My savage sister

　　Summer of 2012.

Cherry Adams moved in with Lee's family.

She was 16 at the time and had just finished mourning the death of her biological mother when she was picked up by Lee's father and brought to Beijing.

Lee's family was very wealthy, but Cherry Adams' family struggled to make ends meet. Her mother was the ex-wife of Lee's father.

It's a bit complicated, but let's just say that Lee's father was her nominal father.

　　But in reality, she was born to Lee's father's real mother and Lee's family's maid.

When Cherry Adams was young, she didn't know any better and thought her life was miserable because she was born into the wrong family. She later discovered that she was actually born into the right family, just the wrong father. If her father had been Lee's father, it would have been fine, but since he wasn't, it was a big deal and her mother was kicked out of the house.

　　After Cherry Adams grew up, she began to ask her mother, "Why did you have to fool around with someone else?"

Cherry Adams' mother, Xie Xue, was preparing for an audition, smiling with a cigarette in her mouth, "He's handsome.

What good is good-looking? You can't eat it. Xie Xue is so beautiful, but without Lee's father's bank card, she has gone from a rich woman to an 18th-tier actress.

　　But Cherry Adams doesn't hold Lee's father in much of a grudge. His wife had a child with someone else, but he not only helped cover up the scandal, he also sent monthly alimony payments, which was already very considerate.

　　In fact, Lee's father used to call once a year, but then Cherry Adams would not be able to pay her tuition because Xie Xue would use the money to buy designer bags and clothes. One year, Xie Xue was unable to earn any money because she was between jobs, and Cherry Adams even had to drop out of school. Later, Lee's father started paying Cherry Adams' tuition every month so she could get by on her own.

　　Cherry Adams and Lee's father got along well, probably because he only had two sons and no daughters. Lee's father came to Seoul a few times a year, either on business or just to see her, but he never met Xie Xue. He asked Cherry Adams about her mother, though: if she had taken any bad acting jobs, if she had a new boyfriend, if she had maxed out her credit card again, if she had been coughing at night lately. Cherry Adams told him the truth, and Lee's father felt her forehead.

　　Just as Cherry Adams and Lee's father got along, so did Cherry Adams and Xie Xue. They didn't seem like mother and daughter, but rather like tenants living under the same roof. Cherry Adams learned to cook on the stove before she went to elementary school, and after learning to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, she learned to do bookkeeping. Soon she was in charge of all the family's affairs. Like Lee's father, Xie Xue never asked about Cherry Adams' studies or her personal life.

　　Your mother is rather indifferent, that's what Lee's father said. Cherry Adams didn't mind because Xie Xue had also taken care of her. When she was two or three years old, she still wet her bed, and Xie Xue helped her change her diapers. Xie Xue also came to her parent-teacher meetings, and when she was bullied at school, Xie Xue would go to school in high heels and cause trouble.

At that time, Cherry Adams didn't realize that she thought Xie Xue was a good mother because she was also indifferent.

　　The word seems to imply a lack of conscience.

Unlike Lee's father, who can't hide his fondness when he talks about Xie Xue, Xie Xue has long forgotten this man. A beautiful woman yearning for freedom, she can sit at the bar and order the cheapest drink, and the man next to her will get drunk without even drinking.

After her divorce, Xie Xue never lacked for boyfriends.

Although she never brought them home.

　　Xie Xue also had a sudden accident, a car accident.

She didn't die in vain, and her boyfriend, the gigolo, protected her until the end. Cherry Adams was already sixteen, not an age where you don't know anything, so of course she was embarrassed to tell Lee's father, but he still found out from the police.

It was also because Cherry Adams had grown up a lot that Lee's father had more heartfelt words to tell her.

　　"Your mother was like that," he said. "Everybody loved her wherever she went. She had a good life."

A woman with a good life, but she died young. Cherry Adams didn't agree, and she'd been able to tell from a young age. Lee's father could probably say such things because his family was not happy today. Later, when Cherry Adams came to Lee's family, she realized that her hunch was correct. Lee's father and mother were in a business marriage, and they had remarried less than a month after divorcing Xie Xue. It happened so quickly, and the two were not emotionally attached to each other, so Cherry Adams still suspects that Lee's father was retaliating against Xie Xue. In any case, everyone is dead now, and there is no way to verify this.

Nevertheless, Lee's father was still good to her.

　　So Cherry Adams was willing to move from Wuhan to Beijing.

Lee's family in the capital had two sons.

The older was twelve, the younger eight.

Cherry Adams was only sixteen. It is said that three years is a generation gap, and she was one generation younger than Jasper Lee and two generations younger than Pascal Lee.

　　She still remembers the first time she met the two brothers, in the music room. They were both dressed in white shirts and western-style pants, looking like little adults as the teacher instructed them on how to play the piano. Cherry Adams followed Lee's father, who knocked on the door, came in, introduced them, and first explained Cherry Adams' identity.

The younger brother, Pascal Lee, looked up at her with curiosity, while the older brother, Jasper Lee, tilted his head with a disdainful expression.

　　Cherry Adams is very observant. She can tell at a glance that the brothers are not happy.

There are very few children in the world who really lack love.

However, the reasons why children lack love vary.

　　In the Lee family, Cherry Adams was most concerned with Lee's mother. She was a full-time housewife who took care of the affairs of the large family home. To be honest, Cherry Adams found this cruel. Lee's mother was also very beautiful, and she was still young after giving birth to two sons. Why did she restrict herself to this corner of the hall? If Xie Xue chose to rebel because of this, Cherry Adams could understand and deeply support it.

　　Cherry Adams went to school and came home and didn't see her two brothers much. As her horizons expanded, her curfew was pushed back more and more. Sometimes she would get home at the same time as Lee's father, who was working late. Cherry Adams loved going out at night in those days. Instead of going home after night school, she would wander the streets. Lee's father didn't scold her, saying she was just like her mother. They just sat in the living room with only one lamp on and talked.

　　Lee's father was not a talkative person at home, but he had something to say to Cherry Adams.

At this point, Cherry Adams had the feeling that Lee's father really didn't like this family.

Whether he was talking about past events, his attitude toward his ex-wife, or his concern for Cherry Adams.

　　Cherry Adams was not his child, not related by blood, but she felt a father's love from Lee's father.

Lee's mother and the children around her were polite to Cherry Adams. Cherry Adams felt that the two brothers hated her, but it was hard to say how much. She only remembered that one year, on Pascal Lee's birthday, they went to Happy Valley to play, and Lee's mother took her.

　　The two boys were playing bumper cars, and Lee's mother was watching from outside the fence. Cherry Adams was also seventeen years old, not a child, and didn't want to play that game, so she stayed next to Lee's mother.

"I used to be a race car driver," Lee's mother said, "before I got married.

　　Cherry Adams had never imagined that such a gentle and refined woman had such a side. It turned out that Lee's mother wasn't staring at the children, but at the bumper cars, which looked exactly like racecars.

Everyone has an ideal. More ambitiously, it is something you are willing to devote your life to; more simply, it is something you always want to do. Cherry Adams didn't have one. Her Chinese teacher at school said that she had no ambition, and Cherry Adams felt that this was a disease of the poor. How can you be rich in spirit if you are poor in material things? Only the upper class has the time, money, and energy to develop their untapped talents.

"...So why didn't you continue?" Cherry Adams asked. She actually knew why, but to Lee's mother, she was just a kid, and kids were supposed to ask questions like that. Lee's mother opened up and shared many of her experiences after marrying into Lee's family.

　　In the end, Lee's mother summed it up by saying, "Love is a yoke. You see, it's clearly a marriage, but she's talking about love. Cherry Adams realized that marriage and love are not so easy to separate, and not everyone is as cold-hearted as she and Xie Xue. Lee's mother did not love Lee's father without love.

Something about the blood bond is too heavy.

With all that, how is it possible not to have love?

　　But does that mean that people who aren't related by blood don't have love?

Cherry Adams didn't know the answer. Lee's father was kind to her.

Lee's father and Lee's mother didn't travel much together, but they always made a few trips a year. They would go to the United States to visit these relatives. Cherry Adams didn't know if they were foreigners, but judging by the bone structure of Jasper Lee and Pascal Lee, they were both very handsome and looked Chinese.

　　While Mom and Dad were away, the little brats were in charge. Cherry Adams discovered mud on her sheets that night.

The children's rooms were all on the second floor, and just because she hadn't been in the brothers' rooms didn't mean they weren't visiting her.

"Who did this?!" Cherry Adams dragged the quilt up to the first floor.

The tutor was leading Jasper Lee and Pascal Lee in their evening reading.

Pascal Lee trembled and Jasper Lee reached out to protect him.

　　The nanny rushed in to calm them down, saying that it was enough to change into a clean bed and asking Cherry Adams not to be angry. Where did this reasoning come from, that if one is angry, one should not be angry? Cherry Adams did not know how to deal with people from high society, but that did not mean she was a soft target for bullying. She turned to go to Pascal Lee's room to get the quilt, and Pascal Lee went upstairs to stop her.

Jasper Lee spoke suddenly.

　　"I did it..."

Ten-year-old Pascal Lee loved his quilt, which was a Crayon Shin-chan doodle. Jasper Lee knew that, so he said it. Cherry Adams didn't care about his brotherly love, and she rolled Pascal Lee's quilt under her arm and turned to go back to Jasper Lee's room. The two of them were stunned.

"You! You cheated!" Pascal Lee shouted, "I got your quilt, and you got both of our quilts..."

　　"You," Cherry Adams pointed her finger at his nose, "your quilt is because of what you did. She pointed her finger at Jasper Lee's nose again, "Your quilt is because you were right there watching, you think I don't know that? Don't you two do things in pairs?"

Jasper Lee remained silent, Cherry Adams was right.

Cherry Adams threw all three quilts into the backyard pond.

"In that case, no one should sleep."

　　Pascal Lee burst into tears: "What gives you the right? !"

"The fact that I'm eight years older than you," Cherry Adams said coldly, wrapping her arms around herself. "When I was up to no good, you were still playing in the dirt."

"You... you're not that great!" Pascal Lee's tears fell. "Auntie already said that you're not even family!"

The nannies in the house fell silent for a moment.

　　Jasper Lee instinctively stood in front of his brother.

Cherry Adams pushed Jasper Lee away and grabbed Pascal Lee by the collar.

She didn't mean to be rough with him, but Pascal Lee choked and said,

"You...you dare to hit me...I'll tell my father to throw you out..."

Cherry Adams slapped him and he fell to the ground.

It happened so fast that no one reacted.

　　"You think I'm having a good time here?" Cherry Adams spat at him viciously, "Tell your father to get me out of here as soon as possible! I'm begging you! Call whoever you want, sue whoever you want, when they get back from their business trip, sue them all you want!"

"But before that... She glared at Jasper Lee, "Keep your brother under control!"

Cherry Adams picked up her jacket and walked out of the house.

　　No one in the big house dared to stop her.

Cherry Adams had money given to her by Lee's father, and she had earned some money over the past two years. The summer after her sophomore year, she spent a month studying for her driver's license, and as soon as she graduated, she bought a hybrid car that cost just over 100,000 yuan. She had her own car, and she could go wherever she wanted, and no one could control her.

Why did Cherry Adams make so many plans for herself?

Because she never thought of these people as her family.

　　She went to stay with a friend and calculated the day Lee's fatherLee's mother would return from his business trip. If she was kicked out of Lee's family, she would just go back to Seoul. Xie Xue had left her an old house and she could earn her own tuition... After all, no one could starve.

But Cherry Adams never waited for Lee's father/Lee's mother to return home.

She only waited for news of their deaths.