Coming back to her senses, You Jingqiu took a deep breath, her fingers trembling as she pointed at Xu Xingguang, snarling with a contorted face, "Xu Xingguang, you really have no shame, how can you say anything like that?" You Jingqiu wanted to rush over to hit Xu Xingguang, but Xu Zeqing pulled her back.
"Xingguang, go back to your room!" Xu Zeqing furiously signaled Xu Xingguang with his eyes.
Xu Xingguang set off a spark and then casually returned to the attic. "Good night, everyone."
You Jingqiu calmed herself, saying to You Jiaoyang, who was wiping his hands with a handkerchief, "Jiaoyang, stay away from that little vixen!"
You Jiaoyang was really caught in the crossfire while lying down.
He shook his head in exasperation and said, "Tomorrow night, I'll move to the dormitory." The house was too noisy, chaotic, and it annoyed him.
*
The commotion continued downstairs for a while before it quieted down.
Xu Zeqing felt that it wouldn't do to keep stirring things up like this. Thinking of Xu Xingguang's memory loss, she should be easy to deal with. So he took two bottles of sparkling wine and ran upstairs to talk to Xu Xingguang.
Xu Xingguang had just finished showering in the second-floor bathroom and returned to her attic room when she heard a knock on the door.
She opened the door and saw Xu Zeqing standing outside with wine, so she asked, "What do you want?"
Xu Zeqing tried his best to smile kindly, saying, "Xingguang, it's been a long time since we, as father and daughter, sat down for a chat. Dad wants to have a heart-to-heart with you."
A heart-to-heart?
Nonsense.
Xu Xingguang, wearing fleece pajamas with a low V-neck, shivered from the cold wind blowing on her chest.
She opened the door wider, letting Xu Zeqing in.
The attic room was spacious but only had a wall full of wardrobes, a bed, two bedside tables, and a dressing table.
The father and daughter had to sit on the floor to drink.
Xu Zeqing sat cross-legged on the floor as he remembered, but Xu Xingguang did not sit across from him as she did in her girlhood. She sat high on the edge of the bed, crossing her long legs with an air of maturity and calmness beyond her years.
Xu Zeqing felt a bit uncomfortable talking to her while looking up.
He frowned slightly but didn't say anything in the end.
Xu Zeqing poured two glasses of wine, handed one to Xu Xingguang, "This is your favorite sparkling wine. You just got out of the hospital, so you can only sip a little."
Xu Xingguang took the glass, holding it without drinking, her cautious demeanor as if fearing there was poison in the wine.
Xu Zeqing took a sip, smacked his lips, and began reminiscing with Xu Xingguang. He picked amusing stories from Xu Xingguang's childhood, speaking softly and occasionally laughing. His kind expression and the gentle smile born from nostalgia were truly disarming.
But Xu Xingguang couldn't forget how he had cruelly removed her oxygen mask, couldn't forget his madness when he said he would marry her off to the sickly child of the Huo Family.
Xu Xingguang remained silent throughout, like a calm observer.
Seeing Xu Xingguang's lack of response, Xu Zeqing suddenly felt parched and lost the desire to continue talking.
He fell silent, finished his drink, and asked Xu Xingguang, "Do you hate me?"
Xu Xingguang finally spoke her first words in this conversation: "Hate you for what?"
"Hate me for giving up on treating you, hate me for exploiting you, hate me for marrying a new lover while your mother's corpse was still warm." Xu Zeqing's eyes reddened, and he seemed to age significantly.
Xu Xingguang calmly looked at Xu Zeqing's sorrowful face and said, "Of course, I do."
She twirled the glass in her hand, staring at the beautiful liquid within, her voice choking as she said, "You were obviously the closest person to me, the one who carried me on your back pretending to be a horse, called me your little princess, and gave me endless pampering as my father."
"Your body was never tall, but you built a solid wall for me. My mother and I stood behind you, unafraid of storms. I saw you as an idol since I was a child. I told Jiang Heng my ideal type was someone like my dad."
"As a child, I believed in the existence of the Monkey King and Ultraman. Later, as I grew up, I knew they were fictional. But I always believed my parents would be my superheroes. After mom passed away, you should have been my strongest support, yet you chose to withdraw that shield, allowing swords and knives to wound me."
"And just like that, you felt it wasn't enough. You wanted to push me to the front lines, use my body as a meat shield to secure the Xu Family's wealth and status."
Xu Xingguang lifted her eyes, meeting Xu Zeqing's grieving and ashamed gaze directly. She laughed through her tears and asked Xu Zeqing, "Shouldn't I hate you, Dad?"
After listening intently to Xu Xingguang's account, tears suddenly fell from Xu Zeqing's eyes.
In that moment, every bit of Xu Xingguang's life, from birth to growing up, surged through his mind.
Xu Zeqing's doting and love for Xu Xingguang were genuine. But when Xu Xingguang became a vegetative state, and the company suffered from Jiang Heng's suppression because of her, his helplessness blurred his love for his daughter, allowing himself to find excuses to resent and blame her.
He continuously convinced himself that Xu Xingguang was the root cause of all the Xu Family's misfortunes, so he wouldn't have to face his own incompetence and cowardice.
Now that his daughter was awake, reflecting on all he had done these years, Xu Zeqing also felt he was worse than a dog or pig.
That was his little angel!
"Xingguang..." Xu Zeqing dropped the wine glass, kneeled beside the bed, and buried his face between Xu Xingguang's knees, crying so hard that his shoulders trembled. "It was because Dad lost his mind, because Dad got used to living a wealthy life and didn't want to be poor again. Dad was selfish and greedy, Dad craved wealth and success, it was Dad who abandoned you, Dad let you down!"
Xu Zeqing voluntarily exposed his despicable side.
He looked up with a tear-streaked face, humbly asking, "Xingguang, Dad doesn't ask for your forgiveness or understanding. Dad just hopes you can still willingly call me Dad, can still be family with me, okay?"
Watching Xu Zeqing's tear-streaked face, Xu Xingguang felt a wave of nausea in her stomach, almost making her vomit.