Murphy had run back first, crying her heart out on the big bed, feeling utterly wronged. The only thought left in her mind was: "Really, I’m really not going to talk to him anymore. This guy is still so infuriating, he hasn’t changed at all!"
In fact, Yang Yi hadn’t been much better before, even worse than today. But back then, Murphy hadn’t been upset enough to cry; she’d just been angry and annoyed. Today’s grievance was mainly because, over these past days, she had mentally accepted Yang Yi and grown fond of his constant, meticulous doting. So now, when Yang Yi suddenly showed this temper, she found it hard to bear.
She didn’t know how long had passed. Murphy had stopped crying, still lying in the same position, face down on the bed in a daze, her mind wandering over who knows what.
Suddenly, a soft knock came at the door, snapping Murphy out of it. She turned over in a daze, staring fixedly at the bedroom door.
"Murphy, it’s me..." Yang Yi’s low voice came from outside. "I was wrong just now. What I said was a bit too much."
Murphy pouted in grievance, unable to stop a few golden teardrops from falling from the corners of her eyes.
"It really was my fault, but I didn’t mean it that way. Maybe there was a problem with how I expressed it, leading to a misunderstanding on your part. So now, let’s not get worked up. Let’s both calm down and talk openly, okay?" Yang Yi said softly.
It seemed that their being able to talk openly and resolve the misunderstanding was something many people wished for...
Murphy actually wanted to talk things through with Yang Yi too, but thinking back to how he had just snapped at her, she puffed out her cheeks and thought to herself: "I’m not talking to this guy! I can’t pay him any attention!"
Yes, she needed to give him the cold shoulder!
She couldn’t indulge his reckless personality!
The bedroom door was locked, and Yang Yi tried the handle but couldn’t get in.
After a while, there was no sound from the door.
Murphy couldn’t help it. She turned her head to look, feeling wronged again: "He only said two sentences of apology and then just went silent like that? He’s so patient with Xixi, but does he not care about me at all?"
Though she knew she shouldn’t be jealous of Xixi, and she understood that Yang Yi wasn’t mature in matters of the heart, she still felt a lump in her chest.
"If you just insisted a little longer, I would have opened the door for you..." A thought popped into Murphy’s mind, but another thought fought against it: "No, no way. Didn’t I say I wouldn’t pay any attention to this jerk?"
"Thump!" A strange noise came from the small balcony of the master bedroom, loud enough to startle Murphy. She turned to look, only to see Yang Yi appearing like a divine soldier descending from the sky, landing on the small balcony, then clapping his hands as he walked in.
"I didn’t hear any sound from inside, so I thought something had happened to you. Good, good!" He let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw her looking at him with slightly swollen but still bright eyes.
"How... how did you get over here?" Murphy was stunned.
It wasn’t just a simple jump from balcony to balcony; the living room’s large balcony and the bedroom’s small balcony were six or seven meters apart! Even a normal person with a running start couldn’t jump four or five meters!
Yang Yi explained, "I came from the big balcony, grabbing the eaves, and then swung over a few times. It wasn’t too hard." Afraid Murphy didn’t understand, he gestured, like a monkey swinging through the trees...
In truth, seeing how worried he was about her, the anger that had been simmering in Murphy’s heart had already vanished. But the lingering grievance made her unwilling to soften toward Yang Yi just yet.
So, when Yang Yi saw her sit up on the bed with a cold face, turning her head away and refusing to look at him, it felt like when they first met—Murphy had come to pick up her daughter, and they had exchanged few pleasantries before lapsing into mutual coldness.
But Yang Yi didn’t want to go back to that. He liked seeing Murphy smile.
"What I said earlier was too harsh. I’m sorry." Yang Yi stood there, speaking in a low voice.
"Is saying sorry enough?" Murphy turned her head to the side, pouting, her voice cold.
"You can do whatever you want. Or I’ll let you hit me, and I won’t fight back," Yang Yi said.
Murphy snorted and fell silent again.
Yang Yi truly didn’t know how to handle this kind of situation. He had no idea how to soothe a woman, so they remained at a standoff.
"Forget it..." After a while, Murphy sighed inwardly. She knew Yang Yi wasn’t the smooth-talking type, so she stopped waiting for him to coax her.
She turned her head, looking at him coldly, and asked, "You said I look down on you because of your low education, and that I don’t think you’re qualified to be Xixi’s dad. Why do you think that?"
"Because you care a lot about education." Seeing Murphy finally speak, Yang Yi’s nervousness and anxiety eased, and he quickly said, "You’ve brought up education with me more than once. But why is education so important? Is it the standard for measuring a person’s talent?"
Murphy understood. She shot Yang Yi a glare and said, "I do care about education, but not about yours. I want my daughter to get into a good university and earn a higher degree. Is that wrong?"
Huh? Yang Yi was a bit confused.
"The reason I care so much about education is that I’ve seen it happen. There was a senior in the entertainment industry who sang very well, but because he only had an elementary school education, he was humiliated by people from the literary association at a cross-industry event!" Murphy vividly remembered the helpless smile of that senior on a variety show, even though he told it as a joke.
"I don’t look down on you, and I wouldn’t look down on anyone with a low education. But I don’t want my daughter to be looked down on!" Murphy said. "Do you understand my concerns?"
So that was it. The knot in Yang Yi’s heart instantly unraveled. He couldn’t help but feel ashamed, realizing he had misunderstood Murphy for so long—even though his past self should bear most of the blame, Yang Yi took it all upon himself.
"I’m sorry, I misunderstood you!" Yang Yi sighed softly. "If there’s anything I can do to make up for the hurt I caused you, please tell me."
Still as straightforward as ever... Who apologizes like that?
Murphy was caught between laughter and tears at Yang Yi’s words, but she didn’t want to laugh. She coldly asked the question that had been on her mind for a long time, the reason she had called him a jerk earlier: "I have one more question. Why do you think I’m being insincere with you?"