Chen Siyin drove along the wide road, but her heart refused to settle.
She was on her way to Cixiang Welfare Institute, determined to confirm the suspicion growing in her mind.
She had to find Chen Zimo and ask him face to face.
The moment she entered the orphanage, she saw Chen Zimo walking out with a white-haired elderly woman, chatting and laughing.
“Chen Zimo!”
Her eyes reddened as she called out.
Chen Zimo looked up, frowned slightly.
What is she doing here? Is it also for Chen Zixuan?
The thought of Chen Siyin pleading on behalf of the adopted son Chen Zixuan, along with the insults and beatings she had once given him, made anger surge in his chest.
After greeting Grandma Zhang, Chen Zimo walked straight out of the orphanage, completely ignoring Chen Siyin.
Seeing his attitude toward her, Chen Siyin felt a stab of pain.
“Chen Zimo, stop!”
Reluctantly, Chen Zimo turned to look at her and said sarcastically, “Well, if it isn’t the Chen family’s eldest daughter, the CEO of the Chen Group. What brings you to the orphanage? Are you here to donate money and do charity?”
Hearing her younger brother mock her like this, unwilling even to call her Eldest Sister as he once loved to do, Chen Siyin’s eyes turned red.
“Zimo… are you… are you doing well?”
Chen Zimo replied coldly, “Cut the empty talk. Don’t you know whether I’m doing well?”
“If you have something to say, say it. I’m busy.”
Gathering herself, Chen Siyin said, “Zimo, I’m here to take you home. Come back with me. Mom and Dad… Mom and Dad are very worried about you.”
“Your sisters are worried too.”
“The one most worried about you is Zixuan. This morning before school, he even begged Mom to bring you back.”
“Just come home with me.”
Hearing this, Chen Zimo burst out laughing. “Haha!”
“Chen Siyin, can you stop being so hypocritical?”
“Do I have a family?”
“My family died more than ten years ago!”
“Please stop coming to see me. Thank you very much!”
As he was about to leave, Chen Siyin stepped forward again and blocked him. “Chen Zimo, come back with me!”
“Mom and Dad are waiting for you at home!”
“As long as you go back and apologize to them, they will definitely forgive you!”
“And I… I will try my best to make it up to you!”
“Apologize? What am I apologizing for?”
“Something happened and just because Chen Zixuan said so, I have to apologize? I, Chen Zimo, am not that cheap!”
“And why should I go back? To get beaten again?”
“Chen Siyin, don’t act fake here. Don’t you know how I was treated at home?”
“Don’t you know I was beaten and scolded every single day?”
“Why would I go back? To die?”
At this moment, Chen Zimo’s expression was fierce, his emotions surging.
Frightened, Chen Siyin took a step back.
Unwilling to give up, she stepped forward again and grabbed his sleeve. “Zimo, tell your sister the truth. Was it you who cooked the millet porridge every night?”
Chen Zimo shook her off and walked out the gate. His voice drifted back to her.
“Weren’t the surveillance cameras you spent over 100,000 yuan installing just decorations?”
“Chen Siyin, remember this. Everything the Chen family has done to bully and humiliate me, I will repay one by one. Tell everyone in the Chen family to wash their necks and wait for death!”
Wash their necks and wait for death.
Chen Siyin had never imagined that her younger brother’s hatred toward the family had reached the point of irreconcilable life-and-death enmity. She stood there in a daze, staring at his retreating figure.
After a long moment, a sigh came from behind her.
“Sigh… What exactly has your Chen family done to force such a good child into this?”
“What a sin.”
Chen Siyin turned around. It was Director Grandma Zhang from the orphanage, someone she recognized.
Thinking of her biological brother uttering such unforgiving words, Chen Siyin paused, then took out a card from her bag and handed it over.
“Director Zhang, there is 100,000 yuan in this card. Please consider it my contribution to the orphanage.”
“May I trouble you to tell me more about my younger brother Chen Zimo?”
Grandma Zhang sighed again but did not refuse.
“Zimo just brought 100,000 yuan as well. That will last us quite some time. With your donation added, we can improve the children’s meals for a while.”
Chen Siyin’s head snapped up. “What? Zimo donated 100,000 yuan to the orphanage? Where did he get that money?”
At that moment, her mind replayed Third Sister Chen Qingya’s words.
“Dad, Mom, that country bumpkin Chen Zimo stole quite a lot from us. That’s worth a considerable amount of money.”
“If he sold everything, even if he was cheated and sold it second-hand, he might still have over 100,000 yuan. With that money, he could live comfortably for quite a while.”
Although donating the money to the orphanage was a good deed, it seemed to confirm that he had indeed stolen from home.
For a moment, Chen Siyin felt a flash of anger.
She, the CEO of a publicly listed company, had humbled herself to invite him home. Not only had he refused, he had even donated what appeared to be stolen family money.
Director Zhang seemed to read her thoughts.
“Miss Chen, Zimo is a good child. He would never commit theft. I can guarantee that.”
“Oh? And why are you so certain?” Chen Siyin asked.
Director Zhang smiled gently. “Chen Zimo has been independent since he was little.”
“I remember when he was eleven, the orphanage was facing financial difficulties. He took a few younger children out to set up a stall. Rain or shine, they worked, and within one month he earned 3,000 yuan, resolving the crisis.”
“And when he was thirteen, to ensure the younger children had proper nutrition before the high school entrance exam, he started preparing a year in advance and earned over 10,000 yuan in three months.”
“With that 10,000 yuan, three children from our orphanage were admitted to No. 11 Middle School. They are some of the children we are most proud of.”
“Not only can Chen Zimo earn money, he also entered No. 11 Middle School as the top scorer in the high school entrance exam, and his tuition for three years was waived.”
“A child who is sensible, obedient, hardworking, motivated, and capable of earning money, would he really do something improper? I don’t believe it.”
Chen Siyin stood there, stunned.
When she was young, she had also entered No. 11 Middle School. But her score had been far below that of the top scorer.
More importantly, she had grown up with the powerful Chen family backing her, with the best private tutors, never worrying about money.
With her own diligence and effort, she had ranked within the top fifty in the entrance exam.
Chen Zixuan usually ranked around eightieth. The difference between them was obvious.
“Chen Zimo is actually this outstanding, and I never knew.”
“No… it’s not that I didn’t know. It’s that my prejudice blinded me.”
“But Mom and Dad only gave him 300 yuan per month as allowance. Where did his 100,000 yuan come from?”
Director Zhang spoke again, “I don’t know what happened to Chen Zimo in your home. But you must understand, he is different from the children who grew up in your family.”
“Different?” Chen Siyin asked in surprise.
“In what way?”
In her view, most children were similar.
They were born to parents, went to kindergarten, completed nine years of compulsory education.
Those who studied well went to good high schools. Those who did poorly went to weaker ones or vocational schools.
Her family simply had more money. She had a private car for transportation and nicer clothes.
“Sigh…” Director Zhang sighed for the third time.
“Chen Zimo was an orphan. In the dead of winter, when he was just one month old, he was abandoned at the gate of the orphanage. If it hadn’t been for another child running a high fever that day and me taking that child to the hospital, I might not have seen him in time. He would have frozen to death.”
Director Zhang looked at Chen Siyin.
The Chen family had strong genes. Chen Siyin was beautiful, elegant, dressed in professional attire that made her look every bit the domineering female CEO.
Her skin was fair and radiant. Her fingers were long and refined. It was clear she had never done manual labor or endured hardship.
“Miss Chen, let me ask you. Did he cling to your family desperately, always following you around like a stray dog?”
“How did you know!” Chen Siyin blurted out without thinking.
“Because an orphan is like duckweed drifting in water, rootless and without support. But once an orphan has parents, he is no longer drifting duckweed…”