Bab 21: At Least She has a Sensible Brother

"Cheating on your wife with another woman and pretending like the relationship didn't exist until you have the perfect excuse to marry isn't being a good father either. Don't think for a second that you can tell me that you married Jiang Xin for my sake. You used me as an excuse to marry her. You got her pregnant. What good mother are you talking about? You didn't even have the manners to tell your biological daughter that she would be living with a new family."

From the look on her father's face, she could see that he wanted to hit her. She would gladly take it if it meant that he thought her important enough.

"You were a child. I didn't need to take your opinion to decide what was best for you." Yun Sui Bo was appalled by the conversation. He had never thought that he would have to explain himself to the nuisance of a daughter.

"I didn't ask you to take my opinion. I asked you not to use me. I would have liked it better if I had some warning." She paused and looked at Jiang Xin, who was pretending to be pitiful. Her hands had left Qian Meng's long ago, and she was grasping onto her husband, pulling him away from Qian Meng.

"Honey, please. Don't fight. I beg you," she said over and over again. Qian Meng scoffed. "Okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for when I was younger. What about now? Why do you disregard every choice I make?"

"Because you don't know what is good for you," he seethed. His voice had calmed down. Qian Meng knew what this meant. There wouldn't be a conversation about this ever again.

"Other parents will at least let their children learn from their mistakes, mine don't even care what I think. They just want to leech off me and use me for their personal gain. What a wonderful like I have." Qian Meng smirked, not a hint of amusement on her lips. Her eyes filled with loathing as she looked at the man she called her father.

"Qian Meng, don't say that. Your father wants what is best for you!" Jiang Xing cooed from the side. Qian Meng didn't spare the woman a glance as she headed towards the stairs. "Qian Meng!" she called from behind. As she trudged up the stairs, she heard her father grumbling.

"She thinks she is more educated than us. She thinks she is above everything else because she has a little money."

Qian Meng never understood why her father brought such things up. Sure, she had been above average in her education and finished school before everyone else. She didn't look down on people because they did worse than her. She commended them for their efforts. It was simply the words of a man who felt defeated in front of his daughter because she had achieved a lot more than he had at his older age. Despite being young, Qian Meng had the world in the palm of her hands. Her prospects were brighter than each and every person in her family.

Was it because she was a girl that he continued to belittle her? Or was it because she was not his wife's daughter that he did so.

As she entered her childhood room, she realized how little she had enjoyed living in this house. She felt unwanted. She realized that she had never arranged the room to her taste, simply letting the original setting be and sleeping in the bed despite it being uncomfortable for her. She sat on the bed, the pink sheets, walls, and furniture seeming pukeworthy to her. This was not her aesthetic. She heard music coming from the room beside her and perked up.

She found herself walking out of the room and knocking on the door beside hers. The room opened after a few seconds, the teenager looking wide-eyed.

"Sis," he whispered. He barrelled forward, circling his arms around her waist in a bear hug. Qian Meng chuckled softly as she patted his back.

"How are you?" she said warmly. She peered into the room and was flummoxed. It looked like a tornado had passed over the room. Understanding what she was looking at, Yun Qing Yuan looked down at his feet guiltily and apologized.

"I'm doing good. Come inside," he said. He looked around the room frantically kicking things away to make way for Qian Meng to stand.

"You don't let anyone clean for you?" she asked, looking mildly horrified. There was a clutter of wires on the floor and all the monitors were switched on. He had been playing videogames and chatting with friends when she had knocked. The room smelled a little funky, that was for sure.

"I don't like people cleaning up after me," he confessed.

"That's a good thing, but this doesn't look liveable." She frowned in distaste as she bent down and picked up a shirt from the floor. It looked wrinkled beyond belief. "I'm assuming this isn't washed," she deadpanned.

"Nope. Sit sit," be beckoned, pushing a pile of things from his bed. It looked like he had a designated spot that he slept on, the other half of the bed remained cluttered with things. She sat down after a moment of hesitation. "You're here a little earlier than usual," he noticed.

Qian Meng was looking around. Her eyes fell on a pile of indistinct magazines below the computer desk. She looked away quickly, having a slight clue about what they were. It seemed that her step-brother was old fashioned when it came to sexual content.

"I finished work and came over," she said lightly. She didn't add the fact that the faster she came, the sooner she would be able to leave.

"I know how much you dislike dinner." He looked at her for a contradiction. It didn't come. "I also know you come for me," he said brightly.