Mu Sisi, receiving no response, felt strange. She subtly observed Mu Xiaoqi’s expression. Had something happened that she didn’t know about?

She should have asked her mother.

After all, since she knew Mu Xiaoqi, she had never been looked at with such a cold gaze.

“Sister!” Mu Sisi drawled, clinging to Mu Xiaoqi’s arm. “Who made you angry? Tell me, I’ll get revenge for you!”

Mu Xiaoqi flung Mu Sisi’s hand away, looking into her eyes. “Did you take my jewelry? I’m missing a pair of pearl earrings and a gold dragon pendant necklace.”

Suddenly questioned by Mu Xiaoqi, Mu Sisi was stunned.

In the past, she never cared about these things. Mu Xiaoqi hadn’t given her any jewelry; the pearl earrings and necklace were borrowed.

However, Mu Sisi had long considered them her own and never thought of returning them.

“Go get them for me now, I need them!”  For the first time, the usually amiable Mu Xiaoqi spoke to Mu Sisi in a serious tone. Her expression seemed to say: If you don’t go get them, I will.

“Sister, you don’t have to treat me like this,” Mu Sisi exclaimed incredulously. “I’m your sister, not an outsider.”

Mu Xiaoqi sneered. “What kind of sister are you? You just changed your surname to Mu, and you really think of yourself as a Mu family member. Your nerve is really thick!”

Seventeen-year-old Mu Sisi was no match for the world-weary Mu Xiaoqi. She rushed back to her room, grabbed the pearl earrings and necklace, and threw them at Mu Xiaoqi.

“I don’t want them, here you go!”

The commotion had already alarmed Mu Yuehui and Jiang Xueqin. This was the first time the two girls had quarreled so fiercely.  Weren’t they close sisters before?

Seeing Jiang Xueqin, Mu Sisi cried and ran to her.

“Mom, just now, my sister said I’m an outsider and that I don’t deserve the Mu surname.  Wuwuwu…”

Mu Yuehui’s expression hardened. He shouted, “Xiaoqi, apologize to Sisi immediately!”

Mu Xiaoqi was squatting on the ground picking up the earrings and necklace. The small jade dragon was broken; Mu Xiaoqi was holding the necklace, stunned.

“Yuehui, forget it, Xiaoqi didn’t mean to. They probably had a small misunderstanding; it’ll be fine if they talk it out. You shouting at Xiaoqi will scare her.” Jiang Xueqin saw her daughter crying sadly and naturally disliked Mu Xiaoqi even more.

However, she couldn’t show any displeasure.

In Mu Yuehui’s eyes, she was a gentle and virtuous woman who always treated Mu Xiaoqi as her own daughter.

The more Jiang Xueqin said this, the angrier Mu Yuehui became. He grabbed Mu Xiaoqi and asked, “I told you to apologize, didn’t you hear me?”

Mu Xiaoqi looked up blankly, the pulling snapping her out of her grief over the broken dragon.

This was a birthday gift from her mother, and now it was broken!

Seeing Mu Xiaoqi show no remorse, hearing Sisi’s cries and Jiang Xueqin’s pleas, Mu Yuehui flew into a rage.

“Slap!”

Mu Xiaoqi’s head was turned by the slap.

Even Jiang Xueqin and Mu Sisi didn’t expect Mu Yuehui to resort to violence. Although he was a strict father, he always doted on his daughters.

Especially when Mu Xiaoqi was young, her mother died of illness, and Mu Yuehui always felt he owed Xiaoqi, so over the years, he’d only thunder but not rain.  He always pretended to be indifferent, but he actually cared deeply about Mu Xiaoqi’s feelings.

Five years ago, if Mu Xiaoqi hadn’t accepted Jiang Xueqin, he might not have reconciled with her.

Remarrying was largely because Xiaoqi needed a mother’s love, and he, as a father, often overlooked things.

However, with Jiang Xueqin’s subtle hints over the years, the closeness between Mu Yuehui and Mu Xiaoqi had greatly diminished.  A wall seemed to stand between them, making it difficult to hear each other’s true feelings.

“I’m sorry! Xiaoqi, I…”

Mu Yuehui regretted it terribly. He never dreamed he would hit Xiaoqi.

That slap was impulsive; the pain in his hand reminded Mu Yuehui that he hadn’t held back.

Mu Xiaoqi’s head remained turned; the slap had completely awakened her.  It also made her see more clearly how she had been pushed into the abyss and ruin in her past life by those three people.

Turning sideways, Mu Xiaoqi turned her back to Mu Yuehui. “The jade dragon my mother gave me is broken.”

Her voice was soft, yet it struck Mu Yuehui’s heart like a heavy drum.

What had he done! Mu Yuehui wanted to slap himself!

“Xiaoqi, Dad…”

The only response was the sound of the door slamming shut.

Mu Xiaoqi leaned against the door, tilting her head to keep her tears from falling. Compared to the despair of her past life, this slap was nothing.

Zhao Xilie, I miss you!

Slowly sliding down, Mu Xiaoqi hugged her knees, curling herself into a ball.  Her cold heart felt a little warmth.

The next morning, before dawn, Mu Xiaoqi opened the door with a suitcase.  She looked haggard after a sleepless night; the slap mark on her pale face was swollen.

She glanced back at her room, the home she had lived in for eighteen years, feeling so foreign.

A cuckoo in the nest!

From today on, this was no longer her home.

Walking alone on the street, Mu Xiaoqi realized she was hungry. She hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since lunch yesterday; now, smelling the breakfast aroma, her stomach rumbled.

After filling her stomach, Mu Xiaoqi regained her energy. Her grandmother and uncles lived in the east of the county; she needed to cross the town to reach them.