Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The smile on Dad’s face froze in an instant.

He shot to his feet and raised his hand, swinging it toward my face. “How can you be so thoughtless?”

My stepmother kept saying, “Don’t hit her, don’t hit her,” but she was half a beat too slow to actually stop him.

I lifted my chin, huffing with indignation. “You can’t blame me for this. I’ve had diarrhea all day. Of course it affected my performance.”

Dad’s hand stopped midair, then immediately dropped back down.

His expression turned worried. “Why do you have diarrhea? How are you feeling now? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

So he didn’t end up hitting me.

My stepmother and Jiang Zhao looked pretty disappointed.

I softened my tone a little. “I’m fine now. It was probably because the fried dough sticks I had this morning weren’t clean.”

Dad frowned. “You have a weak stomach. Didn’t I tell you not to eat junk food from outside?”

“Auntie didn’t make breakfast, so I went out and bought something to eat.”

“When you’re not home for breakfast, that’s what we eat. Usually nothing happens.”

My stepmother’s face changed instantly.

She had been putting on one face in front of Dad and another behind his back for a long time.

Back then, I hadn’t understood. I had even stupidly helped cover for her.

Dad looked at my stepmother with a heavy gaze. “So this is how you take care of the children?”

My stepmother pressed her lips together, looking terribly aggrieved. “I only slack off once in a while. Xiao Zhao eats out all the time too, and she’s perfectly fine.”

Dad flew into a rage. “How is that the same? When Zhizhi was little, she had gastroenteritis and was hospitalized for a month.”

“Back then, Zizi and I stayed by her side day and night, terrified she might…”

At that point, Dad choked up and lowered his head.

He was thinking of my late mother.

I was deeply moved, but on the outside, I still looked as impatient as usual. “I’m not as fragile as I used to be.”

“From now on, I’ll eat at home. Happy?”

Let’s see my dear stepmother sleep in ever again!

After the meal was over, my stepmother and Jiang Zhao went to the restroom, while Dad and I waited for them downstairs.

The restaurant’s automatic doors opened and closed, letting in waves of summer heat that were quickly swallowed by the icy air-conditioning inside.

Dad stared out the window, his expression distant.

I scooted closer to him. “Dad, don’t blame Auntie too much. I’m not her biological daughter, after all. She can’t possibly take care of me the way Mom did.”

Dad drew his gaze back and let out a long sigh. “That’s right. You’re not her biological daughter, after all.”

He had been married to my stepmother for three years.

They already had a certain emotional foundation.

If I made a huge scene and demanded they divorce, he would only think I was willful and immature.

So if I wanted to break them apart…

I had to be patient. I couldn’t rush it!

That night, I overheard my stepmother talking to Jiang Zhao.

“Xiao Zhao, do you think Jiang Zhizhi has been deliberately going against me these last two times?”