"But, why would your dad adopt a child instead of having his own?"
"Hmph, all because his ex-wife was a barren hen. Otherwise, would he have had to do that?
"My dad initially just wanted to adopt a son. But there weren't so many boys at the orphanage back then and he couldn't find a suitable one at that time, so he adopted a daughter. The following year, he found someone suitable, so he brought Qiao Chen home too."
Linda thought about it for a while. "So, Qiao Mianmian and Qiao Chen don't know about this?"
"Mm." Qiao Anxin sneered. "I don't know why my dad insists on keeping this a secret. He doesn't allow my mother or me to discuss this with anyone. Perhaps he's grown to love those bastard children, especially Qiao Mianmian… she was once his precious daughter, after all.
"He's worried about hurting their self-esteem and dignity if word got out.
