Pampered By My Fake Boyfriend's Brother
Chapter 168 Father’s Love

Chapter 168: Chapter 168 Father’s Love

When Shi Qing returned to the dormitory, she saw An Yin leaning on the desk, deep in thought, her face filled with worry. Not wanting to meddle, Shi Qing took her pajamas to the bathroom for a shower.

By the time Shi Qing came out, she found An Yin still in the same position.

After hesitating for a moment, Shi Qing sat on the bed and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

An Yin’s thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly looked up in Shi Qing’s direction, "You’re back."

Did she just realize that Shi Qing was back in the dormitory?

Shi Qing, defeated by her confusion, replied helplessly, "Yeah."

An Yin rested her chin on one hand, looking at Shi Qing, hesitant to speak.

"Is it because of Jiang Keke?" Shi Qing’s voice was crisp.

An Yin’s eyes widened.

Shi Qing smiled faintly, seeing her expression confirmed her guess.

"How did you know?" An Yin’s bright eyes were fixed on Shi Qing, filled with obvious curiosity.

"Just a guess." Shi Qing lowered her gaze, casually responding.

Thinking back to when she accidentally overheard Jiang Keke’s boyfriend talking at "Night Charm," her heart went cold!

"You guessed right." An Yin didn’t want to lie, deflating like a frost-damaged eggplant, dispirited.

Seeing she didn’t deny it, Shi Qing kindly advised, "Get some rest."

In Shi Qing’s eyes, An Yin was pure and kind, and her affection for her friends was sincere and genuine. As an observer, it wasn’t difficult to see that An Yin was indeed quite good to Jiang Keke.

"Goodnight," An Yin said to Shi Qing.

Shi Qing didn’t reply, lying down on her bed and pulling out her worn-out phone to check the unread messages.

After a period of peace, Shi Qing’s mother started contacting her again.

Shi Qing’s gaze on the phone screen grew colder and colder!

That night, the two in the dormitory tossed and turned, unable to sleep. It wasn’t until the early hours that peaceful breathing filled the room.

In the days that followed, life was uneventful.

The matter with Bao Cheng seemed to have passed.

An Yin, after all, kept something from Jiang Keke, feeling unsettled inside. Some truths, when spoken, might hurt the other person, so with caution, An Yin tried to avoid mentioning Bao Cheng when with Jiang Keke.

Luckily, during this time Jiang Keke didn’t notice An Yin’s oddness, as she was fully focused on joining a drama production. Seeing there was only a month left before winter break, Jiang Keke was all smiles every day.

Occasionally, when Jiang Keke mentioned Bao Cheng, she merely said that he had been discharged and they were living together again.

Each time Bao Cheng was brought up, An Yin only gave a perfunctory "oh."

As for what Bao Cheng mentioned before, about his grandmother wanting to meet his girlfriend, An Yin hadn’t heard Jiang Keke mention it again, which was a relief for An Yin.

Soon, it was the weekend.

An Yin wanted to go home to see Ms. An but wasn’t sure if her foot injury had healed yet. Over the phone, she always shared the good news but not the bad. Without seeing her personally, An Yin couldn’t set her mind at ease.

Before going home, she asked Wen Mei for a day off, and Wen Mei agreed readily, which made An Yin feel quite guilty. But thinking of Ms. An’s foot injury, An Yin ultimately had to cast her guilt aside.

After school on Friday, she hurried to the bus station, transferred to a coach, and finally returned to the alley before dark.

Passing through this smoky alley was her old housing complex.

At this time, it was dinner time, with the aroma wafting through the air, tickling An Yin’s taste buds. She quickened her steps, eager to savor Ms. An’s cooking.

This time coming home, she hadn’t told Ms. An, because every time something important happened, Ms. An wouldn’t tell her, An Yin thought with some resentment.

Finally arriving downstairs, looking at the dark stairwell, An Yin took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and carefully made her way upstairs.

Her home was on the sixth floor. By the time she reached it, beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and her breathing grew heavy. Finally at the door, her hand froze mid-air before a sly smile flickered across her face, and she quickly pulled out a key from her backpack.

Opening the front door, she found the room pitch-black, moving stiffly inside. She turned on the light, shut off the phone flashlight, and closed the door, then called out, "Mom..."

The sound echoed around her.

An Yin put down her backpack, looked around the house but didn’t see Ms. An. Thinking of Ms. An’s injuries from before, she hurriedly took out her phone to call her.

During the wait, An Yin’s heart was in her throat, fearing bad news. At this moment, she was like a startled bird.

Fortunately, the phone rang three times before it was answered.

"Yinyin."

From the phone, An Ying’s voice was soft.

"Mom, where are you?" Hearing Ms. An’s voice, An Yin collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted, asking with great concern.

Perhaps hearing the urgency in her daughter’s voice, An Ying cautiously asked, "You’re back again?"

An Yin felt hurt by the word "again" from Ms. An.

She pouted, sulking, "Aren’t you happy I’m back?"

Hearing her daughter’s aggrieved accusation, An Ying laughed, "Of course I’m happy; I’ll come back right away."

"Where are you?" An Yin persistently asked.

"An Yin came back?"

A familiar male voice interrupted An Yin’s thoughts on the other end of the call. She clutched the phone tightly, as if uncovering a significant secret, carefully saying into the phone, "Mom, is your foot still not better? How come I hear Doctor Huang’s voice?"

"My foot’s fine," An Ying hastily assured, fearing her daughter’s worry, then cryptically added, "After dinner, we thought of taking a walk for some exercise!"

Being mother and daughter, even if An Ying’s words were hesitant, An Yin, though initially confused, realized the truth at that moment.

"Then there’s no need to rush back. You and Doctor Huang continue your walk; I’ll be fine alone at home. Let’s talk later, bye!" An Yin quickly hung up the call, patting her chest in panic.

At this moment, her mind was filled with thousands of thoughts, unsure if she should feel happy or sad!

For Ms. An to look forward and find her own happiness was originally a joyful thing for An Yin!

Yet An Yin couldn’t comprehend why she felt so downcast! It was as if by accepting Doctor Huang, she’d betrayed someone, feeling a sourness in her heart!

An Yin thought of a term that made her blood boil, "Dad," even though she never had a father from childhood, why did she feel such loneliness?

Having never felt paternal love, this sense of betrayal came about so inexplicably!