Chapter 5: The Collapse of the World?
The restaurant downstairs.
"Grandma, Dad, Mom, you must stand up for me."
Zhu Ci rushed into the restaurant like a gust of wind, almost startling Meng Yin so much that she dropped the plate in her hand.
Zhu Linjun took the plate from his wife's hands. "Did you get burned?"
Meng Yin shook her head with a smile, "I just arranged the plates, and now they're all messed up." She looked at Zhu Ci with a helpless yet affectionate expression, "Who's bullying our Aci so early in the morning?"
Meng Yin's words put Zhu Ci's mind at ease.
So what if the real daughter comes back? She's still the daughter her parents love.
Zhu Ci took the opportunity to hug her mother's waist, rubbing against her like a puppy, saying that her mother smelled so good. The next second, her tone changed and she angrily complained, "It was my sister! My sister hit my head with a clothes hanger and made it bleed!"
Upon hearing this, Grandma Zhu looked up from her newspaper, her gaze lingering on Zhu Ci's forehead for half a second before returning to the newspaper.
When Zhu Ci met her grandmother's gaze, she pouted, feeling utterly wronged. Seeing that her grandmother didn't say anything, she didn't dare to exaggerate and complain to her parents.
Although Grandma was tolerant of her, she was more often on the side of her older sister.
Seeing his daughter clinging to his wife and acting coquettishly, Zhu Linjun felt sorry for his wife who hadn't slept all night and had been busy all morning. He pulled out a chair for his wife and said gently, "Aci, be more composed."
"Xiaoyin, you've been busy all morning. I'll take care of the rest. You can sit down and rest for a while."
Meng Yin smiled sweetly at her husband, "I'm not tired."
Zhu Ci stuck out her tongue and deliberately moved her chair closer to her mother. Seeing the table full of delicious breakfast, she instinctively reached for her favorite foods.
Meng Yin gently patted his hand as soon as he reached out.
Seeing her father's disapproving look, she awkwardly withdrew her hand.
In the early morning, the restaurant features fresh flowers, still glistening with dew, carefully arranged in vases by the owner. A table is laden with a variety of Chinese and Western breakfast options.
Zhu Ci rolled her eyes at Zhu Fan and He Wan, who arrived late, and said, "You two are so slow. Grandma, Dad, and Mom have been waiting for ages."
Grandma Zhu stood up from her chair, her gaze fixed on Zhu Wan and Zhu Fan. Looking at the two girls standing side by side, their features resembling each other by about 50-60%, her eyes reddened, and she said three times, "They're back, it's good that they're back."
"Ah Wan, come quickly to Grandma and let her take a good look at you."
“Afan, Ayuan, when you two stand together, you can tell at a glance that you are sisters.”
"Clang—"
The porcelain plate was knocked to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Seeing Zhu Ci's red eyes and her efforts to hold back tears, Zhu Linjun and Meng Yin patted Zhu Ci's head comfortingly and tolerantly.
When the two looked at each other, they saw worry in each other's eyes.
When my youngest daughter was born, she was given phototherapy in the neonatal ward, but due to the negligence of the nurses, she was switched at birth.
If it weren't for the old man's delirious talk before he passed away last winter, saying that Zhu Ci didn't resemble their Zhu family's granddaughter, and the old lady taking it to heart, they would still be unaware that their biological daughter had been living away from home.
One was raised by their side for seventeen years, treated like a daughter even more than their own. The other was their own flesh and blood, yet they had never spent a single day together.
Ji Shu quickly stopped Meng Yin, who was about to bend down to pick up the broken pieces on the ground, "Madam, let me do it."
Grandma Zhu didn't take this incident seriously.
She noticed that Zhu Wan was still wearing her faded blue and white school uniform and her heavy schoolbag, and frowned.
Meng Yin looked at Zhu Wan nervously, "Wan, don't you like the clothes your mother prepared for you?"
"If you don't like what Mom and Dad chose, we'll take you to the mall today so you can pick out what you like yourself."
Zhu Linjun spoke up, "Mom, Xiaoyin, let the children sit down and have breakfast first."
He looked at the reserved and quiet Zhu Wan and reached out to take the schoolbag from her shoulder. "Wan, let's put the schoolbag down and eat first."
Seeing how precious the oranges in her schoolbag were, Zhu Ci couldn't help but mock her, "A schoolbag full of broken oranges, and you treat it like a treasure."
Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on He Wan, she felt a fire burning inside her.
He Wan raised her head and looked at Zhu Ci seriously, "These are not broken oranges. These are oranges that my eldest sister planted, fertilized, and picked herself."
"They are very precious."
In that family, her alcoholic father and gambling mother only felt disgust towards her, simply because she was a daughter and not a son. Her older sister told her that her parents had heard from a fortune teller that if they went to the capital hospital to give birth, it might be a boy.
The family sold everything they owned and flew to the capital to give birth, but they still ended up having a daughter.
On the first day she was brought back to her small town from Kyoto, her parents accepted money from someone else and wanted to give her away to be raised by someone else.
It was only because her older sister paid a fortune teller to say that she was destined for great wealth and honor that she wasn't sent away.
In that remote town, only her eldest sister was kind to her.
Her older sister told her that only by studying hard and getting into a good university could she leave the backward town and live a better and freer life.
He Wan straightened her back and said, "You may look down on this bag of oranges, but you can't disregard other people's good intentions."
The girl's eyes were filled with tears, yet her resolve was exceptionally firm.
The old lady was heartbroken.
Zhu Wan had been away for seventeen years, but now she had returned. Even though she dressed plainly, she still retained the pride of the Zhu family.
In contrast, Zhu Ci, who has been raised by her side since childhood, is now becoming increasingly spoiled.
The old lady's expression turned stern.
Zhu Linjun put down her chopsticks. "Aci, we've really spoiled you."
Meng Yin's gentle smile also disappeared.
The eldest sister that A-Yuan mentioned is A-Ci's biological older sister.
During her time with A-Yuan, Meng Yin always felt that the child was distant and unapproachable towards her and her husband. But now, seeing her eldest daughter with A-Yuan, the estrangement and distance that had grown over time seemed to suddenly disappear.
Her gaze fell on Zhu Ci's face, and she felt a strange sensation for no reason.
Meng Yin banished the strange feeling in her heart. Aci was the daughter she had raised herself, and the three little girls in front of her were all her daughters.
How fortunate she is.
Seeing the atmosphere becoming subtle, Zhu Fan thought to herself, "Is the drama of the real and fake heiress about to begin?"
After placing the tangerine peel on the table, she grabbed a bowl of porridge from the nearest table.
She was hungry.
Grandma Zhu said solemnly, "Ah Wan, you are a child of the Zhu family. From today onwards, forget the name He Wan."
The little girl sat quietly without speaking or eating.
Zhu Linjun cleared his throat. "Mom, A-Yuan's household registration has been transferred to Beijing with Xiao Yin, and our surnames have been changed as well."
Grandma Zhu was very satisfied with the efficiency of her son and daughter-in-law. Seeing the little girl with her head down, she pretended to be unhappy and teased her, "Ah Yuan is quite biased, only giving oranges to Sister, but Grandma wants some too."
Zhu Wan pursed her lips; the old lady's kindness and compassion made it impossible for her to refuse.
The oranges in this backpack are nothing special or rare.
They are not only not sweet, but also very sour.
But this was the only thing that truly belonged to her after she came to Kyoto from that remote town.
These are the earliest batch of oranges, not yet fully ripe.
Zhu Wan took an orange from her schoolbag and handed it to the old lady with both hands.
The oranges were so sour that the old lady almost couldn't swallow them.
Zhu Fan sat next to his grandmother and took the orange from her hand without wasting a single segment.
A touch of sourness is good; it whets the appetite.
Zhu Wan's eyes lit up as she watched her sister finish the orange without batting an eye.
Zhu Fan noticed Zhu Wan's fleeting smile and blurted out what was on his mind, "You look beautiful when you smile, you should smile more."
Zhu Wan's face instantly flushed pink.
Meng Yin and Zhu Linjun both looked at their eldest daughter.
The eldest daughter has always been cold-hearted.
May the old lady smile contentedly; after all, they are sisters.
At this breakfast, only Zhu Fan was seriously eating.
Zhu Wan is the main character today, the center of attention. When asked a question, Zhu Wan answers it directly, neither humble nor arrogant, with her back straight.
Meng Yin and Zhu Linjun wanted to talk to Zhu Wan, but seeing the old lady chatting happily with her daughter, not giving them a chance to speak, they felt a little sad.
Zhu Fan simply became invisible, enjoying his meal while watching the beautiful scene of his daughter returning home and spending time with her family.
Zhu Ci didn't have such composure. She had never been neglected like this before, and at this moment, she felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
No, she gripped the knife and fork tightly; no one could take away what belonged to her.
After breakfast, Zhu Wan was led out by the old lady and Meng Yin.
Zhu Linjun was so happy that she didn't go to the company and took over the driver's job.
Zhu Ci called out to Zhu Fan, who was going upstairs.
"Sister, you have to be on my side, or I'll really tell Grandma."
“I heard your secret plot with Sister Yazhi in the room that day in the dressing room. Not only did I hear it, but I also recorded it on my phone.”
Zhu Fan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The 99-day countdown on her forehead turned into bright red gibberish.
No way? She's going to die??
Zhu Fan's face turned somewhat pale.
Seeing her sister's expression, Zhu Ci assumed she was afraid.
She was extremely proud of herself. She gracefully put on her shoes and blew a kiss to her older sister, saying, "We are the best of sisters."
"We'll always be the best of sisters."
After saying this, Zhu Ci playfully walked out of the villa.
The house quieted down, but Zhu Fan's mind was far from quiet.
[System: Warning! Warning! Warning!!!]
[System: The world is beginning to crumble...]
[System: Interception successful]
[The world is under repair...]
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