Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I had never been likable, not since I was little.

For some reason, despite being their biological daughter, I didn’t resemble my parents in the slightest.

The oval face the Qin Family took such pride in, that narrow, delicate, elegant bone structure-none of it showed on me. Compared to Qin Zhou’s petite height of 162 centimeters, I had shot up to 174 with a bowl cut and a sharp, diamond-shaped face that looked downright aggressive.

I had once lamented to her about it, envying how dainty and delicate she was, while I was more like a roc spreading its wings.

And that wasn’t even the worst part. Compared to my sister’s naturally outstanding ability to learn, I was a complete and utter academic failure. Even burning the midnight oil every night couldn’t beat her casually flipping through a book. As for Mom and Dad, they simply let it be. Toward me, they were cold and neglectful.

Grandmother, whose word was law in the family, treated me with something closer to severity.

In this house, the only person who loved me gently was my sister, Qin Zhou.

Perhaps what occupied the mind during the day would return in dreams at night.

That night, I had that dream again. What made it terrifying to think about was that the dream actually continued from before.

In the dream, Li Xinghe was swept under a car. Both his arms were mangled by shattered glass. His older brother, Li Xinglan, searched everywhere for renowned psychologists to treat him, and for some reason, he ended up finding Qin Zhou.

After spending some time together in private, their relationship advanced by leaps and bounds. They even crossed a substantial line behind “my” back.

What followed was a whole ten thousand words’ worth of two sisters turning against each other over a man. After a series of melodramatic plotlines involving cheating, miscarriage, abortion, and all the rest, Grandmother stood outside Qin Zhou’s hospital room, slapped me hard on her behalf, and shouted for me to get out.

“A bastard picked up from outside thinks she can count as one of the Qin Family?”

The dream was too real.

And too painful.

So painful that I woke up crying at that point. When I reached out and touched my pillow towel, it was covered in mottled tearstains.

I had often dreamed, ever since I was little, that I wasn’t Mom and Dad’s biological daughter. But never once had it felt this real, this vivid.

Thank goodness it was only a dream.

I kept comforting myself, hypnotizing myself into forgetting it as quickly as possible. I had just shuffled to the door in my slippers when I saw an old woman with a head full of silver hair standing by the stair railing, frowning at me.

“Qin Meng, why are you home?”

Before I could hide back in my room, she had already walked up to me. Her two deep nasolabial lines faced me like carved grooves, and her tone carried authority even without anger.

“Why did you come back halfway? Didn’t you get along with the Li Family?”

“…I’m sorry, Grandmother.”

Even with my head lowered, I could still feel that contemptuous gaze, as if it meant to pierce right through me.

“Look at you. That permed hair makes you look like some cheap little vixen. How do you look like one of the Qin Family at all?”

“I know I was wrong. I’ll go get it straightened tomorrow.”

“Hmph. The only thing you’re good at is talking.” She gave a cold laugh. “If you know you were wrong, go to the study and reflect on yourself.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

I didn’t dare talk back. I could only go to the study in silence and face the wall alone.

In truth, compared to the other tormenting methods this old woman had, being punished by standing was the mildest of them all.

Sometimes it lasted a whole day. Sometimes an entire afternoon.

But even this mild a punishment had never been imposed on Qin Zhou the way it was on me. Not once.

With my sister, she was always a little less harsh, a little more affectionate. When their two similarly narrow, elegant faces leaned together, anyone could see the depth of their blood ties at a glance.

Thinking back on the past, I, a twenty-five-year-old overgrown girl who still had to suffer corporal punishment, couldn’t describe what I felt.

As I faced the wall, the landline rang behind me.

I had no right to answer the family phone. My grandmother picked up the receiver, smiling so broadly that every wrinkle on her face folded into pleats.

“Old Li, are you busy?”

“Me? I’m just an idle old woman. How could I compare to you?”

“What? Xinghe was in a car accident?”

At that, my mind buzzed.

Behind me, the old woman’s voice gradually blurred. She seemed to exchange a few more pleasantries before hanging up the phone very soon after.

“Qin Meng?”

“Qin Meng!”

“Ah?!”

The old woman in front of me had a dark expression, her face terribly grim. “The Li Family’s second boy got into a car accident. Call your sister. When you have time, go visit him together.”

“Oh, okay.”

“The Li Family has only two boys in this generation. You have to secure at least one of them, understand?”

“…I understand, Grandmother.”

Perhaps she had other things to do, because this time she did not criticize me too harshly. She raised the matter high but let it fall lightly, merely giving me one cold, cutting glance before leaving.

Once again, I was the only one left in the study.

Facing the empty wall, my heart pounded like a drum, and my soul felt like it had left my body.

I didn’t know whether that dream was true or false, but Li Xinghe really had been in a car accident.

If the dream was real, then…

I swallowed, turned around, and looked toward the safe not far away.

Unexpectedly, the iron door there was not locked tight as usual, but left ajar. The inside was not large. On the upper shelf sat a wooden tray, neatly arranged with gold bars and jade pieces. On the lower shelf were several bound business contracts, all with covers marked top secret.

I didn’t dare rummage through the valuables. I only dared sneak a look through the contracts. The few placed at the very bottom had already yellowed, their edges brittle and scorched-looking.

They were clearly old items.

I picked up a few sheets of paper and only gave the contents a brief glance.

Tears came pouring down.