Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: “Wildness And Docility Cannot Coexist.”

“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off. Please try again later.”

“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off…”

“…”

Lin Anran sat at the head of the bed, one arm hugging her knees, the other holding her phone tightly to her ear.

The mechanical, systematic prompt repeated over and over from the receiver.

Knowing clearly it wouldn’t connect, Lin Anran tirelessly dialed again and again, harboring a flicker of hope with every attempt.

She called from daybreak until nightfall, repeating the mechanical motion until her phone ran out of battery and shut down.

Her first reaction to the dead battery was panic. She was terrified that in the split second the phone died, Jiang Zhi might call back—terrified of missing her.

She scrambled to find the charging cable, connected it, and powered the device back on.

She stared at the screen expectantly, praying for a single missed call notification.

But the screen remained blank. The hand holding the phone slowly slumped down.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock, the door creaked open, and footsteps approached her.

Lin Anran turned a deaf ear, keeping her phone pressed to her side, immersed in her own world, filtering out everything around her.

Lin Yishu sighed softly as she looked at her sister—crouching miserably by the bed, clutching a phone tethered to a charger, mechanically making calls.

“Stop calling. Eat something. You haven’t eaten all day,” Lin Yishu urged gently.

Lin Anran acted as if Lin Yishu didn’t exist. Her eyes were hollow and vacant; she was too numb to stop the cycle of dialing.

Lin Yishu placed the meal tray aside. Unable to watch any longer, she stepped forward, leaned down, and snatched the phone away.

Her hands suddenly empty, Lin Anran froze for a moment, then lunged forward in a sudden fit of agitation to reclaim the device.

Lin Yishu hid the phone behind her back. “Stop it! She won’t answer. You’ve been calling for a day; haven’t you realized that yet?”

“Give it back! If I call one more time, she’ll pick up! Give it back to me!” Lin Anran cried out in frantic desperation.

She kept lunging forward. As her bare feet moved across the floor, the bandages on her soles—previously wrapped to treat her injuries—split open again.

Bright red blood soaked the gauze and stained the white carpet beneath her, looking gruesome and terrifying.

Heartbroken, Lin Yishu had no choice but to compromise and return the phone.

Once the phone was back in her hands, Lin Anran crouched back down by the bed, returning to her solitary world to resume her obsessive, meaningless calls.

Lin Yishu looked down at Lin Anran’s feet—a bloody mess—feeling a mixture of pity and helplessness.

Early that morning, Lin Yishu had received a call from the cook. After hearing what happened, she had rushed over immediately.

Upon arrival, she had found Lin Anran wandering aimlessly like a lost soul, barefoot, looking for someone.

Even though she knew the person was gone, she refused to accept reality, searching everywhere as if that would somehow make her appear.

Her soles had been sliced open during the process, leaving her bleeding profusely.

The usually delicate Lin Anran, who was so afraid of pain, seemed completely oblivious to it now, letting the blood seep out continuously.

It had taken Lin Yishu a monumental effort to coax her back into her room.

But being in the room didn’t seem much better. Outside, it was aimless searching; inside, it was meaningless calling. She was like one possessed, unable to be woken up.

“Eat first. How will you find her if you have no strength?” Lin Yishu held a bowl of porridge toward her.

Lin Anran slapped it away.

Smash.

The porcelain bowl shattered on the floor. The porridge splattered everywhere, creating a wretched mess.

Lin Yishu looked at the mess, then at the person still trying to make a phone call.

The usually gentle Lin Yishu felt a surge of anger.

“She’s gone! She’s the one who left without saying goodbye! She’s the one with the problem! She can’t see you like this, and she isn’t coming back. Do you understand?”

The usually sharp-tongued Lin Anran, who would normally snap back tenfold if criticized, remained silent. She was submerged in her own world.

She couldn’t hear the gentle persuasion, nor the stern reprimand.

With a heavy sigh, Lin Yishu didn’t know what to do with her younger sister. She couldn’t be coaxed or scolded awake.

She quietly cleaned up the spilled porridge and retreated from the room.

Lin Yishu went to find Lin Han.

In the study, Lin Han sat in a white suit, staring at a computer screen reviewing reports. Her expression was cold as ever, devoid of warmth.

It was as if she had no idea what was happening with Lin Anran.

But how could she not know? As the person in total control, she likely received the news before anyone else.

Lin Han knew everything. She knew Jiang Zhi was gone, and she knew Lin Anran was searching for her like a madwoman.

It was all within her control, all according to plan.

“Jiang Zhi is gone,” Lin Yishu stated calmly.

Lin Han’s gaze remained fixed on the monitor. She didn’t even spare a glance, offering only a cold, “Mm.”

Lin Yishu continued: “Our sister has been looking for her all day. Her feet are injured. She’s been calling her non-stop and won’t listen to anyone.”

Lin Han remained unresponsive. She didn’t even offer a hum this time.

“She hasn’t eaten all day,” Lin Yishu added.

Lin Han finally looked up, deigning to spare a glance. “Are you trying to tell me she’s on a hunger strike? Don’t worry, a person won’t starve to death when food is plenty. If she wants to throw a tantrum, let her.”

Lin Yishu took a deep breath, suppressing her rising temper, and spoke as calmly as possible:

“Is she the one throwing a tantrum? Isn’t this your doing? I don’t understand. If you were dissatisfied with Jiang Zhi from the start, you could have stopped them before the relationship matured. Why wait until it reached this point…”

Lin Han stopped typing. Her cold eyes swept over. “Are you very idle? You didn’t achieve any decent results in your last dance competition. If you have time to talk back here, you’d better go practice.”

Lin Yishu closed her eyes and exhaled. “Why did you have to drive Jiang Zhi away?”

Lin Han closed her laptop and folded her hands on the desk. “If a few words from me were enough to drive her away, it proves I wasn’t wrong about her. She’s useless.”

A flash of contempt crossed Lin Han’s indifferent eyes.

“You stabbed her right in the heart,” Lin Yishu said. “Who could stand that? She’s just an ordinary girl. How much psychological resilience did you expect her to have?”

“That’s enough,” Lin Han’s patience was exhausted. “I’m busy. I don’t have time for your nonsense.”

Lin Yishu opened her mouth to say more, then realized there was truly nothing left to say to Lin Han.

She turned to leave.

At the door, she paused.

“Actually, I never understood before why both of us are your sisters, yet you set such different standards for us.”

Lin Han was extremely strict with Lin Yishu. She had been trained in classical dance since childhood; she was required to win first place in every competition. A single mistake resulted in a cold-faced reprimand.

But Lin Anran, also her sister, had been pampered and indulged by Lin Han since she was a child.

She required nothing of Anran, set no goals, and granted almost every request Anran made.

Two sisters, two diametrically opposed attitudes.

At one point, when her legs were weak and aching from practice, or when she shared a second-place finish only to be scolded, Lin Yishu couldn’t help but feel jealous of her carefree younger sister.

But eventually, Lin Yishu realized a cruel reality.

Whether it was her or Lin Anran, there was actually no difference.

Both were living lives according to the direction Lin Han wanted. They had no room for choice.

Lin Han wanted her to follow the path of classical dance, so she had to stay on that path.

Lin Han wanted Lin Anran to be a spoiled princess, so Lin Anran had to become that person.

Everything had to follow the road Lin Han paved, without the slightest deviation.

“After the plane crash, when Mom and Dad died unexpectedly, you were only eighteen. You had to shoulder the weight of the entire Lin family. With our parents gone, the wolves and tigers came out,” Lin Yishu said softly.

“Everyone wanted a piece of the pie. It was you, my sister, who fought with everything you had to save the family business.”

“But I know that back then, your dream wasn’t to be the heir. You loved classical dance. Your dream was to be a dancer. But for the sake of the Lin Group, you gave up that dream.”

“You wanted me to inherit your dream, to be a second you. I felt for how hard it was for you, so I never disobeyed a single word, even though I didn’t love classical dance that much.”

“I wanted to fulfill your dream for you. So even if I didn’t like it, I persisted. But persisting until today… I’m a little tired.”

Lin Yishu was an extension of Lin Han’s dreams. So was Lin Anran.

Beyond the regret of giving up dance, Lin Han regretted losing her freedom and her wild, uninhibited personality.

When Lin Han was young, she wasn’t like this. She was sunny, lively, bold, and passionate.

She loved who she was then, but she could never go back. So, she gave Lin Anran absolute indulgence.

She let Lin Anran slowly become the version of Lin Han that lived in her youth.

Lin Yishu inherited her unfinished dance dream; Lin Anran inherited her passionate personality.

This was the life Lin Han planned for them—they were the continuations of her regrets.

The first problem arose when Lin Anran threw a glass of water at a servant. Lin Han had been furious and sent her to the magazine subsidiary to “train.”

Did Lin Han really think Anran was wrong? That she shouldn’t bully people or be arrogant?

Not exactly. She just felt Anran had deviated from the “character” she had designed.

Anran was supposed to be a pampered princess—wild and unrestrained, but with a foundation of kindness. She wasn’t supposed to bully the weak; that lowered her class.

When Lin Han saw Anran throw the water, she felt the carefully designed character was collapsing. Her “wild princess” had lost her inner kindness and was no longer perfect.

So, she sent her out to be “corrected.”

Later, Lin Anran and Jiang Zhi started dating. Lin Han didn’t care at first; she treated it like a princess wanting a pet. There was no reason to deny her.

But the princess seemed to care too much about the pet. It was getting out of control.

Most importantly, in the character Lin Han designed for Anran, the princess was supposed to be with a prince.

How could a princess be with an ordinary person? It was “wrong”; it didn’t fit the ideal persona.

So, she had to tear them apart. She had to bring the character back to the right track.

She wanted to dance, but her burdens prevented it—so Lin Yishu had to do it.

She wanted a carefree life as a wild princess, but she carried the entire Lin family—so Lin Anran had to have it.

Lin Han had always been this way. She wasn’t pampering her sisters; she was living the life she originally wanted through them.

Lin Yishu’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you. You sacrificed everything for the family. But I am a person, and Anran is a person. We have our own lives; we can’t live according to your plan forever.”

“Since you gave Anran a wild personality, you should understand that such a vivid, untamed person cannot be a puppet to be manipulated.”

“Wildness and docility are opposites. They cannot coexist in one person.”

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