Hearing Feng Shuyan’s words, Liu Changqing was stunned. He looked at the child beside him, feeling a pang of heartache.
He had suspected sothing like this—perhaps Feng Qian’s busy work schedule had kept him away from ho, leaving a nanny in charge of Feng Shuyan. But if the nanny turned out to be abusive, taking advantage of the child’s young age to mistreat her, it wouldn’t have been an unbelievable scenario.
But he hadn’t expected it to be her aunt.
Feng Qian seed to have guessed the truth as well. He couldn’t control his emotions—his body visibly trembled, and his chest heaved with ragged breaths.
No one would have imagined that soone they trusted the most could be capable of such things.
Just as Feng Qian opened his mouth to say sothing, the door behind him swung open.
A waiter entered with drinks and straws.
Liu Changqing thanked the waiter, accepted the drinks, and poured a cup for both Feng Shuyan and Liu Xiazhi.
He even poured himself a cup. It had been a long ti since he’d had soda.
Taking a big sip, he felt the fizzy carbonation dance in his mouth.
The atmosphere grew heavy with silence.
Feng Qian stared intently at Feng Shuyan, who was sipping her cola through a straw.
Finally, as if steeling himself, Feng Qian broke the silence.
“I’ll go back,” he said, his voice laced with determination.
He looked at Feng Shuyan, his eyes full of regret.
“From now on, Daddy will never leave you again, Shuyan…”
He waited for a response, but none ca. Feng Shuyan continued to stir her cola with the straw, as if the act itself held so mysterious appeal.
When his daughter didn’t respond, Feng Qian stood there awkwardly for a mont. Seeing her indifference, he let out a bitter laugh before turning to Liu Changqing.
His tired face carried a resolute expression.
“Thank you for today. Please let her stay at your place for one more night.”
“Of course,” Liu Changqing replied.
“Thank you,” Feng Qian said, his enunciation firm and clear.
Without another word, he pushed the door open and left.
Liu Changqing noticed the forgotten briefcase full of money. He pulled it closer with his foot, deciding to return it to Feng Qian when he ca back to pick up Feng Shuyan.
After Feng Qian’s departure, the room fell into silence again.
Liu Xiazhi looked at her friend, hesitating as though she wanted to say sothing but didn’t know how to begin.
For the first ti, she realized just how little she truly knew about what her friend had been going through.
Feng Shuyan broke the silence with her usual calm and distant tone.
“Auntie didn’t do anything wrong…”
Her eyes remained fixed on the cup in front of her, her small hands twisting the straw until it bent out of shape.
“It’s because I wasn’t good enough. I made her angry. That’s why…”
Liu Changqing watched the girl with a heavy heart.
Her fra was even smaller than that of most children her age.
Even Liu Xiazhi, petite as she was, seed slightly larger in comparison.
It was painfully clear.
Liu Changqing gently patted Feng Shuyan’s head and said softly, “Tonight, eat well, okay?”
Zhang Xinrou hurriedly stuffed clothes into a suitcase.
After hanging up the phone, she began frantically packing everything she could take with her from the apartnt.
Only two years younger than her elder sister, Zhang Xinrou’s life had been mapped out for her from the mont she could understand the world.
She followed the sa path as her sister—attending the sa schools, going to the sa tutoring classes, wearing the sa styles of clothing, and even tying her hair the sa way.
But compared to her sister’s beauty, Zhang Xinrou’s appearance was only slightly above average.
Whenever guests visited their ho and both sisters were presented, it was her elder sister who received most of the praise, while she was barely acknowledged.
Their parents also showed favoritism, often rewarding her sister. When her sister brought those rewards to her, Zhang Xinrou always saw it as a form of flaunting, a way to highlight her own ordinariness and insignificance.
When she started high school, her sister was already in her third year. Zhang Xinrou had struggled to get into the sa school—a school her sister had only ended up at because she had missed part of the entrance exams due to illness.
But even then, Zhang Xinrou couldn’t outshine her sister academically.
She found her sister dazzling and unreachable, a star she could never touch.
One day, during her first year of high school, Zhang Xinrou forgot to bring money to pay for lunch. After getting her food in the cafeteria, she realized she couldn’t pay and stood awkwardly at the counter as the cashier grew impatient. Holding her tray, she looked around helplessly.
She saw no familiar faces, no one willing to step in and help.
Just as she was about to set her tray down, a voice ca from behind her.
“Auntie, I’ll pay for her.”
It was a tall boy with a radiant smile. He handed over the money, patted her on the shoulder, and gave her a smile brighter than the sun.
She had never seen such a smile directed only at her.
After that day, Zhang Xinrou never saw the boy again. She thought she had lost the chance to et him forever.
Until the day after the college entrance exams, when her sister brought her boyfriend ho for dinner.
It was him.
Her sister had taken everything from her.
From that day forward, Zhang Xinrou felt nothing but endless hatred toward her sister.
Zhang Xinrou finished packing her suitcase, kneeling on top of it to zip it closed with all her strength.
After graduating from university and working for less than a year, she had moved in to care for her sister’s daughter—a child who resembled her sister far too much.
Finally managing to zip the suitcase shut, Zhang Xinrou grabbed her backpack and rushed to the door.
Gripping the doorknob, she pressed down and opened it.
The sound of labored breathing t her ears.
She froze mid-step. Ti seed to stop.
The backpack slipped from her hand, falling to the ground and rolling a short distance before bumping against the polished shoe of a man standing in the doorway.
Her face turned ashen.
She stepped back, her expression filled with terror.
“B-Brother-in-law!”
Feng Qian stood in the doorway, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His disheveled collar and fallen hair revealed the frantic rush he had made to get there.
After racing to the building and finding the elevator too slow, he had climbed six flights of stairs without stopping. Just as he reached the apartnt, the door opened to reveal the very person he was looking for—Zhang Xinrou, his late wife’s younger sister.
Seeing her pale face, Feng Qian felt as though he was eting her for the first ti. His head shook slightly, as if denying the truth.
“How… how could you do this to my child?!”
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