Qin Jiao had already turned and walked into the courtyard.
The grand, tile-roofed house at the front was as magnificent as the small, shabby earthen hut at the back was squalid.
Qin Jiao only found out later that half the money used to build this grand house had been earned by her parents through migrant work.
Qin Jiao was a little speechless.
'Mom and Dad are too soft,' she thought. 'Otherwise, why would they earn the money to build a big house, only for their two daughters to end up squeezed into a tiny room in the west wing of the earthen hut?'
Just then, a short cry rang out, and a kid who looked like a little mud-covered monkey suddenly charged at Qin Jiao.
Qin Jiao's body reacted on instinct, deftly dodging him. The kid, not expecting her to move, couldn't stop in time and slammed headfirst into the door panel. He froze for a few seconds, then immediately sat on the ground and started wailing, his cries shaking the heavens.
This was Qin Xiaotao, her youngest uncle's son. He was seven this year and would be starting elementary school in September.
He was spoiled rotten—the king of all brats.
Qin Jiao hated it when children cried. Ignoring the little brat, she stepped past him and saw a little girl sitting on the floor, her face pale and streaked with tears.
The little girl looked about sixty percent similar to Qin Jiao, but her expression was far too timid. She clutched a broken piece of chalk in her hand, looking pleadingly at Qin Jiao.
This was Qin Jiao's biological younger sister, Qin Shi.
Although Qin Shi was already nine, she was half a head shorter than Qin Xiaotao and hadn't started school yet.
Qin Jiao gazed at the sister from her memories, recalling all the suffering her sister had endured in their previous life. She was just about to offer a word of comfort when her aunt Feng Lan's sharp voice came from behind her. "Oh, my precious! Why are you crying? Who bullied you? You tell Mama! Whoever dared to bully you, Mama will scratch her face to ribbons!"
Now that his own mom had arrived, Qin Xiaotao started crying even louder.
Qin Jiao quickly walked over to Qin Shi and whispered, "Cry! Cry loud! Louder than him! If anything happens, your big sister has your back!"
Qin Shi was a little bewildered, but if her big sister told her to cry, then cry she would!
When Qin Xiaotao had bullied her just moments ago, tears had already welled up in Qin Shi's eyes. Crying on command is a child's special talent. The only reason Qin Shi hadn't cried then was because she knew no one was there to back her up.
'If no one was going to comfort her, there was no point in crying.'
But with her sister here now, and after hearing those words, Qin Shi let out all the grievances she had bottled up, crying until she was gasping for breath.
A girl's cries are naturally sharper than a boy's, and Qin Shi's sorrow was genuine, so her wails completely drowned out Qin Xiaotao's.
Qin Xiaotao was so stunned he forgot to keep fake-crying.
'How can she be even better at crying than me?'
By now, Feng Lan had entered the room. Before she could speak, Qin Jiao declared loudly, "Xiao Shi, who bullied you this badly? Who snapped your chalk? Who ripped up the book I gave you?"
Qin Shi sniffled and said between sobs, "Xiao Tao."
Qin Jiao immediately whirled around and said angrily, "Auntie, how could you? Xiao Tao is just a kid who doesn't know any better, so how could you just stand by and watch him bully Xiao Shi? Before my parents left for work, didn't you swear up and down that you would take good care of us? I guess you didn't really mean it! When my parents get back, I'm going to have a good, long talk with them about this!"
Just then, Mr. Qin walked in from outside, his hands behind his back and a pipe in his hand. He had only caught the tail end of the sentence, but he understood that Xiao Tao had bullied Xiao Shi.
He tapped his pipe. "That's enough out of both of you. It's not a big deal. Little Nine, why are you causing such a ruckus the moment you get home for the holidays?"