar to his late wife’s, his eyes suddenly reddened.

Xue Yue looked at him in surprise. ’He’s crying just because of a pair of boots? Is he that moved?’

Xue Changlin clutched the boots tightly, his gaze fixed on Xue Yue, yet it seemed as if he were looking through her at someone else.

“Yue’er, Dad didn’t ignore you on purpose. You look too much like your mother, especially your eyes. I failed your mother, and every time I look at you, it feels like she’s blaming me. That’s why I couldn’t face you. But in my heart, I do love you. You’re my child, and you’re *her* child. How could I not love you?” Xue Changlin spoke with deep and sincere emotion.

Listening to him, Xue Yue felt a storm of complex emotions.

“Dad, I won’t deny that you doted on us when Mom was alive. But after she passed away, you became a completely different person. I don’t want to talk about other things, but when my brother was in trouble, you were so indifferent. Isn’t Big Brother your son too? How could you just stand by and do nothing?”

Xue Changlin opened his mouth but waited a long moment before saying in a low voice, “I raised him. I’ve already fulfilled my obligation to him.”

Xue Yue frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Xue Changlin lowered his head and looked at the boots in his hands. “It’s nothing. When you have time, bring the child and come visit your dad.”

Xue Yue gave him a complicated look, then turned and left the room, carrying Ruanruan.

She was preoccupied with heavy thoughts all the way back. Xue Xingzhou noticed her expression was off.

“What’s wrong? No one gave you trouble for just dropping off a pair of boots, right?”

“You knew?”

Xue Xingzhou sounded resigned. “I saw you grab them this morning. There were two pairs of boots. Besides mine, I could tell whose size the other pair was at a glance.”

’Alright,’ Xue Yue thought. ’I knew I couldn’t hide anything from my brother.’

“Yes, I bought a pair for Dad too. I also got you a pair of pants. They fit He Lang, so they should probably fit you too. And I bought a silk scarf for Sister Zhang Qian. When she visited, we were so busy talking about you that I forgot. Could you give it to her for me?”

Xue Xingzhou nodded. “Okay. But you still haven’t told me what happened just now. Why do you look so upset?”

Xue Yue thought for a moment, then decided to tell her brother what their father had said.

After hearing her out, Xue Xingzhou fell silent.

Xue Yue really couldn’t figure it out. “Brother, what do you think Dad meant by that? What does ’fulfilled my obligation to him’ even mean?”

Xue Xingzhou sighed and patted Xue Yue’s head.

“Don’t worry about it. From now on, you can interact with Dad however you want. You don’t always have to consider my feelings.”

Xue Yue shot him a sideways glance. “How could I not consider you? You’re my brother. If someone is bad to you, I’m definitely not going to like them.”

Xue Xingzhou smiled. “Alright. We siblings will face our enemies together.”

“Of course.”

Xue Yue had relied on her brother since she was little. He was more like a parent to her, and that familial bond was something no one could ever replace.

Around noon, just before lunch, Xue Xingjun came running over.

“Big Brother, where have you been these past few days? I knocked on your door so many times, but you were never here. Oh, and some people came to your house before. I heard them, but Dad wouldn’t let me go out.”

Xue Xingzhou was sitting in front of the stove feeding the fire, with Ruanruan in his lap. “I was working in town and didn’t come back. The people who came a few days ago were my colleagues. They came to help me get something.”

Xue Xingjun nodded, then stared at the little girl in Xue Xingzhou’s arms.

“Big Brother, whose kid is she?”

Xue Xingzhou glanced at Ruanruan, who was sitting on his lap picking at his shirt buttons, and said with a smile, “This is your niece. Your sister’s child.”

Xue Xingjun was stunned. “Huh?”

Xue Yue came out of the house and saw Xue Xingjun standing in front of her brother, scratching his head in confusion.

She chuckled. “You little rascal, perfect timing. Here to freeload another meal?”

Seeing Xue Yue, Xue Xingjun quickly shook his head. “No, I’m not! I just haven’t seen Big Brother in a few days, and I missed him.”

“My, what a sweet-talker.”

Xue Yue pulled a few pieces of sorghum candy from her pocket. “Come here, little rascal.”

Xue Xingjun’s eyes lit up when he saw the candy in Xue Yue’s hand. He wanted to go over but seemed to remember something and lost his nerve. He mumbled, “If I come over, you won’t hit me, will you?”

It was obvious that Xue Xingjun was used to being disciplined by Xue Yue when he was younger, and he held a strange fear of her.

“Heh, you little punk. Fine, if you don’t want it, I’ll just eat it myself.”

Xue Yue pretended to put the candy away. Seeing this, Xue Xingjun forgot all about the risk of getting hit, scrambled over, and snatched the candy from her hand.

Then he ran back to stand beside Xue Xingzhou, unwrapped one piece and popped it in his mouth, and held another one out for Ruanruan.

“Here, your Little Uncle will feed you.” As he spoke, he unwrapped the candy and held it to Ruanruan’s mouth.

Hearing a little kid call himself “Little Uncle,” both Xue Xingzhou and Xue Yue burst out laughing.

Ruanruan stopped playing with Xue Xingzhou’s buttons and turned, reaching for the candy.

Xue Xingzhou pushed away the candy Xue Xingjun was offering. “You eat it. She’s too little for this.”

With the candy in his own mouth, Xue Xingjun had to take the other piece back, looking at Ruanruan with some regret.

“You can eat it when you’re bigger. Don’t be greedy. When I have money someday, I’ll buy some for you.”

This sent the brother and sister into another fit of laughter.

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