Luo Kexin returned home from school in the afternoon and closed the door softly, intending to go to her room to rest but she heard some voices laughing so she went straight to the living room to find out who it was. Her face turned cold when she saw that her aunt laughing with her mother as she touched her mother's hand. Her mother who sat in an uncomfortable manner lifted up her head and saw her, immediately retrieving her hand as she approached her. "Kexin my dear, you are finally home. Come and greet your aunt and your cousin."
"Oh, my dear Xin'er! You have grown up a lot since the last time we saw you. Come here, let me see you closely." The middle-aged woman stood up from her seat and came closer to her, reaching out to take her hand but Luo Kexin dodged her incoming hands and took a step back.
"Welcome, Aunt Luo." Luo Kexin made a point not to bow formally to the woman, watching her face struggle to keep up its good natured smile in the conversation. She in return, was very unhappy that such an event had come up without warning, distrupting her plans. It was obvious that this visit was not a good one but only she alone remembered how intolerable it was for her family when this happened. "I wonder how you managed to find us since we just moved in a week ago, people would think you were tracking us. Look, you even came with someone's luggage."
Aunt Luo's smile dropped when she heard her words and shared a look with Luo Kexin's mother who in return shifted her gaze to scold her daughter as the situation turned intense. "Kexin, don't be rude to your aunt. Let's wait for your father to return before we discuss all of this."
"Yes, let's wait for my brother to come back from work." Aunt Luo chimed in. She heard a faint clearing of throat and suddenly remembered something before she started complaining. "We are all family here but you don't look happy to see us. Your younger cousin is here but you have just been ignoring her. You are really making this woman sad."
Luo Kexin watched the older woman put up an poignant act that made her feel so disgusted that she felt the overwhelming urge to smack someone silly. Feeling her mother's hidden pinch at her waist and reproachful glare, she spoke up and replied to her. "Luo Yi is four years younger than me yet she wants me to greet her? Aunt Luo, just how exactly are you raising your daughter?"
Both mother and daughter turned sour when they heard her words as they looked at each other. Aunt Luo was filled with vexation as she stood there watching Luo Kexin's faint smirk on her lips. To her, Luo Yi was her most precious jewel, the one she loved and treasured the most, how could she allow anyone to scold her so easily?
As soon as she opened her mouth, Luo Yi stood up and stepped forward to bow to the both of them as she said in a demure voice. "Please forgive me, Senior Sister for not greeting you earlier. I fell sick on my trip here and I didn't have much strength when I came in. Please don't be offended."
Luo Kexin chuckled softly as she saw through her words and intention to make her look inconsiderate and overbearing. She could have let things slide like in the past but she had sworn since the day she woke up that she would never allow anyone have the upper hand with her except it was to her advantage. "Luo Yi, please remember your origins properly. You are not a girl from the capital who is sickly and fragile, you come from the countryside and have worked hard in the family's field. How can a three day trip affect you to the point you can't even stand up to greet your elders?"
"It's my fault, Senior Sister. Please forgive me." Luo Yi clenched her fingers when she heard her comeback, her eyes flashing with dangerous intent that she couldn't even hide at the moment. The thing she hated the most was to be reminded of her humble background when she had worked hard all her life to imitate the ladies from the city and even dreamt of becoming one of them. If it was not for her mission here, how could she stand here and bear these insults?!
Luo Kexin's mother decided to mediate in the situation because she feared that her husband may blame her when he came back so she said to her daughter. "Alright, she has already apologized to you. There is no need to blame her. Why don't we all wait for my husband to return so we can discuss the main matter at hand?"
But a few minutes later when Luo Kexin's father finally returned....
"No." Luo Kexin didn't care that the room had suddenly turned quiet after her words but she also ignored her mother's scolding look as she said to her aunt and cousin with a tone of finality in the prescence of her father. "Our house is not a hotel, we cannot allow strangers in so easily. Please go back to the countryside and take the examination like I did."
Although her parents did not look happy at her on the surface, she knew that they shared the same thoughts as her but were afraid that they would be blamed by her grandfather living in the countryside so she decided to speak up for the both of them instead. She had never really liked that old man and she was just a teenager at most. They wouldn't be able to reprimand her much and the words wouldn't be able to affect her at all.
Her aunt had just shown up so suddenly and asked them to accommodate them while her cousin takes the same scholarship exam she took a year ago. She really wondered if they were indeed stupid or they thought that her family was suffering from memory loss just because they had now moved to the city. "Have you forgotten so soon what happened a year ago when I was the one who was about to take the scholarship exam?"