Book4–Chapter 1
on New Year’s Eve, which was also my twentieth birthday, my parents left a chicken egg as a birthday gift and went to work.
I secretly sneaked out and bought a cup of instant food as an extra meal, only to find my parents celebrating a girl’s birthday.
They booked a luxury restaurant for her and invited many classmates.
They went in and out in luxury cars, accompanied by private drivers.
The birthday gifts they gave her were a set of villas, a pink sports car, and a bank card with a hundred thousand dollars.
Dad patted her head and smiled kindly, “Good girl, when you graduate from university, I will hand over the entire group to you to manage.”
Mom held her with tears in her eyes and said, “My dear, even though you are not our biological child, we will love you for the rest of our lives, even more than our daughter. We will give you the best of everything.”
I wanted to get closer, but I was beaten up by the bodyguards and thrown out.
The egg that I cherished the most rolled onto the ground and was crushed by them with a foot, just like how they crushed the ironic affection between me and my parents.
***
I struggled to get up from the ground, my face covered in dirt, and my body became filthy.
I wanted to call out to my parents, but their next words hit me like a heavy blow to the chest.
My throat felt as if it was being squeezed, and I couldn’t utter the words “mom and dad” no matter
how hard I tried.
Mom and Dad held the girl and pointed at me, who had fallen to the ground, and laughed mockingly
“Fiona, look at that poor little beggar. If you don’t work hard in the future, you will end up just as unfortunate as her.”
“Yeah, such scum can only look up to you.”
Mom took over the conversation.
They did not recognize me and laughed recklessly.
ona Logan was my college classmate. She recognized me and gave me a challenging and pitying look while acting cute and coquettish towards my parents.
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“Mom, Dad, don’t worry, I will make you proud. I will become your most proud little princess.”
The little beggar.
You scum.
Every word was heart–wrenching.
I picked up the crushed egg from the ground, bit it into pieces in my mouth, swallowed it, and left in
a sorry state.
On the way home, I found that my feet felt extremely heavy as if they were filled with lead.
That short ten–minute journey felt like I had walked for a century.
Tears wetted my clothes, flowing uncontrollably.
From the moment I was born, the house in my memory has always been in such a dilapidated state.
There was no television, no refrigerator, no microwave oven, and even the furniture was salvaged by my parents from the garbage dump.
Dad did hard labor, and every day he came back with his hands covered in blood stains.
In the first grade, his arm was hit by a heavy object and swelled up with a bruise.
That day, I secretly hid in the corner and cried my heart out.
After that time, I started to mature earlier than people of my age.
When I was a child and went to school, the tuition fees were borrowed. I could only go to the construction site at night to pick up nails and sell them to help support my family. One time, I was discovered by the owner and he beat me almost to death.
The doll that I liked, I could only spend the whole day looking at it in front of the display window, as if I owned it once I saw it.
In college, I worked part–time and studied frugally, wearing the same clothes for several years
I even went to the clothing factory’s trash bin to pick up scraps of fabric and sewed them together with a needle and thread to make clothes.
I was used to the mocking gazes of my classmates.
Seeing the boy I liked, I could only stay far away, afraid that my presence would tarnish his eyes.
All of this, only because my parents often knelt in front of me and cried, “Oh daughter, our family is poor, it’s our incompetence. We are ashamed for you!”
But now I understand that it was just a series of realistic melodramas:
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The parents I have always respected the most turned out to be a wealthy tycoon, who gave me a life of poverty but provided a life of wealth for the fake daughter.
I chuckled at myself, threw the dirty clothes into the trash can, and took a shower again.
My parents came back very late. They thought I was asleep, so they entered the house quietly. They were startled when they saw me sitting in the living room.
“Regina, why aren’t you sleeping so late?”
My mother sat beside me. Her face filled with care.
I asked nonchalantly, “Mom and Dad, why are you still working so late during the New Year? I have
been waiting for you to come back.”
Mom and Dad smiled guiltily, and then Dad placed a bag on the table, smiling like a loving father.
“Regina, you are not sleeping, and Dad brings a cake back, just in time to celebrate your birthday with you.”
ce
I glanced indifferently at my parents and noticed that their glamorous appearance had faded from their faces, and their designer clothes had transformed back into patched work clothes.
Dad held out a small piece of cake, covered in dirt, to me from a bag filled with rotten vegetable
leaves.
“Daughter, although this cake fell on the ground, it is still edible. You can eat it.”
In the past, every year for my birthday, they would prepare a birthday gift for me, which was an egg. If there was a piece of cake, even if they picked it up from the trash bin, I would be very happy.
But when I think about the fact that this piece of cake was left over from when they were eating with their precious daughter, and they did not want to throw it away but instead picked it up from the ground to give to me, my stomach churns.
With intense heartache, my body couldn’t stop trembling.
I pushed the cake back.
“Dad, you eat it. I have already eaten the egg. You both have never had good food in your life. You and Mom should have this piece of cake.”
“Especially my mother, who carried me for ten months and gave birth to me. My birthday is her day of suffering, dedicated to her.”
The two of them exchanged a glance, although they disguised it well, I still saw a trace of disgust and disdain in their eyes.
Seeing this, I felt even more heartbroken.
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My biological parents gave their daughter food that had fallen on the ground, but they gave their aglopted daughter a nine–layer cream cake.
Dad’s eyes welled up with tears as he choked, “Dad’s wrong, Dad is incapable of letting you eat something like this on your birthday.”
Mom held Dad’s hand and sobbed. “You have tried hard enough.”
Watching them repeat their old tricks, I awkwardly took the cake and stuffed it into my mouth, by bite, with dirt mixed in.
bite
“Mom, Dad, the cake is very sweet.”
When I said these words, I held back the tears in my eyes from flowing down, and my heart had already shattered on the ground.
My parents saw me obediently eat the cake and were relieved, their tears turning into smiles.
“Our daughter has grown up.‘
Hearing this, I suddenly found it very ridiculous.
Dad stared at me and suddenly noticed that my face was bruised and swollen. He angrily asked me, “What happened to your face? Were you beaten by someone?”
“Who the hell dares to lay a finger on my daughter? I will fight him to death!”
Dad rolled up his sleeves, looking extremely frustrated.
Seeing this, my mind was filled with countless thoughts.
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