Waking up from her memories, Yuling went out with the empty basin and quickly brought back a basin of warm water. She came to the bedside, wrung out the water with a towel, and carefully wiped the sweat from her mother's forehead.

Afterwards, he put the towel down and sat quietly beside her, looking at her. The more he looked, the more distressed he felt. It seemed that he had not looked directly at his mother for a long time. He didn't even know when her face got dark circles, when she got more wrinkles, and when she became sick.

Yuling has always known that her mother loved her very much, but she didn't know why she suddenly became so strict with her.

Thinking back carefully, it seems like all these changes happened in the third month since I came to this island...

–

It was a new day again. Yuling was busy on the island. She hadn't seen her mother all day. Then a group of distinguished guests came to the island. While she was serving them, she was rewarded with an apple.

It was the first time for Yuling to see fruit. Oh no, it wasn’t the first time. She only saw others eating it. She had no chance to touch it. She could only envy them. While watching others eat, she would secretly swallow her saliva and imagine the taste.

After receiving the gift, Yu Ling happily hid the apple, and then looked around for her mother, wanting to share it with her.

But at this time, a girl who was not much older than her appeared, followed by two little girls of the same age, and they arrogantly stopped Yu Ling.

When Yu Ling saw them, the subordinate holding the apple in his arms shuddered and took a step back vigilantly. It was them again!

She didn't know when it started, but the three of them always disliked her, made things difficult for her, and blocked her from time to time. Whenever they met her, they couldn't help but ridicule her, and in more serious cases, they would throw stones or mud.

Yu Ling frowned and said nervously, "What are you going to do?"

"You dirty girl, you're not working hard, are you just being lazy?"

The leading girl looked at Yu Ling with disgust. This girl was dirty all year round, her clothes were also dirty, and she dressed like neither man nor woman. She was really annoying and anyone wanted to beat her up when they saw her.

"I..."

Yu Ling subconsciously wanted to refute, but she thought of what her mother had said, so she swallowed the rebuttal and prepared to avoid them and not bother with them.

But when the leading little girl saw her like this, she thought that she was still so easy to bully. And since she had nothing to do at the moment, she became interested and prepared to teach her a lesson.

Three children who were older than Yuling teased her maliciously and left her covered in mud and footprints.

Even so, she still held her arms tightly, and even when she was pushed to the ground and thrown in the mud, she showed no signs of loosening her grip, but instead held it tighter and tighter.

The leading girl saw her hands protecting her chest, and with a sharp turn of her eyes, she guessed that there must be something good, so she gave the other two a look.

The other two understood what he meant and stepped forward tacitly. One of them grabbed one of Yu Ling's arms and controlled her in a surrendering posture.

The leading girl walked up slowly and looked her up and down, seemingly not paying attention to her vigilant gaze. Finally, she locked her eyes on her arms, which were bulging and trying to cover up.

"Hey, what is this?"

The leading girl smiled and reached for her clothes.

Yu Ling was so anxious that if she let her mother see it, she would not be able to keep even the apple peel. No! No! She still had to feed her mother!

When she was about to touch the edge of her clothes, Yu Ling suddenly burst out with strength, broke free from control, and pushed hard, knocking down the defenseless leading girl.

After the other two followers recovered from their shock, they did not bother to teach Yu Ling a lesson, but instead hurriedly tried to help their fallen leader.

Yu Ling's courage just now disappeared completely, and her face turned apologetic, as if she felt sorry for pushing her down, and she even forgot how she was bullied by them just now.

However, touching the intact apple in her arms, she was still happy. While the three men didn't react, Yu Ling immediately ran in the opposite direction. By the time the three men reacted and wanted to settle the score with her, she had already disappeared.

Helplessly, Yu Ling rode away, leaving only a cloud of dust. The three people on the spot immediately ran away in anger, cursing. The words that came out of their mouths and the viciousness that appeared on their faces were not at all like those of children in their teens.

Behind a big tree not far away, Zhao Yuyan, with a pale face, loosened his clenched fists, looked at Yu Ling's running back with heartache, and soon followed her away.

Yuling dodged and returned to her residence, where she waited for her mother excitedly, and from time to time she looked outside anxiously to see if she was there.

She even took the time to wash herself because she was afraid that her mother would worry about her appearance.

Afterwards, she held the washed apples in her hands and waited quietly. Even though she was swallowing saliva like crazy, she still waited for her mother to come back and eat together.

Yuling didn't have to wait long before Zhao Yuyan came back.

As soon as Yu Ling saw her mother, she immediately took out the intact apple from her arms like a treasure and said, "Mom, eat it!"

Zhao Yuyan looked at the little hand stretched out with a pale face. There was no trace of the apple in her eyes at all. Instead, she focused on the rough little hands. The little hands should have been soft and tender, but they were rough due to years of hard work. How could she, as a mother, accept this?

Her Yu Ling was supposed to be a daughter of an official family, but now she had to suffer hardships with her and work non-stop at such a young age. She should have been enjoying wealth and glory and never had to worry about food and drink, but now she was bullied just to protect an apple.

Just an apple, the one that she used to despise, has now become a delicacy that is out of reach for Yu Ling...

Thinking of this, tears couldn't help but fall from her eyes, one drop, two drops, slowly becoming uncontrollable, like a flood releasing from a dam.

At this moment, Zhao Yuyan shed tears that had accumulated for nearly ten years.

Reluctance, anger, sadness, helplessness, hatred and powerlessness mixed together and pushed her mental bottom line.

Yuling seemed to be frightened, and her hands holding the apple were shaking. Zhao Yuyan slowly squatted down and hugged her tightly, with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to strangle her.

However, the sensible Yu Ling did not struggle, because she felt the uneasiness coming from her mother and knew that her mother was not feeling well at the moment. So the sensible girl silently endured the discomfort in her waist, holding the apple tightly in her hand, thinking about giving it to her mother after her mood calmed down.

The idle little hands patted her back from time to time, and the little Yu Ling was comforting her with her weak strength.

That night, Yuling and Zhao Yuyan sweetly shared the apple that was saved by Yuling's bravery.

Zhao Yuyan felt that that apple was the sweetest, most delicious, and most unforgettable apple she had ever eaten in her life or even in the next. At the same time, she gradually became convinced of that idea.

From that day on, Zhao Yuyan seemed like a different person. The gentle smile on his face disappeared, and he became strict with Yu Ling.

From the beginning, I taught her to be patient when encountering problems, and to take a step back to see the bigger picture. Now, I will not offend others unless they offend me, but I will definitely offend them if they offend me.

From behavior to how one conducts oneself in society.

The more doting you were in the past, the more strict you are now.

The simple Yu Ling simply couldn't accept her sudden indifference.

It's not that Zhao Yuyan can't see her tears and her fear, but she has to harden her heart.

If she were in good health, she would never treat Yuling like this. But now that she knows she will not live long, what should she do with Yuling?