Tang family living room.
The slightly thin Chu Ling just stood there in a daze, her expression complicated.
Looking at the family members who had just been showing concern for her, now all gathered around Tang Rou with warm comfort, each with genuine care on their faces, clearly worrying about Tang Rou from the bottom of their hearts.
(?"? ?)?"(???︿???).
This made Chu Ling feel sour inside.
She really wished that the one surrounded by her family's concern in the middle was herself......
At the same time, she also felt extremely uncomfortable in her heart.
She couldn't understand—clearly, she was the real victim here, so what exactly was this girl in front of her sad about???
Shouldn't the one who's wronged and should be crying be herself?!
And her own parents and brothers—doing this, caring so much about the daughter of the couple who abused her, right in front of their own biological daughter, is that really appropriate?
At the very least....you should care a little about how I feel inside......
Chu Ling lowered her gaze; the light in her pupils that had been awakened by familial love dimmed and once again turned cold.
She suddenly felt that compared to her, the biological daughter.
Perhaps her parents and brothers actually liked this Tang Rou, who had been with them for eighteen years, more....
'Seriously, what am I getting emotional about? At least from now on I won't have to worry about food and clothing anymore.....'
'And I'll have money to treat my illness, that's already a million times better than my previous hellish life, isn't it?'
"......"
Thinking this, the corners of Chu Ling's mouth once again curved up slightly, only the smile was full of bitterness she couldn't hide.
So many years had passed where she had never had enough to eat, living day-to-day on the edge.
To the Chu Ling of back then, as long as she had food and clothing and could stay alive, that was already the greatest happiness.
Now that she'd returned to the Tang family, her living standards from here on would definitely undergo a qualitative leap.
No matter which angle you looked at it from, she was very fortunate; this was something to be celebrated.
If it were the old her, she definitely wouldn't compete or fight, just be content with what she had.
But human nature is greedy; ever since she felt the warmth of family, Chu Ling instinctively wanted more.
What's more, this family affection had originally belonged to her, it had only been 'stolen' away; wanting to take it back now was only human nature....
However, Chu Ling also understood the principle of not being too hasty.
She had only just arrived; her family would definitely be more familiar with Tang Rou, whom they saw day and night.
In order not to leave a bad impression on her family, she had to avoid clashing with Tang Rou and even had to get along well with her.....
As the saying goes:
Utmost sincerity can pierce metal and stone.
If you keep at it long enough, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle.
Surely, as they spent more time together, her family would gradually acknowledge her and treat her as a real member of this household.
In her heart, Chu Ling silently cheered herself on.....ヾ(?°?°?)??
Endure!!!
On the other side, with her family's comfort, Tang Rou's emotions finally calmed down somewhat.
.......
"Sister Chu Ling, I'm Tang Rou. Your...younger sister..."
"I'm sorry, my biological parents, they.... sigh, I really feel so sorry for you! It's all my fault, I'm the one who stole away eighteen years of your wonderful life."
"If it weren't for my existence, maybe your life in the past wouldn't have......"
"Wu wu wu.... I shouldn't have been born at all; that way you might not have been separated from our family."
"I'm sorry, I really didn't do it on purpose, I shouldn't have taken over your parents and brothers....."
"........"
Tang Rou rushed over to Chu Ling in just a few quick steps.
As she spoke "I'm sorry" with guilt, under the incredulous gazes of everyone, she burst into tears, her face full of endless remorse, and dropped to her knees before Chu Ling.
.......
"Tang Rou, get up quickly! What are you doing? |_?)"
"Child, you really don't have to blame yourself so much. That incident back then had absolutely nothing to do with you, you don't need to be like this."
"Little sister, don't be like this! Seeing you like this is breaking your brother's heart~~"
"o(╥﹏╥)o Chu Ling, what are you still standing there for? Don't you see Little Sister Tang Rou is kneeling to you? Hurry up and help your sister up, will you?!"
"Or do you really want to be that unreasonable and forcibly pin all the blame on Little Sister Tang Rou?"
"........"
Tang Rou's sudden kneeling scared the whole Tang family half to death; each of them looked anxious as they rushed forward to help her up.
Of them, Tang Chuan reacted the most strongly......
Seeing Chu Ling still standing foolishly in place, in his panic he couldn't help shouting loudly at her.
As for Tang Rou, kneeling on the ground.....
She was currently clutching Chu Ling's pant leg, crying her heart out.
........
"Wu wu wu..... Father, Mother, Elder Brother, don't blame Big Sister. She really hasn't done anything wrong; the one who's wrong is me!"
"I'm just a thief who stole eighteen years of life that originally belonged to Big Sister. It's only right that Big Sister should hit me, scold me, and hate me....."
"I beg Big Sister not to resent the family; if you hold any resentment or hatred, then take it out on me!"
"As long as Big Sister is willing to forgive me, I'm willing to do anything, even if you want me to die...."
"Brother, don't pull me. I feel guilty in my heart! If Big Sister refuses to let go of her prejudice against me, how could I have the face to stay in this family?"
"I'd rather kneel here and die in front of Big Sister to atone for my sins!"
"........"
Listening to Tang Rou's pitiful sobbing, everyone present except Chu Ling was moved.
Tang Guo'an sighed and shook his head, unable to bear it, turning his gaze away as old tears pooled in his eyes.
At the side, Xu Shuyun and Tang Chuan, mother and son, both felt their eyes sting with pain as they tried to coax Tang Rou while helping her up.
As for the person actually involved, Chu Ling......
Looking at Tang Rou, who had wiped all her tears and snot over her pant leg, she didn't feel the slightest sympathy; all she felt was disgust and loathing.
But seeing her parents' and brother's reactions, and having learned to read faces and moods since she was little, she naturally knew what she should do.....
Even though she was very unhappy inside, Chu Ling still forced a smile and tried to pull up Tang Rou, who was clinging to her leg.
.......
"Little sister, hurry and get up! The floor is cold, you'll get sick."
"You really shouldn't overthink things, I've never hated you, so what is there to forgive?"
"Besides, you were so little back then, some things simply can't be blamed on you. I don't think you did anything wrong; you don't need to feel guilty toward me. Come on, get up!"
"......."
Patiently, Chu Ling explained, forcing a smile again as she tried to help Tang Rou up.
But who would have thought.....
Smack!!!!!!!
Seizing the opportunity, Tang Rou slapped down hard on the back of Chu Ling's hand, making her suck in a sharp breath of pain and yank her hand back at once.
She was just about to question Tang Rou on why she'd hit her?!
But the other girl just let out an even louder wail and started crying even more miserably, still spouting the same pitiful lines from before....
........
"Sister, don't pull me. I don't deserve to get up! I was born guilty; I don't need you to feel anything, I only need how I feel."
"Wu wu wu..... Big Sister, you're really too kind and too gentle. You've suffered so much injustice, yet you forgive me so easily and magnanimously."
"But the kinder you are, the more guilty I feel as your little sister. My heart feels like it's being sliced by a knife, it hurts so much...."
"I have to kneel to death in front of you to wash away all my sins…"
"Only then can I feel a little better in the underworld; otherwise, I'd have no face to see you again, Big Sister!"
"......."
Touching the slightly red and swollen back of her own hand, then looking down at Tang Rou howling like a ghost at her feet, Chu Ling was covered in black lines, the corner of her mouth twitching nonstop.
She'd completely figured it out.....
This chick was a hundred percent, textbook green tea bitch!
Yet her blind parents and her brain-dead third brother all pretended not to see it, still wiping their own tears on the side, faces full of heartache?!
Damn!
No wonder, in Cousin's inner voice, he said that in the end she would despair and hang herself in the bathroom.....
Could it be that this green tea bitch was the mastermind behind it all?!
If she hadn't overheard his inner voice, she probably would've lost control already and given her a big slap.....
Then the green tea would just sell even more misery, and she herself would definitely be labeled as arrogant and domineering by her parents and family.
Nothing to be done┐(?～?)┌, endure!!!!!
Right now, the enemy is in the dark while I'm in the light; I have to wait until my golden-finger Cousin arrives tomorrow, then decide my future course of action after eavesdropping on his inner voice.....
Mm, that's right.
As the daughter of destiny, she had a golden finger and a powerful backer!!!
Just thinking of Lin Xuan gave Chu Ling a little more confidence.
She glanced at the still-crying Tang Rou and finally couldn't help firing back in a fake-polite, sarcastic tone.
........
"Ahem...Little sister. Could you stop crying? Crying won't solve anything."
"That's something I've understood since I was a child! Because every time I was abused by your biological parents, the more I cried, the harder they hit me."
"So, no matter how much pain I felt later on, I didn't dare shed tears so easily anymore...."
"Oh! Sorry, little sister! I didn't mean to speak ill of your biological parents, it's just that....sigh!"
"Forget it, little sister, just get up. Your makeup is so pretty; it'd be such a pity if you cry it all off! And it looks really ugly!"
"Besides, I'm clearly the one who should be the one throwing a tantrum and rolling around on the floor, right! With the way you're hogging the spotlight, anyone who didn't know better would think you're the one who's been suffering and struggling since childhood."
"Aiya~~(.?＿?.)?I'm sorry~ sorry, sorry! Little sister, don't misunderstand, I'm not calling you green tea!"
"Maybe I've just read too many real-and-fake-daughter face-slapping novels and subconsciously treated you like those green tea fake daughters in the stories. (＞人＜;) I'm sorry! That's on me, that's on me...."
"......."
Chu Ling reached up and rubbed the back of her head, wearing a simple and honest smile.
Damn, what's so hard about being passive-aggressive?
Who doesn't know how to do that?
Do they really think all those real-and-fake-daughter novels I read were a waste?!!
Go on then, cry, you damn green tea, you keep on crying for me!!!
With a sincerely apologetic expression on her face, Chu Ling was raging with maxed-out trash talk in her heart.
And just as she had expected.....
No one present was actually stupid; of course they could all hear the sarcasm in Chu Ling's words.
In an instant, Tang Rou's crying cut off abruptly; the frozen expression on her face was spectacular.
Beside her, Tang Guo'an and the other two, who had been coaxing her to get up, also all stiffened, standing there not knowing what to do.
The living room suddenly fell silent.
After a while, Xu Shuyun, who was the first to come back to her senses, walked over to Chu Ling with reddened eyes, looking at this daughter with heartache.
Hearing her calmly talk about her past abuse at Chu Xiong and his wife's hands.
Xu Shuyun felt a painful twist in her heart.
She simply couldn't imagine, in her daughter's shoes, how much her biological daughter had suffered over all these years.....
At the same time, she also realized how inappropriate her behavior just now had been.
She'd been so busy comforting Tang Rou, this daughter, that she'd neglected the biological daughter beside her who was even more deserving of her heartache.
Her daughter had just arrived, already extremely uneasy, and then was ignored by her family—how awful must she be feeling inside?!
In the end, thousands of words condensed into a single sentence.
"Chu Ling, it's Mom who's sorry. I didn't take your feelings into account; from now on Mom will do her best to make it up to you!"
Under Xu Shuyun's guilty gaze, Chu Ling's heart, which had been a bit cold, warmed up once more.
As the saying goes: In all the world, only a mother is truly good; a child with a mother is like a treasure in their arms.
Even though it was only a sincere apology from Xu Shuyun, all of the dissatisfaction that had just been piling up in Chu Ling's heart was now completely gone, leaving nothing but pitiful grievance.
"There, there, there, our precious girl has been wronged. There, there, it's okay."
Perhaps because of the bond between mother and daughter, Xu Shuyun instantly sensed Chu Ling's emotions, gently pulling her into her arms and patting her back, softly comforting her like a child.
(?"? ?)?"(???︿???).
This gesture alone was enough to make Chu Ling, who had never felt the warmth of family, grow misty-eyed.
So, this....
Is what it feels like to have a mother?! It's so warm.....
While mother and daughter were enjoying this rare warm moment, no one noticed the vicious glint in the eyes of the fake daughter being helped up by Tang Chuan…