Chapter 175: Chapter 173: What Makes a Qualified Parent?

Old Ye was stunned. "Probably... I care about both."

"And if you could only choose one?"

He didn’t seem to have expected Doctor Wen to ask such a question. If he could only choose one, would it be his daughter’s grades or his daughter’s health?

’Health, of course.’ 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’But if a person isn’t even healthy, then grades... grades still seem pretty important.’

Wen Ying didn’t rush him, simply waiting for his answer.

After a few minutes, he said, "Her health, I guess."

His emotions were clearly still complicated as he said it.

"Since you care about your daughter’s health, Mr. Ye, why not let her rest for a few days?"

"Well... the school has invited a renowned teacher for the next few days, and I heard the material is very important. After this period, I’ll let her rest for a few days."

"So your daughter’s physical and mental health still isn’t as important as her studies, is that it? It seems you’ve already made your choice deep down."

"That’s not what I mean, I just—"

"Just trying to find a suitable excuse for your choice, one that doesn’t seem too unreasonable, so you can convince yourself it’s all for your daughter’s own good," Wen Ying finished his sentence for him.

"Doctor Wen, your tone sounds like you’re mocking me."

"You’re overthinking it, Mr. Ye. After all, she’s your daughter. Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me."

"Doctor Wen, what on earth do you mean by that? Am I wrong for making her study? Isn’t talking about death a bit too extreme?"

Wen Ying thought for a moment, then found the right words. "Not really. After all, when the time comes, she’ll be free once it’s all over. You and your wife will have to live with a lifetime of guilt. For her, that’s pretty good, isn’t it?"

Old Ye’s pupils dilated as he stared at Wen Ying in disbelief.

"Doctor Wen, are you saying... my daughter will try to kill herself?"

The thought was just too insane, too unbelievable.

"Doctor Wen, could you be mistaken in your assessment?"

"Mr. Ye, do you believe you’ve given her the best life? The best food and drink in her class, name-brand gifts, all just so she can study in peace without getting caught up in comparing herself to her classmates. Anything she wants, you buy it as soon as she asks. So she should be the happiest person alive, right?

You even think that everything you do is for her."

Old Ye nodded. That was exactly it; he couldn’t argue with that.

"Then do you remember what you and her mother said to her the time she got third place in her class on an exam?"

Old Ye thought about it, but ultimately shook his head. ’He hadn’t said anything too harsh to his daughter, had he?’

"You feel you’ve provided her with everything, so she must repay you with the best grades. She was planning to buy a manga, but because her score dropped by five points, you decided that reading manga was a frivolous distraction. You believed that because she had such interests, she didn’t improve at all on this latest test and actually did worse.

Before the exam, she told you she was feeling dizzy, but you paid no attention, did you? The truth is, she could have done well, but being sick affected her performance. Your reaction made her feel like she’s just a tool for you to show off her grades to others. That she shouldn’t, couldn’t, have her own interests.

She told you she always feels like someone is watching her. She saw a pair of eyes once, and several times she felt those eyes staring at her from outside, but you never believed her."

Mr. Ye’s brow furrowed. His expression grew serious as he listened to Wen Ying without a word.

After a long pause, he asked, "So, she wants to kill herself because of all this?"

Mr. Ye still couldn’t accept it—that she would want to abandon her parents and end it all just because of these things.

"Yes and no. Let’s just say those factors account for about half of it."

Mr. Ye looked at Wen Ying, his gaze complicated. "Then what should I do?"

"I told you. There are eyes outside her window."

"You mean the eyes are real? But I’ve checked, I really have. There’s nothing there."

"Has any student in your daughter’s class had an accident?"

"That?"

Mr. Ye thought for a moment. It seemed like there had been, but he wasn’t sure. He had a vague impression, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

"Doctor Wen, please wait a moment. Let me ask my wife. I’m too busy with work to remember these things. My wife is in the class group chat; she should know everything."

Mr. Ye took out his phone and sent a message to his wife.

A few minutes later, he looked at Wen Ying with a complicated expression. "Doctor Wen, a boy in their class had an accident last year. Because their school is a key high school, the academic pressure is immense. The boy probably couldn’t take it, so he jumped from a building."

Mr. Ye summarized the incident with that simple sentence.

"What was your daughter’s relationship with this student?"

Mr. Ye sent another message to his wife.

"It seems they were just regular classmates. The kids in their class are all focused on studying every day. They wouldn’t be dating."

"Are you sure he and your daughter were just ordinary classmates?"

Doctor Wen’s question made Mr. Ye, who had been about to answer with a definitive "yes," pause.

’Could that boy’s relationship with his daughter really have been unusual? No, that’s impossible!’

Wen Ying smiled. "I’ll say it again: if you only care about her grades, you can ignore all of this and keep forcing her to study hard. But if you insist that you care about her physical and mental health, then you’d better have a good talk with your child, rather than making her afraid of you and instilling a sense of terror."

"Doctor Wen, what about the eyes?"

Wen Ying didn’t reply. Instead, she took out one of several thin hemp cord bracelets she had woven a few days ago and pulled the ballpoint pen from her hair bun.

She drew an unknown pattern on the bracelet.

Seeing Wen Ying’s actions, Mr. Ye immediately fell silent, not daring to disturb her.

After a few minutes, Wen Ying handed the bracelet to Mr. Ye. "Two thousand yuan."

Mr. Ye immediately took out his phone to scan the code and pay. Only then did he look at the simple, rustic, yet extraordinary bracelet.

The bracelet was quite nicely woven. If it were sold online, it would probably go for a few yuan a piece.

But the bracelet Doctor Wen gave him had something drawn on it. As Mr. Ye focused on the bracelet’s pattern, he rubbed his eyes. What pattern? It was a string of numbers. The digits 0 through 9 had been scrambled and reassembled into a random sequence, with different colors on different numbers.

’Could this be some kind of Morse code?’

’Does it require a special tool? That ballpoint pen?’

"Have her wear this bracelet. As long as you stop forcing her to study to death, stop distrusting her, stop forbidding her from expressing her own opinions, and let her rest for a few days, nothing else will happen."

Mr. Ye nodded, but he still wanted to ask what was going on with the eyes.

’But why won’t Doctor Wen tell him?’

"As for the eyes, perhaps your daughter will tell you herself after you’ve changed. And even if you don’t like the answer she gives you, do not repeat your previous behavior."

Just as the matter was drawing to a close, Old Jiang also walked in from the backyard.