240 – True Face (真面孔)
Hearing w.a.n.g Xin Fang speaking like this, Jing Yun Zhao actually felt the stuffiness in her heart clear up.
Every time she met w.a.n.g Xin Fang, she would always feel a little uncomfortable. ‘Our mindset frames how we view the world’1 , this idiom had its own logic to it. From head to toe, w.a.n.g Xin Fang exuded the aura of a petty and calculative housewife, but every time they met, she would always want to act out a wretched drama. She always felt that something was off.
Or so to say, this ‘mother’ was always pretending previously, which made her look a little awkward.
If one wanted pa.s.sionate, Xiao Hai Qing was pa.s.sionate, Old Grandpa Gan and that family’s treatment of her was equally as pa.s.sionate, but they were different from w.a.n.g Xin Fang. They were not like her seemingly always preparing for her next sentence, always showing a pitiful and worried expression in front of her, or even the faintly discernible unique look in their eyes, as if she was looking forward to herself bawling as she recognized her family and from then on be at her beck and call.
The external expressions and internal reality did not align.
She had felt this way ever since the first time she met the two, but there were still some things she could not word.
“Give in to my brother? What’s the context? Is it to get me to drop out of school to take care of his food, clothing and everyday life?” Jing Yun Zhao was looking at the table of piping hot dishes, but her heart was freezing.
Her foster parents were like this, her biological parents were also like this. Just how many lifetimes did she behave like a villain for her to have to deserve such torture? (Kyo: poor girl)
w.a.n.g Xin Fang sighed, “Daughter, it’s not that Mom doesn’t love you. You say how many years you haven’t been home, but the moment you’re back you don’t get along with your younger siblings. Wouldn’t our family become even messier? As the say goes, ‘if the family lives in harmony all affairs will prosper’; your younger siblings are still so young, you should just bear with it when you give in to them…”
“Our family situation is already like this. We have no money and we’ve already decided before to support your second sister for another year before getting her to drop out. Now it’s better, you two can drop out together and we can take back the land we rented out.2 In the future, our lives would definitely improve…”
Jing Yun Zhao’s face had become as frigid as ice and frost.
She had thought that she’d be able to tolerate it for a few days, at least until they had coaxed her into calling herself ‘Mom’ before she became biased again, but she never thought she wouldn’t be able to hold it in for even a day.
“You talk as if it’s my fault I haven’t been home for so many years,” Jing Yun Zhao’s voice was light as she continued, “Since you’re already being so honest, then you can also openly answer the question I’ve been wondering for a while. That year, was it you who threw me away or was it the elder?”
“Your grandmother did,” w.a.n.g Xin Fang turned her head to give Jing Tie Jun a look as she spoke.
Aside, Jing Xiu’s body trembled.
“Then where did the jade on my neck come from? Is it a family heirloom or something bought outside?” Jing Yun Zhao asked again.
“That’s something your grandfather pa.s.sed down to me, and I tied it to your neck. Your grandmother didn’t know,” Jing Tie Jun explained.
“One last question. You’ve never seen me in more than a decade, how did you recognize me the moment you saw me? Don’t tell me it’s because you saw the jade hanging on my neck anymore, I usually wouldn’t wear that thing above my clothes!” Jing Yun Zhao’s voice was sharp as she interrogated the pair.
This couple’s words were too vague. They were definitely lying!
If the results of the paternity test wasn’t wrong, then it should be this pair of parents who threw me away with their own hands!
“Eldest! You are our daughter, how could I not recognize you? The fact that the moment I saw you and could confirm you were my daughter without mistake, doesn’t that prove that I found the right person? Do you want me to take out the results of the paternity test for you to check again? Just for that piece of paper, our family spent a few thousand yuan…” w.a.n.g Xin Fang unhappily retorted.
Jing Yun Zhao stood up.
She could feel that this pair of ‘parents’’ att.i.tude towards her was fake, but she never thought that their real faces would cause people to feel so cold.