Compared to the silent tension in the kitchen, the atmosphere in the backyard was much more tense.

Cheng Liu stood in the corridor, turning to look at Cheng Gui, whose face still showed obvious signs of fatigue and sallowness. “Deliberately lying to our parents? I really thought you were in City A.”

Cheng Gui lowered his head and remained silent. He had no choice but to lie to his parents; otherwise, Cheng Liu would find out as soon as she called home.

“What are you doing in S City now?” Cheng Liu asked him.

Cheng Gui remained silent for a long time before finally uttering, “It’s none of your business.”

“Don’t I even have the right to know?” Cheng Liu leaned against the corridor wall, arms crossed, and asked rhetorically, “Do I have to tell our parents about this?”

“Don’t tell them!” Cheng Gui suddenly raised his voice, “If you tell them, they’ll come after you again.”

“What’s wrong with them looking for me?” Cheng Liu reached out and pinched Cheng Gui’s chin, making him look up at her. “You’re my little brother.”

“I don’t want you to interfere.” Cheng Gui’s face turned pale. “You run your company, I’ll find my job. I don’t need you to be a ‘brother-supporting slave’.”

Cheng Liu let go of Cheng Gui’s hand and suddenly slapped Cheng Gui on the head. “What are you thinking about all day long?”

“Our parents always need you to help me. Are you going to help me for the rest of your life?” Cheng Gui gritted his teeth and turned his face away. “I may not be very useful, but I have hands and feet, and I won’t starve.”

In the past, his parents left Cheng Liu in the countryside to attend junior high school, but brought him and his second sister in the county so they could attend school there. However, before she could even finish a year, the school announced it was closing down, and his family did not have the money to pay for the transfer fee.

If Cheng Liu hadn’t become the top scorer in the high school entrance exam that year, who knew what the outcome would have been.

Outsiders all thought Cheng Liu was highly talented and could learn easily, even her parents thought so. They didn’t consider that the rural junior high school only had two teachers, one teaching math and Chinese, and the other barely teaching physics and chemistry. No one taught English; the students could only read the twenty-six letters and a few non-standard words. Even the most talented student couldn’t learn well there.

Cheng Liu went around the area herself and found a family with a granddaughter who had just finished the high school entrance exam in the county. She borrowed all sorts of used books from them for free.

That weekend, she went to the county’s secondhand market and bought an MP3 player for eight yuan, and a pair of cheap headphones from a two-yuan store. After that, she secretly went to an internet cafe, bought Coke for a guy playing games, and spent the whole afternoon researching, and finally, downloaded an English audio textbook.

She was able to learn thanks to these resources, and there were only about three months left before the high school entrance exam at the time.

Cheng Gui knew so much detail because he had been with Cheng Liu that day, watching her try every possible way to prepare for the high school entrance exam.

It was around that time that Cheng Gui realized his older sister was different from his family and the people around him.

While his parents could only sigh and apologize to his older sister, Cheng Liu had already decided to take the high school entrance exam directly and started gathering resources.

The most interesting thing was that the twenty yuan Cheng Liu had that day was because her parents felt really sorry for her, so they gave her this ‘huge sum’ so she could take her younger brother to eat ice cream.

Even when they finally got home, Cheng Liu didn’t forget to buy him an ice cream.

Cheng Gui was young at the time and couldn’t remember many things now, but he still remembered that day.

It wasn’t until Cheng Liu received an offer from a key municipal high school that her family began to receive her scholarship money frequently. Later, Cheng Gui and his second sister, Cheng Lixia, also received places at the municipal high school for free.

The high schools in the city were very wealthy, and the competition was fierce; they often fought tooth and nail to get a good student.

Cheng Liu went to No. 1 High School in the city. In addition to the official bonuses, there were various scholarships established by alumni, and Cheng Liu took all of them.

He didn’t know when it started, but their family no longer had to worry about money.

Even though several years had passed, when Cheng Gui went to study at the No. 1 High School in the city, he could still hear various teachers mentioning Cheng Liu. Unfortunately, apart from Cheng Liu, the rest of the Cheng family were just ordinary people.

His second sister completed her undergraduate studies steadily, passed the civil service exam, and became a teacher.

He graduated just six months ago, and now… he still couldn’t find any goals to strive for.

Sometimes, Cheng Gui would feel dazed when he heard people around him mention Shenyin Technology.

Cheng Liu was so unlike any other member of the Cheng family.

After learning about Cheng Liu’s company’s troubles, he initially wanted to call her, but then he felt that calling her would be pointless and would only waste her time, so he eventually gave up trying to contact her.

But his older sister never lost, and now she has made a perfect comeback.

“Cheng Gui,” Cheng Liu frowned, “You’re the only one in the family who isn’t established yet, isn’t it normal for our parents to worry?”

“This isn’t normal!” Cheng Gui shouted angrily. “They’ll depend on you for life, but I can’t!”

Cheng Liu stood up straight, a little angry, which was unusual. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. Do you have any issues with Mom and Dad?”

Ji Chaozhou, who was carrying the last dish out of the living room, heard Cheng Liu’s voice coming from the backyard and subconsciously looked over there.

He Bai, who was setting out chopsticks at the dining table, looked up and said, “I’ve been following my senior for so long, and I’ve never seen her angry.”

Ji Chaozhou put down the dishes and ignored He Bai. He didn’t go to the backyard to find Cheng Liu, wanting them to finish talking before coming out.

But the back door was probably not closed. You couldn’t hear it from the kitchen, but standing in the living room, you could vaguely hear Cheng Liu talking to her younger brother.

If It’s Wrong, Then It’s Wrong translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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