“Uh, nope!” Yan smilingly placed her hand over her mouth. “There is no misunderstanding. Don’t worry anyway. It’s fine that you want to stay here. I’ll just pop by here every day to keep you company.”
“For that, you have my deepest thanks. I sincerely hope that you’re coming here to keep me company and not to freeload.”
“Damn! How could you say something like that?!”
In the following days, Shen Qi stayed in all day, never stepping out of her hotel room at all ever since. She spent her days merely eating and sleeping, completely detached from the outside world.
Somehow, she found her current escapist lifestyle enjoyable.
Nevertheless, there were always those people and matters that would not let her have her peace.
On the fifth day, Shen Qi woke up to a continuous ringing of the doorbell early in the morning.
Frustrated, she dragged her feet to the door and opened it, only to find Mrs. Shen standing outside gazing at her in shock.
“So, you’re really here. Silly girl, it was so difficult to find you!”
Upon seeing Mrs. Shen, Shen Qi’s mind went blank for a while. Before she could react, Mrs. Shen hustled her way into the room with someone following behind her—her younger sister, Shen Yue.
“Yue, greet your sister,” Mrs. Shen dragged Shen Yue to Shen Qi and started to curry favor up to her.
As they entered, Shen Qi was forced to receive them. She then stood aside with her back leaning against the cold wall.
She could tell from Shen Yue’s expression that she was reluctant to be here, for she looked up at Shen Qi with her eyes filled with mixed emotions of reluctance, hatred, and anger.
Shen Qi moved her gaze away. The way she looks at me is rather…
“She is not my sister, for she is now the Young Miss of the Han Family. How could she possibly see me—somebody who basically has nothing—as her sister?”
Upon hearing Shen Yue, Mrs. Shen’s expression changed and she quickly faked a smile. “I’m so sorry. Qi. Yue is just acting up, for she fears you no longer treat her as your sister. After all, you both grew up together since young, and there is a mutual strong bond between you two. Yue is your sister, and she is even closer to you than a real sister would be. Qi, you used to dote on her a lot back then, didn’t you?”
“Hmph! Who says I need her to dote on me? Mom, let go of me!” Shen Yue shook her hand off and pouted. “I don’t need her to dote on me. She’ll never treat me as her sister again anyway.”
Shen Qi was aware of Shen Yue’s mischief. She had been treating Shen Yue as her own younger sister all this while so she was not surprised to see Shen Yue reacting this way. Calmly, she stated, “She’s right. I’m your sister.”
Upon hearing that, Shen Yue couldn’t believe her ears and hesitantly looked at her. “Sis, do…you still treat me as your sister?”
Shen Qi smilingly said, “Why wouldn’t I?”
Even though they might not be related by blood, she did regard the Shen Family as her own family, let alone Shen Yue whom she had always treated as her younger sister. Although there were times when Shen Qi lost her cool with Shen Yue, the clever little sister would always be able to turn things around by buttering her up.
With her gaze turning strange, Shen Yue shrank back a little. “I… I thought you wouldn’t treat me as your sister anymore once you’ve become the Young Miss of the Han Family. After all… I have nothing and I was always on your nerve back then. You must have hated me for that.”
Shen Qi felt helpless upon hearing her sister’s words. However, before she could speak for herself, Mrs. Shen had already stood up for her.
“What are you talking about? Both of you are siblings, so why would your sister hate you? Your sister used to put up with you all the time no matter what.”
Seemingly convinced, Shen Yue became quiet.
After comforting both of the girls, Mrs. Shen started to look around the room. “Qi, have you been staying here these few days? Have you gotten in touch with the Han Family? Why aren’t you staying at the Han Family instead? Why did you lower your status by staying in this place?”
Now that she was faced with Mrs. Shen, Shen Qi was reminded of her harsh words that night. Therefore, she coldly stated, “It’s peaceful here and I like it.”
Upon hearing that, Mrs. Shen felt a twinge of discomfort in her heart. The statement didn’t sit well with her but she continued asking, “Peaceful? How is it peaceful in this hotel room? It’s unhygienic and isn’t safe for you to stay here alone. Let’s pack your stuff and I’ll bring you to the Han Family.”
With that, Mrs. Shen dragged her into the bedroom while urging, “Hurry up! Your sister doesn’t have any class today, so I want to take her to visit the Han Residence as well.”
Upon hearing her mother’s words, Shen Yue started to grow frustrated. “Who is going there? I’m not.” She bit her lips.
“Stop spouting nonsense! We’re just going there to visit.” Upon saying that, Mrs. Shen excitedly smiled. “Come on, Qi. Let’s gather your stuff and get going.”
However, Shen Qi remained unbudged. After a while, Mrs. Shen could no longer keep her smile on and asked, “Why are you still standing there?”
“I don’t want to go to the Han Family,” Shen Qi coldly remarked. “I prefer staying here.”
“You! Are you out of your mind? You’re already the Young Miss of the Han Family so why do you want to stay in this hotel? Do you really want the Han Family to think that it’s you who don’t want to go back? What if your place is taken by someone else?”
“It won’t.” Shen Qi shook her head. “My place can never be taken away. Even if it was taken away, whoever took it away would still have to return it back to me.”
Just take Han Xueyou as the example: she certainly had had her moments as the Young Miss of the Han Family these few years, and now she had to give her place back to Shen Qi, the rightful owner.
By then… she would feel like she had fallen to the ground from heaven.
Since this was the case, why bother going through all the troubles in the first place?
Mrs. Shen was immediately rendered speechless. Despite the fact that Shen Qi was right, their purpose was to visit the Han Family.
At the thought of that, she shamelessly said, “It’s fine that you want to stay here, but your sister and I have never been to the Han Residence before so we would like to visit the place.”
“I’m not the Master of the Han Family, so I’m afraid I don’t have a say in this. Mrs. Shen, if you would like to pay them a visit, you could always give Mr. Han a call.”
“What did you just call me?” Baffled, Mrs. Shen gazed at her in shock. “Did you just call me Mrs. Shen?”
Shen Qi had an indifferent expression on her face, her eyes turning outright cold.
“Since I’m not the daughter of the Shen Family, I can only call you Mrs. Shen.”
“Are you trying to cut ties with the Shen Family? Are you calling me Mrs. Shen because you want to deny your past? Let me tell you something, Shen Qi. I raised you up and for that, I…”
“Nobody denies your hard work, Mrs. Shen. You don’t have to sound so desperate. The Han Family will make sure the Shen Family receive the compensation you deserve.”
Upon hearing that, Mrs. Shen squinted her eyes. “You mean…”
“Shen Qi, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I’m trying to take credit for raising you up? Do you really think you can be haughty and look down upon others now that you’ve risen to the top?”
Look down upon others?
Shen Qi looked at her. “Who have I looked down upon?”
