Throughout his life, no matter how Qin Guohua tortured him or how blatantly he favored Qin Pengfei and Qin Xiangmei, Qin Xiangyang never felt hatred. But this time, for the first time, he knew what hatred was. He was filled with deep loathing. Why should he have the right to hit his sister? They never took a single bite or sip from the Qin Family. When he was sick, they wouldn’t even give him a penny, clearly wishing for his death.
What kind of father is this? He refuses to acknowledge such a man as his father.
"Why? Simply because she is born of me," Qin Guohua declared, as his foot once again swung up and without courtesy, kicked at Qin Xiangyang’s body.
"You cur, speak up, where have you hidden the money?"
"We don’t have any money."
Qin Xiangyang wiped his face and helped Qin Xiangnuan stand up. Seeing the swollen face of his little sister broke his heart. As Qin Guohua’s foot was about to kick again, he quickly picked up Qin Xiangnuan and stepped back, causing Qin Guohua to miss.
Qin Guohua became enraged. These two brats were getting more and more annoying. He should have strangled them at birth and saved himself the trouble.
"Qin Guohua, what are you still doing? Aren’t you supposed to be looking for the money?"
Hu Li came running out of the house, furious to see Qin Guohua still there.
"You two just wait," Qin Guohua went into the house and started rummaging through everything, clearly searching for money.
Qin Xiangnuan touched the small cloth bag at her chest. They had saved some big bills, and recently, small bills and bankbooks were always carried with them. She knew that Qin Guohua and Hu Li wouldn’t give up on such a sum of money, and indeed, their predictions were correct.
Qin Xiangyang didn’t dare to touch his sister’s swollen face.
How could it be swollen ?
Qin Xiangnuan shook her head, "Brother, it’s not painful."
"Come on, brother will take you to the doctor. We can’t let it get worse."
He had heard at school that some children were beaten by their parents so badly that they became deaf. He only had this one sister; if something really happened to her ears, what could he do?
"Okay," Qin Xiangnuan stood up, took Qin Xiangyang’s hand, and decided that today she would boldly go out with her swollen face. She would walk around the village, ensuring that everyone saw her bruised, pig-like face.
"Hey, what happened to Xiang Nuan’s face? Why is it so swollen? Who hit her?"
"Who else could it be?" A loud-mouthed aunt, as if her voice wasn’t loud enough, immediately raised her volume, spreading rumors that she had heard from god-knows-where.
"Isn’t it that Qin Guohua? I’ve heard that the Hua Family opened a small restaurant near the station. It’s said that when these two kids left the Qin Family, they worked there and managed to survive. Now that the former owner has left, the Hua Family has taken over the place. I heard they make good money every day. Qin Guohua and Hu Li got greedy, thinking the restaurant belongs to them."
"The two kids don’t have the money. How could the restaurant be theirs? It’s Aunt Hua who paid for the restaurant. I’ve even seen the contract; there were several handprints on it."
"Qin Guohua is truly heartless. How could he beat his own children like that?"
"They’re not considered his own children anymore," someone else chimed in disdainfully. Qin Guohua is despicable. He never treated these two kids as human beings from a young age. The son, just a child, was used as an adult laborer, and the daughter, so young, had to sweep, do laundry and cook. Why doesn’t Hu Li’s child do that? Hu Li’s child gets to go to school, so why can’t Xiang Yang?