Li Hua pulled Zhou Feng’er into the house, and Zhou Gu’er smiled, the corners of her mouth turning up.
The mont she’d hit Zhou Feng’er, she knew Feng’er would run ho to tattle. Although her adoptive father didn’t treat Zhou Feng’er as well as he treated Zhou Cai, she was still his biological daughter. Gu’er was no match for that. Based on past experience, her adoptive father would definitely beat her.
But Zhou Gu’er wasn’t afraid now. She knew what her adoptive father wanted, so she was confident she could avoid a beating.
Zhou Gu’er followed them into the house.
Zhou Feng’er was wailing, telling her story between sobs. Of course, her version was completely different from the truth. She claid she had gone to the village entrance with Zhou i to play and wait for her big sister. But when Zhou i saw Sun Jiaming walking her sister ho, she got angry. According to Feng’er, her sister said sothing nasty, so Zhou i retorted, and then her sister just started hitting people. Feng’er said she was afraid things would get out of hand, so she rushed forward to break it up, only to get slapped twice by her sister for her troubles.
Zhou Gu’er sneered. ’Zhou Feng’er is quite skilled at turning the tables and shifting bla. Not only did she absolve herself, but she even defended Zhou i. I don’t feel the least bit sorry for hitting her.’
"That can’t be right. How could your big sister hit you? She’s such an honest person, how could she possibly hit soone? It must have been Zhou i who hit you, right? My girl, you can’t just bla your sister like that."
Li Hua said, full of disbelief. Although her heart ached that her daughter had been hit, she wouldn’t believe it was her eldest daughter who did it, not in a million years. Her eldest was always the one being bullied; how could she possibly hit soone?
Zhou Mazi smoked his long-stemd pipe, the glowing embers making his eyes flash in the dim light. It looked like a will-o’-the-wisp, sowhat frightening.
"Mom, you’re still taking her side! You have no idea what kind of person she really is! She’s always just been pretending! You didn’t see it—she beat the four of us all by herself! She even pulled Zhou i’s hair, and Zhou i has a slap mark on her face too! Just you watch, Uncle will definitely co looking for her. She hit soone, they won’t let her get away with it. She’s nothing but a troublemaker!"
Zhou Feng’er was furious. ’Is this my own mother? Am I the one who was adopted? Why is Mom siding with Zhou Gu’er instead of , her own daughter?’
Hearing Zhou Feng’er say this, Li Hua hesitated. ’Did my eldest daughter really hit soone?’
"Don’t talk nonsense, you’re scaring . What do you an your sister beat the four of you? Who would believe that? Even if she did hit soone, you all must have pushed her to it. Otherwise, how could a quiet person like your sister raise her hand to anyone?"
After speaking, Li Hua quickly pulled Zhou Gu’er over. "Gu’er, did you really hit soone? Did Zhou i bully you? Quick, let Mom see. Are you hurt?"
Li Hua felt that for her eldest daughter to resort to violence, she must have been bullied terribly. She was worried her daughter had been deeply wronged.
"Mom! Am I your biological daughter or not?! I’m the one who got hit, not her!"
Zhou Feng’er shrieked in disbelief. She was the one who had been beaten, so why was her mother fussing over the one who did the beating?
"Mom, don’t worry. I’m fine."
Zhou Gu’er quickly shook her head to show that she was okay.
"Stop yelling. Even if you got hit, we need to let your sister explain what happened. Gu’er, tell , did you really hit your little sister?"
Li Hua still found it hard to believe.
Zhou Gu’er nodded. She had no intention of hiding it.
"See? She admitted it herself! Mom, Dad, you have to stand up for !"
A cold glint flashed in Zhou Feng’er’s eyes. ’I thought Zhou Gu’er would deny it. I can’t believe she was stupid enough to admit it.’
"Gu’er, you... Why couldn’t you just talk things out? Why did you have to hit her? Feng’er is your little sister; you can’t hit her."
Li Hua chided Zhou Gu’er. They were both her daughters, and she cared for them both. But right now, Zhou Gu’er was the one who hit, and Zhou Feng’er was the one who got hit, so of course, she had to bla Zhou Gu’er.
"Mom, what are you even talking to her for? Hit her! If you don’t hit her today, I won’t let this go!"
Zhou Feng’er insisted that Li Hua take action.
Li Hua hesitated. Gu’er had been with her for so long and had suffered so much. How could she bring herself to be cruel enough to hit her now?
"Gu’er, tell , why exactly did you hit your sister?"
Li Hua couldn’t bring herself to do it.
"Dad, Mom, when I was coming back today, I saw Zhou i, Feng’er, and Zhou Ya at the village entrance. After Brother Jia Ming left, Zhou i started cursing at , telling not to pester Brother Jia Ming anymore. I told her I wasn’t, but she didn’t believe . She ca up and knocked over my cart. Then the four of them started hitting . I had no choice but to fight back. Feng’er is my little sister. You both know I always give in to her. But she ganged up on with Zhou i and the others. I was hitting Zhou i and Zhou Ya and accidentally hit Feng’er. I didn’t an to hit her."
Zhou Gu’er explained. Of course, she wasn’t going to say she hit Zhou Feng’er on purpose. After all, Zhou Mazi was Zhou Feng’er’s biological father. If she admitted it was intentional, even Li Hua would probably start to have second thoughts.
"See? I told you your sister isn’t an unreasonable person. When sothing happens, instead of helping your sister, how could you gang up on her with Zhou i? Your sister didn’t an to hit you, so stop crying."
Li Hua said to Zhou Feng’er. It wasn’t that she didn’t side with her own biological daughter; it was just that Zhou Feng’er’s usual behavior was so much worse than Zhou Gu’er’s. In her heart, Li Hua was already sowhat biased toward Zhou Gu’er.
"Mom!"
Zhou Feng’er’s eyes went wide as she yelled. ’Is this really my mother? She believes every word Zhou Gu’er says and then scolds ? This is infuriating!’
"So you’re saying you really did hit Zhou i and Feng’er?"
Before Li Hua could say anything more, Zhou Mazi, who had been silent all this ti, suddenly spoke. His voice was low, but Zhou Gu’er could feel a wave of violent anger from him.
Gu’er understood perfectly. Zhou Mazi was angry because she had hit Zhou i. She knew that her adoptive father would trip over himself trying to curry favor with Zhou i’s dad. Now that she’d hit Zhou i, Zhou Mazi was afraid they would co looking for trouble. So he planned to take it out on her—beat her to put on a show for Zhou i’s family.
"Yes. But only because they relentlessly attacked first."
Zhou Gu’er didn’t want to explain too much to Zhou Mazi.
"You’ve got so nerve! Daring to hit people now! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you’ll never learn your place! You’ll just cause even bigger trouble! Watch how I deal with you!"
Zhou Mazi slamd his long-stemd pipe on the ground, shot to his feet, and cursing, swung the pipe straight at Zhou Gu’er.
Zhou Gu’er watched the bowl of her adoptive father’s pipe co at her, her eyes turning cold, terrifyingly cold.
’Zhou Mazi is aiming the pipe’s bowl at my head. Is he not afraid he’ll split my skull open with one swing?’
’Even if I’m not his biological daughter, I’m still a human being. How can he be so heartless?’
In that mont, Zhou Gu’er truly felt that Zhou Mazi was utterly cold-blooded. Although she had thought about changing her destiny after being reborn, she hadn’t planned on leaving the Zhou family. She had figured she would earn so money, take control of her own marriage, and find a decent man to marry. That would be enough. She didn’t want to break her adoptive mother’s heart or put her in a difficult position.
But in this instant, as Zhou Mazi’s pipe swung toward her, Zhou Gu’er clenched her fists. She had to leave the Zhou family. She would never again let Zhou Mazi control her fate. She refused to entrust her life to such a person.
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