Yunyi saw her and probably guessed something. "What’s wrong?"
Wei Zijia looked up at the night sky. "I feel lost, not knowing what to do after today."
Yunyi glanced over at Qiao Wenyu and saw that he had been staring intently in her direction, not even blinking, as if afraid to miss something.
She couldn’t help but find it amusing.
Turning to Wei Zijia, she said, "If you’re willing, I can listen."
Wei Zijia hadn’t expected Yunyi to be so understanding. "My biological father died of illness. Later, I followed my mother and moved into my stepfather’s house, becoming the ’burden’ that others talked about.
"In the beginning, my mother still protected me, but as she kept getting pregnant and having children, I, her ’burden’ of a daughter, became obviously less important.
"After all, a phrase she often repeated was that my father had died of illness, not only leaving her no assets but also a considerable amount of debt.
"I was eight when I moved into my stepfather’s house. The next year, my mother gave birth to my half-brother. After that, she had another son every two years, and she didn’t stop until she had three of them.
"From then on, my mother secured her place in that household, but my treatment only got worse day by day.
"After all, my mother’s mantra was that she now had three sons to rely on, so whether I, her ’unprofitable daughter,’ was around or not was of little importance.
"In that household, my stepfather and stepbrother were actually rather kind to me. It was just my stepsister who really disliked me, feeling that I had taken away the attention of our father and brother after I arrived.
"She was nice to my face but stabbed me in the back.
"I talked to my mother about this at first. However, each time she would scold me, her tone implying I was already superfluous. She meant that in this house, unlike me, the other children all shared the same father. Since I was just freeloading, she told me I should cause less trouble.
"Afterward, no matter how my stepsister bullied me, I never brought it up to my mother again. For original chapters go to novel⦿fire.net
"Thankfully, my stepfather was a decent man. At the very least, he treated me somewhat equally. When my mom suggested that I drop out of school, he didn’t agree.
"After all, he cared about his reputation and feared gossip from others in the residential compound.
"When I graduated from high school, my father’s cousin, out of respect for the help my father had once provided, was willing to arrange a job for me.
"But unexpectedly, my stepsister couldn’t stand having me around any longer. Her reasons were silly: one, the household truly needed someone to move to the countryside, and two, her crush in the residential compound actually liked me."
After saying this, she let out a bitter laugh.
Yunyi said nothing, simply listening quietly.
She sighed and continued, "My name had been submitted and couldn’t be changed, so I used that as a reason to break ties with my family.
"At first, my stepfather was afraid of what people in the residential compound would think and didn’t want to agree. But after my stepsister fanned the flames, and seeing that my mother didn’t care at all, he agreed as well.
"When I left, it seemed as if my stepfather felt relieved. My mother called me an ingrate, my stepsister looked on gloatingly, and my younger brothers just watched without a word of defense on my behalf. Only my stepbrother looked troubled as he saw me off.
"On my biological father’s side, I still have a younger sister, but ever since my mom took me with her when she remarried, we haven’t really been in touch. Now, I’m just a girl without a maternal family."
At this point, she paused again. She looked up at the starry sky for a long while, then continued, "In high school, because of my family background, people often gave me a hard time.
"Qiao Wenyu often stood up for me, and over time, we became familiar with each other."