Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: A Cold Heart
Li Hua pulled Zhou Feng’er into the house, and Zhou Gu’er smiled, the corners of her mouth turning up.
The moment she’d hit Zhou Feng’er, she knew Feng’er would run home 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 claimed she had gone to the village entrance with Zhou Mei to play and wait for her big sister. But when Zhou Mei saw Sun Jiaming walking her sister home, she got angry. According to Feng’er, her sister said something nasty, so Zhou Mei 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 blame. Not only did she absolve herself, but she even defended Zhou Mei. 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 someone? It must have been Zhou Mei who hit you, right? My girl, you can’t just blame 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 someone?
Zhou Mazi smoked his long-stemmed pipe, the glowing embers making his eyes flash in the dim light. It looked like a will-o’-the-wisp, somewhat 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 Mei’s hair, and Zhou Mei has a slap mark on her face too! Just you watch, Uncle will definitely come looking for her. She hit someone, 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 me, her own daughter?’
Hearing Zhou Feng’er say this, Li Hua hesitated. ’Did my eldest daughter really hit someone?’
"Don’t talk nonsense, you’re scaring me. What do you mean your sister beat the four of you? Who would believe that? Even if she did hit someone, 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 someone? Did Zhou Mei 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. freeweɓnøvel.com
"Mom! Am I your biological daughter or not?! I’m the one who got hit, not her!" freewebnøvel.com
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 me, 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 me!"
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 blame 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 me, 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 Mei, Feng’er, and Zhou Ya at the village entrance. After Brother Jia Ming left, Zhou Mei started cursing at me, telling me not to pester Brother Jia Ming anymore. I told her I wasn’t, but she didn’t believe me. She came up and knocked over my cart. Then the four of them started hitting me. 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 me with Zhou Mei and the others. I was hitting Zhou Mei and Zhou Ya and accidentally hit Feng’er. I didn’t mean 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 something happens, instead of helping your sister, how could you gang up on her with Zhou Mei? Your sister didn’t mean 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 somewhat 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 me? This is infuriating!’
"So you’re saying you really did hit Zhou Mei and Feng’er?"
Before Li Hua could say anything more, Zhou Mazi, who had been silent all this time, 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 Mei. She knew that her adoptive father would trip over himself trying to curry favor with Zhou Mei’s dad. Now that she’d hit Zhou Mei, Zhou Mazi was afraid they would come looking for trouble. So he planned to take it out on her—beat her to put on a show for Zhou Mei’s family.
"Yes. But only because they relentlessly attacked me first."
Zhou Gu’er didn’t want to explain too much to Zhou Mazi.
"You’ve got some 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 me even bigger trouble! Watch how I deal with you!"
Zhou Mazi slammed his long-stemmed 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 come 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 moment, 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 some 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.
