Chapter 3: She Is Not My Daughter  

“Since you are here, I might as well speak to you about the reason which I am here for. I hope you can accomplish this task.” He Xiaoman’s condescending attitude had been restored with these sarcastic words to Huo Yao.

Though she had used the word ‘hope’, her attitude clearly showed that she thought the opposite.

Huo Yao curled her lips. Before she could respond though, Yang Qiuhua, He Xiaoman’s mother and the person who had raised Huo Yao, came out of the room.

Yang Qiuhua slapped gently on He Xiaoman’s arm, giving her a sign that she had spoken enough. Then, Yang Qiuhua shifted her eyes towards Huo Yao. As she did so, the look in her eyes softened automatically. “Yaoyao, you are back. How did the match go?”

Huo Yao replied with a shrug. “It was okay.”

“Did you win?” Yang Qiuhua sounded excited.

“Yes, I came first.” Huo Yao still sounded nonchalant. She did not seem to be proud of her achievement as if pulling this off was a child’s play for her.

Yang Qiuhua wiped away the happy tears which had trickled down her cheeks. “Congratulations, my dear girl.”

Standing next to them, He Xiaoman frowned in confusion. She asked the old lady with a scowl. “What first place? What match?”

Yang Qiuhua moved her gaze to He Xiaoman, with a proud smile lingering on her face. She said with delight in her voice, “You may not know this. But Yaoyao is not only doing well in school, but she is also...”

He Xiaoman lost her interest before even hearing the complete reply. The old lady had not answered her question. Instead, she began to speak in favor of Huo Yao which was surely going to be an exaggeration.

Impatiently, He Xiaoman waved her hand and interrupted her mother rudely. “Fine, I know. You don’t have to present her as a good kid in front of me. Do you remember her past grades? She couldn’t even manage to get admission in the prominent high school of our county. She should be thankful that our Lu Family gave her enough money to enroll herself. Or else, she would have had to attend a technical high school.”

He Xiaoman paused for a moment and then threw a sarcastic look towards Huo Yao. “A fish’s eye can never become a pearl.”

Instinctively, Yang Qiuhua looked at Huo Yao, fearing that the latter would find these words hurtful. “You have never cared about her during all these years. That’s why you don’t even know that Yaoyao has become...” Yang Qiuhua hurriedly started to explain.

He Xiaoman sneered with contempt visible in her eyes and cut off Yang Qiuhua mid-sentence, once again.

With impatience in her voice, she said, “Mom, she is not my biological daughter, nor is she your real granddaughter. She is a Huo Family kid. Whether she does well in school or not, it has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to know about it.”

Yang Qiuhua’s smile froze on her face. The unfinished words remained stuck in her throat. A long moment later, she spoke in a subdued and depressed voice, “Yaoyao is my granddaughter!”

He Xiaoman rubbed her forehead in impatience. What kind of honeyed words did Huo Yao feed her mother? Why would her mom dislike her biological granddaughter and continue to be affectionate to this ill-bred and fake granddaughter?

“She enjoyed so many advantages in the Lu Family for seventeen years while my biological daughter suffered so much hardship. Mom, wake up. Don’t regard her as your family anymore!”

“You are currently treating her as your family. But who knows? She may just be just taking advantage of you. Maybe she is trying to scam us of our money to give to her biological parents...”

“Stop it!” Yang Qiuhua was quaking with rage now. “I raised Yaoyao myself. I know her better than you do. Don’t speculate about her character with your biased heart.”

He Xiaoman’s face became clouded. “You cannot even tell right from wrong, Mom. I think that you have become muddle-headed because of old age. You need to see a doctor!”

Yang Qiuhua was in her sixties and her heart was weak. Angered by He Xiaoman’s words, she turned ghastly pale as she banged her fists against her chest.

Huo Yao put down her stuff on the ground and hurried towards the old lady. She helped Yang Qiuhua sit on a bamboo chair and put her right hand on Yang Qiuhua’s wrist.