Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It took just over an hour to get from the welfare home to a mansion in a neighborhood where every inch of land was worth a fortune.

My biological parents’ eyes were red, and they couldn’t stop staring at me.

The front doors swung open, and a world of luxury unfolded before me.

They took me by the hand and introduced me to everything in the house-the bedroom and study they had prepared for me, the school I would soon be transferring to, and so on.

But then their words abruptly trailed off, and they both became a little hesitant.

“Lingyun, you have an older twin brother and a younger sister, but they…”

From that wording alone, I could more or less guess what attitude this so-called brother and sister of mine had toward me.

It made sense. Even if we were related by blood, to this family right now, I was a stranger. An intrusion.

I parted my lips, about to say it was fine.

The next second, the front doors were pushed open.

A flamboyant figure strode in, his hair dyed an eye-catching red.

The boy, who bore some resemblance to me, looked me up and down first, then said with a careless grin, “So this is my big little sister, huh? Your big brother dyed his hair red specially to celebrate you coming home. Festive enough for you?”

And that wasn’t all.

Behind him was a little girl with side-swept bangs, holding pomelo leaves, a peachwood sword, and yellow talismans. Her voice rang out loud and clear.

“Sis, I got these from a master specially for you. They’ve even been blessed. They’ll cleanse away your bad luck!”

I fell silent for a moment.

Then I turned my head and saw that my biological parents also looked like they had a thousand words stuck in their throats.

“…”

Before I was brought back, the director of the welfare home had earnestly told me, “Lingyun, every family has its own troubles. After you go back, don’t resent your parents or your siblings too much. You still have a long life ahead of you. Don’t live in the past.”

The director probably never imagined that while every family had its own troubles, mine had two volumes’ worth.

Before I could even say anything, my biological father snapped first.

“Wen Jun’an, what nonsense are you dragging your little sister into now? Didn’t I tell you Lingyun was coming home today?”

The boy named Wen Jun’an, born on the same day as me, didn’t sound particularly respectful toward our father.

“Yeah. Aren’t I welcoming my sister home?”

The little girl beside him said nothing. She just kept flicking water at me with the pomelo leaves while muttering under her breath.

Like she was performing an exorcism.

Then, with utter devotion, she stuffed the yellow talismans and peachwood sword into my hands, her eyes big and bright.

“Sis, keep the talismans on you at all times. Put this peachwood sword in your bedroom to ward off evil.”

My father grabbed the feather duster from the wall, looking murderous.

“Ward off evil? The evil she needs to ward off most is the two of you! Wen Jun’an! Wen Shuyan! You two, stop right there!”

That left my mother and me staring at each other. She tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“Lingyun, our family is a little… lively. Don’t take it to heart.”

Most of the sadness from earlier had been scattered by that pair of siblings.

On the first day my biological parents brought me home, I witnessed my dad chasing his children around with a feather duster, trying to beat them.

The teenage boy ran circles around the courtyard at lightning speed. Every now and then, he would even turn back and wait for his middle-aged father to catch up, only to dart away again the instant the feather duster was about to land on him.

It made the wheezing old father look especially pitiful.

“…”

Those two siblings must have been born as demon pills.

In the end, the villa echoed with one final shout:

“Wen Jun’an, dye that red chicken-feather head of yours black tomorrow!”