"Fateful Entanglement: The Road Home"
On the day when my wealthy parents showed up, I was in the noisy vegetable market, skillfully gutting fish. As the knife rose and fell in my hand, fish scales flew everywhere, and the air was filled with a strong fishy and bloody smell. I was fully concentrated on my work and didn't notice the huge change that was about to happen at all.
When my biological parents appeared in front of me, I was completely stunned. In the sweltering summer, the scorching sun shone brightly on the ground. I was wearing that shabby yet practical waterproof apron, and the chopping board made a rhythmic "dada" sound under my vigorous chopping. My body was full of the fishy and bloody smell mixed together, and this smell seemed to have become a part of my life. I stared blankly at the strange man and woman in front of me. Their faces were so unfamiliar, yet there was an indescribable sense of familiarity. Subconsciously, I asked them, "Do you want a grass carp?" The man didn't dislike the pungent smell at all. He strode forward, disregarding the stench, and gently but firmly pulled me into his arms. "Aly, you are our daughter. Now, Mom and Dad will take you back home, okay?" Looking at the sincerity and expectation in his eyes, a strange feeling of warmth welled up in my heart. I nodded gently and agreed, but I put forward a request that I must bring my little mutt. I couldn't understand the complex emotions in their eyes. Dad gently touched my head and said, "Aly, we can buy you a new puppy when we get back. A poodle or a Maltese would be fine." I firmly shook my head and hugged my little dog, Doubao, tightly as I got into their car. Mom kept looking at me, her eyes filled with both pity and worry. She softly reminded me not to dirty the car. I nodded obediently and hugged Doubao tightly. "Mom, I'm very good. Doubao is too." Mom then turned her head and stopped looking at me, but I could feel the turmoil in her heart.
The car slowly drove towards that strange home, and I was both nervous and expectant. When we arrived, a girl about my age was standing quietly at the door, waiting. She was wearing a snow-white dress and had a small flower inserted in her hair, looking beautiful and elegant. Mom quickly walked over, gently hugged her, and softly stroked her back. "Lucy, Mom is back." I hugged my little dog Doubao and carefully hid behind Dad. I felt so dirty that I didn't dare to get close to that white dress for fear of soiling it. Dad pulled me out from behind. I looked at the mother and daughter hugging in front of me uneasily, and a sense of loss welled up in my heart. The girl turned her head and wanted to hug Dad but hesitated and didn't dare to move forward. I tactfully stepped aside, not wanting to disturb their warm moment. However, Dad pulled me back again. "This is your sister. Although she is an adopted daughter, we have raised her as our own daughter for so many years. So she is your real sister too." I nodded, nervously wiped my hands on my clothes, and then extended my hand and said friendly, "Hello, sister!" She looked at me in panic and then at Mom, her eyes full of uneasiness. "Does sister think I'm dirty?" I asked Dad in a low voice. Dad's eyes were filled with tears. He tightly held my outstretched hand and said, "Aly, you are not dirty." Mom also reacted and looked at me with guilt all over her face. She immediately asked the nanny to take me upstairs to clean up. In fact, I'm really not dirty. I take a bath every day after selling fish. It's just that compared to their lives, I seem so humble and insignificant.
The first time I soaked in that luxurious bathtub, I was filled with novelty and surprise. Aunt Zhang was helping me wash Doubao. At this moment, I was surprised to find that Doubao was not a little yellow dog but a little white dog. I felt a bit embarrassed. I had never noticed this before. Lying in the bathtub, feeling the warm water surrounding me, I felt as if I were in paradise. Just then, Mom came over with a dress in her hand. "This is a dress that Lucy has worn... I'll take you to buy a new one when I have time..." Before she could finish speaking, I excitedly stood up, my eyes shining, and grinned at her. "A dress! This is the first time I've worn a dress. It's so beautiful." Mom looked at me, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes. Her expression was filled with heartache and love. I was a little panicked, not knowing if I had scared her. She hugged me tightly and said, "Aly, why do you have so many scars on your body?" I looked down at my hands, legs, and shoulders. Some scars were almost gone, while others had just scabbed over. "Some are from gutting fish. At first, I wasn't very skilled and always cut myself. Some are from being beaten by my previous dad. He would beat me every time he got drunk." I said it casually as if these injuries were just small episodes in life. "But later, I became more and more skilled at gutting fish and never cut myself again. Mom, I'm very good, right?" I raised my face and asked for praise. Unexpectedly, after Mom heard this, she hugged me tightly and cried uncontrollably. Mom put the dress on me, but it was a bit too big. Looking at my thin body wrapped in the large dress, she cried even louder. The crying attracted Dad. He anxiously asked Mom what was wrong. Mom sobbed and said that I was too thin and didn't look like a nearly sixteen-year-old child at all. I breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be just because of this. I thought I had made Mom cry because I looked ugly in my sister's dress. Wearing a dress for the first time, I spun around in excitement and kept asking Dad if it looked good. But then I accidentally bumped into a "pillar." Looking closely, it turned out to be my brother. He looked at me with disgust and said, "Where did this skinny monkey come from?" Then he was beaten by Dad. I blew on his injury and said that blowing on it would make it not hurt. For a moment, he was both crying and laughing.
Now only my sister is afraid to approach me at home. But I've already washed very clean. She looked at me and cried too. I feel like I have a magical power that can make everyone who sees me cry. My sister hugged Mom and wouldn't let go. "Mom, I don't want to gut fish." I was very puzzled. Why didn't she want to gut fish? Gutting fish is great. I would get one dollar for every fish I gutted. I have already saved almost a thousand dollars! A thousand dollars! That's a huge sum of money! Mom looked at Dad pleadingly, and Dad looked at me. I asked in confusion, "Why does my sister have to gut fish?" Dad explained, "Because your sister is the child of your adoptive parents. After you got lost, we found her at that time and thought it was fate, so we adopted her." No wonder I thought my sister looked familiar. It turned out that she looked like my adoptive mother. What a coincidence. I am the daughter of my parents. I got lost and was adopted by my adoptive parents. My sister is the daughter of my adoptive parents. She got lost and was adopted by my parents. Dad asked me, "Aly, shall we not send your sister back?" "If we have three thousand dollars a month at home, it would be fine." I replied with a smile. "Why three thousand dollars?" "Because I only need five hundred dollars a month. For three children, it would be about fifteen hundred dollars. Plus Mom and Dad and Aunt Zhang, so for six people, we need three thousand dollars." I calculated carefully while counting on my fingers. Dad's eyes turned red again. Alas, when will this magical power of making people cry disappear? I haven't cried since I was five years old. They are so old but still cry. "Aly, you can spend five thousand dollars a month. Mom and Dad are very rich. Look, we live in a big house." "Five thousand dollars!?" I was shocked. So Mom and Dad are so rich. Of course, we can raise my sister. We can even raise many more sisters. I was filled with anticipation and longing for the future.