Until she saw a black Range Rover parked in front of a household, she knew it was the right place.
This household was clearly better than the others—the small three-story building was covered in delicately patterned ceramic tiles, and even the entrance boasted a large red iron gate. Inside the gate, the floor was entirely paved with tiles, without a speck of dust.
She bowed her head, patted the dirt off her clothes and the mud from her shoes. Overtaken by the hardships of the journey, she felt both hungry and thirsty, her throat nearly smoking, but her feet seemed stuck, hesitant to take a step forward.
Sometimes, she really felt so out of place here.
Too dirty, too unworthy to enter such a fine house.
The sun continued to beat down on her, her face abnormally red, whether from the heat or the urgency.
She took a step forward finally, entering the place, while feeling utterly ashamed and disgraced.
Inside, there was occasionally laughter—adults, children, elderly kindness, filial piety, adorable children.
Such familial bliss, seen through Qin Xiangnuan’s eyes, was immensely ironic.
And they saw her as well. However, after a glance, they just continued laughing and talking amongst themselves.
"Dad..." she said with difficulty.
"Yes," the older middle-aged man inside glanced at her with disdain. Doesn’t he seem like a parent? He’s colder than a stepfather.
Qin Xiangnuan now realized, after her father remarried, he became more like a stepfather.
She licked her chapped lips; not far away, drinks rested on a table—Sprite, Coke, and Orange pulps, seemingly just taken out from the fridge, visible cold mist rising off them and condensation forming at the bottom due to ambient temperatures.
She knew she was in a sorry state, her face burnt and red, covered in dust and dirt, filled with ugliness and humiliation.
Upon seeing this woman, Qin Guohua felt a surge of anger.
This destitute appearance, a show for whom? They were now considered prominent figures in the village. What sin had the Qin Family committed to have produced such a failure like Qin Xiangnuan, truly a disgrace to the Qin Family’s name.
"Daddy, who is here?" A young and beautiful woman emerged.
Clad in branded apparel, her hair fashioned into soft wavy curls, stylish yet youthful. Heaven had truly favored her—on such a hot day, hiding from the sun yet her complexion was porcelain white, her face absent of any signs of aging. One glance, and she seemed like she was twenty, yet her features held an undertone of maturity and authority that only years could impart.
"Oh, it’s sister," upon seeing her, the woman’s face brightened even more with a smile, her expressive gaze livening her features, her nose, and lips well-formed.
But who could tell? She was already thirty-eight, called Qin Xiangnuan sister, yet she was only a year younger than Qin Xiangnuan. Standing next to Qin Xiangnuan, however, she seemed more like Qin Xiangnuan’s daughter.
And that singular call of "sister" stabbed painfully into Qin Xiangnuan’s heart, leaving her almost bleeding.
"Today is Dad’s birthday, didn’t Sister do anything?"
Qin Xiangmei slightly raised her red lips, the full color of her lips like jelly, still brimming with a youthful air.
"She’s so poor, how could she have any money? Mom, aren’t you asking for nothing?" A teenager walked over, about sixteen or seventeen years old, quite tall and good-looking. He hugged Qin Xiangmei’s arm, expressing disdain, his eyes not even glancing at Qin Xiangnuan, "What kind of aunt is this? She must be a refugee or a scavenger, right?"
Qin Xiangnuan touched the worn bag on her body.
She squeezed a smile on her face, awkward and ugly.
Inside was the money she had saved for a long time, she always hesitated to spend it; she was poor, working as a laborer for others every month, after paying rent and food, there really wasn’t much money left. She was uneducated, with no background, how much money could she possibly have?
"Oh, Aunt really has something to give Grandpa?" That young teenager, also Qin Xiangmei’s son, named Song Mingli. He crossed his arms, clearly being disrespectful, but not a single person reproached him, feeling that what he did was right, without fault.
Qin Xiangnuan bit her teeth, feeling a sourness in her heart, not sure what she was fighting for, her dignity already trampled to the dirt, or perhaps that faded blood relationship.
She fumbled in her bag for a long time, pulling out a stack of money.
"Dad, this is..." She wiped her hands on her body, her eyes involuntarily glanced at the drinks on the table. Her throat felt like it was on fire, her lips, already colorless, now chapped and peeling. Even opening her mouth slightly, she could taste the salty, astringent flavor of blood.
With a smack, Qin Guohua slapped her face, the loud shout booming like thunder.
"Qin Xiangnuan, do you dare curse Laozi to death?"
Qin Xiangnuan covered her face, which felt burning hot, bowed her head, her face changing color, her heart filled with unease and a mixture of embarrassment and panic.
She clumsily stuffed the things in her hands back into her bag.
No wonder Qin Guohua was so angry, that slap, Qin Xiangnuan felt it was not unjustified.
What she took out was not money, but Joss Paper.
Panicking, sweat appeared on her forehead and another crack split open on her chapped lips.
Trembling with hands like dry tree bark, she finally took a small stack of hundred-dollar bills from her bag, her fingers quietly touching them, looking even more pitiful and tragic.
A middle-aged woman unceremoniously snatched the hundred-dollar bills from her hand, wetting them with her own spit as she counted them.
"Only a thousand yuan," the middle-aged woman sneered, throwing the money on the table.
"Old Qin, our Xiang Mei gave you twenty thousand yuan. With just this thousand, it’s not even enough to buy you a good smoke. Raising you all these years, there’s no difference than raising an ingrate. Our Xiang Mei is better, look how filial she is, even the house is built by Xiang Mei," the middle-aged woman continued.
Qin Guohua’s body was still trembling with anger, the incident with the Joss Paper almost triggered his high blood pressure. He despised this unfilial daughter every time he saw her.