Chapter 13: Brothers and Sisters
"Father, grandfather, I'm back." The boy greeted them politely, but Gu Lin still didn't smile. He only nodded lightly in response.
"Come here for a second." Gu Lin waved his hand and turned around to smile at Yunbao. He said softly, "This is your little sister, Gu Yun. You have to get along peacefully in the future, understand?"
Gu Zi was a little surprised. In her impression, her father had always been very stern with her and her brother, but now, he was introducing the new child so gently. Even her grandfather, who rarely smiled, kept looking at her kindly.
Feelings of unfairness appeared in Gu Zi's heart. She looked at Yunbao indignantly. She didn't want a little sister!
"Hello, my name is Gu Yun. You can just call me Yunbao!" Yunbao mustered up her courage and finally stood out from behind Gu Lin to introduce herself to the two older children.
"Hello, my name is Gu Ming." Gu Ming nodded politely. He already had a sister. It didn't matter to him if there was one more or one less. He just had to do as the adults expected.
On the other hand, Gu Zi didn't like Yunbao at all. She said loudly, "How old are you? You're still calling yourself <anno data-annotation-id="039f0da8-96a4-468b-9c73-611d9e42a44a">baby</anno>! How shameless!"
"Gu Zi!" Gu Lin reprimanded. Old Master Gu's expression became serious.
However, Gu Zi felt that she was not in the wrong. Why was her father so protective of this strange sister? Even her grandfather, who usually doted on her, was more biased towards this sister.
Yunbao seemed to have noticed the awkwardness. She didn't know anything else, but she was very good at reading people's expressions. She could sense that her sister didn't like her.
The rich lady, who was also Gu Lin's wife, Ye Yan, stood up to mediate. "Why are you so fierce to the child? Didn't they just meet? It's normal for them to not be close."
"Sister, don't be angry. Yunbao will give you delicious food." With that, she took out the orange that Old Master Gu had given her just now.
This was her first time eating oranges. They were very sweet. She thought that she would see her brother and sister later, so she secretly kept two and put them in her pocket. They were still warm from being kept in her pocket. She handed one to Gu Zi and another to Gu Ming
Gu Ming accepted it with a smile, but Gu Zi snatched the orange and threw it aside. "Who likes your orange!"
"Gu Zi, what are you doing?!" Gu Lin looked at the impolite child and was furious. He directly slapped her. Not only Gu Zi, but Ye Yan and Yunbao were also stunned.
Although Gu Lin had always been strict with his children, he had never hit them. This was the first time.
Gu Zi instantly exploded and burst into tears.
"You actually hit your own daughter for a child you just picked up. Are you even human?"
Ye Yan's loud question was heard by Yunbao, who silently hid to the side.
Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt seemed to be arguing because of her. Yunbao clasped her fingers, feeling uneasy and very guilty.
Gu Zi also listened and cried even louder.
Gu Ming ignored everyone and turned to return to his room. However, he threw the orange in his hand at a corner that nobody could not see.
"Enough!" Old Master Gu knocked on the floor with his walking stick. "You're so noisy the moment you come back!" He protected Yunbao in his arms, and Gu Zi fell silent.
"Son, the child is yours. How you educate her is your business, but it's your mistake for hitting the child! Also, Eldest Daughter-in-law." He glanced at Ye Yan. "Keep your thoughts to yourself. Don't lead our Gu family's children astray!"
With that, he led Yunbao out of the hall.
Gu Lin glanced at Ye Yan and left as well. Only Ye Yan was left in the living room hugging Gu Zi, who was crying so hard that she was out of breath. She slumped onto the sofa.
Gu Lin did not like Ye Yan. He only married her because of the marriage alliance between their families and a drunken accident. The two of them had always slept in separate rooms. Even Gu Zi was only born because Ye Yan played tricks and drugged Gu Lin.
Now, almost ten years of marriage was coming to an end.
"Mommy, does Daddy not love me anymore?" Gu Zi's eyes were red and she was choking.
"How can that be? Daddy loves our Zizi the most!"
"Then why did Daddy hit me?"
"Because of some reasons…" Ye Yan did not finish her sentence, but Gu Zi felt that the reason was because of her new sister. She hated her!
"Yunbao, are you alright?" Old Master Gu asked when he saw that Yunbao had been depressed since she left the hall.
"I'm fine!" She raised her head and pretended to smile. She knew that she had just arrived. Her sister would need time to accept her.
"It's been hard on you, good child."
<annotations style="display: none;"><li>'Bao' translates to 'treasure' or 'baby,' usually a suffix to represent endearment. The literal translation of Yunbao would be Baby Yun.</li></annotations>
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