“You know it best yourself whom you look down upon. Have you forgotten how we used to treat you as one of our own? Now that you’re going to become the Young Miss of the Han Family, you started snapping at us just because Mom took me here to have a few words with you? What did you mean by what you just said? Do you think Mom just wants money? Let me tell you, we don’t even care about the money!”
Shen Yue blew her top off. Because of the unfair fate, she felt that she had been abandoned by the heavens. Mrs. Shen went through a hard time before she was able to calm Shen Yue down, but now Shen Yue was losing her temper once again.
“Yue, stop running your mouth.” Mrs. Shen quickly seized her arm and dragged her aside. “What did you promise me before we came?”
“But mom, look at her stuck-up attitude. She hasn’t even moved in and lived with the Han Family yet. Is she going to ride roughshod over us once she has become a member of the Han Family?”
Shen Qi was rendered speechless by those words. After all, she had just woken up and didn’t have the energy to deal with them.
She didn’t want to put on a long face in front of them, but neither did she like it when Mrs. Shen repeatedly brought up the past. In fact, they used to live as a family for years, so how could she not know what Mrs. Shen was up to?
It was apparent that Mrs. Shen wanted nothing else but money.
After taking three hundred thousand from her, Mrs. Shen kept trying to milk her for more money; even her personal savings that were worth tens of thousands were taken away by her.
“Qi, you said… I’d be treated right. Does that mean that the Han Family will treat me right?” Mrs. Shen was apparently not bothered by Shen Qi’s caustic remark, for all she cared about was money. A few days had gone by without any news of the five million that she was supposed to receive, and therefore, she started to become increasingly strung out over the money.
It was not that she didn’t want the five million, but rather, she wanted more than that. Since the Han Family was so well off, they could afford to give more.
“Mom!” Beginning to lose her cool, Shen Yue pouted. “Stop asking for money from her. Just look at her snobbish face. I think we should just forget about the money!”
“Yue, keep your mouth shut! What do you know?”
Mrs. Shen dragged Shen Yue aside before approaching Shen Qi. “Qi, I’m not blinded by greed, but I indeed deserve some credit for raising you up all these years. Mr. Han had initially promised to give me five million, but look… besides raising you up, didn’t I also give you the best of everything else for your education? Apart from that, if it weren’t for Yue, you wouldn’t have even become the Young Lady of the Ye Family. See? All these factors indirectly helped, didn’t they?”
Shen Qi could tell that Mrs. Shen was not satisfied with the amount of money and was trying to ask for more.
“In that case, how much do you think the Han Family should give, Mrs. Shen?”
Upon hearing that, Mrs. Shen’s eyes lit up. “Well, not much. Fifty million will do. Plus, Yue is your sister and for that, I hope the Han Family can take care of her as well.”
Fifty million…?
Shen Qi’s gaze darkened as she nonchalantly smiled. “You must’ve overestimated my worth. Perhaps you should try selling me to the Han Family and see if you could get fifty million. When you first sold me to the Ye Family, you didn’t even get this much, did you?”
“Well…”
Mrs. Shen was stunned by Shen Qi’s reply. Indeed, she was paid a sum of money for arranging the marriage with the Ye family, but it wasn’t as much as fifty million.
At the thought of that, Mrs. Shen quickly explained, “Times are different now. That was your second marriage, did you not remember? However, you’re now the biological daughter of the Han Family, so we can definitely ask for more.”
Shen Qi was rendered speechless.
Shen Yue, who was standing aside, overheard her mother’s words. With her eyes wide open, she bit her lips and intervened, “Mom, you meant… she was sold when she married into the Ye family? If it weren’t for her, it would have been me instead, wouldn’t it?”
Upon hearing her daughter’s words, Mrs. Shen’s face turned as white as a sheet. “Yue, it wasn’t as you thought. What do you mean by ‘sell’? How could you say that…? That was a betrothal gift which I deserved for marrying off a daughter. The Ye family is an established family, which was why they presented us with an expensive betrothal gift. Who in the world wouldn’t accept a betrothal gift when marrying off their daughters?”
Shen Qi merely leaned against the wall, not even bothered to bat her eyes.
“Betrothal gift? You received a sky-high betrothal gift for marrying your daughter off, so you are now charging more for selling your daughter, am I right? Mrs. Shen, you may be rest assured and take your leave now. I’ll keep you posted for more details.”
While uttering those words, the corner of Shen Qi’s lips and eyes were filled with mockery.
However, it was herself whom she was mocking at.
Perhaps she hadn’t been a good daughter, which was why Mrs. Shen had always tried to send her away for money, with no regard for her feelings or fate.
As soon as she heard that she would be informed, Mrs. Shen, who was originally upset over Shen Qi’s tone, had her mood immediately lifted. She nodded. “Well, don’t forget to inform me when everything is ready. I’ll be waiting for your latest news, so don’t drag on for too long. You know how scary those loan sharks can be, and you wouldn’t be able to see me again if it was a few days late.”
Shen Qi remained silent and simply gazed at her with a pair of cold eyes.
After a while, Mrs. Shen started to feel awkward, so she faked a cough and said, “I guess I shall make a move. Oh yeah, I believe you’d be bored being alone, so I’ll let Yue accompany you here.”
Shen Qi was going to say no, but when her gaze fell upon Shen Yue, her heart started to go soft.
Nevertheless, it was Mr. and Mrs. Shen who treated her that way, which had nothing to do with Shen Yue.
Shen Yue never knew that her sister was not her biological sister, so she threw her tantrum at Shen Qi, as though she was her biological sister.
Upon thinking about this, Shen Qi said nothing more. After Mrs. Shen left, Shen Yue stood in place while staring at Shen Qi for a long while. Then, she suddenly said, “You don’t like me anyway so why do you want me here?”
Upon hearing that, Shen Qi sighed. “Yue, let me ask you. Did you already know that I wasn’t the biological daughter of the Shen Family?”
Shen Yue widened her eyes. “How could I have known about it? They had been keeping me in the dark as well until the last few days. Hmph!” Upon saying that, Shen Yue unhappily blamed her own fate. “This is so irritating. You’re apparently the young miss of an established family, but they found you and adopted you. Think about all the money they’ve spent on you all these years. Furthermore… why wasn’t I in your place?”
She murmured the last few words to herself in whispers, which Shen Qi could hardly make out of. However, she could vaguely hear words that sounded like she was complaining. Following that, she helplessly walked up to Shen Yue.
“I know you’ve been treating me as your elder sister all these years, but your parents are different. They have always known that I’m not their biological child, so they always made me do a lot of things in your place.”
“Of course, I know you find that unfair, but… as an elder sister, your responsibility is to take care of your younger sister; even real biological sisters would do so!”
“Yue, there is nothing that should be taken for granted in this world, including family. The reason I treat you with kindness is not because I’m your elder sister, but because I see you as my younger sister, which is why I’m willing to put up with your mischief and tolerate your mistakes, and not because I’m obliged to. Do you get me?”
