“Of course.” Jiang Feng curled his lips into a smile, then continued, “And Uncle, Aunt, and Xiao Yaoyao are all doing well—especially Xiao Yaoyao. It’s a pity you haven’t met her; otherwise, you’d definitely get along great with her.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Then when I get the chance, I must go meet her.”

“No problem at all. Let’s go together when we’re both free,” Jiang Feng replied casually, before slightly furrowing his brow and turning to Lin Xi: “It’s just that Aunt….”

“She…”

Lin Xi’s feelings toward this person were rather complicated.

But overall, she was still Ming Kai and Ming Yue’s mother, and Lin Xi still hoped for the best for her.

Seeing the look on Jiang Feng’s face, she knew things weren’t looking good, so she didn’t even ask further—instead, she swallowed the words that had already risen to her throat.

Jiang Feng let out a helpless sigh. “She’s a typical coward who avoids reality by hurting herself and those closest to her. Over the years, she’s caused quite a bit of trouble for Yue’er and Uncle—sometimes lucid, sometimes completely deranged. I think only when Ming Kai actually walks right back in front of her will she start to improve a little bit.”

“She hit Yue’er?” Lin Xi asked.

Jiang Feng lowered his eyes slightly and nodded. “She rarely hits her—only during severe episodes. But she does scold her often. The last time we visited, she happened to be having another episode and went off on Yue’er again. This time, though, Yue’er didn’t put up with it—she stood up to her and they exchanged harsh words. After that, Aunt seemed much calmer.”

“Aunt… well, how should I put it…” Lin Xi sighed deeply. “She’s a bit obsessive, a bit stubborn, and a bit prone to bullying the weak. When faced with people who cross every line to torment her, she’ll keep enduring and backing down—until there’s nowhere left to retreat, and then she chooses to run away. But when it comes to the people who love her, the ones who are emotionally subordinate to her, she’s often the cruelest of all. Back when Grandma was like this, Grandpa was like this, and Yue’er is like this too. It’s really… hard to judge!”

“To put it bluntly, she’s just weak—she bullies the weak and cowers before the strong. She doesn’t dare raise her fist or wield her blade against anyone stronger, yet she keeps striking out again and again at those weaker than herself.”

He despised people like that above all else.

Such people may be pitiable, but they’re also hateful, because not only do they fail to protect the people around them—they’re the very ones most likely to hurt those closest to them, the very people who love and respect them.

If she weren’t Ming Yue’s mother—if she weren’t one of the people Ming Yue cared about most—Jiang Feng wouldn’t even bother to spend so much effort trying to help her; he’d probably feel like he needed a good wash just to look at her.

Lin Xi didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Jiang Feng said.

Based on her many years of experience and her interactions with that aunt, this was indeed her true way of behaving.

Jiang Feng didn’t want to dwell on the subject too much.

So he quickly changed the topic: “I ran into him when I came back to Ningcheng this time. I talked to him about a few things and tried to make some sense of it. You can tell he really wants to meet Yue’er and the others, to finally acknowledge them as his family. But it’s also obvious that he still has a lot of reservations.”

“Of course.”

If he didn’t have so many worries—if he weren’t always afraid of the wolf in front and the tiger behind—how could he have disappeared for so many years without ever showing up again?

At the end of the day, he must have made some terrible plans.

And yet she insists on breaking those plans!

Why can’t there be one more person living a good life in this wonderful world? She’s such a dazzling person—why must she live forever in the shadows?

End of Chapter 234: Counterattack 161