Gu Nianyang stared at the girl in front of her, wearing a navy-blue plaid dress with an oval face and slender eyes. This was the white lotus sister with a heart like a scorpion.
Thinking back to the original host, who was so devoted to her in the previous life, even if the parents were biased, the original host never complained, and even went out of her way to save money to buy delicacies for Gu Youlan.
The original host's sincere heart only resulted in Gu Youlan's even more brazen demands, and she even seduced the original host's fiancé, Zhang Zhiqiang, into bed.
Gu Youlan was unnerved by Gu Nianyang's cold gaze, forcing a smile and said, "Yangyang, did someone say something to you? Don't misunderstand, our mom definitely cares about you. Mom has just been worried about us going to college next year, so her temper has been short. Last night, she had you do the laundry because she was on her period and uncomfortable, and I happened to fall asleep. The rain was unforeseen, and we never expected you to suddenly get a fever and faint. As for stopping you from taking the exam, that never happened. You need to understand our mom."
Gu Youlan was skilled in the art of speaking, making it sound like Gu Nianyang was making a fuss over nothing.
Watching Gu Youlan's performance of reasoning with emotion, Gu Nianyang sneered internally, thinking she was still the same foolish original host?
Such poor acting was still being shown off in front of her. After all, she had lived for 25 years in her previous life and had seen quite a few white lotus characters in dramas.
And Gu Youlan, weren't you the one who won over the neighbors and townsfolk by pretending to be the elegant, gentle, understanding good sister?
Now, let's see how she tears off her "good sister" mask little by little and then returns double what Gu Youlan did to the original host!
Gu Nianyang was even better at acting, "Sis, you don't have to deceive me. If mom really wanted me to take the exam, why did she specifically buy a lock to lock the door? Clearly knowing I had a high fever, she still beat me and didn't even buy me medicine. Every time you caught a cold, mom would be so worried she'd take you to the clinic!"
Gu Youlan's expression stiffened, and Gu Nianyang pressed the advantage, "And how mom treats me, don't you have an idea, sister? Clearly, I'm the younger sister, but from childhood, I had to constantly do chores. If I was a bit lazy, I would get beaten. Mom said a girl's hands are important and shouldn't be in water, so she never let you do chores, treating me like a servant. Am I not a girl too? In the dead of winter, I was forced to wash clothes with cold water, getting chilblains that itch terribly, with no good skin left on my hands. Yet your hands are fair and tender, and because I never had a taste of meat, several times I almost fainted during gym class due to malnutrition. How do you expect me to understand?"
By the end, Gu Nianyang's emotions were intertwined with the original host's feelings of injustice over parental favoritism, and tears streamed down.
The eyes of the surrounding neighbors turned red. They had lived in this Big Courtyard for decades and never thought the second daughter of the Gu Family lived such a wretched life, worse than pigs and dogs. The Gu couple was truly despicable, it wasn't just favoritism, they were unworthy as parents!
Gu Yuandao was sweating coldly under the scornful gazes around him, not knowing how to rectify the situation. If he didn't explain, by tomorrow his mistreatment of his younger daughter would spread throughout the town.
Gu Youlan was directly shocked, seeing Gu Nianyang as if she had become a different person, speaking with such presence, completely unlike the soft character who used to agree with everything she said!
Gu Youlan suddenly felt a sense of crisis, thinking she might no longer be able to control Gu Nianyang!
Regaining her composure, Wang Ying saw the situation leaning towards Nianyang, hurriedly explaining, "Neighbors, don't believe this stubborn girl's words! She's slandering me! I'm her biological mother, how could I not care for her? Having her do chores was just to train her, and not giving her meat to eat was merely to prevent her from getting too fat to find a husband. As for often hitting her, that never happened!"
Gu Youlan added, "That's right, Yangyang, how could you slander mom? Mom's your real mom, not a stepmom. Even if she did hit you, it was just small scuffles, how could we as daughters hold a grudge against our own mom?"
Gu Nianyang laughed angrily and rolled up her sleeves to reveal the bruises left by Wang Ying's previous beatings of the original host, "Sis, do you call this small scuffles? Mom might as well have beaten me to death. Last time, she almost broke my leg. While I was being beaten, you stood by and watched. I knelt on the ground crying, begging you to help me, but you were eating sunflower seeds watching the show. Mom doesn't see me as a daughter, and you don't see me as a sister!"
The crowd, seeing the wounds exposed by Gu Nianyang, was immediately enraged.
"Oh my, the Gu couple really is despicable, genuinely planning to destroy their own daughter? It pains me to even look!"
"Exactly, always acting as if everything is harmonious, who knew how twisted their hearts were. Poor second daughter of the Gu Family was tortured beyond recognition!
"Seems like Gu Daya is no good either, always pretending to be well-behaved. In front of others, she calls her Yangyang so affectionately, we thought she was a good sister, but who knew she ignored her sister being beaten half to death. What a vicious heart!"
Hearing the crowd's words, Gu Yuandao and Gu Youlan hung their heads in shame.
It was over.
Their meticulously maintained good reputation and image were utterly destroyed!
With their lies exposed, Wang Ying's face reddened, and she shouted hoarsely, "Yes, I did beat her, but it's because she was insensible and stubbornly angering me! And this noon it was this damned girl who hit me first! So what, I'm her mom, providing for her, shouldn't I have the right to educate her?"