Because of My Stupidity, I Became a Timid Vampire

Chapter 22 : Bei Yaoyue's Past

Unlike what Xifeng had expected, the awkward scene of three people making forced conversation didn't occur. Both Kisaragi Ichika and Bei Yaochen—Bei Yaoyue's father—were very kind, amiable, and talkative people.

After the luxurious dinner ended, the three had exchanged quite a bit and gained a general understanding of each other's situations.

As for why it was three people, it was of course because one person had remained silent from the beginning, being antisocial and playing with her phone the entire time.

Having coordinated their story with Bei Yaoyue beforehand, what Bei Yaoyue's parents learned about how the two met became: As neighbors, they accidentally discovered they were classmates, and after some interaction, Bei Yaoyue took pity on the helpless and dependent Xifeng, deciding to live with her and take care of her.

Whether Bei Yaoyue's parents actually believed this story was another matter entirely.

At least based on Xifeng's understanding of Bei Yaoyue, if she had heard such a story, she would never believe it—after all, Bei Yaoyue was so antisocial she wouldn't even take a taxi, so how could she possibly actively take in and care for someone else?

"Please chat among yourselves. I'll excuse myself for a moment."

Showing Xifeng an apologetic smile, Bei Yaochen stood up and walked out. Passing by Bei Yaoyue, he reached out to pat her shoulder and said softly: "Yueyue, come out with me. I have something to say to you."

Putting down her phone, Bei Yaoyue looked at Bei Yaochen who had already walked out the door, frowned, and got up to follow.

Since she made no attempt to hide it, Xifeng could clearly detect a trace of reluctance in Bei Yaoyue's expression, which made her unable to suppress her confusion. Taking advantage of Bei Yaoyue's absence, she asked Kisaragi Ichika beside her: "Auntie, is there some conflict between Bei Yaoyue and you two? Why do I feel like she seems... not to like you two very much?"

She had wanted to use the word "hate," but felt it might be somewhat impolite.

"..." Kisaragi Ichika's expression froze, her smile slowly solidifying.

"Uh... if it's inconvenient to say, you don't have to." Feeling she had asked the wrong question, Xifeng quickly smiled apologetically.

"No." Sighing with a smile, Kisaragi Ichika gently shook her head. "There's nothing that can't be said."

Although this was their family matter, and dirty laundry shouldn't be aired publicly, theoretically she shouldn't tell outsiders, after tonight's interaction she very much liked this cute, well-behaved, mature little girl who had handling abilities far beyond her age. In her heart, she already regarded Xifeng as half a daughter.

Since she was half a daughter, knowing some family matters was fine.

If Xifeng knew Kisaragi Ichika's thoughts, she would probably spit blood and fall to her knees—of course her mentality was mature, she was about to become a corporate slave, not a child.

"Actually, she became this way because both Yueyue's father and I bear inescapable responsibility." Kisaragi Ichika looked toward the door, as if trying to see Bei Yaoyue outside through it.

Xifeng sat up straight with the appearance of listening attentively.

"Little Yueyue wasn't like this when she was small." Showing a smile of unknown meaning, Kisaragi Ichika said quietly: "She was a very well-behaved child when young. Except for being slightly stubborn, she had almost no flaws and was always well-loved by everyone.

"When she was six, I tried letting her try painting with an experimental attitude. Unexpectedly, she showed amazing talent in painting and developed a strong interest in it.

"So I began intentionally cultivating her in the direction of art, and she always performed excellently, winning many domestic art awards multiple times.

"Such a promising good child nearly fell into an endless abyss because of our negligence.

"Taking a deep breath, Kisaragi Ichika closed her eyes, burying regret and self-blame deep in her eyes: "It was when she was about eight or nine years old. Right during the development of the new district, Yueyue's father was busy with his career, constantly traveling on business and rarely coming home. Coincidentally, during that time I needed to participate in research with the Japan Artists Association, spending most of my time far away in Japan, making it very inconvenient to return.

"During that period, both Yueyue's father and I had very little free time, basically only able to come home once or twice a year.

"Not seeing her parents more than a few times throughout the year, we knew Yueyue must have felt terrible, but due to career demands, we really couldn't get away and could only try to call and video chat with her more often.

"In just one year's time, Yueyue became increasingly cold toward us, rarely taking the initiative to call us. Later, when we came home, she was already unwilling to see us even once.

"But at that time, we still hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation. We just thought it was a child throwing a tantrum and didn't take it to heart, thinking she'd be fine once she grew up and became more understanding in a couple years.

"But what we never expected was that when she was twelve, she quietly ran away from home alone, leaving only a piece of paper with just one sentence: 'Since you don't need me, I'll leave on my own.'

"Learning of this, Yueyue's father and I took the overnight flight back to Crescent City and searched for three days and nights before finally finding her. But she absolutely refused to come home, even threatening to die, so we could only let her have her way.

"But she was really incredibly stubborn, insisting on living alone, refusing any help we offered. She even refused all living expenses, just short of proposing to sever the father-daughter relationship on the spot.

"From then on, twelve-year-old her lived alone, taking care of herself, earning money to support herself..."

Speaking to this point, Kisaragi Ichika's voice clearly trembled, her tone overflowing with unstoppable heartache: "A twelve-year-old child who had just graduated from elementary school, yet supporting all of her own life alone—only she herself understands the hardships involved.

"She's very independent, independent to a heartbreaking degree.

"I simply dare not imagine just how deeply we wounded her heart for her to make such a choice."

Her gaze lowered, Kisaragi Ichika's voice carried obvious loss and self-blame: "This incident finally made Yueyue's father and me realize our failure as parents. We abandoned most of our work and both returned to Crescent City, wanting to be by Yueyue's side, but it was already too late for regrets.

"What was lost could never come back.

"Yueyue was no longer that optimistic, cheerful, stubborn yet well-behaved child."

"This..."

After hearing Kisaragi Ichika's long account, Xifeng was momentarily speechless.

It sounded long, but summarized, it was actually very simple, even summarizable in one sentence—Bei Yaoyue lost the most important thing in her growth process: her parents.

When other children were playing and frolicking in their parents' arms, Bei Yaoyue could only sit alone in the art studio, painting her lonely feelings on a lifeless canvas.

The colorful canvas formed a stark contrast with the gray, gloomy clouds in her heart.

Without parental companionship, the harm this caused to a child under ten was simply unimaginable.

Losing her parents' education was an even more devastating blow to her healthy psychological development, no wonder Bei Yaoyue's personality was so withdrawn now.

As an orphan whose parents had both died, Xifeng could somewhat understand this pain, but only somewhat.

Her parents had passed away when she was fourteen. She hadn't experienced a childhood without parents, so she couldn't truly empathize.

Just as Xifeng was about to speak to comfort Kisaragi Ichika, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance.

Bei Yaochen and Bei Yaoyue, having apparently finished their conversation, walked in one after the other. Xifeng and Kisaragi Ichika very tacitly stopped this topic simultaneously.

After all, bringing this up in front of Bei Yaoyue would undoubtedly be cruelly tearing off the scab from an old wound.

"Have you thought it over?" Sitting beside Kisaragi Ichika, Bei Yaochen smiled at Xifeng: "If such a good girl like you is willing to become our adopted daughter, Ichika and I would both be very happy. Most importantly, Yueyue also likes you very much. I believe you can definitely get along well.

"Of course, if you're unwilling, we'll feel very regretful but will still respect your choice."

He both expressed his strong desire and subtly praised Xifeng, while also giving her sufficient face-saving options. Even if she refused, neither side would be embarrassed.

Just this one paragraph was enough to show Bei Yaochen's strong verbal skills and social abilities.

Should she agree or not?

Honestly, Xifeng had quite a good impression of Bei Yaoyue's parents.

Bei Yaochen had outstanding temperament, spoke with propriety and proper measure—clearly an old hand—and conversing with him could be called very comfortable.

Kisaragi Ichika was gentle and warm-hearted, her affection for her was evident, and her maternal love was almost overflowing.

So regarding becoming their adopted daughter, Xifeng herself didn't have much resistance. What she worried about instead was whether agreeing would cause trouble for the Bei Yao family.

Therefore, for a moment she didn't know whether she should agree to this matter, so she looked toward the silent Bei Yaoyue beside her, wanting to seek her master's opinion.

Reading the words in Xifeng's eyes, Bei Yaoyue opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, then said with a somewhat dry throat: "Agree."

Agree, this way you'll be my younger sister.

And I won't... have strange thoughts anymore, right?

Thinking this in her heart, she lowered her head, but her mind was in complete chaos.

She clearly wanted to promote this matter, but for some reason, when it really came to this final step, her mood became extremely terrible.

She even suddenly had the impulse to regret it on the spot, because she had a strange premonition in her heart—if Xifeng agreed, it would cause irreversible serious consequences.

But this feeling was like groundless suspicion, completely without basis, so it was suppressed deep in Bei Yaoyue's heart after just an instant.

Hearing Bei Yaoyue's words, Xifeng helplessly scratched her cheek. Even her own master had given the order, so even if she was unwilling now, she had to agree.

Bei Yaoyue's command was like the emperor's decree—it could not be disobeyed.

"Since Bei Yaoyue says so too, then I'll shamelessly agree. I hope Uncle and Auntie won't mind."

"Yokatta (Great)!" Kisaragi Ichika cheered quietly, even unconsciously speaking a sentence in her native language.

She pulled Xifeng into her arms, saying with joy: "What Uncle and Auntie? Quickly, call me Mama."

"...Mama."

Not having called this title for who knows how many years, Xifeng was momentarily dazed. The unfamiliar yet warm embrace gradually kindled a trace of warmth in her heart.

Watching Kisaragi Ichika holding her like a precious treasure, Bei Yaochen smiled knowingly. Since the incident of Bei Yaoyue running away from home, this was the first time he had seen Ichika show such a happy smile.

"Then tonight I'll have someone handle the adoption procedures." Saying this, Bei Yaochen observed Xifeng's expression and said: "Do you plan to change your name?"

"Eh?" Xifeng made a confused sound. "Change my name?"

"That is, whether you want to take Yueyue's father's surname." Kisaragi Ichika explained from the side.

"I'm just asking for your opinion. Whether to change your name is your freedom—we won't force anything." Bei Yaochen said.

Taking Bei Yaochen's surname... in other words, she would also change her surname to Bei Yao?

Thinking about it carefully, she felt there was actually nothing unacceptable about it.

She didn't have any sense of belonging to the surname Yu, because the surname left to her by the parents who truly gave her life was Jiang.

"If it's convenient, then let's change it."

She felt this was also respect for Bei Yaoyue's parents. After all, they had a large family and great fortune. Becoming an adopted daughter without even changing surnames would be somewhat inappropriate and might not look good to outsiders.

Nodding, Bei Yaochen asked again: "What about the given name? Do you have any ideas?"

Compared to the surname Yu, which was unimportant to her, the name Feng was what Xifeng found more precious.

Because this was one of the few things her deceased biological parents had left her.

Therefore, she didn't need much hesitation—she already had an answer in her heart.

"Let's call it... Bei Yaofeng."