Why did you provoke me?

Being teased by such a young child, Zhao Anbang's face darkened. "You don't need to worry about her life anymore. We are her biological parents; would we mistreat her?"

Yu Meng smiled. "We'll meet again someday. Sister Xiu and I will meet again in the future."

Xiujie left in a car with her biological parents.

Aunt Yu sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and began to wipe away her tears. "Poor Sister Xiu, I wonder how she's doing after she goes back home."

Guo Fangting tried to comfort her. "This is Xiu-jie's own idea, and we can't stop her from finding her biological parents. Mom, don't cry. You'll ruin your eyes and suffer."

"I know you're sad to see Sister Xiu go, but don't cry anymore. You're so old, if you ruin your eyes from crying, what will you do in the future?" Father Yu advised from the side.

"It's all your fault. How could you accept the money that family offered? I feel like I sold Sister Xiu out."

"I took this money so that I could have a way out for Sister Xiu in the future. I didn't really intend to spend it. You know, her parents don't even ask about Sister Xiu's situation here. I have to leave her some money," Mr. Yu said with a sigh. "I didn't see any joy in them finding their biological daughter at all."

Dali came out of Xiujie's room. "Little sister, Xiujie didn't take anything she made."

Yu Meng nodded. "I know. Let Mom keep it. If she's not doing well, give it to her when she comes back. If she doesn't come back, consider it her way of showing filial piety to Mom."

Aunt Yu glanced at Dali. "She left something behind? That silly child, why didn't she take it?"

"Mom, you can leave them there. We'll do as my little sister says." Dali placed the boxes next to Yu's mother.

Yu's father's gaze was complex. He knew what was in those boxes because he had seen Yu Meng handle them before. This child knew how to be grateful.

On the military vehicle.

Sister Xiu sat in the back, staring wide-eyed at the child named Niannian.

"They all say that if my sister comes back, she'll try to take my parents away from me. Let me tell you, they're my parents, and you're not allowed to take them from me." Xiu-jie didn't say anything, just looked at her quietly.

The mother in the passenger seat spoke up, "Niannian, that's your older sister. Be polite to her."

"But I have many older sisters, and only this one is here to steal my mom and dad away," Niannian retorted defiantly.

Sister Xiu laughed. "It's not that I want to take your parents away from you, it's that your parents insist on taking me home."

Xiu Jie's words made Zhao Anbang, who was driving, suddenly slam on the brakes. The sudden stop caused both Xiu Jie and Niannian's heads to hit the front seats.

"How can you talk to your sister like that?" Mom was clearly angry.

"Isn't this the truth? Why can't I say it?" Sister Xiu rubbed her head and quietly looked at her mother in front of her.

"Niannian, she is your older sister and our eldest daughter," Zhao Anbang said, pulling the car over to the side of the road and turning to his youngest daughter.

"No. She has parents." Clearly, she was referring to Yu's parents.

"Those are her adoptive parents, not her biological parents," Zhao Anbang tried to explain.

"Then she'll have two parents, including you. I don't want her to take my parents away."

"I won't take your parents away. I'm just going to the city to save face for them, and I'll be back." Sister Xiu said calmly.

Zhao Anbang glared angrily at Sister Xiu. "What do you mean by saving face for us?"

Sister Xiu smiled. "Although I don't have your social status or your family background, I'm not a hothouse flower. I've seen the coldness of the world, I've seen people kicking you when you're down, and I've seen those petty people get ahead."

"I can easily distinguish between the attitude my adoptive parents had towards their biological children and the attitude you have towards me. I know what 'face' means and what true family affection is."

Sister Xiu's words left no room for argument. "Throughout this whole process, I'm the only victim. From the moment we met until now, you've never asked me how I've survived all these years, whether I've been injured, whether I've gone hungry, or whether anyone has bullied me. You haven't said a single word, which shows you don't treat me like your own daughter. Even strangers would ask these things, but you haven't asked a single one."

The mother sitting in front cried. "How could you say such things? It hurts my heart."

Sister Xiu replied calmly, "Your heart has never been with me, how could I possibly hurt you?"

The mother was speechless at Xiu Jie's words, feeling both like crying and extremely embarrassed.

"Tell your child to calm down, and I'll cooperate with you to put on a good show." Xiu Jie's eyes held a deep sorrow. She longed for parental love, but if it wasn't genuine, she didn't want it.

The car started and continued towards the city, but the car fell completely silent. The little girl named Niannian stopped causing trouble. She just looked at Sister Xiu with her eyes. She thought this older sister was incredibly tough, daring to speak to her father like that.

Zhao Anbang's heart was far from calm. He recalled the words of the little child standing before him: "She has lacked love for ten years; I hope you will treat her well."

But it seems they haven't even gotten home yet, and the girl's heart seems to have been broken by them.

What exactly did this child go through to make her see through people's hearts so clearly?

Niannian tugged at Xiujie's sleeve. "You're amazing."

Sister Xiu glanced down at her but didn't say anything. The child sat up and whispered in Sister Xiu's ear, "Daddy is very powerful, I'm too scared to talk to him."

Sister Xiu asked her quietly, "Are you afraid of him? He hit you?"

The child nodded, then shook his head. "Yes, I'm scared. But he's never hit me, so I'm still scared."

"Who taught you those words just now?" Sister Xiu asked.

Zhao Anbang and Fu Yuxin, who were in front, heard the two children whispering behind them.

"My second uncle's older sister said that if we bring you back, Mom and Dad won't like me anymore, they'll only like you," Niannian pouted.

"Don't you have an older brother or a younger brother?" Sister Xiu asked again.

The car then quickly swerved into an S-curve.

"My second uncle's family has a younger brother. But I don't like playing with him. He's really naughty and always fights with me."

"Didn't your second uncle's sister help you?" Sister Xiu asked again.

"She said that's her younger brother, and she can't help me beat up her own brother. If you were my older sister, could you help me beat him up?"

Sister Xiu shook her head. "No."

"Oh!" Niannian was clearly very sad. "Don't older sisters always side with their younger sisters?"

"But you don't want me as your older sister, and there's no affection between us."