“So what if I hit you?”
Lin Wan shook her numb palm and stepped forward. Her gaze cut into Zhou Qing like a knife. Her voice was not loud, but every word pierced the heart.
“I’m sick? I think you’re the one who’s sick! A disease where you’ll die if you don’t meddle in other people’s business! A psychologist? Save that for yourself! Go check whether you’ve got delusions and a voyeuristic obsession!”
Her voice caught the attention of her father and Lin Yang. The father and son quickly walked over.
“Wanwan, what’s wrong?”
“Sis, what happened?”
Lin Jianguo and Lin Yang asked at the same time, their eyes warily fixed on Zhou Qing, who was clutching her face, tears welling up in her eyes.
“It’s nothing, Dad, Yangyang.” Lin Wan shot Zhou Qing one last cold glance. “Just ran into a buzzing fly that was annoying me. I was about to chase it away.”
After saying that, she didn’t even spare Zhou Qing another look, ignoring the pitiful, tearful expression that made it seem as if she had suffered some great injustice.
Bang!
She slammed the door shut.
“Lin Wan! Y-you… you bastard!” Zhou Qing screamed from outside the door, her voice distorted with anger.
Lin Yang frowned and glanced at his sister. Although he didn’t know exactly what had happened, he stood firmly on her side without question.
He called out toward the door, “Zhou Qing, our family is busy. We don’t have time to entertain guests. You should head back.”
After saying that, he turned around and went back inside to continue working.
Lin Jianguo said nothing. He only looked at Lin Wan with that deep, steady gaze of his before turning around and leaving as well.
After working for a while, they finally finished packing everything inside the house. Lin Jianguo, Lin Wan, and Lin Yang opened the door, preparing to return to their new home.
Zhou Qing was still standing outside the door.
Lin Wan didn’t even give her a glance and simply turned to walk downstairs.
Zhou Qing stood there, clutching her burning cheek, watching the backs of Lin Wan, Lin Jianguo, and Lin Yang as they disappeared. When she heard the sound of the truck engine starting downstairs, her entire body trembled with anger. All the elegance and composure she usually displayed vanished completely.
“Crazy! That whole family is crazy!” she cursed through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with venom—and a trace of panic from having her thoughts exposed.
“Just you wait! Lunatics!”
Downstairs, the truck drove out of the residential community.
Lin Yang drove while glancing at the rearview mirror. His sister sat in the back seat, her face still icy cold.
“Sis, what exactly happened? That woman Zhou Qing can be a bit fake sometimes, but weren’t you two as close as real sisters before? It shouldn’t have gotten you this angry, right?”
Lin Wan looked out the window at the still-bustling city streets flashing past. Slowly, she clenched her fists, her fingernails digging deeply into her palms.
“That was before,” she said in a low voice, a faint tremor hidden within it. “From now on, stay away from her. If she comes close again or tries to ask about anything, just curse her back.”
Lin Jianguo turned his head from the passenger seat and looked at his daughter with deep eyes. He didn’t ask for details and only said firmly:
“Listen to your sister.”
He believed his daughter’s sudden outburst definitely hadn’t happened without reason.
Lin Wan closed her eyes and leaned against the truck.
Although that slap had felt satisfying, the hatred in her heart still remained. The painful memories of her previous life surged back, making her chest ache as if it were being crushed.
Zhou Qing…
In this life, our family will definitely live well!
And you—I will never let you go!
Outside the car window, the sky was covered with heavy lead-gray clouds. The oppressive heat made it hard to breathe.
The weather forecast said the temperature today had already reached 43°C.
There were only a few days left before the extreme heat arrived.
As soon as the truck stopped downstairs at their new home, Lin Wan’s phone rang.
The word “Mom” flashing on the screen made her heart tighten for no reason.
She had just answered the call and hadn’t even had time to speak when Li Shulan’s anxious, reproachful voice burst through the phone:
“Wanwan! What’s going on with you? How could you hit Xiao Qing? She just called me, crying terribly. She said you suddenly cursed at her for no reason and even slapped her! What exactly happened? I’ve watched that child grow up with you since you were little. Even if she has a bit of a temper, her heart isn’t bad. How could you…”
Her mother’s words were like needles stabbing into Lin Wan’s heart.
Especially the phrase “her heart isn’t bad.”
That sentence completely ignited the anger and grievance Lin Wan had suppressed for two lifetimes.
She suddenly pushed open the car door and shouted into the phone, her voice trembling from the effort of holding herself back.
“Mom! What did you say? Her heart isn’t bad?!”
Lin Jianguo and Lin Yang, who had just been getting out of the truck, were startled by her sudden agitation and stopped to look at her.
Lin Wan’s eyes turned red instantly—not from sadness, but from overwhelming anger and the loneliness of being misunderstood.
She gripped her phone so tightly that it seemed as if she might crush it, forcing down the pain in her heart as she spoke into the receiver.
“That’s enough, Mom! I can’t explain this over the phone. I’ll come back right now and tell you!”
“Wanwan! How could you—!”
Before Li Shulan could finish speaking, Lin Wan hung up.
She turned toward Lin Jianguo and Lin Yang.
“Dad, Yangyang, let’s go back. I have something to tell you.”
After saying that, she turned and walked toward the building entrance, her face filled with sorrow.
They took the elevator back upstairs. As soon as they opened the door, before they even stepped inside, Li Shulan confronted them immediately.
“Wanwan, no matter what happened, you shouldn’t hit someone! Why couldn’t you talk things out properly? Xiao Qing was only concerned about you. She said you haven’t been in a good mental state lately, and she was worried something might happen to you, so she asked a few more questions…”
“Concerned about me? Worried something might happen to me?”
Lin Wan let out a harsh laugh.
Tears finally rolled down her face, mixed with endless hatred.
“She’s afraid I won’t die fast enough! She wants to find out exactly what our family is doing so she can come and take advantage of it when the time comes!”
“Wanwan, why are you crying?”
Li Shulan was completely stunned when she saw the tears streaming down Lin Wan’s face.
“Wanwan, what exactly happened between you and Xiao Qing? Weren’t you two as close as sisters before? How did things change so much in just a few days?”
At that moment, the grievances and suffering Lin Wan had carried across two lifetimes finally burst through like a broken dam.
“Mom! Fine! I’ll tell you today! I’ll tell you what that ‘not bad-hearted’ Zhou Qing—the one you treat like half a daughter—did to our family!”
Lin Jianguo sensed that something was wrong with his daughter’s state. He quickly strode forward and said in a deep voice:
“Wanwan, calm down. Let’s go inside and talk.”
He gestured for Lin Yang to hurry inside as well and personally guided his emotional daughter into the room.
When the door closed, Lin Wan could no longer hold back.
She began accusing Zhou Qing, her voice breaking between sobs and fury, every word soaked in bitterness.
“Mom! Do you know what happened in the previous life? It was her! After the torrential rains came, her family ran out of food. She pretended to be pitiful and came crying to our door! It was you—you who softened your heart! You saw that she was alone at home, her parents away on business in another province, and she was a child you had watched grow up. You begged Dad to give her half of our food!”
“That was half of our entire supply! Everyone thought the torrential rains were only temporary, so Dad gave her half of the food in our house.”
As Li Shulan listened to her daughter’s accusations, she seemed stunned.
She said nothing.