Xie Youlin’s car stopped at the entrance of Athena. He glanced at the guests entering and exiting, and the glamorous rich women.
Xie Youlin: "Xiao Yun, is it okay for you to live here? I have a vacant apartment near the school. Why don't you move to my place? It would also be convenient for commuting."
Mo Qingyun shook her head. Her face never showed any dissatisfaction with this place. She liked her job here, and she liked Sister Hong who took care of her like an elder sister. As for Ou Yunchen, who always made things difficult for her, she didn't dislike him for some reason.
Xie Youlin: "But it's a mixed bag here, and there are so many men. Are you really comfortable?"
Mo Qingyun patiently replied using sign language: "Don't worry, they are all very good to me. I get free room and board here, and I can also receive tips if I work well."
Xie Youlin: "Can I pick you up for work?"
Mo Qingyun shook her head again. "Thank you so much. I'm used to being alone. I can't trouble you anymore."
Xie Youlin wanted to say something else, but Mo Qingyun had already opened the car door. "The road is slippery at night, drive safely. See you next Monday!" These were Mo Qingyun's words in sign language before she left.
Watching Mo Qingyun’s retreating figure as she ran into Athena carrying her lesson preparation notes, perhaps due to their similar experiences at the orphanage, Xie Youlin, who was now living well, felt a desire to take care of this girl who still had to work two jobs.
Back at the Xie residence, as soon as Xie Youlin handed his coat to the housekeeper, he heard his mother’s howling from upstairs.
"Young master, Madam is very unstable today. As soon as Master got home, you returned."
Xie Youlin nodded and asked, "Has she taken her medicine?"
"She refuses to take it no matter what, and she's knocked over several cups of water."
"Give it to me."
After going upstairs, Xie Youlin pushed open his room door to find Madam Xie had trashed his room.
Madam Xie's mental problems had always been there, sustained by medication for years. However, she seemed to have been stimulated by something lately.
Madam Xie: "Old Xie, help me find him, where did my son go? Where has he been this week, why hasn't he come back? Did I lose my son again?"
Xie Hongtian: "Wife, the son is not lost. Look, isn't your son back?"
Madam Xie looked up, and Xie Youlin happened to be standing at the door, with his arms outstretched, waiting for his mother's embrace. Seeing her son, Madam Xie finally stopped her frenzy. Muttering that her son was back, she walked over and hugged Xie Youlin, who was already much taller than her.
"Son, you're not dead, you're not dead... It's my fault, I wasn't watching you. You can't go anywhere, you have to stay by my side."
Xie Youlin hugged Madam Xie and said gently, "Okay, I won't go anywhere. Mom, please take your medicine and then have a good sleep, okay?"
"Son asked me to take medicine, to take medicine..."
Madam Xie kept repeating Xie Youlin's words. Only when Xie Youlin was present in this house would she not resist or go mad...
After escorting Madam Xie back to her room, Xie Youlin followed Xie Hongtian to the study.
"Father."
Xie Hongtian immediately slapped Xie Youlin. The sound of "slap" was very loud. Xie Youlin lowered his head, not saying a word. It wasn't the first time he had been slapped by Xie Hongtian.
Xie Hongtian roared, "Have you forgotten your duty?"
"I'm sorry, Father, I haven't forgotten. But school is really busy..."
"The purpose of my adopting you is not for you to use my resources and my money to do what you want. It is for you to stay by my wife's side forever and play the role of her good son, and that's enough!"
Xie Youlin listened in silence to these warnings he had heard a thousand times. Since he was adopted, the only affection he had received was the overflowing maternal love from the woman with delusions, and a paternal love that was always conditional.
From a young age, he knew that he had to show absolute compliance to make his mother feel at ease and believe that he was the son who had not died in the accident.
The Xie family was very wealthy. When he was adopted, they knew he was deaf due to a head injury and immediately took him to the U.S. for surgery. Now he could live like a normal person thanks to Xie Hongtian's benevolence.
Therefore, his existence, for the Xie family who had lost their true heir, was nothing more than a remedy to prevent Madam Xie from going mad.
Xie Youlin said softly, "There's nothing else. I'll go rest, Father."
"Stop!"
Xie Hongtian called out to his son, who was about to leave. "I heard you went to see that deaf-mute couple again."
Xie Youlin trembled slightly. "We just went to have some ramen."
"I told you to stay away from them! I and my wife raised you. You should know very well that they abandoned you back then! They don't deserve to be your parents!"
"I know..."
"You know nothing! Don't think I don't know you helped them open that ramen shop! I hope you will know your limits and not do anything out of line!"
Xie Hongtian threw a book from the table at Xie Youlin.
"The people you should be filial to are me and your mother. If I find out you help that deaf-mute couple again, I will use their abandonment back then as a reason to make them spend the rest of their lives in prison!"
Xie Youlin trembled all over. He clenched his fists tightly and furrowed his brows, but fortunately, he was facing away from Xie Hongtian. He soon regained his composure, turned around, and squeezed out a sentence from his throat, "Okay, I'll be careful next time."