"Sis, Mom and I looked for you in Shenzhen for a month—searching non-stop during the day and hiding under bridges, at bus stations, or inside concrete pipes at night..."
Zhao Xiaoya saw how drastically her sister had changed, which made her feel conflicled.
On one hand, she was genuinely happy.
In the past, their parents didn’t like them and considered them as liabilities.
Their real father was irresponsible, either idling or playing cards.
Their real mother was busy with the farm work and finding ways to make money. She was so busy that she was hardly at home, didn’t have time, and wasn’t willing to take care of Zhao Xiaoya.
Zhao Xiaoya was almost entirely raised by her elder sister.
Her sister was especially nice to her, always sneaking her bits of tasty food and good things.
Whenever their parents were upset and wanted to vent their frustrations on the children, her sister would protect Zhao Xiaoya by shielding her with her body.
It could be said that Zhao Xiaoya’s survival and growth to the age of seven were all thanks to her sister.
That day, upon hearing that her sister had been sold by their real mother, Zhao Xiaoya was devastated, feeling a fear akin to "the sky falling."
Without her sister, there was no one else to protect her.
And Zhao Xiaoya’s newfound respect for her real mother, considering her the greatest mother, was because she had seen firsthand how difficult it was for her mother to search for her sister.
Suddenly seeing her sister clean and neat, with glossy hair, delicate, fair skin, and wearing a beautiful, brand-new dress, she seemed to have transformed completely.
Just like the city girls Zhao Xiaoya had seen on the streets.
A surge of annoyance suddenly flooded Zhao Xiaoya’s heart—
While her sister was living well here, eating good food, wearing nice clothes, sheltered from the wind and rain, did she ever think about their mother who was desperately searching the streets for her?
Zhao Xiaoya knew she shouldn’t blame her sister, as her sister truly didn’t know.
But, but she couldn’t help it, because their mother had it so tough, so extremely tough.
So, when she finally saw her sister, not waiting for her real mother to speak, Zhao Xiaoya choked up and said,
"What? Mom, Mom, you, you’ve been looking for me all this time?" Zhao Dan’s eyes widened in shock, disbelievingly looking back and forth between her younger sister and finally resting her gaze on He Tiantian’s gaunt, exhausted face.
"Yes, Sis, right after you left with Aunt Hua, Mom and I followed right after,"
Zhao Xiaoya said briskly, "But unfortunately, we were a step too slow, and the train you took had already left."
"Our mother immediately bought tickets for the next train, which cost over a hundred thirty yuan."
"...After arriving in Shenzhen, our mother didn’t know anyone or where to find you and could only ask around by herself!"
"Sis, Mom really suffered a lot looking for you!"
"Look, Sis, just look at Mom, she’s become so thin, and that day when she went to the village to look for you, she was almost bitten by someone’s dog!"
Zhao Xiaoya wished she could tell her sister about everything their real mother had endured over the past month.
He Tiantian knew how to handle the situation, though, and quickly grabbed Zhao Xiaoya’s hand, pretending to be fierce and yelled, "Enough, enough, you dead girl, why spill everything?"
"This is a happy occasion now that we’ve found your sister, why talk about such things? It’s unlucky!"
He Tiantian scolded sullenly, causing Zhao Dan to instinctively flinch.
As she had grown up, she’d always been scared of their real mother.
Just by hearing the tone of her voice, Zhao Dan knew she was about to face her mother’s palm or a bamboo stick.
Zhao Dan subconsciously wanted to pull her younger sister behind herself.
But what Zhao Dan didn’t expect was for her little sister to not be scared at all, instead cheerfully telling their mother, "Mom, I’m just trying to tell my sister how hard we’ve been searching for her!"
Zhao Dan looked doubtfully at her younger sister, then at their real mother.
Her little sister talked back so disrespectfully, and their real mother wasn’t angry, nor did she slap anyone?
What on earth had happened during the past month?
"Just you talk too much!" He Tiantian still growled fiercely.
But Zhao Xiaoya wasn’t scared, instead mischievously sticking out her tongue.
She almost couldn’t help but run outside to check the position of the sun.
Could it really be true that the world had changed, and the sun had risen from the west?
While Zhao Dan was still dazed, He Tiantian had already turned around and started to appease the boss.
Actually, there was no need for He Tiantian to initiate the conversation, as the boss had already walked over, followed by two young, strong "security guards."