On the way, some people who considered themselves on good terms with Chen Shulan pointed at Xu Su and asked which one of their relatives the pretty young girl was.
By this time, the family planning policy had loosened considerably, and many families were starting to openly have a second child. Now that their eldest daughter was coming to the city for school, Chen Shulan and her husband had no intention of hiding her identity.
Chen Shulan felt a sense of pride in having a pretty daughter with good grades, so when people asked, she told them directly.
This was her eldest daughter, who had been raised in the countryside. She had tested into the city's City No. 1 High School and would be a student there once school started.
Xu Su stood by and silently listened as Chen Shulan animatedly boasted about her. When she saw neighbors she vaguely remembered from her past life, she would smile shyly, presenting the perfect image of a pretty and well-behaved girl.
By the time the mother-daughter duo, laden with bags, reached the old building where the Xu Family lived, they were both drenched in sweat. Chen Shulan glanced at her daughter's sweaty forehead, then changed direction and headed for a small shop to the right of the entrance.
The small shop was run by an elderly man whom Xu Su vaguely recalled was named Wang.
Uncle Wang sat in a chair, waving a cattail fan. Seeing Chen Shulan enter with an unfamiliar girl, he showed no curiosity and simply pointed to the freezer. "Help yourselves to whatever you want."
Chen Shulan grabbed a large bottle of Sprite from the freezer and said to Xu Su, "Get yourself a popsicle. It's dreadfully hot today."
Xu Su hadn't said much to Chen Shulan on the journey. Whether in her past life or this one, the mother and daughter had always been distant.
'So, in the very beginning,' Xu Su thought, 'her mother really did have some maternal love for her. It's a shame she was later blinded by greed and was even capable of selling her own daughter for personal gain.'
Sliding open the freezer door, Xu Su chose a "Big Pudding" popsicle.
"Get two. Bring one upstairs for your brother."
Xu Su paused, then obediently grabbed two.
The apartment allotted to the Xu Family was small, less than fifty square meters. It consisted of two bedrooms and a cramped living room, with the small remaining area partitioned into a kitchen and bathroom.
Unlike many other families in the building who cooked in the hallways, Chen Shulan had her standards. Although the apartment was small, it was fully equipped. Before Xu Su's arrival, it had been a decent fit for their family of three.
The couple occupied the master bedroom, while the other room was filled with miscellaneous junk. Chen Shulan had originally planned to clear it out for her son, Xu Yang, to have his own room once he started elementary school.
She hadn't expected her daughter to get into a city high school. Since she would be studying so close to home, even with their strong preference for their son, the couple never considered making her board at the school.
Before Xu Su's arrival, the couple had discussed the arrangement. They decided to give the other room to their daughter, while their son would continue to squeeze in with them for another two years. They had already cleared out the room and laid down a clean cooling mat.
The moment they walked in, Chen Shulan handed the popsicle to her son and coaxed the boy, who was watching *Nezha Conquers the Dragon King*, to greet his older sister.
Xu Yang was only six and would be starting elementary school soon. He was at that spoiled-rotten age where everyone finds him annoying. When faced with the sudden appearance of an older sister, he just shot Xu Su a snooty look before turning his attention back to the television.
Chen Shulan gave a helpless smile. "Your brother is still little and very playful. He'll warm up to you once he gets to know you."
With that, she led Xu Su to the room prepared for her and put away the clothes she'd brought, folding them into the wardrobe. The trip to and from the city was difficult, so the thoughtful Grandma Xu had packed all of Xu Su's nicer clothes, for both summer and winter.
Even so, there were only a few sets of clothes. After quickly putting them away, Chen Shulan looked at her quiet daughter, felt a pang of guilt, and said, "I took the day off work today, so I have time this afternoon to take you out to buy some new outfits."
Xu Su was a little surprised. She couldn't remember if Chen Shulan had taken her to buy clothes when she first came to the city in her past life.
Sensing her daughter's distance, Chen Shulan snatched the remote from Xu Yang, told Xu Su to sit on the sofa and watch some TV, and then went to the kitchen to cut a plate of watermelon for her.
This act stirred up a hornet's nest. Xu Yang was already unhappy about having an older sister in the house, terrified that she would steal his things.
She had stolen his room before she even got here, and now his personal remote had been snatched away for her. He instantly burst into a furious tantrum, wailing, pointing at Xu Su, and screaming at her to get out.
A six-year-old's wailing was a force to be reckoned with. Who knew how they usually disciplined him, but he was a master of throwing fits and rolling on the floor. Compared to Xu Su, *he* seemed more like a child raised without parents. Seeing her precious son—the one she had gone through so much to have—throwing a tantrum, Chen Shulan grew frantic, trying to both hug and soothe him.
Xu Su sat on the sofa, her expression placid as she watched the farce unfold. The exact same scene had played out in her past life.
Back then, she had just moved in with her parents and was timid and cautious, desperate for their approval. When Xu Yang had screamed at her to get out, she had been terrified. She had scrambled to give the remote back, spent ages placating him, and finally promised to give him the room back and sleep on the living room sofa herself.
This gesture had earned her a round of praise from Chen Shulan and her husband. They complimented her on being a good big sister and said Grandma Xu had raised her well.
It was the first time she had ever received praise from her parents, and Xu Su had been overjoyed. For the next three years of high school, she put up with Xu Yang time and time again, all in exchange for the occasional look of satisfaction from her parents.
For the first six months, her homework being torn up was a common occurrence. Chen Shulan would only blame her for not putting it away safely, never considering that since Xu Su slept on the sofa, she had no choice but to do her homework in the living room. With Xu Yang grabbing every chance to destroy it, where could she possibly have hidden it?
Later, when the textile factory built new employee housing, the Xu Family's seniority was just enough for them to be allotted a new apartment. They moved in during the second semester of Xu Su's first year of high school, and only then did she finally have a real room of her own.
But even then, Xu Yang would still sneak into her room when she wasn't home and ransack it.
'Thinking back on it now,' she realized, 'I was wrong from the start. If giving in and standing my ground both lead to the same result, why should I suffer just to placate my little brother?'
This time, Xu Su didn't offer to give the remote back. Instead, it was Chen Shulan who spent a long time trying to pacify Xu Yang. When her "little ancestor" still refused to quiet down, she turned to Xu Su with an apologetic look and took the remote from her hand. "Your brother's still little, just let him have his way for now. Eat some watermelon. I'm going to the kitchen to make dinner for you all."
Xu Su nodded noncommittally. She had heard that line so many times in her past life that her ears might as well have been callused. She didn't touch the watermelon. Instead, she took a composition guide from her schoolbag and started reading.
Xu Su had long since stopped expecting things like a father's or mother's love. Even if Chen Shulan were to betray her again, she wouldn't feel sad.
Rather than waste her energy trying to earn her parents' special favor, she might as well read a few more books. The knowledge she gained through her own efforts was the only thing that would ever truly be hers.
In her last life, the cold treatment from her parents, combined with poor rest from sleeping in the living room and the stress of adjusting to a new environment, had caused her grades to plummet. She had tested into City No. 1 High School's elite "rocket class" as the top student from her county, but after only one semester, she was demoted to a regular class.