Due to the previous incident, by lunchtime, Lin Chuxia's anger had not subsided, and whenever she looked at Gu Yuheng, she could barely stand the sight of him, despising anything related to him.
Originally, she wanted to leave immediately after lunch, but Uncle Zhong persuaded her to stay, "Young madam, it's not easy to come back now and again, how can you leave without at least staying for dinner?"
Moreover, with Gu Qi fanning the flames by revealing that after the Chu Family left, the whole family had happily gone to watch a movie and have a feast.
Thus, Lin Chuxia stayed at Bishui Huating until after dinner before leaving. She could guess with her toes that by the time she returned to the An Family, not even leftovers would be waiting for her.
"Young master, should we really let the young madam go back like this?" After Lin Chuxia left, Uncle Zhong voiced his concerns. With her current status, how many people in the Capital would curry favor with her? Why bother going back to face such humiliation?
"No matter. Let her play if she wants to play," he said. After all, with him around, those little fishes and shrimps couldn't stir up any big waves.
.
When Lin Chuxia returned to the An Family, she found the family happily chatting about something, but they all fell silent upon seeing her.
How dull. Lin Chuxia didn't stop and headed straight to the second floor.
"Stop! Have you become mute? Can't you even greet people?" Xie Jinya couldn't grow fond of this newly acknowledged daughter.
Look at that upbringing, not even a fraction as good as Mingzhu's!
Initially, she didn't want to respond, but, considering Xie Jinya's relentless nature, Lin Chuxia turned around and shrugged, "In the past, when I called out, nobody seemed to hear me, so I thought even if I did call out this time, it would be a waste of effort."
"You…" Xie Jinya was furiously annoyed. Yet, she couldn't find the words to scold Lin Chuxia right away.
She probably hadn't expected the usually easy-to-deal-with Lin Chuxia to retort.
Lin Chuxia, looking down from above, saw the astonishment in Xie Jinya's eyes all too clearly. She did not know how to describe her current feelings; they were just... somewhat complex.
Initially, she had been eager to meet her biological parents, treating them with respect and admiration as if they were her mom and dad.
This was why Xie Jinya was so shocked just now by her slightly harsh tone.
When she first came to this family, she had been completely compliant towards Xie Jinya, never fighting back nor talking back. Thinking about how she had been like a pushover at the An Family recently, Lin Chuxia felt quite incredulous.
"How dare you talk to your mother like that!" An Guosheng, with a stern face, turned toward Lin Chuxia. "Even if we have wronged you over these years, because of you, your mother has also suffered a lot and missed you deeply. Aren't you going to apologize to your mom?"
Sufferings? Perhaps there truly were some! It was said that when An Guosheng found out that An Mingzhu was not of An bloodline, thinking that Xie Jinya had cuckolded him, he had almost divorced her in his anger.
Latterly, it turned out to be a huge misunderstanding. An Mingzhu wasn't An Guosheng's daughter, but she wasn't Xie Jinya's daughter either, having been swapped at the hospital at birth.
Back then, Xie Jinya indeed had suffered a lot because of these events, but as for missing? She had never really seen that.
And if there was any, it certainly wasn't for her, Lin Chuxia.
"Dad, Mom! Don't be angry. Maybe Chuxia just got used to being casual in the countryside, and it's hard for her to change in such a short time," An Mingzhu spoke up to mediate, yet her words directly affirmed what Xie Jinya had just said about Lin Chuxia being "ill-mannered."
After speaking, An Mingzhu then looked at Lin Chuxia with a worried face, "Chuxia, don't blame Mom. Mom is also worried about you. You see, you have just come back to Jincheng and you're unfamiliar with this place. Jincheng's nightlife is full of temptations for many young people, and mom was just worried you'd be led astray, which is why she spoke like that."
"Exactly!" Xie Jinya also found her footing because of An Mingzhu's words, "Don't you even look at the time? It's almost nine o'clock, and you, a girl, still dare to wander outside at night?"
"That's because I've just arrived and am not familiar with Jincheng yet! I had no choice; I was abandoned right at the entrance of Jinxiu Residential Area, my calls to heaven went unheard, and my cries to earth unanswered. I couldn't hail a cab and didn't know the roads, so I got lost," Chuxia explained.
"Yet you don't look like you're lost," An Mingzhu said, frowning at the composed and clean Lin Chuxia.
"Then what does a lost person look like? Why don't you show me?" Lin Chuxia raised an eyebrow.
"I... Chuxia, I'm just worried about you, I didn't mean anything else..." An Mingzhu sounded a bit hurt.
"Enough. I'm very tired today and don't want to talk anymore. Think whatever you like!" She said, knowing her words were never truly heard.
If it weren't for the fact that staying here helped her avoid Gu Yuheng, she would have already confronted this family.
They clearly didn't like her, so why acknowledge her as part of the family?!
Thinking this, Lin Chuxia felt somewhat aggrieved.
She missed her parents again...
Actually, she still longed for her parents...
.
Lin Chuxia originally intended to go downstairs to get a glass of water when she unintentionally overheard a conversation coming from An Mingzhu's slightly ajar room.
"You left her alone at the entrance of Jinxiu Residential Area today?" It was the voice of her biological younger brother, An Mingyu.
"Ayu, what do you mean by that? Do you think we did it on purpose?" An Mingzhu bit her lip, her expression deeply hurt.
"I didn't mean that. Our parents didn't anticipate it, but sister has always been meticulous..." He just wanted to know why they had left Lin Chuxia alone at the entrance of Jinxiu Residential Area.
That place was utterly incapable of hailing a cab, and it was so far from any area where you could get one. If Lin Chuxia's story about getting lost was true, then how far had she walked all day today?
"Ayu, I am attentive. But we ran into Third Master Gu at the entrance of the residential area today, we were all scared... I was frightened too, which is why I overlooked these things. It was my fault to have ignored Chuxia, but I didn't think you would doubt me..." An Mingzhu said, on the verge of tears, with a pitiful look on her lovely little face.
"I didn't mean to doubt you..." He was just upset tonight seeing Lin Chuxia's indifferent attitude.
Before, Lin Chuxia wasn't like this. Her attitude towards our parents and the way she looked at him were never as distant as they had been tonight.
Yes, distant.
"Ayu, even though Chuxia is your biological older sister, I've treated you like my real younger brother for all these years... Could all our years of affection really not stand against those so-called ties of blood? Ayu, you've truly broken my heart, wooo..."
An Mingzhu burst into tears.
"That's not it. I've always thought of you as my real sister, no matter what, you are my dearest and closest sister..." Then came the sound of An Mingyu hurriedly comforting An Mingzhu.
Lin Chuxia had lost interest in listening any further.