The guard listened to Han Ruochen's words and fell into deep thought. The more he pondered, the more he felt like Han Ruochen was correct. Han Ziyan was the only one who didn't have a job and was free all day long. So what if she brought lunch to her stepfather, who had taken her in when her biological mother died?
Once the haze in his mind cleared up, the guard sat up straight. Why did he think that Han Ziyan was a good child while the rest of the Han siblings were not good?
Han Ruochen could see the confusion in the eyes of the old man and sighed. It was not his fault. This was all due to her mother; that woman was bent on ruining the Han siblings all for the sake of her precious daughter. She was the one who praised Han Ziyan to the sky while insulting the other siblings with a subtle tone. With the villagers listening to her chatter for so many years, of course, they would end up with a warped perspective.
"I will be bringing the lunchbox to my dad, then, Grandpa Zuo." Han Ruochen smiled at the old man before turning around on her feet and heading inside the pig farm. As she walked past the cobblestone path, she smiled at the workers and had a little chat with them. She had seen and learnt these social etiquettes from Han Ziyan in her last life.
In the past, because she was the only woman who had passed high school level education, Han Ruochen was quite arrogant and looked down on such social conversation. She even believed that there was nothing that she could discuss with people who were illiterate and 01d0idn't know how to read.
Of course, this was something that Mother Han had filled in her head, making Han Ruochen even more unreachable and unlikable in the eyes of the villagers. With her in contrast, Han Ziyan looked much more adorable and kind.
When Han Ruochen thought about how her own mother had ruined her so treacherously, she gritted her teeth in anger.
Behind her, the workers were stunned. They, of course, knew about Han Ruochen. After all, their boss often spoke about his second daughter, but the things that they had heard from Han Ziyan severely contradicted what Master Han said.
"Isn't that Han Ruochen? How come she stopped to talk to me? She even asked me if my wife was doing alright?" one of the workers asked with a frown. He had heard what Han Ziyan said about Han Ruochen and the Han Ruochen in front of him, and the one whom Han Ziyan described was really different!
"That's right; didn't Sister Ziyan say that her second sister doesn't like to talk with us workers because we are not educated? So, how come Han Ruochen knows about my brother and the fact that we are having trouble with his fees? She even asked me if I wanted to borrow money from her." Another worker said with mild shock in his voice.
An old man who was wiping his sweat behind them chuckled. He looked at the young and old men before saying to them, "And this is why, boys, I told you all to never believe in rumours."
"But Mister Li, Sister Ziyan—"
"If she were a good sister herself, then she wouldn't be speaking about her elder sister like that," huffed Mister Li. "She is not a young woman who doesn't know that speaking about her sister like that would ruin her reputation. Han Ruochen is not young, and she is going to get married in a few years, yet Han Ziyan keeps on harping about how her elder sister is arrogant and unkind."
"Is she really straightforward? Or she is simply malevolent enough to ruin the reputation of her stepsister?" Mister Li questioned the workers. He didn't like Han Ziyan and had never liked her. Even when she came to look for Han Yichen every day, something about her filial actions seemed a bit forced.
She would come to look for Han Yichen every day and then tell everyone how she was the only one being filial indirectly. The other workers might not notice it, but he, an old man, could understand every insinuation that she had made. He was not a fool. All the white hairs on top of his head; he hadn't gotten them by standing in the sun all day but from experience.
How many women like Han Ziyan had he met in his life?
Like she could ever fool him.
On the other side, Han Ruochen had no idea that something like this had happened behind her. She arrived at her father's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The second she heard the familiar voice of her father, Han Ruochen felt goosebumps rise all over her body. She carefully pushed the door of the office open when she saw her father sitting in the chair. His posture was still straight and no longer bent like it was when he came to beg the Yang family and Han Ziyan to let her go.
She would never forget how Han Ziyan made her father kneel down and kiss her shoes. And even then, that ruthless woman didn't let her go; she kicked Father Han away from her and cursed him before telling him to forget Han Ruochen.
That there was no way she was going to let her go and that Han Ruochen was going to die giving birth to Yang Jianming's elder brother's children, who was not only a fool but also a rather violent man who would beat Han Ruochen at the drop of a hat.
Han Yichen raised his head when he didn't hear Han Ziyan say anything. Usually, she would start chattering right away, but today she was unusually silent. However, when he raised his head, he was surprised to see that it was not Han Ziyan who came to see him butHan Ruochen instead!
"Chenchen—uff—"