Mrs. Smith's birthday was quite near to Bianca's, and the Smith family always celebrated them together every year.
This year would probably be no exception.
One would even start receiving gifts in advance of a week for Bianca in the Evergreen Class.
"I cast a vote for you; I reckon you will be the school beauty again this year.
Happy early birthday." Bianca was surrounded by a group of people like stars surrounding the moon, she politely smiled,
"Thank you."
Ann watched from a distance and nervously handed over her gift.
Bianca threw a glance at her but didn't accept it.
The two were still at odds due to the allergy incident.
Someone had voted for Bianca, scrolled down, and saw Maureen in the countdown on the voting page.
Someone was shocked,
"Why is there a masked candidate?
Where's the moderator who checked and allowed this?
Is the selection of school beauty just a joke this year?"
Bianca's face changed slightly, and she also checked her phone.
Maureen was surprisingly ranked twenty. Someone nearby said,
"Is it Maureen?
I haven't seen her, but I've heard of her.
She's a girl who has been chasing after Richard, they say she's average-looking.
Maybe someone voted for her out of curiosity."
Ann saw Bianca turn around and was frowning as she was scrolling on her phone, making it hard for Ann to understand what she was thinking.
However, she still leaned in and said in a low voice,
"Bianca, don't worry.
Those people voted for Maureen out of curiosity, wanting to know what she looks like under the mask.
She has only over five hundred votes now, while you have over three thousand votes, absolutely crushing her.
She won't be able to catch up."
"After all, if she does make it to the top, that's when she'll truly be embarrassed.
Imagine, after the results are out, everyone in the school who doesn't know her would believe that she's beautiful — but once her mask comes off, oh, total disappointment."
Ann thought that her words could ease the tension between her and Bianca, but unexpectedly, Bianca remained silent after hearing them and even looked grimmer, as if she didn't feel relieved at all.
Just as Ann was about to speak again, the phone of Bianca's good friend, Noella, vibrated.
"Eh, it's a message from Chris." Noella remarked in surprise.
[Noella, what gift would usually cheer up an angry girl? PS, don't tell Sister Bianca.]
Since Bianca was there, Noella showed her the message,
"Your brother is really too good for you.
Is he planning to secretly prepare a birthday gift for you?
He even told me not to tell you!"
Bianca cracked a smile, her face lightened up.
Chris was likely trying to apologize for his inadvertent yelling at her on the sports field the other day.
However, Bianca was a bit surprised.
Chris, who was usually straightforward, was actually beating around the bush today.
Noella asked, "Quick, what do you want for your birthday? How should I reply?"
Bianca thought for a moment and said,
"I don't need much, let him send whatever he likes."
So, Noella replied,
"Whatever you like, but Bianca, suggests you buy a life-size teddy bear."
There was no reply from the other side after that.
Ann, Noella, and all the surrounding girls started to envy,
"It'd be nice if I had a brother like this."
Bianca chuckled, feeling much better.
She stood up, packed her bag, and said,
"My big brother is coming to pick me up.
See you next week."
Meanwhile, Chris was strolling through the mall with two of his buddies.
He took the afternoon off for the last class, specifically coming out to buy some gifts to give to Maureen.
This week, he wasn't sure if Maureen purposely avoided him, or the distance from the freshman building to the senior one was indeed too far, but surprisingly, he hadn't seen her at school.
Of course, he didn't go home and repeat what Maureen had said before about severing the ties.
He thought that his older brother would personally pick up Maureen to go home this weekend.
Surely Maureen couldn't be holding a grudge and refused to go home.
So, if he were to say something, it would ruin things.
But even if he hadn't passed on the message, the atmosphere at home was noticeably terrible.
Maureen's absence made the house instantly quiet, let alone missing out on her delicious cooking, even if they wanted to bicker—they couldn't find someone to do it with.
Bianca and Maureen have very different personalities.
Bianca, poised and gracious, the perfect lady who plays piano and observes etiquette—she can do no wrong.
Chris certainly loves and dotes on his older sister Bianca, but he finds that he can't do without the quick-witted and sharp-tongued Maureen—who else but Maureen would drag him to bed by his ear when he stayed up late to play games.
Although Chris didn't want to admit it, he had to say, he did feel a bit empty this week.
Although he was a bit annoyed with Maureen for stirring up so much trouble over such a small matter, even ignoring him, after hearing what she said that day under the teaching building, he had to reflect on himself and others at home.
They did wrong by Maureen.
So, he thought it best to buy a gift first, and after his older brother persuaded Maureen to come home tonight, he would quietly slip into Maureen's room and give her the gift.
But when it was actually time to give the gift, Chris realized that he knew absolutely nothing about Maureen's preferences.
He realized that it had been two years and it seemed that all he had given her was a game card he no longer needed, which he casually gifted on her birthday last year.
Chris started to feel an inexplicable discomfort in his heart, coupled with a sense of last-minute panic, but he tried his best to suppress these feelings.
The family will be fine, there's no contradiction that can't be resolved.
After wandering around the mall for over an hour, on the recommendation of Noella, Chris finally bought a giant teddy bear, almost 1.7 meters tall, for Maureen.
After the purchase, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that it should surprise Maureen upon receiving it.
Because of its huge size, there was no direct way to take it back, so he asked the sales clerk to deliver it.
While filling out the delivery address, he thought for a moment and entered the home address with Maureen as the recipient.
After all, with his big brother taking action, he is confident they will be able to bring Maureen home today.
Coming back to school from the mall, Chris received a call from Oliver.
He hurriedly grabbed his schoolbag and ran to the school gate, "Big brother." Oliver, got out of the car with his car keys, rolled up his white shirt sleeves, frowned and walked directly into the school,
"Where is Maureen's class? Lead me."
"Big brother, I am glad that you finally came." Chris was a bit agitated.
With big brother personally coming to pick up her, Maureen couldn't repeat the same nasty act as last time, leaving their big brother speechless, could she?
He quickly followed behind Oliver.
"Over there, she is in the same building as Bianca but not on the same floor."
Oliver, went up to the fifth floor, heading in the direction of the International class.
He didn't know the location of Maureen's class before and after her class transfer, only where Bianca's class was located.
During previous holiday weekends, Oliver, would always drive to school to personally pick up Bianca and bring her home.
At this time, his feelings for Bianca remained unchanged.
But ever since two years ago, when Bianca transformed from his younger sister into a foreign surname with no blood ties, there was an added layer of compassionate complexity in Oliver's feelings for her.
He worried that she might feel uncomfortable in their home and feared that Maureen's domineering personality may bully her, hence he became even more protective of Bianca compared to the previous fifteen years.
Personally picking up Bianca was also a little customary habit between them.
This allowed Bianca to feel his favor and through his actions, let her know she's still very important in the family.
As for Chris and Maureen, they were usually chauffeured by the Smith family's driver over the past two years.
Oliver, didn't think anything was wrong with this arrangement.
After all, Chris would be with Maureen, being of the similar age, they might help Maureen better integrate into the family.
But this week, perhaps due to the guilt of the last incident, Oliver's attention was noticeably more on Maureen.
Remarkably, Maureen hadn't come home for a full week and a half.
Not only had she not replied to his apology text, but even when he and other family members called afterwards, they were all blocked.
Even the number of the auntie who always cooked in the Smith family was added to Maureen's blacklist.
Maureen seemed to wholly want to sever ties with them.
Mrs. Smith was so angry that she had a headache and clamored that if Maureen didn't come back, she'd never be allowed back again.
But Mrs. Smith, was just speaking out of anger, and wouldn't actually prevent Maureen from coming home.
So Oliver had no choice but to make a personal visit.
As the elder brother, he planned to take Maureen out for hot pot over the weekend to pacify her, and then find an appropriate opportunity to bring her home.
Classes in the international department finished early, and most of the people had already departed. Oliver and Chris are quite handsome.
As they walked along, they kept attracting the glances of girls. Someone came up to ask, "Who are you looking for?" Oliver said,
"I'm the parent of Maureen from the international class.
May I ask if she's around?"
"She went to the office to submit an application for the Inter-school Competition." Oliver and Chris exchanged surprise glances.
They knew about the Inter-school Competition.
Was Maureen, with her grades, also considering applying?
Let alone the stringent application criteria and the limited quota for every school – even if she did make it in, she'd probably be among the first batch to get eliminated, and hardly make it to the finals.
"What's good is that she has the ambition to progress," Oliver said to Chris.
"Considering she came all the way from a small town to study, she worked harder than most."
Chris nodded his agreement.
They then walked towards the office.
Maureen had just finished submitting her application.
As she looked up, she saw Oliver, and Chris, who had come to pick her up.
"Maureen." Oliver, approached her.
When his gaze fell on Maureen, after not seeing her for a week and a half, he was surprised.
Contrary to his expectations, Maureen didn't seem to be upset with her family—there was no red around her eyes, no weight loss, and her hair seemed glossier, and her eyes even clearer than before.
Oliver, was a little taken aback.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Maureen frowned.
"Why are you here again?" Maureen's indifferent statement left Oliver, speechless.
Oliver, had anticipated that Maureen, upon seeing him, would show a hint of grievance as if to say,
"why did it take you so long to get here?"
What he hadn't expected was her bristling annoyance.
He steadied his mood, decided not to bicker with the child, and continued,
"Are you going back to the classroom? If not, we can talk while walking, I'll take you to eat hot pot." Maureen said,
"That's what Bianca likes, I don't particularly like hot pot."
"Then let's eat something else." Oliver, was also patiently trying to please her,
"Also, mom and Bianca's birthday is next week, you must come home before that.
Don't be so childish, Maureen." Maureen glanced at Chris,
"It seems you didn't convey my words."
Oliver, also looked at Chris behind him,
"What words?"
Chris's face suddenly turned a bit ugly, he thought that if the elder brother came, Maureen's attitude would soften, but why is she still like this?
Still so cold and harsh to them?
Maureen suddenly took off her backpack from behind, and took out a thin photo from it.
Oliver, remembered, it was a family picture given to her when she first came to Smith's house two years ago.
She developed two copies, one was framed and placed by the bed, and one was carried in her bag.
The one on the bed, he went to see it this morning, it was not taken away.
And this one ——
"You should keep the photo well, what are you doing taking it out?"
Oliver stared at Maureen, and only then realized that something was off with Maureen.
Maureen walked over and handed the photo to Oliver.
Oliver, frowned and did not take it.
So, Maureen had no choice but to crumple it into a ball and toss it into the nearby trash can.
As she did this, as if she was just throwing away some trash, without even lifting her eyelids.
Oliver and Chris both froze, looking at Maureen in astonishment.
Maureen fumbled in her backpack again, checked its contents, and seriously confirmed it before she spoke,
"Apart from this photo, there shouldn't be anything else of yours on me.
The backpack and clothes I brought out with me are all things I brought with me prior to my arrival two years ago." Oliver knitted his brows,
"What do you mean?"
"It means I don't have anything from the Smith family with me.
Please stop bothering me.
As for the rest, I've already told Chris."
Even the usually gentle Oliver was growing angry, he glanced at the trash can full of fruit peels, keeping his voice low,
"Are you actually just going to ball up and throw a family photo into the trash can like that?!
What are we to you?"
Maureen looked at him with a strange expression.
"Is it really such a big deal? It's just a photocopy of a photo."
Suddenly, this sentence felt familiar to Oliver.
He remembered when Maureen had just arrived at the Smith's and had brought with her a few photocopies of photos of her old town and her grandma.
Maureen only agreed to let them see one of the photos.
After they saw it, they didn't remember whether it ended up with Bianca or Chris, and they ended up misplacing it without returning it to Maureen.
It became a cause for their first real argument.
Their words were the same,
"It's just a photocopy of a photo. You have a lot more, what's the big deal?"
Oliver's face turned pale, feeling as if he had been stabbed in the heart, unable to utter a word.
He turned to look at Maureen, only to see that she had already turned and walked away.
It was then Oliver and Chris realized why they felt something was off the moment they saw Maureen in the hallway.
Maureen had changed her backpack.
She carried with her a backpack that her grandmother had bought for her in the past.
Maureen has also changed her hair accessories.
On her ponytail, she switched to a simple black hair tie.
When Mrs. Smith was in a good mood and took her shopping, she didn't bring any of the things they bought from the Smith household.
And on her backpack, the little bear ornament that Oliver had given her - a treasure she had once held dear - was no longer there.