Hearing the car arrive outside the
window An-Hai froze. Without a thought, she raced out of her room. She ran down
the stairs quickly, her bare feet lightly tapping down the stairs to meet
her father who was waiting in the foyer for his new wife and son.
‘An-Hai,’ her father called, he was
stunned to see his daughter run down in her pyjamas. She was always so unhappy
and rebellious, but had obediently come downstairs, he could only be satisfied
with this, and did not say much. Today was a happy day for him.
‘Come and greet Aunt Mai Fang, she
will be your mother,’ Luo Chenghe said to his daughter.
‘Hello, An-Hai.’ Mai Fang greeted
nervously. Mai Fang seemed to be about forty years old, she was wearing a red
silk cheongsam, her hair was styled simply but it suited her.
An-Hai looked at Mai Fang, she
would always remember this moment. Mai Fang was unsophisticated, nowhere near
her mother’s league but in her father’s heart was Mai Fang. An-Hai hated Mei
Fang, for Mei Fang's attempts at pleasing just made An-Hai feel sick. Even now,
she still did not like Mai Fang. It was really annoying to remember the Mai
Fang who always accompanied her father to visit her grave, who always prepared
items for offering and foods An-Hai liked to eat. She’d never realised Mai Fang
even knew dishes she liked.
An-Hai was still angry, she still
hated her father’s ruthless treatment of her mother, that woman’s shamelessness
and she hated her son. She was like a hedgehog - spines erect ready to wield
them against everything and everyone. It was only when they were sad and
ashamed that she would be happy.
Seeing An-Hai remain silent Mai
Fang’s nervousness increased, she quickly turned the spotlight from her to the
young boy beside her,
‘This is Han Ting Hua, he is ten,’
she said as she looked down at him, gently touching his hair, ‘Ting Hua, greet
your elder sister,’
Han Ting Hua looked up at his new
sister’s cold face and did not say a word,
‘Ting Hua how can you be so rude,’
Mai Fang said frowning, ‘Hurry and greet your sister,’ but he remained silent.
Mai Fang was unhappy; she did not
understand why her normally sensible son was now being disobedient. It made her
anxious, ‘Little Hua,’
‘Now now, don’t scold Xiao Hua, he
is still young and just not be able to adapt." Luo Cheng Hai said holding
Mai Fang’s hand trying to calm her down. He gently hugged Ting Hua, his face
full of love. But when he turned to An-Hai, the smile disappeared,
‘An-Hai, you are the elder sister,
make sure you take care of Xiao Hua, understand?’
An-Hai’s gaze moved from the little
devil to her father, Cheng Hai. In front of the little devil, her father’s eyes
are warm and full of love, but to his own daughter, he was cold. He only ever
looked at her with indifference, anger or disappointment. She always knew that
her father did not care for her; she had thought that if she died, her father
would simply move on with life, not shedding a tear. But when she died, she saw
her father sobbing; she could not believe her eyes.
‘Very well,’ An-Hai said
expressionlessly. Hearing her dull response, Cheng Hai was surprised, he had
been expecting a tirade, but her attitude was so calm. An-Hai did not miss the
surprise in her father’s eyes, after all she’d always been wilful, but at this
moment, she did not have the energy to be noisy or face situations that she had
long experienced and was not interested in repeating.
She knew she had no one who loved
her in her family, only her mother’s old maid, but it did not matter, for in
her mind she had only hatred and disgust for her father and his new family. That person
is the same as her; they had struggled their whole life.
But that man was on her mind. His
wretched life looked so lonely and boring. Living but dead; obsessed with her
photos with her name on his lips and in his heart. Living like a fool; stupid
and hopeless.
‘An idiot’
To suppress her restless heart, she
tighten her fist and tried to strengthen her resolve, that years long hatred
and injustice, she held onto tightly, even if she’s gone back in time, alive
again, it will not change a thing. But as she recalled all she saw as a ghost,
deep down her feeling was not hate, but pity. She was silly and kind of
pitiful…
An-Hai sighed and turned to the
annoying little devil, with a commanding tone, she said, ‘Come with me, I will
take you to your room,’ without looking at the rest of them, she made her way
upstairs.
Cheng Hai and Mai Fang were
stunned; they did not expect An-Hai to give in easily, Mai Fang quickly pushed
Ting Hua after her, ‘Xiao Hua, follow your sister quickly!’
Ting Hua was reluctant, he
hesitated as his mother pushed him forward, watching An-Hai’s back, he turned
to look at his mother, and she nodded to him, so he reluctantly ran after
An-Hai.
An-Hai took Ting Hua to the third
floor. The third floor was her domain; in addition to her room were; the study,
the cinema room and an empty room they decorated for Ting Hua, next door to
An-Hai’s. The adults had a naïve idea that, with their rooms next to each
other, they would cultivate familial feelings towards each other. An-Hai
scoffed at this.
An-Hai had never cared for Tian
Hua. In the face of her ridicule and humiliation, he remained he always
remained silent. Impassive. No matter what she said to him, there was never any
response.
But she remembered her father’s
grief and Mai Fang accompanying him to visit her grave, and that stupid person
who kept her photographs.
Truthfully speaking, she was not
good for Tian Hua. In order to get the presidency, she went on a smear
campaign, using despicable means to make him fail. She felt that Han Tian Hua
must have wished her dead. He must have hated her. However, after her death, he
turned into a shell. An-Hai did not understand. They had never gotten along,
she treated him badly. An-Hai turned to look at the boy behind her. He was
wearing a white shirt and cargo pants looking like a mini gentleman. He was
slender, only as tall as her shoulder, with short hair and a handsome face; she
could see the shadow of his adulthood though the eyes were not as calm or
expressionless. He looked innocent and uneasy.
Uneasy…she did not think Han Ting
Hua would be uneasy, it make her feel predatory. The predatory nature in her
bones, ready to pounce at the sign of an enemy’s weakness – An-Hai stepped
forward leaning towards him, she looked at him in condescension and asked,
‘Are you afraid of me?’ She
taunted, her tone condescending.
Tian Hua was sensitive to An-Hai’s
malicious taunt, did not show weakness, he did not step back but looked at her
his gaze sharpening. He knew that if he showed fear, she would gloat and bully
him more.
Being father less with only his
mother to raise him, Tian Hua had been bullied as a little boy in the area he
grew up. So he knew with painful experience, not to show fear. After being
surrounded and beaten a few times, he beat one of his bullies up. Although his
body was injured, although his mother got angry and cried as she applied the
medicine after that those children no longer came to trouble him. Later his
mother met Luo Shushu. Shushu helped them move out of the slums into a good
house. He went to a good school, his mother and him were fed and warm.
Tian Hua’s mother told him that Luo
Shushu was married, although he was only ten, he understood that Luo Shushu and
his mother's relationship was wrong. Mother told him, with tears in her eyes
that though she was sorry to Uncle’s wife and daughter; she could not let her
son suffer when there was a chance to give him a good life. So for him she
would shoulder any insult or grievance the world threw at them.
Last night, his mother told him,
now that they were moving in with Luo Shushu, he will have a sister, that she
may be bad to him and may bully him but he must be tolerant because they have
to feel sorry for her (Zuben: How arrogant is that thought but whatever).
He looked blankly, staring directly
at An-Hai waiting for her next move.
An-Hai looked at the little devil,
there was no reaction. She straightened, only ten years old yet so boring, no
wonder he grew up boring. She opened a door and led him into a nicely decorated
room and sat on a sofa,
‘This is your room. Pour me a
glass of water,’ she said haughtily, indicating the jug and glass on the table
nearby.
Tian Hua did not say a word but
silently poured the water and gave her the glass. An-Hai took the glass and
leaned back languidly on the sofa, legs crossed and drank.
Tian Hua swallowed, wearing only
silk pyjamas, if she was older she would have looked seductive and despotic but
at only fourteen she looked like a spoilt brat.
‘Right,’ An-Hai said, raising her
chin haughtily, ‘Let’s get something straight, I don’t like you,’ she said
those last four words, slowly and clearly. Tian Hui remained silent, his young
face showing no surprise remaining indifferent.
‘I do not want a hypocritical
brother, remember your surname is Han, and mine is Luo. You are not my brother.
I am not your sister. The third floor is my domain and I let you sleep next
door to me. So make sure you keep away from me. Understood?’
With his mother’s words in mind, he
was not surprised by An-Hai’s malice, but his pride would not let him back
down.
‘I do not just hate you; I also
hate your mother.’ Even if you have a lifetime, she still hates Mai Fang, ‘You
and your mother disgust me!’ In particular, the look he had on his face before
he died filed her with the most disgust.
An-Hai added in low voice, ‘Well,
you hate me too.’ With all she needed to say said, she put down the glass and
got up to leave the room,
At the door An-Hai stopped at the
sound of his voice, it was still a child like voice but it was firm. An-Hai
looked over her shoulder at the little devil that still bore still no
expression, but those eyes stared at her.
‘You will never be my sister.’ He
said suddenly.
‘Right,’ An-Hai replied smiling
mirthlessly, ‘never will.’
Tian Hua was in 4th grade, but
Cheng He did not want him go to an elite school. He was worried that Tian Hua
would be bullied by the rich students, and the rich were snobbish compared to
the average populace, and gossip spread too fast. And Tian Hua would most
likely be bullied. He ended up going to An-Hai’s school.
But who did not know that President
Luo married his mistress after soon after his wife’s death. This made the Hank
family angry. When Luo was facing financial crisis, he married the Hank
family’s only daughter, getting the cooperation of the Hanks to survive and
develop to become an internationally renowned business consortium.
Luo Cheng He’s enterprises
gradually became independent and did not need to rely on the Hank family any
longer. With Cheng He having an affair and neglecting his wife, their
family’s daughter, even asking for a divorce , the Hank family tried persuasion
and threats but they were to unable to break Cheng He and Mai Fang. The
Hank Family and Luo enterprises were involved in complex deals, which resulted
in investment losses.
A word from Zuben
The last two paragraphs confused
me. We were going in one direction then we suddenly veered off into another
territory.
Imma stop here because
Truntngyuen123 is still operating but with a hidden blog so that no one would
use her translations on aggregate sites. So the rest of the story from the
start might be in her new site, since her old open one has expired.
Chapters 7 till the end can be read at https://dysrysummaries.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/master-post-other-series/
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