"Tiantian ge-ge, please wait!" Zhao Lifei huffed, crossing her arms.
"Ow!" She yelped when she tripped over her feet and fell knee-first onto the marble floor with a loud THUD! She had scraped her knees a bit.
Zheng Tianyi let out a frustrated growl. He turned around to throw the obnoxious child a hateful glare. "Didn’t I tell you to leave alone?" He stomped to her and grabbed her by the collar of her frilly yellow dress. "I hope you know you’re obnoxiously annoying."
Because the video was recorded from a hidden cara positioned a few ters back, it could not capture Zhao Lifei’s face properly, but Yang Feng could hear her sniffles. "I-I’m sorry Tiantian ge-ge...I-I just wanted to play with you a bit more—"
"I’ve already played long enough with you." He groaned, dropping her back down. His ears perked up when he saw his mother down the hallways.
’Damn it.’ He could not afford to show his mother that he made the heiress cry. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to smile.
In a hushed, nearly reprimanding voice, he whispered, "But if you wipe away your tears, stand up like a big girl, and promise not to tell your grandfather about this, then I will play with you for a while."
Zhao Lifei brightened up at his words. "Really?! When?"
Zheng Tianyi was struggling to maintain his smile that was beginning to resemble a grimace. His mother was approaching them now. "Once I am done with my assignnts." He gritted his teeth.
Zhao Lifei bobbed her head and harshly rubbed her tears away. She blinked a bit and felt a wave of deja vu, but she was too young to know what that was.
Sothing flashed before her eyes. She saw a confusing image of a blurry face and the distorted voice of an older boy scolding her, "Don’t rub your eyes so hard! You’ll hurt yourself." She blinked again but the image was gone. She tilted her head, confused at who the boy was. He sounded like Zheng Tianyi...but not really...
"Rub faster." Zheng Tianyi hissed at her to which she slowly obliged.
"Ugh, nevermind." He sighed, grabbed his handkerchief and then did it himself. When he saw his mother was not far off, he panicked and did it much rougher than she wanted him to.
"Now smile and tell you love ." He quietly instructed her once his mother was within hearing distance.
That was easy for Zhao Lifei. She grinned and jumped onto him, hugging him tightly, "I love you very much Tiantian ge-ge!"
The video ended.
The part, "Now smile and tell you love ," was too low for Yang Feng to have heard it. All he witnessed was his Xiao Lili declaring her stupid love for the stupid punk.
"Do you realize it now, Yang Feng?" Yang Mujian asked him.
Jing Caoxiao bowed his head and retreated to his Master’s side.
Yang Mujian continued, "For that child to move on so quickly, it ans her feelings for you were never genuine, to begin with. When you left, she easily clung onto another heir. She is exactly like every other person in this world. She only cares about your wealth. When you could not protect her, she found soone else to. When you could not give her gifts, she found soone else to."
"Do you understand now?" Yang Mujian questioned his silent grandson.
Yang Feng monotonously replied, "Yes." Even though he did not understand it until he saw it for himself. But it was not ti yet. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week. To defy his grandfather, he knew he would need to improve himself first. And from then on, he pushed his body above and beyond his limits, all to see a certain girl.
- - - - -
Three years later.
Tiline: Still set in the past.
THUD!
Wang Nuoli slamd her teacup onto the small, painted porcelain plate in front of her. "What do you an Young Master Yang is on his way here?" She rashly stood up, causing her chair to fall backward onto the floor with a loud bang.
Zhao Linhua glanced up from the uneaten strawberry shortcake. Beside her was a finished plate of strawberry and rhubarb fruit tart, the one her older sister really liked. She gloated to herself. ’Jie-Jie [1] can never eat it from now on because she gave up the piano. The fruit tarts are all mine from now on!’
For a child her age, Zhao Linhua was very tall and looked at least three years older than her actual age. Instead of being mad at the quick growth spurt, Wang Nuoli was ecstatic because it ant the young girl would be the perfect height in the future; unlike Zhao Lifei who was still very short, despite being the eldest daughter.
"Zhao Linhua is not ready to see him! The training started less than a month ago." Wang Nuoli vented to the maid who brought the ssage. Unlike Zhao Lifei, Zhao Linhua sadly did not inherit any traits from her father who was very good at learning things.
"Damn it. We don’t have a lot of ti." Wang Nuoli turned to Zhao Linhua and allowed the child to get one bite of the strawberry shortcake. She reached forward and softly grabbed her daughter’s wrist.
"My little flower [2], go with the maid and change your dress okay?" Her voice was loving and tender.
Zhao Linhua, being the obedient child she was, nodded her head. "Okay."
Wang Nuoli’s shoulder sagged in relief, a warm smile lighting up her beautiful face. "You’re such a good girl, mommy loves you very much." She pulled her daughter into a quick hug and soothed out the nonexistent creases of her dress.
"Now, do rember the lessons that Nanny Wenwen has taught you?" Wang Nuoli asked.
Zhao Linhua nodded her head. Nanny Wenwen was training and teaching her to behave like a younger version of Zhao Lifei. She was even overfed just so she can resemble the child version of her older sister. And because Zhao Linhua was too young, she did not understand the reasoning for it. She didn’t know she was going to be a replacent for Zhao Lifei.
"Well, today, I want you to show mommy how much you have learned from Nanny Wenwen." Wang Nuoli patiently explained. She brushed Zhao Linhua’s full bangs aside. "The boy from the lessons is finally showing up today. I want you to call him Fengfeng and behave the sa way Nanny Wenwen taught you."
Zhao Linhua was eager to please her mommy, so she rapidly nodded her head. "Anything to make you happy mommy!" She said in a cheerful and naively-sweet voice.
Wang Nuoli felt like the luckiest mother in the world. Her daughter was so obedient and perfect! Her heart could burst from happiness."Good girl." She stood up and motioned the maid to take Zhao Linhua to get dressed.
Wang Nuoli instructed, "Do it quickly. He should be less than twenty minutes away from our house." Her voice went back to normal.
The maid bowed, "Yes, Madam." Then she walked off with Zhao Linhua in tow.
- - - - -
Zhao Linhua was trying her best to not bounce with excitent. It’s finally happening! It’s finally happening! She was beyond excited that her dreams were coming true.
Today, she would et the very handso and good looking boy from the photographs that Nanny Wenwen showed her. Ever since she started the lessons, she wanted to et him. She could not wait any longer.
"Hurry up and finish dressing already!" Zhao Linhua impatiently scread. She raised her legs and kicked the maid.
"I-I apologize, Young Miss." The maid winced in pain. Usually, a kick was not that bad, but today, Zhao Linhua was wearing pointed shoes and it hurt a lot more than the maid anticipated. Fortunately for Zhao Linhua, the maid was already used to the child’s spoiled behavior.
"If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to throw a tantrum and complain to mommy. I heard your family is very poor and this is the only job that pays you well. You wouldn’t want to lose it, right?" Zhao Linhua enjoyed taunting the maids who could not fight back. It was her favorite way of releasing any pent-up anger or frustration.
"N-no, Young Miss. I’m very sorry." The maid wanted to bash the spoiled brat’s head onto the wall or push her off of a balcony. She controlled her manic urges by grabbing the chiffon ribbon sun hat. She rembered the day Zhao Lifei ca running ho, excited about this present she received from the First Young Master of the Yang Family.
The maid kept her mouth shut and placed the hat onto Zhao Linhua. She checked the photograph in her hand, taken the day Zhao Lifei was wearing the sa hat.
A mirror reflection.
Young Miss Linhua resembled her older sister in every way possible. With the way Zhao Linhua was dressed to mimic Zhao Lifei, no one could tell them apart from the girl in the photograph. The make-up and hairstyle also helped.
The maid let out a sigh of relief. Through the open window, she heard a car pull up to the front entrance of their house.
Zhao Linhua hated the dress and hat. It was so ugly and too...childish for her taste. But it would make Nanny Wenwen and her mommy happy, so she kept her mouth shut. Her ears twitched when she heard a car. "He’s here!" She gasped, dashing out of her room and down the stairs to greet the boy of her dreams.
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