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Chapter 57
When they left, Zhou Nan originally wanted to support Zhi Xia, but she refused.
Seeing that Zhi Xia was walking steadily, she didn't insist and just followed behind carrying the suitcase.
This had to compliment Pei Jing - his skills were indeed good. After a night's sleep, Zhi Xia's ankle was almost completely better, and the slight pain when walking could be ignored.
They had brought some dried vegetables, mushrooms and the like when they came. These were all things Zhou Granny had taken back for them. When they left, the old lady also gave them quite a lot, mostly food and drink.
An ZhiAng originally wanted to give Zhi Xia a ride, but was robbed by An Zhiren, perhaps influenced by the old lady's words.
On the road, Zhou Nan sat in the back and asked An JingZhi, "MeiYun is going out the day after tomorrow. Are mom and dad going?"
An JingZhi sighed, "I talked to dad about it, but he said he wasn't feeling well recently, meaning he probably doesn't want to go. You can't really blame mom and dad for this. After all, their intention was for MeiYun to go to the countryside. As a result, MeiYun secretly went ahead and got a marriage certificate without even discussing it with her family. "
It was only after knowing An MeiYun had gotten a marriage certificate that An JingZhi found out about this man Lin Hao. He hadn't heard anything beforehand.
Speaking of Lin Hao, he didn't know much about him, but from inquiring around, he was already doing well for his age, working in government institutions at just over 20 years old. His future prospects were limitless.
"Although MeiYun was somewhat in the wrong, aren't mom and dad's opinions of her too extreme? Their own daughter is getting married and they don't even want to go. How will this make Lin's family see MeiYun?" Zhou Nan worriedly said, "Mom didn't even say she wanted to add to MeiYun's makeup or gifts. I heard from ZhiAng that the Pei Meng girl went over at noon and mom stuffed 20 yuan in her pocket."
"Don't make random comparisons," An JingZhi said. "Although Pei Meng doesn't have our surname, those two sisters have always liked crowding around Old Madam since they were young. Naturally, the feelings are different. As for MeiYun..." Of course An JingZhi knew why the old lady didn't like MeiYun, but this knot could not be untied by anyone.
Thinking of his own younger sister who died young, she was only 17 or 18 when she left, the same blossoming age. She loved following behind him like a little duckling.
Unfortunately, those years could never come back.
When he thought about it carefully, Zhi Xia really resembled her aunt.
Those distinctly black and white eyes, the occasional naivety revealed in her thinking, and the quiet temperament about her, it gave An JingZhi an extra sense of reminiscence.
Zhou Nan had never seen that little sister. Although she had known of her existence all these years, there was little feeling without having seen her.
An Zhiren deliberately kept some distance from them. Zhi Xia sat properly in the back, holding tightly onto the back seat, without any physical contact with the front.
"Did little sister agree to come back so readily because she wants to ruin An MeiYun's wedding?" This was the question An Zhiren had wanted to ask earlier. Otherwise, apart from this, he couldn't think of any other reason.
According to his original thinking, Zhi Xia should have chosen to come back after An MeiYun's wedding. So when their parents told the brothers to persuade her, he had only made a perfunctory effort. Zhi Xia was baffled by his words, then laughed, "Second brother really has an imagination. What good would it do me to ruin her wedding? Keep her at home to continue making myself unhappy?"
An Zhiren was a little embarrassed and smacked his lips, "Second brother is narrow-minded."
But he kept feeling that from the first moment he saw Zhi Xia, he felt this sister didn't seem as innocent on the surface as she appeared.
Or perhaps he was overthinking it. How deep could the heart be for a girl raised in that kind of environment?
"I also have a question I want to ask second brother," Zhi Xia looked at An Zhiren's back thoughtfully.
An Zhiren was not surprised. "What does little sister want to ask?"
"When you ask me this, are you worried I will ruin An MeiYun's wedding? Or do you and dad and mom have the same idea that your own is not as good as one you raised?" Zhi Xia's eyes narrowed as she waited for his answer.
An Zhiren paused. After understanding the meaning of her words, he shook his head helplessly, "Actually, third brother and I are more in favor of grandfather and grandmother's thinking, but some things often don't go according to people's wishes. Little sister shouldn't underestimate yourself either. It's not necessarily that dad and mom feel what they raised is better than their own. After all, people have feelings even for dogs they raise, let alone after raising MeiYun for 18 years."
Comparing An MeiYun to a dog, Zhi Xia, who knew everything from her previous life, felt this comparison was unfair to dogs. After all, dogs still knew to wag their tails at their owners.
"Second and third brother grew up together with An MeiYun. Don't you have feelings between you?" Recalling their interactions these past days, the two of them hadn't shown much intimacy towards her, but seemed even more distant from An MeiYun.
An Zhiren said, "Fourth brother didn't tell you about what happened between us in the past?"
Zhi Xia was confused for a moment, "What happened?"
An Zhiren glanced back, not really seeing anything. But when he spoke, his tone carried indistinct feelings of sighing reminiscence. "In most families, sons are favored over daughters, but ours was especially different. Mom and dad treated us all the same, but back then An MeiYun was the only girl at home, so she was inevitably doted on a bit more. Plus, An MeiYun was very naughty as a child, full of tricks. Other than big brother who had more authority, we three had all suffered at her hands. And every time, we'd get scolded for being older brothers who should know better. Third brother once got so angry he ran away from home for several days and stayed at a classmate's before being found and brought back. After that, we three discussed and decided that no matter who suffered a loss, the three of us would gang up and beat her together. At worst we'd just get a beating together. It was around then that mom and dad started paying attention to the contradictions between us and also strengthened An MeiYun's upbringing. After getting beaten a few times, she didn't dare bully us anymore."
So their relationship with An MeiYun wasn't good. On the contrary, the bonds between the three brothers were very strong after sharing the childhood experience of ganging up against one person.
Adults always feel children's fights and tussles are normal and don't take these little contradictions to heart. They feel children are forgetful and can still be loving siblings after fights and tussles.
But in reality, not every fight can be simply glossed over.
What An Zhiren was also telling Zhi Xia was that no matter how they felt towards this new sister, they would definitely not take An MeiYun's side.
Moreover, although he and third brother hadn't shown much intimacy towards Zhi Xia, objectively speaking, their impressions of this blood-related younger sister were still pretty good.
He sometimes even thought that if Zhi Xia hadn't been swapped away as a child and grew up with them, perhaps she would also have been the cute and well-behaved little sister like those in other families.
Unfortunately, there were no such ifs.
Now, they were all adults. He and third brother also couldn't behave as shamelessly clingy as fourth brother. Their sister seemed indifferent towards her family, and they were also at a loss for how to get along with her.
The living room was still bright. An JingZhi and Zhou Nan walked in but found only An MeiYun sitting alone in the living room.
Her hair was tangled messily, there was a palm print on her face, and half the collar of her shirt was torn off. She looked somewhat miserable.