Chapter 164: Chapter 164: What Are You Doing Going Through My Bag? Chapter 164: Chapter 164: What Are You Doing Going Through My Bag? “Xiaoyi, are you still mad at Dad?”
Shi Youjin’s voice was filled with guilt, “Dad misunderstood you yesterday and accidentally scalded you. I want to apologize to you. Please come back. I’ve divorced your mom, and she won’t even talk to me now. You’re all Dad has left. Don’t be so estranged from me, okay?”
“You went looking for her?”
“Yeah, she sold our house. How could I not settle the score with her?”
Shi Youjin’s tone was pitiful, as if he feared Ye Chuyi wouldn’t come. He said, “Xiaoyi, if I had known that getting out of jail would upset you, I would have rather stayed inside. At least you would have been willing to visit me.”
“If you don’t come to eat, then I won’t eat either. I will wait for you to come home.”
Ye Chuyi had no choice but to return.
As soon as she entered, she saw three dishes and a soup on the table. This time he had truly cooked.
“Xiaoyi, you finally came back. I thought you were so angry you didn’t want your dad anymore.”
Shi Youjin eagerly rubbed his hands together, “Come sit down, we father and daughter must have a drink or two today.”
Ye Chuyi raised her hand wrapped in gauze, “I can’t drink right now.”
“Oh, right, right, right, your hand is still injured, and it’s not appropriate to drink alcohol. Then let’s have tea, I’ll make some right away!”
He bustled about making tea, and Ye Chuyi eyed the teapot warily, deciding she must keep her distance from both it and Shi Youjin.
Therefore, during the meal, Ye Chuyi didn’t sit close to him but kept some distance instead.
Shi Youjin didn’t mind the space she deliberately put between them. He glanced covertly at the bag she had placed on the couch, then shifted his gaze and eagerly served Ye Chuyi food.
But Ye Chuyi hardly ate. For one thing, she had no appetite, and for another, she didn’t like food that was too oily or salty, yet Shi Youjin’s cooking was both.
When she was young and food was scarce, she would gobble up anything Shi Youjin made, no matter what.
Now she knew better, especially after having tasted Auntie Wang’s cooking. The food in front of her didn’t appeal anymore.
After the meal, Ye Chuyi got up instinctively, “I’ll go wash the dishes.”
Shi Youjin didn’t seem to find anything amiss and nodded, letting her clear the dishes.
Even before his imprisonment, it was always Ye Chuyi who did these chores. She washed the dishes and even had to stand on a stool to reach the sink because she was too small.
The first time, she broke a plate, and after Lin Yueqin gave her a severe beating, she never broke one again.
Ye Chuyi took the dishes to the kitchen and was about to wash them when she remembered she couldn’t get her hand wet.
She turned back to the living room, intending to ask Shi Youjin to do the washing, but saw him reaching into her bag.
She watched for a while before speaking coldly, “Dad, what are you doing with my bag?”
Shi Youjin stiffened, then nonchalantly said, “Oh, I can’t find my phone. I thought to use your phone to call mine.”
“Isn’t your phone on the table?”
Shi Youjin smacked his head in annoyance, “Look at my eyesight, so useless I didn’t even see it so close. Sigh, I’m getting old, really old!”
Ye Chuyi watched him, a seed of doubt planted in her heart.
Why did she always feel that Shi Youjin was different from the dad she remembered?
Was it her memory that was at fault, or was she just too young then to discern the right from wrong?
In any case, since yesterday, Shi Youjin seemed to exude a strange sense of incongruity.
“Dad, my hand was scalded, and I can’t touch water, so you should wash the dishes!”
Shi Youjin raised his eyebrows slightly, “I remember when you were little you could wash the dishes even if you were injured! Heh, growing up seems to have made you delicate, Xiaoyi. But it’s okay, Dad is here. Dad can wash the dishes.”
Ye Chuyi spoke without expression, “So, when I was injured as a child, I still had to wash the dishes. You didn’t need to remind me; I had almost forgotten. Dad, that pot of hot tea yesterday, did you really drop it on my hand by accident?”