“Auntie, watch what you say. If I’m some ‘young lady,’ then what does that make our family—capitalists or landlord exploiters?” Lin Yuxi shot back without mercy.
Sometimes she couldn’t understand why her aunt was always targeting her.
The moment her aunt heard that, her face went pale. In times like these, how could anyone dare say such things out loud?
Lin Yuxi ignored her and walked straight up to Old Madam Lin, holding up the buns in her hand.
“Grandma, my classmate had a fever yesterday. Her mother had to work the night shift, so she asked me to look after her. To thank me, she bought these four meat buns.”
Old Madam Lin looked at the buns and swallowed the scolding that had reached her lips.
She didn’t care where Lin Yuxi had been. If the girl could bring back meat buns every day, she wouldn’t care even if she died outside.
Everyone’s attention shifted to the buns, and no one paid Lin Yuxi any more mind. She quietly returned to her room.
Old Madam Lin picked up the buns and began dividing them. She and Old Master Lin each got half a bun.
The remaining three buns were split among her three sons and the three grandsons at home—each person getting half.
As for daughters-in-law and granddaughters, they were never part of her considerations.
As soon as Eldest Uncle got his portion, his wife’s eyes lit up. She reached out to grab it, but Old Madam Lin smacked her hand with chopsticks and told him to hurry up and eat.
He didn’t dare disobey, so he wolfed it down in a few bites, leaving his wife fuming.
Second Uncle—Lin Yuxi’s father—completely ignored his wife’s hints and started eating his share.
Third Uncle took his bun and, seeing Old Madam Lin’s attention fixed on the eldest couple, quickly split his portion between his wife and Lin Yuzhu, urging them to eat fast.
In the end, only Auntie and Lin Yuwei didn’t get any. Meat buns—they hadn’t had meat in who knows how long.
Both were furious. Lin Yuwei even burst into tears. Everyone else got some—why not her? She was certain there had been more than just these few buns. Lin Yuxi must have eaten some already.
From inside her room, Lin Yuxi watched the scene through the window, a faint smile curling at her lips.
She knew it—greedy people could be pacified with just a little benefit. But then her gaze dimmed.
The real reason it worked so easily… was that they simply didn’t care about her at all.
Jiangnan hurried home as fast as he could. He wanted to find out whether his current “sister” was an impostor and seek justice for his real sister.
But the moment he stepped through the door, his father told him a telegram had arrived from the army. He took it—his remaining leave had been canceled due to an urgent mission, and he was to return immediately.
In the living room, his mother and Jiang Zhuyue were sitting close together on the sofa, chatting intimately.
When they saw him looking over, they walked toward him arm in arm, smiling and talking.
“You’re leaving already?” his mother asked.
“Big brother, weren’t you supposed to stay a few more days? I was waiting for you to take me out to buy a new dress,” Jiang Zhuyue said, clinging to his arm.
She had always acted like this—sweet and coquettish, asking him for things. In the past, he wouldn’t have thought anything of it. He would’ve just given her money and told her to buy whatever she liked.
But now, thinking back over the past few years, she had asked him for money countless times. Had she asked even more from their parents?
Recalling what Lin Yuxi had said—that her adoptive parents would regularly take money from their biological daughter—he wondered: had she been scheming for money all along to give to her real parents?
Whether that was true or not, he would no longer give her money. There was no time to investigate now. Who knew how much longer his real sister would have to wait?
“You already have plenty of clothes. Put more effort into your studies,” he said.
Judging by Jiang Zhuyue’s stunned expression, she clearly hadn’t expected her always-indulgent brother to refuse her.
Jiangnan no longer paid attention to this “cheap sister.” In his heart, he had already concluded that the girl before him was not his real sister.
Looking closely again, she didn’t resemble anyone in the Jiang family at all.
But for now, he couldn’t do anything—not even tell his parents. They wouldn’t be able to accept it all at once.
And if Jiang Zhuyue caught wind of it, a few sweet words from her might easily deceive their parents again, making it even harder to send her away.
He picked up the luggage his parents had packed for him. “Dad, Mom, I’m leaving. I’ll come back as soon as I get leave.”
“I’ll see you off,” his father said, going to fetch the bicycle.
“Alright.” Jiangnan didn’t refuse. He had something he wanted to say to his father.
“Dad…” For a moment, he didn’t know how to begin.
He wasn’t going to tell his father yet that their real daughter was someone else. He needed Jiang Zhuyue to expose her true colors first—otherwise, his parents would never give her up.
“Dad, don’t give Zhuyue so much money anymore. She’s still young—too much money isn’t good for her.”
He waited, but his father didn’t respond. Riding the bicycle, Jiangnan couldn’t see his father’s expression behind him.
Of course, Jiangnan didn’t let his father carry him—he rode the bike himself, with his father on the back. Later, at the train station, his father would ride it home.
“Dad, has something happened at home? If anything’s wrong, you have to tell me,” Jiangnan said, uneasy.
“It’s your sister Zhuyue. She says she’ll be starting high school next year and wants your mother and me to buy her a house near the school.
“I think it’s unreasonable. She can just live in the school dormitory—why buy a house? And she even wants the property to be registered in her name.”
His father felt it was inappropriate. He still had two sons—his eldest was already twenty-two and might get married at any time.
Besides, how could they skip over the sons and buy a house for a fifteen-year-old daughter? It just didn’t make sense.
But Zhuyue had already persuaded his wife. She had tried to convince him earlier, saying if their youngest daughter wanted it, they should just buy it—her brothers wouldn’t mind.
Still, he felt uneasy. He wanted to hear his eldest son’s opinion, which he valued.
“Dad, remember this—absolutely do not buy it. I’ll explain why when I come back next time. Just remember: no matter what, don’t buy it.”
Jiangnan let out a cold laugh. Was she afraid her identity would be exposed, so she was grabbing assets in advance?
The Jiang family did have some ancestral property passed down through generations, though not many people knew about it. In recent generations, they had all been workers, so they had avoided trouble during these turbulent times.
“Alright, I understand. Go back to the army with peace of mind. I’ll handle things here.”
His father hadn’t been very willing to agree in the first place. Now, hearing his son’s firm stance only strengthened his resolve.
He didn’t know why his eldest son—who had always doted on his sister—was so adamantly opposed this time. But he trusted that there must be a reason.
And that was enough.