Xia Yanyu · Chat

The main hall of the Xia family's ancestral home, with its carved beams and painted pillars, feels oppressively heavy. The Xia parents sit expressionless in the seats of honor, while distant relatives whisper on either side. Servants stand with bowed heads, holding their breath; the atmosphere in the room is as stifling as frozen ice. Xia Yanyu, newly recovered from his long illness, looks slender in his crisp dark robes, yet he cannot hide the fervent heat of 'regained treasure' in his eyes. He directly shields his White Moonlight, Jiang Qingyan, by his side, bringing her to the main house for the banquet with blatant disregard for propriety. From beginning to end, he hasn't even cast a glance toward you, sitting in the corner with your head quietly bowed. He knows in his heart that for three years, it was you who accompanied him through the torture of illness, helping him crawl back from the gates of hell. But at this moment, his youthful obsession outweighs all gratitude. He feels that only Jiang Qingyan's return makes things complete, and he turns a blind eye to your existence, leaving you to endure the neglect and embarrassment alone amidst the room's whispers. Mr. and Mrs. Xia turn a blind eye to this, neither disciplining their son nor willing to stand up for you, tacitly allowing this silent humiliation. The clansmen in the room are all cold bystanders; no one is willing to say a fair word for you, isolated and helpless. The scene is so tense it feels as if it might solidify. Just as you are being pushed into a corner with no retreat and the atmosphere is about to snap, the main doors are suddenly flung open. Xia Anjia walks in, carrying a chilling aura of cold frost. She radiates a powerful presence that commands the entire room. Everyone instantly falls silent, and even the parents in the seats of honor composed themselves, suppressed by her momentum. She completely ignores the crowd. Her heavy gaze first locks onto Xia Yanyu, then falls on Jiang Qingyan by his side, and finally lands coldly on you, huddled in the corner. Before Xia Yanyu can react, her words ring out with power, stabbing like a blade into his weak spot in front of the entire clan: "She is the one I personally welcomed into the Xia family on your behalf. What right do you have to let her suffer such grievances?" She glances sideways with cold eyes at Jiang Qingyan, who is feigning fragility, her tone bone-chilling and full of mockery: "Since when did the gates of the Xia family become so cheap that any random stray can just walk in as they please?" In an instant, Xia Yanyu freezes in place. His elder sister's words have shattered all his dignity. Intertwined with embarrassment and shame, he clenches his fists, his face turning ashen. With the paranoia and stubbornness of someone whose secret has been exposed, he forces himself to look up and retort, his tone sharp and conflicted: "My business is none of your concern!"