Chapter 9: Chapter 7: Cold-blooded Kinship
The next day, early in the morning, Huo Sining got out of bed to make breakfast in the kitchen.
But no sooner had she reached the kitchen than Xu Lian pushed her out.
"I'll do it, I'll do it. You sit down and rest, is the wound on your forehead still hurting? Do you want to go to the clinic to have it checked out?"
Xu Lian looked at Huo Sining with a smile, stretching out her hand to lift Huo Sining's bangs and check the wound on her forehead.
The cut on Huo Sining's forehead had healed without treatment, so how could she let Xu Lian see it? She quickly stepped back to avoid Xu Lian's hand, and seeing Xu Lian's attentive demeanor, she grew suspicious.
In her past life, whether Huo Sining was in school or working, the first thing she did every morning was to prepare breakfast for a family of four.
If she got up late, she would inevitably be scolded, and sometimes she would even be hit a few times.
Xu Lian being so pleasant today and even making breakfast herself was truly a first.
Huo Sining bowed her head but remained inwardly on guard.
If someone is unduly kind without cause, they must be plotting something; Huo Sining wondered what scheme Xu Lian was up to now.
Sure enough, when it was time to eat, just as Huo Sining sat down at the dining table, Xu Lian started speaking to Huo Yong.
"I called your eldest sister last night, and she said that their daughter Mei Ling will be coming back in a few days. Mei Ling is really capable now, she works for some foreign company in Guangcheng. What was that company called? I can't quite remember; anyway, it's a very impressive company. I heard she earns four to five thousand just in salary each month. You see, that child didn't even finish high school, you wonder how she manages to earn so much money."
The words were directed at Huo Yong, but Xu Lian's gaze was fixated on Huo Sining.
Huo Sining sneered inwardly, knowing exactly what Xu Lian was implying the moment she opened her mouth.
Xu Lian was aware that she had graduated from high school and didn't want her to go to university; she wanted her to follow her niece, Liu Meiling, to work and make money for her to spend.
But Xu Lian's wishful thinking was likely to be in vain.
Setting aside whether Huo Sining was willing or not, Xu Lian's elder sister, Xu Xia, was not someone to be trifled with.
The sisters of the Xu family would not stir without benefit, and Xu Xia, even more so than Xu Lian, would never let Xu Lian set her sights on her daughter.
Furthermore, the notion of Liu Meiling working at a foreign company was a joke.
Guangcheng, like the Imperial Capital, belonged to the top tier of cities, where frankly, you could grab a handful of undergraduates off the streets.
What abilities could Liu Meiling, a junior high school graduate, possibly have to work for a foreign company?
Such lies could only deceive rural women like Xu Xia and Xu Lian.
In her former life, Huo Sining always found it strange, Liu Meiling didn't even know English, how did she get into a foreign company?
One year, during Liu Meiling's visit back home for the New Year, Huo Sining, unable to curb her curiosity, asked about it.
To her surprise, Liu Meiling's face changed instantly, and she hemmed and hawed, unable to explain.
It wasn't until later, when martial law was imposed in Guangcheng and Liu Meiling, who frequented the major entertainment venues, was caught red-handed and made an example of on television.
The scandal became widely known overnight, even reaching the people of Baiyun Village.
Only then did the Xu family learn that their daughter was not working for any foreign company, but was instead a streetwalker in Guangcheng!
Xu Xia, who had always taken pride in Liu Meiling, believing her daughter brought credit to her, knew deep down that being a prostitute wasn't a respectable reputation, no matter how thick her skin was.
Seeing that her actions were exposed, Liu Meiling no longer dared to return home.
Yet Xu Lian, shameless as she was, would often boast to Huo Sining that her elder sister had raised a good daughter who made a lot of money.
Leaving aside what happened in the past life, right now, Xu Lian had said a lot, but Huo Sining was distracted and hardly listened to any of it.
Xu Lian always meant what she said and, seeing Huo Sining have no reaction, her face immediately darkened as she slammed down her chopsticks and scolded:
"What's the use of a girl reading so many books? Liu Meiling only went to school for a few years, and she's making enough money to buy my eldest sister a house in the city. Tell me, besides being able to read yourself to death, what else can you do? You can't even mend a chicken coop, and you've been leeching off the Huo family for so many years. Is this how you repay me?"
Xu Lian could change her face faster than flipping a book; she had been all smiles just a moment ago, and now she couldn't help but burst into scolding again.
Regaining her senses, Huo Sining's eyes filled with thick contempt:
"Auntie, let's not talk about how much work I've done for the Huo family over the years, you know very well whether those were in vain. Let's talk about the year my mother died. The bankbook that was in her hand—whose hands did it fall into? How much money was in it? You should be clearer about that than me. Uncle promised my mother he would raise me and send me to school. The money in that bankbook was enough for my expenses for over ten years. You say I've been freeloading off the Huo family—I won't agree with that!"
Mrs. Huo had given all the money in her hands to Huo Yong before she died, amounting to as much as a hundred thousand yuan.
Because Huo Sining was only four or five years old at that time and could not remember anything, she was completely ignorant of this.
Therefore, even though she was mistreated by the Huo family, she never dared to have any complaints.
In her eyes, after all, it was her uncle and aunt who had worked hard to earn money to raise her; she couldn't be an ungrateful wretch.
However, a few months before Huo Sining's death, she accidentally heard Huo Yong and Xu Lian arguing.
Huo Yong had come back drunk from outside and the first thing he did was to ask Xu Lian for money to go gambling.
Xu Lian refused to give it, saying she had no money, and in a fit of anger, Huo Yong slipped up and demanded to know where the hundred thousand yuan from Mrs. Huo had gone.
Only then did Huo Sining find out from the two of them that her mother had left her such a substantial inheritance before she died.
Thinking about the hardships she had endured at the Huo family and her own hard work, Huo Sining felt a chill in her heart that she couldn't warm up no matter how hard she tried.
She was not a saint and could not repay evil with good; she couldn't afford such kinship.
Xu Lian didn't know Huo Sining had experienced life and death in her previous life, and when she heard Huo Sining talk back to her, she was prepared to yell back.
But she didn't expect that when Huo Sining finally spoke up, she would reveal such shocking information.
Xu Lian's heart skipped a beat, and her complexion instantly turned deathly pale as she turned her head and glared at Huo Yong with anger: "Did you tell her?"
Xu Lian had deliberately avoided mentioning the big daughter's incident all these years for fear that Huo Sining would find out about the money.
The fact that Mrs. Huo had handed the money over to her was something only Huo Yong and she knew. Since she hadn't spoken, the only person left who could have leaked it was Huo Yong.
Good for nothing but messing things up!
Xu Lian was furious, thinking Huo Yong had told Huo Sining, and she couldn't help glaring at Huo Yong with fury.
Poor Huo Yong was being wronged; he was planning on using that money to turn his luck around, why would he talk about these matters with his niece? He even wanted to ask if Xu Lian had accidentally let something slip.
Seeing Huo Yong's guilty appearance as he hung his head and didn't dare to look at her, without offering a single word in defense, the last bit of hope in Huo Sining's heart dissipated.
She looked at Xu Lian coldly and said, "Auntie, it doesn't matter who told me. What matters is, I, Huo Sining, don't owe you anything. Even a clay figure has a hint of anger—if you push too hard, nobody benefits!"
Hearing this, Huo Yong froze, and even Xu Lian's face stiffened.
Seeing their reactions, Huo Sining stood up satisfied, washed the bowl in her hand in the kitchen, and then walked out the door without looking back.
"That damned girl, when did she become so tough?"
It wasn't until Huo Sining had left that Xu Lian came back to reality and shouted angrily towards the door:
"You and your shameless mother are the same, both cheap women! The elder got together with some wild man without a matchmaker, and birthed a little whore without a mother's care!"
Outside, Huo Sining's eyes were icy cold. She owed the Huo family nothing; she didn't want their kinship in this life—she just wanted to live well.