“May I ask who you are?” Yu Nianqing found the girl somewhat familiar, but she genuinely couldn’t remember who she was.
Yu Yarou’s eyes suddenly reddened. “Big Sister, it’s me! I’m Yarou. Dad hasn’t seen you for days, and he’s been worried sick about you.”
Hearing this, Yu Nianqing understood. This was Yu Tiancheng’s illegitimate daughter from an affair. What puzzled her, however, was how Yu Yarou could be so brazen despite being an illegitimate child. She didn’t seem the least bit afraid of others finding out about her identity.
“Who’s your sister?” Yu Nianqing had no intention of humoring her. For one thing, the girl’s white-lotus act was far too obvious. For another, some of the original owner’s emotions seemed to linger, and Yu Nianqing couldn’t help feeling disgusted with her.
Yu Yarou didn’t mind at all. She smiled gently. “Big Sister, Dad and Mom held their wedding three days ago. Now I can finally call you my sister openly and legitimately!”
Counting back three days, that was precisely the day Yu Nianqing had been hospitalized after the explosion. His own daughter had been injured in an explosion and admitted to the hospital, yet the father had shown not the slightest concern and had gone ahead with his wedding to his mistress.
“Oh… I’m sorry, Big Sister. Yarou forgot that you were injured and hospitalized that day, so you didn’t get the chance to attend Mom and Dad’s wedding.”
Yu Yarou wore an apologetic expression. Among the friends standing beside her, there were also some who recognized Yu Nianqing.
“An explosion? Xiao Rou, could your sister be that Yu Nianqing from the Star Network?”
“If you hadn’t said so, I never would’ve imagined that someone as stupid as her could be related to our Xiao Rou.”
As the people around them continued to chatter, waves of mockery and laughter rose one after another. Yu Yarou frowned and reminded them, “Please don’t talk about Sister Nianqing like that.”
“Xiao Rou, you may treat her as your big sister, but she certainly doesn’t treat you as her little sister.”
“Xiao Rou is just too kind.”
Yu Yarou took Yu Nianqing’s hand. “Big Sister, please don’t take it to heart. Everyone just speaks their mind.”
Yu Nianqing shook off her hand and smiled as she replied, “I’m not taking it to heart. But they’re right about one thing. I really don’t consider you my little sister.”
With that, she turned to leave. What kind of era was this? Why could white lotuses still fool people?
Of course, Yu Yarou wasn’t about to let such a good opportunity slip away. She grabbed Yu Nianqing. “Big Sister, are you blaming me?”
Hearing the dejected tone in her voice, Yu Yarou’s friends hurried to comfort her. “What does she have to blame you for? If I had a little sister like you, I’d be over the moon!”
“Exactly! Our Yarou is a genius girl at the academy.”
“She awakened her talent before she even turned twenty. There are hardly any people like her in the history of the stars.”
In interstellar society, people could only awaken their innate talents at the age of twenty. However, throughout the long course of history, there had always been a handful of geniuses who defied the laws of nature.
Clearly, Yu Yarou wasn’t one of them.
According to her official records, Yu Yarou was eighteen years old, but in reality, she was already twenty.
The reason she had lied about being eighteen was to conceal the fact that Yu Tiancheng had begun cheating on Yu Nianqing’s mother before her death.
So there was no such thing as a genius girl. If anyone deserved that title, it was the original Yu Nianqing.
One of the admission requirements for the Federation First Interstellar Academy was a mental power of at least B-rank. As a result, most students at the academy had B- to A-rank mental power. Those with A-rank mental power could already enter the Military Research Institute, let alone Yu Nianqing, who had possessed S-rank mental power from the very beginning.
With everyone taking Yu Yarou’s side, Yu Yarou was certain that Yu Nianqing must be furious.
Yu Nianqing, however, merely thought that it was bad enough for this woman to have no shame, but now she wouldn’t even let the matter drop. “What am I supposed to blame you for? For you and your mother usurping my place? You can’t just go around slandering people in broad daylight. Did I say any of those things just now?”
Yu Nianqing blinked her big eyes and feigned confusion. She hadn’t said those things earlier, but she had now. It was as if she had said everything, yet at the same time, nothing at all.
Yu Yarou’s expression turned rather strange. “Big Sister, I…”
Before she could finish, a voice came from behind them. “Xiao Qing!”
Everyone turned around and saw a man dressed in a suit. Yu Yarou reacted even faster than Yu Nianqing and called out sweetly, “Third Brother!”
However, Yu Ninghuai, who was walking toward them, acted as though he hadn’t heard her at all and went straight to Yu Nianqing.
“Xiao Qing, why haven’t you contacted your big brother lately?” He was Yu Nianqing’s third older brother. He pulled her away without the slightest hesitation, casting a disdainful glance at Yu Yarou. “Don’t touch my sister.”
“Third Brother, I’m your sister too!” Yu Yarou protested, feeling utterly aggrieved. But her pitiful act had absolutely no effect on Yu Ninghuai.
“Some people can change their names and identities all they want, but they’ll never be worthy of the name.”
Not only was her act useless, but Yu Ninghuai didn’t spare Yu Yarou the slightest bit of dignity in front of everyone. He turned and walked away with Yu Nianqing, leaving Yu Yarou behind, grinding her teeth in silent resentment.
“Xiao Qing, there’s no need to entertain her from now on,” Yu Ninghuai reminded her.
Yu Nianqing had no desire to talk to Yu Yarou either. It was Yu Yarou who had insisted on clinging to her.
“Mm, I understand.”
Yu Ninghuai sensed that something about his younger sister seemed different today. He lowered his head and asked, “Has everything that happened in the family been too much for you to handle?”
“Third Brother, I’ve been on a leave of absence for three months. Did you know about it? Do Eldest Brother and Second Brother know?”
Yu Nianqing had three older brothers, yet when Yu Tiancheng cut off her financial support, not one of them had taken the initiative to contact her or offer a helping hand.
As far as the new Yu Nianqing was concerned, these relationships had yet to develop into genuine familial bonds.
“A leave of absence? Why didn’t you tell the family?”
The moment he asked that question, Yu Ninghuai immediately realized the problem. Their youngest sister had been on leave from school for so long, yet not a single person in the family knew about it.
“I’m sorry, Xiao Qing… Eldest Brother has been out of contact with the outside world at the Military Research Institute, while Second Brother went to Gemini Star on a diplomatic mission six months ago. I was the one who neglected to look after you. Please don’t blame your brothers.” Yu Ninghuai apologized sincerely.
Yu Nianqing suddenly raised her eyes. If that was the case, all three of her older brothers were pretty impressive!
She cautiously asked, “Third Brother, what does one million star coins mean to our family?”
If her three incredibly capable older brothers could help her pay off the money she owed Bo Chen, wouldn’t she be free?
“One million?!” Yu Ninghuai’s voice rose involuntarily. After a moment, he composed himself and asked, “Little Sister, did you get yourself into trouble?”
Yu Nianqing nodded. Hadn’t she just gotten herself into trouble?
“They’re asking you to pay one million?” Yu Ninghuai asked. When his sister confirmed it, his expression turned troubled. “It’s not that our family can’t afford one million star coins, but we’ll have to ask Eldest Brother and Second Brother about it…”
“When? Are we going now?” Yu Nianqing suddenly saw a glimmer of hope. Looking at his little sister’s sparkling eyes, Yu Ninghuai really couldn’t bear to disappoint her.
“The military will be going on leave soon, and Second Brother will be back in a few days. Let’s talk about it then.” Yu Ninghuai answered quickly. He planned to gather a little more money first so that when Eldest Brother and Second Brother asked about it, he wouldn’t get beaten quite so badly.
There were three older brothers and one younger sister in the family. Whenever their little sister got into trouble, the older brothers were always the ones who took the blame.
Yu Nianqing’s Eldest Brother and Second Brother were twins, and both were older than Yu Ninghuai, so Yu Ninghuai was usually the one left holding the bag.