Ni Sitian laughed when she heard this, and patted her hand to express her sympathy.
She understands the pressure of being compared to others; she and Ni Ziqi were also compared to each other in the past.
Ni Ziqi had better grades than her, was more socially adept, and was very popular at school.
Even her biological father preferred Ni Ziqi, his stepdaughter, and spent money to send her to learn ballet, piano, and other arts.
She only wanted to learn to draw, but her father wouldn't let her.
They euphemistically say that spending money on Ni Ziqi is an investment, but spending money on her is just throwing money away.
Her father firmly believed that Ni Ziqi would marry into a wealthy family and become a phoenix.
Three years ago, in the summer, Ni Ziqi seduced Qin Mubei with his and He Cuiyun's tacit approval. He probably felt that Ni Ziqi was more qualified than her to capture Qin Mubei's heart.
Unfortunately, in the end, everything fell apart. Even though Ni Ziqi was pregnant, she couldn't take her place. The Qin family preferred to settle things through other means rather than let Qin Mubei marry her, and even arranged for Qin Mubei to leave for another country immediately.
However, her father was infatuated with Ni Ziqi and was not disappointed in her. He even hoped that Ni Ziqi would bring him wealth and prosperity, and he took the mother and daughter with him when he went abroad.
Ni Sitian's smile slowly faded. Xu Jiayue looked at her with some concern and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Ni Sitian looked up at Xu Jiayue, shook her head, and smiled faintly: "Has your brother always been this smart since he was a child?"
"Yes, he got into university at the age of thirteen, and it was a prestigious university abroad."
Hearing Xu Jiayue say that, Ni Sitian remembered that when she looked at the photo album in Xu Tingchuan's bedroom last time, there were no photos of Xu Tingchuan for several years. That was probably when he went abroad.
"Actually, my brother wasn't always this taciturn. It was only after he went abroad to study that he became different when he came back." Xu Jiayue laughed back then, not really sure what was going on, but she vaguely remembered that after that, her brother's relationship with her mother became very strange.
"Tell me more about him," Ni Sitian said calmly, listening attentively.
“He was still young then, and his family didn’t want him to go, but he insisted on going abroad. He graduated in three years, but then his grandfather got sick, so he stopped his studies and went back to China to be with his grandfather. His grandfather felt that he had been skipping grades and only interacting with older students, which made him introverted, so he forced him to go back to a regular high school in China.” Xu Jiayue couldn’t help but laugh as she said this, “You have no idea what a hopeless look he had when he was in school. He knew all the knowledge in the textbooks better than the teachers.”
Ni Sitian laughed along with her, and could easily imagine Xu Tingchuan's expressionless face during the lecture.
“But Grandpa has achieved his goal. Besides Pei Yang and the others he grew up with, he has also gotten to know some other people,” Xu Jiayue said with a smile.
"Did you meet Gu Chen around this time?" Ni Sitian asked casually out of curiosity.
Xu Jiayue's smile froze for a moment. "You know Gu Chen? Did my brother take you to meet them?"
“Hmm.” Ni Sitian felt that Jia Yue’s expression had become strange, as if after she mentioned Gu Chen, so she didn’t dare to respond casually.
The two suddenly fell silent. Xu Jiayue stood up and changed the subject: "I'll go get you a kettle of hot water."
Ni Sitian nodded and watched Xu Jiayue leave.
Before she could look away, Xu Tingchuan walked in.
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