Uneasy daily life

“The white shadow is by the river to the east. If you want to drink, go find him,” Hiratsuka Shizuka said. “I need to meet your husband.”

"Huh? Looking for my mom? Great, great, Xiaojing, you can curse her a bit too—oh my, I never thought cursing her would be so easy, haha... I really have to thank that bastard for letting me see the true colors of my family!"

Yukinoshita chuckled and stomped away.

This isn't a thank you; it's more like they want to rip off the white-haired dog's head.

Although it was more pleasing to the eye than that fake smiling mask, I couldn't help but sigh at the bloody truth revealed after the scars were torn open.

Tsk! You dragged me into this trap. If you can't handle Bai Ying, I'll take you down with me!

Shizuka Hiratsuka suppressed her irritation and waited a while before stepping into the hotel after receiving a text message on her phone.

They saw the father and daughter in the corridor. Yukino Yukinoshita looked dazed, perfectly complementing the tuft of hair on her head. Her father paced back and forth outside the door with a furrowed brow. He turned his head and saw Shizuka Hiratsuka, and he was startled: "Teacher..."

The father lowered his voice and mouthed the words "White Shadow?" under the snow.

Hiratsuka Shizuka mouthed – “The white shadow is over there with Haruno.”

Hiratsuka Shizuka came to the door and said, "Mrs. Yukinoshita, I am Hiratsuka Shizuka, the delinquent teacher who made Haruno try playing in a band back then."

"If you came here to laugh at me, then you've seen it all. If you're satisfied, please leave. I'm not available to you."

“I know that Madam wants to calm down and reflect on things—although I’m not quite sure what exactly Yang Nai said, judging from the way she ran out, it was probably some extreme words that hurt both herself and others… I won’t come in, we can just chat through the door. I don’t think Madam is any kind of enemy, and I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment in causing you harm.”

Hiratsuka Shizuka leaned against the door, then simply sat cross-legged in the corridor, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and took out her phone to make some calls.

There was no response from inside the room.

"Bai Ying once gave me his opinion on you, Madam. He said you are not a wise man, but a warrior."

"...What does he mean?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka said, "I asked that question too, but Shirakage said no one knows better than your husband."

"Sigh... Yukino, sit over here and listen to what's going on. I also bear some responsibility for what happened to Haruno."

Yukinoshita's father sighed softly and sat down next to Hiratsuka Shizuka, leaning against the door.

"Oh."

Yukino Yukinoshita responded blankly and sat down.

"It seems that I have never mentioned my relationship with your mother to you two children... When I was in school, I was a delinquent, a real delinquent."

Yukinoshita's father said in a deep voice, "You must have wondered why there are no grandparents in our family, right? It's because I was born into a very terrible family—my father went bankrupt, all his hard work vanished, and he never recovered. He became an alcoholic, and my mother initially tolerated it, but eventually she couldn't take it anymore and had an affair... no, I should say she indulged herself, spending all her time fooling around with other men..."

Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes widened: "N-Isn't it because Grandpa and Grandma passed away?"

"What difference is there between two people I haven't contacted for decades and them being dead to me?"

Yukinoshita's father slowly said, "Under my father's drunken domestic violence, I learned to rebel and fight. Without parental guidance, I talked back to teachers at school, and I hung out with other confused kids, which led me to become a troublemaker and a delinquent..."

How could she still marry her mother?! Yukino Yukinoshita was even more stunned.

"People change, people can hide their true feelings."

Yukinoshita's father continued, "Back then, I never thought about what to do about the future, because it was meaningless. I deeply hated my parents, but at that time, I was unknowingly changing into them and falling into depravity... Hatred is a terrible thing; it can be transmitted from one person to another, turning one person into another, and causing them to fall together into the abyss of darkness."

"The first time I met your mother was when I was about to skip my morning class. I saw her being blocked by some delinquent teenagers from other places. In our school, your mother was the most outstanding person. She had the best grades, was the most polite, had the most friends, and was very dazzling. So she was probably envied by people who were struggling and falling into depravity."

“I don’t really understand what I was thinking back then. I guess I felt like I could skip class, fight, and talk back to teachers, but I couldn’t do bad things. Maybe I also felt like I had to protect her since she was in my class. Sigh, I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe I was just aware of my own depravity and felt very unwilling. Anyway, I just rushed out like that.”

Yukino Yukinoshita exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be...could it be a hero rescuing a damsel in distress?"

The protagonist of a light novel is actually right next to me?!

Yukinoshita's father: "Uh, well..."

"He rushed over but was pinned to the ground and beaten in just three seconds. In the end, I chased away those delinquents."

Yukinoshita Yukino: "..."

So it was America saving the hero... no, it was Britain and America saving the villain?

Yukinoshita's father defended himself, saying, "I do have some output, to be honest..."

"Lying on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, he threatened the other party, 'If there's a next time, I'll kill you all'?"

"Ahem, at least I took responsibility for being exported."

Yukinoshita's father muttered a few words, then chuckled softly.

“I was really lucky. Just when I was about to sink into the mire and rot, I struggled a little, and that struggle led me to the goddess who saved my life.”

Chapter 118 I'll Make You Happy

"Hey! You jerk!"

The river surface shimmered under the moonlight, and a white figure sat on the bank with a fishing rod in hand, legs dangling in the air, and a can of coffee in his hand.

Yukinoshita Haruno wondered if a kick from behind would be enough to send this bastard sprawling.

"promise."

Bai Ying held the coffee can in her mouth and rummaged through the plastic bag: "If I give you beer, don't even think about kicking me."

"If I kick someone, will I be able to eliminate a scourge of humanity and bring peace to the world?"

Yukino took the beer, opened it, sat down next to him, swung her legs, and gulped down the whole bottle in one go.

"Unfortunately, the idea that all bad things have a reason is limited to fairy tales."

Bai Ying shrugged: "As a theater artist who has established his own school of thought, if I were to write that kind of script, I would probably have to have a fierce battle with my colleagues to see who has the thickest family tree and the longest bloodline."

"Your Frostmourne is very useful."

"You're welcome."

"Ha, how did you figure that out? That woman actually felt inferior to my father? That's hilarious. I thought she was useless, since she made all the decisions in the family, and my father was just a son-in-law with no status—my grandfather handed over the family business to my more capable father, and she got nothing in return, so she pinned her hopes on me and Yukino. It's ridiculous..."

"Huh? Are you misunderstanding something?"

Bai Ying stroked her chin and said strangely, "According to my assumption, she should be angry that you, as her daughter, slandered the love between her parents, right? She fought for half her life, and the thing she was most proud of was finding love."

"Frostmourne stabs herself, Yangna sheds tears and slays her aunt. Isn't this the right path? Let the daughter, who never cries or makes a fuss, show her the bloody truth, so that the aunt can face her own failure..."

"Don't be ridiculous. How could a heartless woman have feelings? Isn't she just an incompetent woman who couldn't support her family, so she married a live-in son-in-law and gave birth to two useless children? Ha."

Yukinoshita Haruno pursed her lips, exhaled, casually put the beer can aside, took out another, opened it, and gulped down a few mouthfuls: "Ha—alright, alright, now that I've stabbed my family in the back, I'm all free... I might as well go abroad, find somewhere to pursue my so-called future, far away from this messy Yukinoshita family, hehe..."

It was exhilarating, like drinking a lot of alcohol and shouting out everything in one go.

I guess I've finally gained my freedom.

Freedom, freedom, nothing at all.

Freedom, freedom, yet worries weigh on my mind.

"Oh dear, don't cry so sadly."

Bai Ying casually handed him a can of beer: "How about I tell you a joke to cheer you up?"

“If you have something to say, say it, and if you have something to say, let it go.”

Yukino answered irritably, wiped away her tears, and continued gulping down her beer.

She didn't know why she was sad. Was it because her mother was more cold-hearted than she had imagined, or because she would never see her younger sister again, or perhaps because she was worried about her sister's future...?

I went too far today. I should have calmed down. I yelled so loudly, but what am I supposed to do now that Yukino is yelling?

He should have just endured it like before, then found a reason or pretended to lose to Yukino, and left the country. Or he could have had a private argument with that woman to show his attitude, and then left the country directly. Or he could have just left the country without saying a word and disappeared.

Yukino's dream is to take over her father's job, and as an older sister who has no dreams, I can at least help her out.

Now look what's happened, everything's been smashed, everything's in chaos.

Yukino Yukino sighed, "As expected, arguing and venting emotions are completely useless and only cause trouble."

Bai Ying laughed and said, "But it's really fun."

"Hiccup~ That's true... It was too reckless. It didn't do any good at all. What else could it do but make a big fuss?"

Yukino hiccuped, gazing at the moonlit river. The cold wind gradually cooled her brain, and the more she thought about it, the more regretful she felt. She simply nudged the white figure with her shoulder: "Hey! You jerk, say something! It's all because of those ridiculous little dramas you put on that I couldn't help myself... Tell me your ridiculous jokes and make me laugh!"

"Ok."

Bai Ying said seriously, "Your mother knew about my cohabitation with Yukinoshita from day one."

"Hiccup... Oh, so she knew all along, and was just watching us make a fool of ourselves. No wonder you two get along so well." Yukinoshita burped and mumbled, "Watching two women acting all sneaky and secretive, doing these little things, is it funny, isn't it..."

Bai Ying took out her phone and affectionately played a video of an aunt and her daughter having a crush on their classmate.mp3.

"Yukino being born later definitely gets preferential treatment, huh? Hiccup~ That way I don't have to worry. After all, she only has Yukino as a choice now, right? Who else can she entrust the family business to if not Yukino..."

"I'll assume you're drunk."

Bai Ying nodded considerately, then pressed the caller ID on her phone, turned on speakerphone, put the phone aside, and continued fishing.

With her mind in complete disarray, Yukinoshita Haruno unconsciously focused her attention on her phone.

Xiaojing's phone call...

Is that the voice of Old Man Wooden?

……

……

"My nightmare began after that day..."

"Nightmare?" Yukino Yukinoshita glanced inside the room.

"I'm not kidding, it really was a nightmare for me back then."

Yukinoshita's father said, "Look at me, a delinquent youth, basically cut off from my parents, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, making a living by hanging around places like mahjong parlors, and occasionally working as a security guard at mahjong parlors to earn some money for cigarettes and food..."

Yukino Yukinoshita asked in confusion, "Um... security guard? Minors can work like that?"

“The security situation was much worse back then. He was just being a cheap knife for others—a minor, a young person who didn’t need to pay too much money, and was easily impulsive and fooled. When the deadbeats and adults who frequented those places saw a minor with a knife, they would assume he had met a gangster and would naturally behave themselves… He treated himself like a worthless life, and others would naturally treat him like a worthless life too.”

Yukino Yukinoshita raised her hand to her forehead, somewhat overwhelmed by the updated father figure, and asked with a sliver of hope, "Is...is there more?"

"Cough cough, it's all for survival... Anyway, my nightmare started the day I saved your mother by chance."

Yukinoshita's father smiled nostalgically, "The second time we met was at the mahjong parlor. She walked in with a frown and, right in front of so many adults and my cronies, told me to go back to school—even delinquents have some backbone, looking down on good students... I guess it's because she felt her life was no longer normal, so she tried to despise normal people, pretending to be mature, and maintaining the dignity of a delinquent."

“I felt really embarrassed, so I immediately said, ‘What kind of class is this? This isn’t a place for little kids. Go home and drink your milk.’ I even blew smoke in your mother’s face.”

Yukino Yukinoshita carefully examined her father, her eyes probably conveying something like, "Why are you still alive? Is what I'm seeing really not a ghost?"

"So I beat him up in the mahjong parlor, humiliating him for no good reason, and arrested him and brought him back to school—I discovered he was skipping class when I was taking attendance, and because of what had happened before, I felt this classmate was still salvageable, so after making inquiries, I went to the mahjong parlor to confront him."

Yukino Yukinoshita was silent for a moment, then asked softly, "Then, back then, did Mother fall in love with Father at first sight?"

“How could that be... At that time, I was the only daughter in the family, and the business environment was not good. My parents were working hard for the family every day. It could be a matter of a moment from getting rich to going bankrupt. There was no room for error, and no matter which way you went, it could be a dead end. I told my father that I would study hard, be ambitious, become an excellent adult, and inherit the family business... My father was quite traditional and thought that I was a girl and couldn't do it. The more my father said that, the more determined I became to do it... So, I couldn't stand his pretentious look of not really wanting to admit defeat, but just accepting defeat was fine.”

"What girl would fall in love at first sight with a guy who swears all the time, smells of smoke and alcohol, and has messy dyed hair? Back then, I was thinking about how to study harder and didn't have time to think about those romantic things."

Yukinoshita's father protested softly, "I... I do have some good points, right...?"

"I told you to remember to hand in your homework, and you wrote your name on it to provoke me; I told you to remember to be in class on time every day, and you came on time, but then slipped out of the classroom halfway through; I told you to clean up the messy color in your hair, and you told me it was fashionable and trendy..."

Yukinoshita's father muttered under his breath, "Just writing your name on your homework means you don't know how to do it... In fact, you even misspelled a word in your name; I couldn't understand anything in class halfway through, and sitting in the classroom attracted attention, so I left because I felt embarrassed; dyeing your hair isn't necessarily a real fashion trend in society, but it's very fashionable among delinquents—you forcibly dragged me to the barbershop and shaved my head bald..."

Yukino Yukinoshita pressed on, "And then what happened? How did you all..."

"Later, it was your mother who forced me to change this and that, pointing fingers at me, and frequently using force to make me comply. She showed me no respect in public, scolding me whenever I made a mistake. She was also very sharp-tongued back then. Many times I tried to escape her control and ran to the mahjong parlor to announce that I wanted to go back to being that delinquent. She would just drag me out and lecture me with all sorts of grand principles and righteous arguments..."

Yukinoshita's father paused for a moment, looking at his daughter with a complicated expression: "Do you understand now? Back then, I was just like you and Haruno."

Yukino Yukinoshita opened her mouth: "Th-that, Father... the competition..."

"It was between me and your mother... *sigh*"

Yukinoshita's father let out a soft breath and revealed his innermost thoughts: "Actually, your mother played a missing role in my life—she was my father, who would scold and discipline me strictly and seriously; she was my mother, who, after getting to know me, found that I was struggling to survive, so she would bring me extra lunches every day and tutor me in my studies and homework... For a lost and directionless delinquent teenager who was gradually falling into depravity, discipline, scolding, and an authority that I could not resist made me feel irritable and painful, but it was also an unavoidable way to bring my distorted life back on track."

"My grades gradually improved, my life gradually returned to normal, I gave up my bad habit of going to adult places, and I became a normal minor again. I experienced adolescence, had someone I secretly admired, and made normal friends of my own age..."

“I corrected many of his bad habits, but I could never get him to quit smoking.” A deep sigh came from inside. “He quit smoking when I gave birth to Yang Nai.”

"Back then, when I expressed my feelings to your mother, she told me about her ambitions and the responsibilities she should bear as a daughter of the Yukinoshita family, and we made a gentleman's agreement—if I could beat her, I would marry her... Becoming her son-in-law was a minor matter, after all, my original surname was left behind only a mess."

"In the end, your father won. Even though I had better grades than him, studied harder than him, and put in more time... it wasn't a traditional decision made by the father, but rather that I truly lost to him. During my internship, he always came up with better solutions than I could, and when dealing with student council affairs, he always handled things more reliably than I could. Even when I first started my internship, he still received better evaluations than I did."