The time of the city

Chapter 224 Family Portrait

Mo Yu was about to say that her father wasn't feeling well, so her parents couldn't come back from City B, but she hesitated before she could say anything. Ultimately, she swallowed the words back.

"Mom and Dad went to City B to attend a wedding and are not at home."

"That's what I thought. There's no one at home. So, stay at the old house for one night. When mom and dad come back, I'll tell them and then take you back."

Mo Yu pursed her lips and muttered softly, "You are so polite."

Arriving at the old house, Ni Jiamu went straight to the kitchen as soon as he entered. Mo Yu leaned on the sofa, her eyes following Ni Jiamu's figure. Looking at Ni Jiamu busy in the kitchen, she really couldn't connect the man in front of her who was concentrating on cooking with the man who had gone crazy and beaten people just an hour ago.

"My brother's mood seems to be getting more and more unstable, but as long as I obey him, he becomes a good person again. What should I do?"

Mo Yu was secretly worried, her brows slightly furrowed. Just as she was thinking, Ni Jiamu suddenly looked over. Mo Yu quickly turned her head away, hurriedly picked up a book, pretending to read seriously, but her ears were slightly red due to nervousness.

After a while, Ni Jiamu brought a plate of cookies and handed it to her. "You must be hungry. These freshly baked cookies will fill your stomach. I saw you were staring at the kitchen just now."

Mo Yu took the biscuit woodenly, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum: "Thank you."

During dinner, Ni Jiamu sat across from Mo Yu, constantly putting food into her bowl. Mo Yu looked at the food gradually piling up in her bowl, hesitated for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage to whisper, "Brother, can you please stop hitting people in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Jiamu's chopsticks trembled violently, dropping the food onto the table. His eyes instantly sharpened, staring directly at Mo Yu. "I hit Qiao Feng, so you're unhappy?" His voice was filled with a hint of suppressed emotion.

Mo Yu lowered her head, looking at her toes, and muttered softly, "Brother Nanfeng didn't do anything wrong. I'm definitely unhappy if you hit him, and you always lose control of your emotions..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ni Jiamu. "Enough!" Ni Jiamu suddenly raised his voice, his eyes red.

"Mo Yu, you feel sorry for Xiao Hecheng, you feel sorry for Gu Bai, you feel sorry for Qiao Feng, you even feel sorry for the little dog on the street, but you never feel sorry for me." He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Mo Yu, I just love you too much. I'm not wrong."

After saying this, he stood up suddenly, the chair making a harsh sound as it rubbed against the ground, and then he strode out of the dining room.

Mo Yu watched him leave, feeling a sense of loneliness. She also lost her appetite, so she just mechanically ate a few mouthfuls of rice and returned to her room.

In the room, the dim light shines on the bed sheets, casting a warm hue.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Mo Yu heard the sound of the door of the next room closing. She let out a sigh of relief, and her tense nerves finally relaxed. She thought that Ni Jiamu would not sleep with her tonight.

She lay on the bed, holding the new doll that Shang Xue bought for her, staring at the ceiling.

"I wonder how Dad is doing? My brother has become less and less like himself because of me, and Mom has been very sad lately." Her voice was nasal, and she reached out to take the family photo on the bedside.

That was the first family photo taken when Mo Yu first came into the Ni family. At that time, Ni Jiamu didn't like Mo Yu.

When Shang Xue enthusiastically suggested taking a family photo, Ni Jiamu immediately frowned, with a hint of impatience in his eyes. He glanced at Mo Yu standing in the corner and said with disgust: "Why take a photo? I don't want to take a photo." His voice was not loud, but full of resistance.

However, in the end, Shang Xue's persistent persuasion was not enough. The sun was warm that day, and its gentle rays poured down without reservation, covering the entire courtyard with a layer of golden gauze.

They came to the most lush tree in the yard. Shang Xue held Ni Yuantang's arm affectionately and sat in the front row with a smile on her face.

Ni Jiamu put his hands casually in his pockets, frowned tightly, looked reluctant, and stood behind Shang Xue with a cold expression.

Mo Yu stood timidly beside Ni Jiamu, her body slightly hunched, and her eyes occasionally glanced secretly at her future brother beside her.

Mo Yu gently stroked the family photo with her fingers. The colors in the photo had faded slightly under the caress of time, but the images became clearer and clearer in her mind.

She had to admit that she was a little greedy. Deep down in her heart, she longed to be with her parents forever, but at the same time, she was greedy for the kindness that Ni Jiamu, as her brother, had shown her. She wanted their family to be together forever.

But lately, the family had become gloomy because of her and Ni Jiamu's affairs. Ni Yuantang and Ni Jiamu had nearly fallen out, and his anger had worsened. Shang Xue, too, was consumed by these troubles, sighing at home all day.

Mo Yu's eyes were fixed on Ni Jiamu's face in the photo, and she muttered to herself, "Actually, being with my brother wouldn't be bad. He's good to me, and he's not only rich but also very good-looking. If I were to be with him, I could always be with my parents. I can't escape it anyway, so maybe slowly cultivating feelings for him wouldn't be a bad idea."

"When my parents come back tomorrow, I'll tell them I want to be with my brother, so that Dad and brother can reconcile and our family can return to the way it was before."

It was late at night, and all was silent, save for the occasional chirping of insects outside the window. Mo Yu lay in bed, her thoughts a tangle, her mind constantly convincing herself, tossing and turning in this cycle of self-PUA.

Her eyes were sometimes firm, sometimes confused. It was not until the middle of the night that she slowly fell asleep in a state of confusion and exhaustion, with the family photo tightly clutched in her hands.