Chapter 20 Xiao An'an's Silence
Behind Xu Zhili, one could still faintly hear hushed voices drifting by.
"Alas, this child has such a hard life..."
“A stepmother is a stepmother, she's hard-hearted…”
"I heard it's about work?"
"Shh... keep your voice down..."
Xu Zhili did not stop walking, but a cold sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth.
Is life miserable?
Maybe.
But soon, she will rewrite her own destiny.
As soon as I reached the front door, I could clearly hear my stepmother Zhang Jiumei's sharp and sarcastic voice coming from inside the familiar wooden door, as grating as fingernails scraping against glass.
"Where has that little slut been gallivanting off to? She's not home for dinner, ruining my plans. What bad luck!"
Zhang Jiumei's voice was full of impatience and disgust.
The last trace of warmth on Xu Zhili's face froze instantly, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled upwards, forming a cold and almost cruel arc.
Deep within Xu Zhili's eyes, the ruthlessness and cunning unique to a doomsday war god surged forth like an undercurrent beneath the ice.
She took a deep breath, and without the slightest hesitation, pushed open the door to her home!
"Squeak—"
The door hinges emitted a harsh, screeching sound.
The scene inside the house immediately came into view: Lin Jinguo, Zhang Jiumei, and Lin Wanwan, the stepsister who had usurped the place, were sitting together eating at the dining table.
On the table were two dishes and a soup: a plate of glistening stir-fried cured pork, a plate of vibrant green stir-fried vegetables, and a bowl of soup with egg drop soup.
The aroma of the food mingled with the sweltering heat outside, creating a false sense of warmth and "home."
However, this heartwarming scene was like a poisoned ice pick, piercing deep into Xu Zhili's heart!
Her gaze immediately bypassed the three people and landed precisely in the shadows in the corner of the living room.
There, a small figure huddled on a worn-out stool.
It's her younger brother, Xu Zhian.
A six-year-old child, who should be lively and active, is like a lifeless clay sculpture.
He kept his head down, his long bangs covering most of his face, revealing only his pointed chin and overly thin shoulders.
He was wearing old clothes that were obviously ill-fitting and faded from washing, with the cuffs too short, revealing his thin wrists.
He clutched a faded, dirty rag rabbit tightly in his arms; it was the only keepsake his mother had left him before she promised to leave.
He sat there quietly, motionless, as if separated from the world around him by a thick, invisible pane of glass.
The sounds of laughter and conversation at the dinner table, the clinking of bowls and chopsticks, and Zhang Jiumei's earlier cursing.
It seems none of this has anything to do with him.
He was immersed in his own world, a world of fear, silence, and that tattered rag doll rabbit.
Ever since witnessing his mother being taken away, he has become increasingly taciturn.
Later, Lin Jinguo married Zhang Jiumei. Zhang Jiumei, also known as Xu Zhian, used emotional abuse against him, not only depriving him of food and clothing, but also because the original owner of the body was weak and easily bullied, making it impossible for him to take good care of him. Instead, he was more self-pitying.
This child, having been in an environment of neglect and emotional abuse for a long time, gradually developed a distrust of the world around him and shut himself off in his own inner world, as if isolated from the world.
This family seemed to selectively ignore his existence. What's even more chilling is that Lin Jinguo, as his biological father, also despised Xu Zhian for being an idiot and was filled with disgust.
Lin Jinguo seemed to notice the commotion at the door, looked up, and saw that it was Xu Zhili.
His brows furrowed habitually, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust, as if he had seen something dirty. Then he indifferently lowered his head, picked up a piece of cured meat with his chopsticks, and ate it with relish.
Zhang Jiumei didn't even lift her eyelids, only focusing on putting food into Lin Wanwan's bowl, muttering, "Wanwan, eat more meat, look how thin you are."
Lin Wanwan raised her eyelids, glanced at Xu Zhili, and a subtle, superior mockery curled at the corner of her mouth. Then she lowered her head again and ate the food in her bowl in small bites, as if the person standing at the door was just a wisp of air.
Nobody's here!
Not a single person!
I remembered there was a child in the corner who hadn't eaten!
Xu Zhili's heart was seized by immense anger and sharp heartache in that instant.
The anger was like lava, scorching her internal organs; the heartache was like ice water, instantly extinguishing all the warmth she had just accumulated in the state-run restaurant, leaving only a bone-chilling cold!
Her knuckles turned bluish-white from gripping the doorknob so tightly.
The nails dug deep into the palm, bringing a sharp stinging pain, which barely suppressed the violent urge to overturn the table!
The stepmother Zhang Jiumei's mean face, the father Lin Jinguo's cold and disgusted eyes, and the stepsister Lin Wanwan's hypocritical sense of superiority.
And in the corner, there's the younger brother, forgotten by everyone, silent like a shadow!
OK!
What a "warm and cozy" home!
Xu Zhili's gaze, like a sharp blade tempered with ice, slowly swept over the seemingly harmonious but actually cold and selfish family of three around the dining table, finally settling on the well-maintained but now cruel face of the stepmother, Zhang Jiumei.
The cold curve of her lips deepened, even taking on a hint of cruel, expectant smile.
"Did I interrupt your business?"
Xu Zhili's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the chewing sounds at the dinner table, carrying a chilling quality.
"That's perfect, I'm back to take care of some things too."
She lifted her foot and stepped steadily into this battlefield called "home".
His gaze was piercing, fixed directly on Zhang Jiumei.
"Selling my job for two thousand yuan, along with the letter of severance, and the things I left behind, shouldn't I get them? Two yuan for a 'concubine'."
The air froze instantly.
A long-brewing storm has finally arrived.
Zhang Jiumei jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, splattering grease from the cured meat onto Lin Wanwan's skirt: "Old Lin! Listen to this! What kind of filth is this brat spewing from her mouth! A motherless bastard..."
"Smack!"
Lin Jinguo slammed his chopsticks down, making the soup bowl rattle.
He adjusted his glasses, which had slipped down to the tip of his nose, trying to adopt a "strict father" demeanor, but his voice carried a barely perceptible weakness.
"Xiao Li! Watch your words! She is your mother! How can you be so rude!"
Xu Zhili seemed not to hear, and slowly strolled to the coffee table, picking up an apple.
She took a bite with a "crunch," and the juice dripped down her slender fingers.
She tilted her head and smiled innocently: "Old man, are you getting old and forgetful? My mother's name is Xu Nuoyan. She will always remember when your family had bad luck in the wind and snow of the Great Northern Wilderness."
Her gaze swept lightly over Zhang Jiumei, as if she were looking at a cheap ornament. "As for this one? Whoever needs a mother can take her in. She's eager to be someone's stepmother... Ha, a concubine is always a concubine. What a unique hobby."
"Awooo—!!"
Zhang Jiumei completely lost it, grabbing a handful of chopsticks and smashing them over and over, yelling, "This is outrageous! You little bitch! Old Lin! Tear her mouth apart!"
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