An Xin thought her threat would be enough to provoke An Ning, with her strong sense of pride, into throwing one of her usual tantrums that only made her look foolish, before storming off and disappearing.
But who would have guessed that the moment she finished speaking, An Ning turned and walked up a few steps, raising her hand to pound on the door.
The steel security door rattled so hard from the slapping that even the handrail vibrated.
An Xin had no idea what An Ning was doing, but she instinctively sensed it wasn't anything good.
"What are you doing knocking on Aunt Zheng's door?"
"Asking her if she knows that I carry the surname An but don't have a single bed to sleep on in the An household, and whether she knows that you, the stepdaughter of the An family, are holding the keys and refusing to open the door for me."
"You're the stepdaughter!"
An Xin absolutely loathed the term "stepdaughter." It sounded identical to the word for "prostitute," and if either she or An Ning had to bear that title, it should be An Ning, not her.
"I never changed my surname."
An Ning wasn't proud of sharing An Jianhua's surname, but she didn't mind using it to shut An Xin up right now.
No one answered the knocking at that door, so An Ning moved on to another unit.
"Stop being crazy! If you're not afraid of embarrassing yourself, Mom and Dad and I are afraid of the shame!"
An Xin, fearing that An Ning would make a scene across the entire building, pulled out the keys and threw them on the ground.
An Ning didn't even glance at the keys on the floor. She knocked on the second door instead.
This household had already heard the commotion in the hallway. After An Ning knocked twice, the door opened from the inside.
An elderly woman with a kind face looked at the two of them: "Did you sisters have a fight? Ningning, your hair looks so much fresher like this. It suits you much better."
An Ning knew from the original owner's memories that this grandmother's surname was Huang.
Her son was a colleague of An Jianhua's. Compared to the few neighbors in this building who looked down on her because of Lu Lijun, Grandma Huang lived on the floor below the An family and would always show concern for the original owner whenever they met. She was far more tolerant of her than the others.
"Grandma Huang, my sister and I didn't have a fight. She ran away from home for a month and finally came back. I was worried she hadn't been doing well out there, and I asked too many questions, which annoyed her—that's why I was so loud."
An Xin picked up the keys from the ground, her face full of grievance as she struggled to force out a smile.
An Ning didn't refute her. She only said calmly, "Go open the door now."
An Xin's face grew even more pitiful: "Don't be angry, sister. I'll do whatever you say."
With that, she clutched the keys and headed up the stairs.
"Sorry to bother you, Grandma Huang. I came back to get my household register to apply for an ID card. From now on, I'm a big kid."
An Xin stood on the steps, wanting to go up but afraid to, worried that An Ning might say something bad about her—she couldn't defend herself if she wasn't there.
When she heard what An Ning said, she curled her lips. So that's what she came back for—just to get an ID card.
Coming to ask for a favor with that kind of attitude. No way was she letting her mother hand over the household register.
Grandma Huang thought An Ning looked especially lovely smiling today, and she smiled back: "Sixteen now—indeed, a big kid. If you have time later, come by Grandma's place, and I'll cook you a bowl of noodles."
"Thank you, Grandma Huang."
After speaking, Grandma Huang didn't close the door and went back to cooking. Anyway, the family would be home from work soon at this hour.
"What are you putting on airs for? Grandma Huang was just being polite. You don't actually think she'll really cook you noodles, do you? Dad didn't even mention that your birthday was a few days ago when he was home. No one cares when your birthday is, and no one's going to celebrate it for you."
An Xin was displeased that An Ning was being treated gently by others, so she muttered a jab at her.
As the door twisted open, hearing An Yanlei watching TV inside, An Xin's eyes lit up: "Mom, you're back. Someone's here to get the household register."
"Get the household register for what?"
It had been agreed that morning that the whole family would go out to eat this afternoon, so Lu Lijun hadn't cooked. After picking up her son from school, she went back to her room to pick out clothes.
Just as she changed into a newly bought dress, she heard her daughter come back saying something about getting the household register.
"Come out and you'll see."
After saying that, An Xin glared at An Ning. "Your slippers were thrown away long ago. Don't wander around—just wait right here."
An Ning wasn't about to listen to her.
She came to the An family home to get something, not to stand around like a punishment.
She walked straight to the living room sofa and sat down. An Yanlei's eyes were glued to the TV, completely unaware that someone else had joined him on the couch.
Both An Jianhua and Lu Lijun had jobs, and the An family's financial situation was decent.
The home had a leather sofa, a 29-inch TV, and a landline phone installed on the table.
Yet this family couldn't manage to spare an extra bed for the original owner of this body.
"What's wrong, Xinxin? Why are you so loud?"
Hearing An Xin's shriek, Lu Lijun hurried out.
The moment she came out and saw An Ning sitting on the sofa, she froze, just like An Xin, never expecting her to return to the An family home.
"Mom, look at her—she has no sense of hygiene at all, wearing her outdoor shoes into the living room."
With her backup now present, An Xin immediately pointed at An Ning, wanting Lu Lijun to deal with her.
"So noisy! Second sister is the most annoying!"
An Yanlei was six years old, right at the age of having a temper. When he was in a good mood, he'd call An Xin "sister"; when he wasn't, he'd call her "second sister."
"Coming back and talking loudly nonstop—not as good as eldest sister."
Facing her family, An Xin dropped the act she put on outside. Hearing that An Yanlei was deliberately trying to provoke her, she got so angry she went to hit him.
"Why are you still bickering with your little brother?"
Pulling An Xin back, Lu Lijun then said to An Ning: "Let me find you a pair of slippers to change into. Everyone in this house changes shoes at the door. Ningning, please be understanding with your aunt."
After saying this, Lu Lijun went to the shoe cabinet to look for slippers while waiting for An Ning's indignant outburst.
But to her surprise, even after she pulled out the old slippers from the cabinet, she still didn't hear An Ning's voice.
She was still puzzled when she saw An Ning walk toward her direction, sit down on the stool, take off her canvas shoes, and slip on the old slippers she'd brought out.
"I'm here to get the household register to apply for an ID card. If you need to look for it, I'll just sit and wait a bit. If not, I can leave as soon as I have the register."
"You actually dare to come back. Look at yourself—who would dare hand you the household register! Who knows what kind of illegal thing you're planning to do with it."
An Jianhua's workplace let out on time. As he came upstairs, he first heard Grandma Huang say that An Ning had returned, and he felt something was off. When he opened the door and heard An Ning asking for the household register to get an ID, he couldn't help but scold her in anger.
"With the way you are, don't bother going to school anymore. I'll go handle your withdrawal on Monday. At school, you're just embarrassing me!"
With An Xin around, the moment An Ning returned to school, An Jianhua and Lu Lijun found out about it.
If she hadn't come back to cause trouble, fine—but her coming back reminded An Jianhua of the matter of withdrawing her from school.
"Does your eldest daughter not going to school at sixteen give you a good reputation? At school, at least I still have a shackle on me. Out of school, do you want me to have nothing to do every day, either hanging around the family quarters or going to your workplace to kill time?"
"What do you mean?! You dare threaten me!"
An Jianhua hated his ex-wife, and naturally disliked the daughter she had given him.
She had run away from home a month ago, and he wished she would die out there.
Who knew she'd be back so soon, spouting nonsense in his house, having learned a bunch of threats from who knows where.
"Get out, get the hell out of my house. You said yourself you'd never come back. Don't go back on your word and cling to my home like a mangy stray."
An Jianhua's roar was deafening. An Yanlei's attention was caught, and he stopped watching TV, running to the doorway to watch the commotion alongside An Xin and the others.
The four members of the An family stood in a neat row, and by some calculation, Lu Lijun was actually the one with the best attitude toward her.
Whether it was an act or not, at least she was willing to put on a show.
"My household registration is on Grandpa's book, not yours. Just give me Grandpa's household registration book."
Not being the original owner, An Ning felt nothing in the face of An Jianhua's attitude that wished she would vanish. The louder he got, the calmer she became. "Having my ID card is a good thing for your family—many matters can be kept separate. If you're afraid I'll pester you afterward, we can sign a declaration severing the father-daughter relationship. From then on, I won't come back to the An family, won't contact you, and you won't need to pay for my living expenses or tuition."
With that, An Ning pulled a prepared severance declaration out of her schoolbag.
Two copies.
As a law student, she knew perfectly well that such a declaration of severing family ties held no legal effect, but law was law—with such a document in hand, as long as An Jianhua had any sense of shame, she would save herself a lot of trouble in the future.
Hearing An Ning talk about severing the father-daughter relationship, An Jianhua angrily raised his hand, but when his eyes met An Ning's calm, distant gaze, the slap never came down.
Lu Lijun seized An Jianhua's hand at just the right moment.
"Why has it escalated to severing ties? An-ge, calm down. Ningning is just a child—what does she know? She's dyed her hair back and returned to school, which means she knows she was wrong. Why are you yelling at her? Ningning, you should properly apologize to your father. If your father didn't love you, he wouldn't be this angry."
Lu Lijun's words weren't sarcastic; she was genuinely trying to ease the tension between father and daughter.
She didn't want An Ning competing for resources with her own daughter, but as An Ning grew more beautiful, she had begun to entertain other ideas.
For instance, An Jianhua's direct superior—a man with deep connections and real power, whose only flaw was his lechery.
An Ning's face was naturally a mistress's face—a pointed chin, big eyes, exactly the type old men favored.
And An Ning's personality was easy to guide and exploit.
Glancing at Lu Lijun, An Ning didn't respond, simply placing the severance declaration on the table: "Take a look. Sign this and we'll both save ourselves a lot of trouble."
Though it held no legal force, An Ning had still written the declaration formally.
It opened with both parties' names, identities, and addresses.
Then came the reason.
To avoid complications, An Ning didn't write anything bad about An Jianhua or Lu Lijun, only summarizing that they couldn't get along, conflicts had escalated, and so both sides had agreed to sever the father-daughter relationship, with neither party owing the other any further rights or obligations as father and daughter.
The four clauses that followed were the specifics.
An Jianhua would no longer pay for her tuition, child support, living expenses, or any other costs. She would relinquish all inheritance rights as his daughter, and his future health, aging, illness, and death would have nothing to do with her.
"Sign it! I want to see what you become without your old man. How did I ever sire such a bastard?"
Seeing that the severance document was not a few casual lines but a typed, printed, and very formal legal instrument, An Jianhua realized she had gone to a copy shop and made a spectacle of herself in front of who knows how many people. His face flushed red with anger as he pointed at An Ning and cursed, "From now on, you're not my daughter. Even if you have to beg for food, don't come knocking on my door."
A sixteen-year-old girl—she thought that just because some man was willing to sweet-talk her, she'd never have to worry about food or clothes again.
Going back to school? Without him, her father, to foot the bill, she'd be poor enough to beg within a month.
"Give me Grandpa's household register first."
As An Jianhua reached for a pen to sign, An Ning reminded him.
Seeing how far things had escalated, Lu Lijun had no choice but to fetch the household register at An Jianhua's demand.
All the property in their hometown had been sold, so Old Master An's household register no longer served any purpose. That was why the An family handed it over without hesitation.
"Don't have your homeroom teacher call me anymore."
"Mm, I've already spoken with Teacher Zhao. She won't bother you again."
An Ning hadn't just prepared the severance documents—she'd also bought a box of red ink paste.
After pressing her thumbprint onto both copies of the severance agreement, An Ning swapped back into her canvas shoes. Throughout the entire process, she had remained calm and polite, but as she left, she didn't look back once, showing no intention of saying goodbye to the An family.
"That damned girl!"
The old An Ning had been infuriating too, but never to the extent that An Jianhua was angry today. Every word she spoke, every expression on her face, made his anger flare uncontrollably, and he wanted nothing more than to teach her a lesson with his fists.
Watching An Ning's retreating figure, Lu Lijun felt a strange sense of unease.
She had no idea what An Ning had gone through this past month—she seemed like an entirely different person.
And the change wasn't for the worse, but for the better.
Before, there was never a time when An Jianhua was fuming and An Ning could still get what she wanted without shame or anger.
"An-ge, isn't this a bit much? After all, she is your own flesh and blood. Why don't we wait until you both calm down, then go to the school and have a proper talk with Ningning."
"Big Sister may be Daddy's biological child, but she doesn't love Daddy as much as I do. Big Sister isn't angry at Daddy—she just causes trouble for him."
Seeing An Ning sever ties with An Jianhua, An Xin was so excited she nearly jumped for joy.
Hearing Lu Lijun keep defending An Ning, she said urgently, "Daddy, you don't know—the moment Big Sister got back to school, she turned her dorm upside down and forced her roommate to wash her clothes. And when the class monitor, out of a sense of responsibility, lent her his study notes, she claimed he had a crush on her and embarrassed him in front of everyone. The Class Nine monitor ranks in the top ten of the whole school, he's tall and handsome, and I heard his father is a high-ranking official—he's not that kind of person at all."
An Xin sighed as she spoke, and anyone listening would think An Ning was beyond saving.
Hearing his stepdaughter say all that, how could An Jianhua possibly regret making An Ning completely disappear from the An family?
That thing was born to be a disgrace to him.
Who knows what she'd been up to out there this past month.
"Alright, enough about that ungrateful daughter. Xinxin did well on this month's exams, so let's go out and celebrate properly. I've already booked the restaurant."
Seeing Lu Lijun's meticulous grooming, An Jianhua's anger mostly dissipated, and he reached out to wrap his arm around her waist.
"You look beautiful today, dear."
"Shame on you."
An Yanlei covered his eyes.
"Mom and Dad are so sweet together."
An Xin chuckled quietly while dutifully taking An Yanlei's hand to walk ahead, the family of four so harmonious that no one else could possibly fit in.