Chapter 1: Go Back to Your Biological Parents

June. The blazing sun scorched the sky.

As soon as Guan Xuxu stepped through the villa’s main doors, a suitcase came crashing down beside her with a heavy thud.

At the entrance stood a richly dressed woman, her gaze cast down from above. Her eyes swept over the girl’s delicate features and snow-white skin, a flash of jealousy glinting in them before it was swiftly replaced by undisguised disgust.

“I’ve had your things packed up. Starting today, you’re no longer part of this family. Go back to your biological Father!”

Guan Xuxu didn’t spare the suitcase a glance. Her apricot-shaped eyes remained calm and indifferent as she fixed them on Bai Shuqin—the woman she had called Mother for seventeen years.

The commotion at the door drew the attention of those inside. Soon, Father Guan and his two children also came out.

Father Guan looked at the suitcase lying at Guan Xuxu’s feet, then turned toward his wife, his tone carrying a hint of reproach.

“Shuqin, what are you doing? After all, Xuxu has been raised by us for almost eighteen years.”

“She’s nothing but an ungrateful wolf cub we couldn’t tame!”

Bai Shuqin glared at Guan Xuxu. “I made it clear she should give up the city’s Image Representative spot to Ruirui. She treated my words like air! If I hadn’t gone out of my way to confirm the final list, we’d still be kept in the dark by her right now! If she had even a shred of conscience, she wouldn’t have stolen something that rightfully belongs to her younger sister!”

Standing nearby, Guan Ruirui’s eyes flickered with a trace of jealousy at Bai Shuqin’s words, but she quickly masked it, letting only a touch of grievance and sadness show on her face. Still, her lips spoke with false humility,

“Mother, please don’t be like this. The chance to be the city’s Image Representative is rare. It’s understandable that Big Sister wouldn’t want to give it up. Maybe it’s just that I wasn’t good enough, otherwise I wouldn’t have failed to be chosen…”

“What nonsense! In what way are you inferior to her? Everything she has is what our Guan family has given her.” Bai Shuqin’s voice softened as she comforted her daughter.

Guan Xuxu simply stood there, quietly watching this mother-daughter performance. From childhood until now, she had witnessed the same act countless times. At this moment, not only was her heart utterly unmoved, she even felt a faint urge to laugh.

Three days ago, in order to save Guan Ruirui, she had been struck by a car and flung more than ten meters through the air. Everyone believed she would not survive.

When Bai Shuqin and the Guan family rushed to the scene, their first reaction was not to check her injuries, but to comfort their weeping daughter, who was frightened senseless by the accident.

Lying on the ground in a haze, her limbs ice-cold, what chilled Guan Xuxu even more deeply was the conversation she overheard between Father Guan and Bai Shuqin—

“The front of the car is completely wrecked. She probably won’t make it.”

“That’s for the best. If she dies, it proves Ruirui’s great calamity has indeed been warded off by her. At least raising her all these years won’t have been in vain…”

Guan Xuxu had long known she was nothing more than a tool raised in the Guan household to ward off disaster for Guan Ruirui.

As a child, she never understood why every time Guan Ruirui fell ill, Bai Shuqin would insist she stay by her side around the clock. Each time, under her care, Ruirui would quickly recover, while she herself would fall gravely ill afterward.

Later, when she met her Shifu and received guidance, she finally learned that her and Guan Ruirui’s birth charts were tied by the art of Yin-Yang—Heaven and Earth in perfect opposition.

Heaven and Earth split into two halves, and she was the fortunate half.

The Guan family had kept her at Ruirui’s side, using her own fortune to absorb Ruirui’s misfortune. Each time she warded off calamity, Ruirui’s fate grew brighter, while hers sank deeper into decline.

If Guan Xuxu had not made preparations long ago, her luck would likely have been completely exhausted, and she would have died in that car accident three days ago.

But precisely because of that accident, her biological Father had unexpectedly found her.

“Are you finished?” Guan Xuxu’s voice was cool and steady. “If so, may I leave now?”

Having personally heard that couple coldly discuss her death, the last trace of hope Guan Xuxu held for the Guan family completely vanished. When it came to leaving, she felt not the slightest reluctance.

“Xuxu, don’t blame your Mother. This matter truly was your fault.”

At this point, Father Guan finally stepped forward, his expression as stern as ever. “Since your biological Father has already come for you, you should return with them.”

Guan Ruirui also spoke up, her voice soft and timid.

“Big Sister, don’t be angry with Mother. She only did it for my sake.”

As she spoke, she suddenly picked up an envelope from the side and handed it over, her tone considerate.

“Here’s a thousand yuan. I heard Father say your biological family lives deep in the mountains. They’re very poor, and in those places the internet isn’t well-developed. Better to carry some cash.”

Bai Shuqin gave a cold snort.

“Don’t say we didn’t think of you after all these years. That thousand yuan will be enough to last you a whole year in the mountains. Our family has already treated you more than kindly.”

She let out another mocking laugh.

“Once you go back, chances are we’ll never see each other again. I’ve heard those mountain villages are full of old bachelors who can’t find wives. You can marry one of them. Anyway, your grades are mediocre. You won’t get into University.”

Guan Xuxu looked at Bai Shuqin’s face—self-righteous in her so-called generosity, yet dripping with malice—and merely cast her a faint, indifferent glance.

“Your forehead lines are rather deep. That’s a sign of scheming too much and accumulating karmic debts. Instead of worrying about me, why don’t you use this thousand yuan to buy yourself a facial mask and try to fix it?”

She paused deliberately, then added with mock sincerity,

“Though it probably won’t help much.”

Guan Xuxu’s tone was calm and matter-of-fact, but her words made Bai Shuqin’s face twist sharply with rage. She immediately snapped, “You little wretch, who gave you the courage to speak to me like that!”

As she spoke, her hand shot up, aiming to slap Guan Xuxu across the face.

But Guan Xuxu only watched her coldly. At the last moment, she tilted her head slightly, letting Bai Shuqin’s palm strike nothing but air.

Bai Shuqin stared in disbelief. “You even dare to dodge…!”

At once, Guan Ruirui hurried forward and grabbed Guan Xuxu’s arm. “Big Sister, don’t make Mother angry. If you just speak nicely, Mother will forgive you.”

Her words sounded gentle, but in truth, she was only holding Guan Xuxu in place—so she could no longer avoid Bai Shuqin’s slap.

Guan Xuxu raised her hand, intending to push the girl away. But out of the corner of her eye, her gaze suddenly froze—she had caught sight of the jade bracelet on Guan Ruirui’s wrist.

In a swift motion, she seized Ruirui’s wrist and demanded coldly,

“Why is this bracelet with you?”

Today, Guan Ruirui had deliberately worn the bracelet with the intention of flaunting it. Now that Guan Xuxu had finally noticed, and even grabbed her without warning, she immediately put on a startled expression and let out a cry of pain.

“It hurts…”

The moment Ruirui’s voice rang out, Bai Shuqin’s face changed at once. She rushed forward, pried Guan Xuxu’s hand away, and shrieked in fury,

“Guan Xuxu! What do you think you’re doing?!”

But Guan Xuxu’s eyes remained locked on Guan Ruirui, her voice chilling as she declared,

“That bracelet was left to me by Grandmother.”

“What do you mean your bracelet?! That was left by the Old Madam for the daughters of the Guan family. You’re no longer part of this family, so of course it belongs to Ruirui!”

Guan Xuxu clenched her teeth, then abruptly let go of the suitcase handle. She turned her gaze toward Father Guan.

“I don’t need to take anything from the Guan family. I only want the bracelet Grandmother left for me.”

If there was anything in this household she still held affection for, it was only her Grandmother.

Her Grandmother had been the sole person in the family who truly loved her. Even on her deathbed, her last thoughts had been about how Xuxu would struggle after she was gone.

That bracelet was the only keepsake her Grandmother had left for her.

Father Guan’s expression remained unchanged as he listened. “Even if you were adopted, I have always regarded you as my own daughter. Our Guan family is a respectable one—we would never do something so disgraceful as sending a daughter back to her biological parents without giving her a single belonging. Since your birth family isn’t well-off, you should take these things with you.”

But when it came to the bracelet, he did not utter a single word.

At that moment, Guan Ruirui spoke up in a soft, aggrieved tone.
“Big Sister, I know you really want this bracelet. But this, after all, belonged to Grandmother… How about this? I’ll transfer you some money instead, all right? Would ten thousand be enough? If not, then twenty thousand?”

Her words carried an obvious implication—that Guan Xuxu only wanted the bracelet to sell it for money.

At once, Guan Xuxu’s eyes turned icy cold as she glared at her.

That single look was enough to make Guan Ruirui flinch and shiver involuntarily.

Bai Shuqin instantly stepped forward to shield her daughter, her voice sharp and scolding.

“What kind of look is that?! Did Ruirui say anything wrong?! That bracelet belongs to the Guan family. What right do you have to demand it here?

Don’t forget, you were raised by this family! All these years we’ve spent money on you, and we’ve never asked you to repay us. We even gave you an extra thousand yuan! And now you dare act like an ungrateful wolf cub?!”

Just then, Guan Qishen—who had remained silent until now—finally spoke. With facial features strikingly similar to Father Guan’s, his voice carried both disapproval and disappointment.

“Xuxu, that bracelet is Ruirui’s. When did you become so greedy and insatiable?”

Her hands at her sides tightened into fists. And then she heard him add,

“If you obediently give up the Image Representative spot to Ruirui, I can persuade Father and Mother to let you stay.”