Zhou Ling was worried about Wang Xiuhua's health and insisted that Zhou Dana take Wang Xiuhua to the hospital for a check-up.
Considering that the two had no money, they didn't hesitate to pay out of their own pockets.
The couple hailed a taxi and, once they were completely out of Zhou Ling's sight, immediately had the taxi stop.
They didn't go to the hospital because the scene of vomiting blood was fake; it was a staged performance for Zhou Ling so they could get money from her.
"That brat, I'm so angry! She only gave us two thousand yuan. She's a real wolf cub."
Wang Xiuhua looked at the stack of cash in her hand, her eyes filled with displeasure. She had personally seen Zhou Ling have a savings account, which probably contained the demolition compensation received by the Zhao family. Unfortunately, she didn't know exactly how much money was in it.
“Don’t rush, let’s take it one step at a time. The money is a little less, but it’s a good start. Besides, how much money we need to spend on pretending to be sick is up to us. She didn’t come with us. As long as we make the illness sound more serious, she’ll keep paying us.” Zhou Dana said confidently.
Zhou Ling has now completely accepted the two of them. These days, the two of them have been putting on a show of being good to Zhou Ling in every way, taking care of all the housework. In addition, they had previously spread rumors about Zhou Chen for Zhou Ling's sake, which led to them being detained in the detention center. They have now completely won Zhou Ling's approval.
Zhou Ling's drastic change in expression, her face filled with worry, was enough to tell.
Zhou Dana believed that they had Zhou Ling under their control. The next step was to figure out how to extract money from Zhou Ling under reasonable pretexts.
"So, what do we do next?"
Wang Xiuhua looked up and asked.
"Let's get a fake medical record first," Zhou Dana said with a squinty eye and a smile.
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiuhua nodded, thinking that she must find a more serious case so that she could legitimately get Zhou Ling to pay more money.
At this moment, Zhou Ling sat on the sofa, her face full of worry. She touched her belly from time to time, talked to the baby in her belly, and asked the baby to pray with her to bless Wang Xiuhua so that she would be alright.
"No, I'm going to tell my second sister."
"Perhaps, my second sister feels guilty and will forgive our parents to some extent."
Suddenly, Zhou Ling had a thought and immediately dialed Zhou Na's number again.
Little did she know that her "parents" were just putting on an act for her; they weren't sick at all, and it was all a carefully crafted deception.
On the other end,
After receiving Zhou Ling's call, Zhou Na was not sad or upset. On the contrary, she felt that this was retribution. She felt that Zhou Dana and Wang Xiuhua's abandonment of her and her two siblings was God's punishment for them.
"Second sister, aren't you sad or worried at all? She's our mother."
Seeing that Zhou Na remained unmoved, Zhou Ling felt a surge of anger.
"Why should I worry? They abandoned us back then, but did they ever worry about us? Now, after so long, they've come back to us three siblings, saying they were wrong and wanting our forgiveness. Are we obligated to forgive them? There's no such thing as a free lunch."
“I won’t care if you forgive me, nor will I stop you, but I can’t do it. Besides, how do you know that they’re genuinely coming back to find us? Don’t be naive, and don’t believe everything they say.”
Zhou Na felt that the whole thing about vomiting blood was fake, an act for Zhou Ling's benefit. It was just that Zhou Ling was too foolish to believe anything anyone said.
"Second sister, how could you say that? Mom's health is like that now, and you still question it. What's the point of Mom and Dad lying to us like this? This time, I really think you're in the wrong. You're even more cold-blooded than Zhou Chen."
This time, Zhou Ling hung up the phone first. Even at a time like this, Zhou Na was still suspecting that her parents had ulterior motives. Anyway, she didn't believe it. In the past few days, she had felt unprecedented paternal and maternal love, an experience she had never had before at Zhou Chen's home or with her adoptive parents.
This made her realize that adoptive parents and biological parents treat their children in two different ways.
Zhou Chen's parents were very good to her, but she felt that they were still not as good to her as Zhou Dana and Wang Xiuhua, her biological parents.
Perhaps this is what they mean by blood being thicker than water.
It is something that no emotion can replace or block.
"Mom, you must be alright. I'm waiting for you and Dad to come back safely from home."
Zhou Ling clasped her hands together and prayed to heaven.
Little did she know that at that very moment, her beloved father and mother were in a restaurant, enjoying a feast with a huge spread of food.
...
The next day,
Zhou Chen arrived at school, locked his bicycle, and chatted with Grandpa Liang at the school gate for a while.
During this time, I saw Zhou Na coming to school from her dormitory.
The two looked at each other for a second, like strangers, before quickly looking away.
After Zhou Chen said goodbye to Grandpa Liang,
Watching Zhou Na's retreating figure as she entered the teaching building first, he recalled Zhou Na's birthday yesterday. In the past, as the eldest brother, he would always buy a birthday cake and a new set of clothes as gifts for Zhou Na's birthday, and then the siblings would celebrate together.
But this time, there were no birthday gifts, and no celebration.
He will no longer celebrate the birthdays of any of the three of them.
The new clothes Zhou Na was wearing were probably a gift from herself, since she earns some money as a tutor.
Zhou Chen shook his head, clearing these thoughts from his mind.
How Zhou Na celebrated her birthday was none of his business; whether she had a good or bad birthday, it had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Zhou Na returned to the classroom.
She picked up a book and quietly began to study, but her mind wasn't on the book. Instead, she was thinking about the time she had bumped into Zhou Chen and the times he had celebrated her birthday in previous years.
Back then, she didn't like celebrating her birthday and thought the clothes Zhou Chen bought for her were ugly. Now, not receiving any gifts from Zhou Chen, she feels a sense of emptiness in her heart for some reason.
But soon, Zhou Na shook her head vigorously, telling herself that they were no longer siblings, but just familiar strangers.
Zhou Chen would never remember her birthday.
From now on, she will get used to celebrating her birthday by herself.
As she thought about it, Zhou Na reminisced about the days before her adoptive parents passed away. Only now did she realize how fortunate she had been back then.
If only she hadn't been adopted.
She wanted biological parents like her adoptive parents, not parents with ulterior motives like Zhou Dana and Wang Xiuhua, who were not genuinely looking for her and her two siblings.
suddenly,
Zhou Na really wanted to visit her adoptive parents' graves and express her grievances.
Why have the four siblings ended up like this?
Was it her fault?
But she didn't do anything wrong. She was just a little selfish and thought more about herself, that's all.
...
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