The family was inside recognizing relatives, and Yang Ming and Yang Dong came over from the rented courtyard to have breakfast.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, they heard laughter coming from Yang Qiu’s room from time to time, so the two of them went straight into Yang Qiu’s room.
Seeing his two younger sons return, Old Father Yang waved at them with a hearty laugh, "Third, Fourth, come over here quickly."
Following Old Father Yang’s instruction, Yang Ming and Yang Dong walked over to the edge of the heated brick bed and saw Wang Xiangxiang sitting back against it.
Yang Ming was puzzled. Wasn’t she resting in his room? How come she had moved to this room in the morning?
Old Father Yang continued to speak to his sons, "Third, Fourth, from now on, she is your elder sister. Call her ’sister’ quickly."
Yang Ming was shockingly bewildered – what on earth was going on? He turned to look at his wife. Xiaoxiao nodded at him.
Yang Ming and Yang Dong, following Old Father Yang’s wishes, both called out, "Sister."
Yang Ming’s calling her sister felt awkward; after all, he and Wang Xiangxiang were born in the same year, with her being only a few months older.
Embarrassed, Wang Xiangxiang replied, "Third brother, Fourth brother."
She then turned and called to Fufu, "Fufu, quickly call them third brother, fourth brother."
Little Fufu’s clear childlike voice rang out, "Third brother, Fourth brother."
Seeing that the recognition of relatives was almost complete and that the girl needed to rest properly, Old Father Yang told everyone, "Alright, don’t just stand there. Go out and eat. Let the girl rest well."
The family began to leave, one after the other. Xiaoxiao didn’t follow. She thought it would be better to stay and keep her company.
Seeing this, Old Father Yang quickly instructed, "Xiaoqiu, stay with your sister. Let your third sister-in-law go and eat."
"Understood, third sister-in-law, you go eat; I’ll stay with sister."
Wang Xiangxiang looked at Xiaoxiao, who had stayed up all night without closing her eyes, and hurriedly gestured for her to leave too, "I am fine now. Go and eat quickly."
Only then did Xiaoxiao follow them out. After everyone had eaten, Xiaoxiao didn’t go to Yang Qiu’s room. She thought it would be better to first go back to her own room to tidy up – it was quite a mess right now.
As soon as Yang Ming entered the room, he saw the mess – it was terrifying. Seeing the bucket of bloodied water, he was dumbfounded. "Wife, what on earth happened?"
Xiaoxiao was dead tired from not sleeping all night. As soon as she entered the room, she sat down and started massaging her shoulders, saying as she massaged, "Last night, Wang Xiangxiang attempted suicide by slashing her wrists. We went to the town overnight and only came back this morning."
Yang Ming frowned, deeply startled by the news, "So she found out, too?"
Xiaoxiao nodded, "I said it couldn’t be kept secret forever, she’s not stupid."
In his head, Yang Ming figured that Wang Xiangxiang must have learned she shared a room with Brother Chu and tried to kill herself. How much must she despise Brother Chu?
"Just now, my parents acknowledged her as their daughter. From now on, she and her brother are members of our family. Perhaps having family will keep her from doing anything foolish again."
As she spoke, Xiaoxiao began cleaning up the room, and the linens had to be taken down.
Hearing his wife’s explanation, Yang Ming finally realized why on entering the room, his father had him and Yang Dong call her sister.
"Wife, you haven’t slept all night, have you? You should rest for a while. I’ll do these chores," Yang Ming said as he took the quilt she had just pulled off.
"You always care for me. Just throw out that quilt; Brother Chu has already sent so many new ones."
With that, Yang Ming instantly understood, "Got it, you go to sleep."