The more Jing Yunzhao thought about her past, the more she wanted to get retribution against these people right here and now. However, she knew very well that being a little girl without any power, doing something rash would only put her into an even more unfavorable situation.
"You woke up, Yunzhao? Thank God! Mother is already so ill and I was worried about another bad thing happening to this family," Qiao Hongye cried out unctuously.
Ye Qin did look extremely ill judging from her pale face. If she was not mistaken, the family was already arranging for Ye Qin's funeral, and it was within these few days that she succumbed to her illness.
"You have been behaving badly, Yunzhao. Don't you know that your mother is ill? You were hanging out with those thugs when you should have been at home taking care of your mother. Do you know what would have happened if those police officers hadn't passed by?" Qiao Weimin asked, sounding like a loving father.
The truth was that she fainted out there because of Qiao Hongye.
Jing Yunzhao was already attending high school in town despite being only fifteen. On the way back home from school the day before, she ran into some thugs who had forcefully kept her there and started to get handsy with her in front of the students who were passing by. They pretended that they knew her and took her into an alley, and she would have been sexually assaulted if it weren't for the police who happened to pass by.
She didn't know that what happened to her was planned until she saw Qiao Hongye hanging out with those thugs after Ye Qin passed away.
Qiao Hongye was younger than her by almost a year, and never would she have expected someone that young to be so scheming and evil.
"You know that I am the top student at school, Father, and the second top student is nowhere near my scores. Do you think someone like me would have anything to do with those thugs? It was obvious that they were picking on me," said Jing Yunzhao directly.
The Jing Yunzhao in her previous life might have just accepted it and apologized, but not the Jing Yunzhao in this life. Why should she be so careful with their feelings when she had decided that there was no need to get along with them anyway?
Qiao Hongye blushed in embarrassment when she heard what Jing Yunzhao said.
Jing Yunzhao and her twin siblings attended the same high school, except that her brother who wasn't quite good at studying had to enter the school through the back door after spending a fortune, and Qiao Hongye could never be the top student no matter how hard she tried.
From the beginning, Jing Yunzhao had always been the top student in the school. Her results were always better than Qiao Hongye's, and Qiao Hongye could never overtake her no matter how hard she tried.
The Qiao siblings were actually one year younger than Jing Yunzhao, but they were not happy when Jing Yunzhao got to attend high school, so they made Ye Qin pull some strings for them to be in the same school and same grade as Jing Yunzhao.
"The teacher said I am improving, Mother, but I've been so worried about your health that I can hardly focus on my studies like Yunzhao. I can barely even sleep at night…" Qiao Hongye grabbed Ye Qin's arm and said sadly.
Qiao Hongye was Ye Qin's biological daughter after all, and Ye Qin always looked at Qiao Hongye lovingly.
Jing Yunzhao's heart sank.
Ye Qin had raised and taken care of her for more than ten years and she had always respected Ye Qin as her mother, but the way Ye Qin always sided with her own children disappointed her.
Ye Qin rarely looked at Jing Yunzhao lovingly, and her smile whenever she looked at Jing Yunzhao was usually insincere. She would order Jing Yunzhao to do things for Qiao Hongye, and she would get angry and lash out at Jing Yunzhao if she disobeyed her.
Jing Yunzhao was always curious about why Ye Qin would treat her two daughters so differently, and understood only after she found out the truth.
Ye Qin had found her as a baby when she was pregnant. She was afraid of committing sin by ignoring the baby so she got a fortune teller to read the baby's fortune. According to the fortune teller, while the baby might have a tough life, she could be a lucky charm for Ye Qin's children. She could ward off evil and ensure that Ye Qin's children lived a healthy and wealthy life…
Jing Yunzhao wouldn't have survived if it weren't for what the fortune teller had said. Then again, Jing Yunzhao would rather die out on the streets than live with the Qiao Family and be humiliated, then sent to the prison to be tortured to death.
"Hongye is your younger sister, Yunzhao. What kind of older sister would imply something like this about their younger sister? You are good at studying only because you took after me. Do you think you would get first place in school if Hongye wasn't kind enough to be lenient to you?" Ye Qin said everything in one breath, then started to cough so vigorously that her face turned red.
Ye Qin understood her condition and had accepted her fate, but she couldn't bear to leave her two children behind. She even doubted the fortune teller's prediction about Jing Yunzhao since her life had turned out like this.
"You are right, Mother, I must have taken after you. Hongye must have taken after Father since we don't look at each other at all," said Jing Yunzhao deliberately.
Ye Qin stared at Jing Yunzhao, speechless. She could feel that something was wrong with Yunzhao today; she was unusually harsh and irritable.
"Alright, alright. When did you become so outspoken? Look at how soft-spoken and understanding Hongye is and be more like her. How else are you going to find someone who would want to marry you?" Ye Qin said angrily, beginning to feel even sicker.
Ye Qin had fallen sick out of the blue. She rarely fell ill, but one day she had been admitted to the hospital where they had found a malignant tumor in her liver.
She underwent treatment for a while but not only did it fail, Ye Qin became weak and lost all her hair as a result of it.
The Qiao Family was just an ordinary family. They weren't wealthy to begin with, and Ye Qin's illness had used up a big portion of their savings. When the doctor hinted to the family to prepare for her funeral, Ye Qin knew that her time had come and insisted on going home so she wouldn't die at a sad and lonely place like the hospital.
When Ye Qin started to get well at home, she became even more reluctant to return to the hospital.
Not wanting to argue with Ye Qin, Jing Yunzhao went to the kitchen to look for food.
Yes, she owed the Qiao Family her life; but she also took care of all the household chores and gave them every single cent that she had earned. She very much considered the debt paid off when her previous life ended so miserably.
Also, she had been an outstanding student since young, and had been receiving scholarships from winning all sorts of competitions since primary school. She hadn't spent even a single cent of the Qiao Family's money once she was old enough to earn, but even so she had to behave a certain way at home. How was that fair?
As for the sweet porridge in her room? Thanks, but no thanks.
She had eaten that sweet porridge in her previous life and ended up with vomiting and diarrhea for a week.
She used to think that it was her duty to do everything for this family and that she was blessed to be a part of it, but she didn't think so anymore.
There wasn't much food in the kitchen but Jing Yunzhao was not picky. She had a simple meal and planned her future.
"Isn't there porridge in your room, Yunzhao? Why did you look for food in the kitchen?" Qiao Hongye asked unhappily when she noticed Jing Yunzhao looking for food in the kitchen.
"I didn't dare eat the cold porridge, what if I get an upset stomach from it? We have a test on Monday too. I don't think I'll eat unsafe food like this from now on," said Jing Yunzhao cryptically.
"Are you saying that cold porridge can give you an upset stomach? I think you are just being squeamish, Yunzhao," said Qiao Hongye, panicking at Jing Yunzhao's words.
"Seems like you have a strong stomach and are not squeamish at all, Hongye. Why don't you eat the cold porridge then?" Jing Yunzhao sneered.
"Jing Yunzhao! Why would you make Hongye eat porridge that might be spoiled? What are you up to?" Qiao Weimin roared from behind Jing Yunzhao as soon as she finished speaking.