Then, two years, three years, four years passed, and Ling Yunshu grew up exactly as Mrs. Shi had expected, dignified, graceful, and elegant, embodying the poise of a lady from a prestigious family with every movement. Chuxia, however, from beginning to end, grew up according to her own nature, completely unaffected by Mrs. Shi’s influence, infuriating Mrs. Shi to the point where she several times chastised her fiercely, regardless of her own image.
Her mother was the archetypal lady from a distinguished family, with ancestors connected to the Imperial Family, and she had learned the family’s interests exceptionally well from a young age. She was always composed and dignified. Yet Chuxia had the ability to provoke Mrs. Shi’s anger time and time again, to the extent that Mrs. Shi would lose her composure and scold her loudly.
Shi Che had never seen anyone infuriate his mother before; it was as miraculous as the sun rising from the west.
From that time on, he couldn’t help but see Chuxia in a new light.
She looked exactly like her elder sister, and yet... she was nothing like her elder sister. Everybody’s attention was on the outstanding Ling Yunshu, but his gaze, from the very start, was firmly captured by the mischievous, disobedient Chuxia, and he simply couldn’t look away.
In others’ eyes, Ling Yunshu was excellent, diligent, and ambitious, while Chuxia was clumsy, apathetic, and degenerate. But in his eyes, Chuxia was the sunshine, a dazzling beam of light in the dark, oppressive Shi Family, which made people unconsciously want to draw closer to her.
However, Chuxia didn’t like him very much, she even disliked him a bit, because Chuxia always avoided him, and even when he sought the opportunity to speak with her, she would look around and quickly walk away.
At first, he was utterly baffled, but later he found out that Chuxia’s dislike of him was because she felt that all the suffering she and her sister endured was because of him...
Understanding this reason, he was bemused yet also helpless. Although he felt like an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, what she said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Since he had always been a reserved and restrained person from a young age, it was natural that he wouldn’t explain it to her. He would just continue to watch her silently, observing her.
Later, their relationship improved slightly, and that was because of the incident with her haircut.
Because she had abruptly cut off her long hair without a word, Mrs. Shi was so enraged that she scolded her harshly for hours, then punished her by forbidding her to eat and forcing her to kneel in the entrance courtyard, with strict orders that no one was to help her or give her food, or they would be punished as well.
While Ling Yunshu also felt sorry for her younger sister, she dared not disobey Mrs. Shi’s command, and so she could only weep alongside Chuxia for a short while before being persuaded by Chuxia to leave.