Chapter 3: I Want to See Eldest Sister

Bai Yuanzhi entered Zhou Xiangmei’s home.

She had never been here before.

In her previous life, she had only come to Hong Kong City three years later.

Back then, Zhou Xiangmei’s home was a much more spacious and luxurious apartment decorated in a European style.

As for Zhou Xiangmei’s current home, it was a typical, somewhat worn-out small apartment in a predominantly Chinese-influenced Nanyang style.

The ceiling was low, with a ceiling fan hanging down, its light covered by a floral-patterned glass shade;

The living room was not large, its floor tiled with white and green checkered ceramic tiles, only able to fit a redwood two-seater sofa and a coffee table.

In the corner of the room stood an old, faded green Hitachi refrigerator,

giving the place a worn and cluttered appearance.

Zhou Xiangmei felt a bit guilty and spoke gently as she instructed Wu Jiayin and Chen Yongzhen, “Jiayin, Yongzhen, you two go back to your rooms and rest first.”

Wu Jiayin stared at Zhou Zhaodi with a hostile gaze and said to Zhou Xiangmei, “Mommy, my room can’t fit anyone else anymore, you understand, right?”

Chen Yongzhen also spoke sarcastically, “Aunt, Uncle hasn’t received his salary this month yet, so we need to be careful with the rice and flour at home. Otherwise, you’ll have to go into debt again, and Uncle will be unhappy.”

Zhou Xiangmei’s face flushed and paled in turns.

Bai Yuanzhi found it a bit strange.

She had already deduced—Zhou Xiangmei currently had no source of income and could only rely financially on Wu Hao. That was why Wu Jiayin and Chen Yongzhen dared to show Zhou Xiangmei such disrespect.

But how had Zhou Xiangmei, who was both illiterate and lacked any specialized skills, managed to own two properties in her name just three years later—one for her own residence and the other for renting out—thereby making Wu Hao’s family obey her every word and practically hold her in the palm of their hands?

But that wasn’t important.

What mattered was—

What exactly had happened to eldest sister!

Zhou Xiangmei forced a smile and said to Wu Jiayin, “Don’t worry, they’re just here to see me, they’ll leave soon.”

Zhou Zhaodi protested, “Mom—”

“Shut up!” Zhou Xiangmei glared angrily at Zhou Zhaodi.

Wu Jiayin smiled, “Mommy, after my daddy comes back, you’d better explain clearly to him exactly how many daughters you have… You know how much my daddy hates being lied to!”

Zhou Xiangmei’s expression turned awkward.

Beside her, Zhou Zhaodi’s eyes reddened with anger, and she glared defiantly at Wu Jiayin.

Wu Jiayin gave Zhou Zhaodi a mocking look, said “Let’s go” to Chen Yongzhen, and the two of them walked into the room one after the other.

Only Bai Yuanzhi, Zhou Zhaodi, and Zhou Xiangmei remained in the living room.

Bai Yuanzhi, “What exactly happened to Zhou Sier?”

Zhou Zhaodi, “Mom, my dad is still alive, how could you marry another man? You abandon your own biological daughter and instead raise a girl who isn’t even related to you by blood?”

Zhou Xiangmei, “Why did you two suddenly come here? Without even giving me a heads-up!”

Bai Yuanzhi, “Let’s set other matters aside for now. First, tell me if Zhou Sier is okay.”

Zhou Zhaodi, “Mom, give me some money, my clothes are soaked through, I need to buy a few new sets! Mom, I’m hungry, make me something to eat, I want meat…”

Zhou Xiangmei, “I can’t let you stay for too long. Once it’s light outside, you two need to leave quickly!”

Each of the three spoke, each saying only what was most important to themselves.

Unable to get an answer, Bai Yuanzhi grew anxious. She stood up and angrily shouted at Zhou Xiangmei, “Where is Zhou Sier?”

Zhou Xiangmei and Zhou Zhaodi were startled!

After a long pause, Zhou Zhaodi also spoke up, “Yeah, Mom, what exactly happened to Big Sister?”

Zhou Xiangmei bit her lower lip.

A few seconds later, Zhou Xiangmei sighed, “It’s exactly as you heard—a few days ago, your big sister jumped off a building for no reason!”

“Although she’s not dead yet, she might as well be!”

“She’s been in the ICU for several days now, and the money is flowing like water, you understand?”

“Now the police keep coming to me, wanting to investigate why your big sister jumped… but I don’t know either! She hasn’t been with me for a long time.”

“She’s just a poor student working her way through college. No one knows why she suddenly appeared at Bilanting!”

“Oh, right, you just came from the countryside, so you probably don’t know what Bilanting is, do you?”

“Bilanting is the most luxurious hotel in all of Hong Kong City! I heard the cheapest room there costs at least five figures per night!”

“And no one knows why she jumped!”

“Even more, no one knows why she was wearing that kind of indecent clothing when she jumped!”

“So the police suspect she might have…”

At this point, Zhou Xiangmei’s expression became one of those things that could be understood but not explicitly stated.

Bai Yuanzhi furrowed her brows.

Having lived through a past life, she firmly believed in her big sister’s character and now felt disgusted by Zhou Xiangmei’s insinuating tone when talking about her.

Zhou Zhaodi looked stunned.

She understood what her mother had just said.

But she couldn’t comprehend it.

What kind of luxurious hotel charges five figures for one night?

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands…

Ten thousand yuan for one night’s stay?

Good heavens, two years ago, Third Sister worked herself to the bone in the production team, waking up before dawn at four in the morning to rush to work and not finishing until past ten at night. The work points she earned in a month, converted to money, amounted to only twenty yuan.

This Hong Kong City truly is a dazzling world of extravagance!

Wait, what does “indecent clothing” mean?

Could it be that Mom meant—Big Sister was a woman of the night?!

…

Bai Yuanzhi seized the moment to ask the most important question, “When did this happen?”

Zhou Xiangmei replied, “The day before yesterday.”

Bai Yuanzhi frowned, “The day before yesterday?”

Zhou Xiangmei thought for a moment, “Yes… no, it was three days ago.”

Bai Yuanzhi demanded sharply, “Exactly which day?!”

Zhou Xiangmei took a deep breath, “Three days ago, on April 15th.”

“She went to Bilanting on the evening of April 15th, stayed there for a whole day, and around midnight on the 17th, she jumped…”

“How is she doing now?” Bai Yuanzhi pressed on.

Zhou Xiangmei shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Bai Yuanzhi found it hard to believe, “You don’t know her condition? You’re her biological mother!”

Zhou Xiangmei grew somewhat angry, “I don’t have the money to pay for her medical expenses, so why should I ask so many questions? She’s already an adult. She knows her own financial situation. Before she decided to jump from that building, she should have been prepared for this!”

Bai Yuanzhi stared coldly at Zhou Xiangmei.

Zhou Zhaodi also looked at Zhou Xiangmei in shock.

Zhou Xiangmei, embarrassed and angry, snapped, “What… what do you mean?”

Bai Yuanzhi asked coldly, “Where is she now?”

Zhou Xiangmei fell silent for a moment. “St. Maria Hospital.”

Then she changed the subject. “By the way, how did you get here? And why did the third sister change her name? What about your dad… well, the others at home?”

This time, Zhou Zhaodi eagerly told Zhou Xiangmei:

Dad and the fifth sister were still the same, but the second sister had gotten married. The third sister had received the immigration materials sent by the eldest sister, and she had come along with the third sister… As for why the third sister had changed her name, she didn’t know either. It was better to let the third sister explain it herself!

Zhou Xiangmei was shocked—the eighteen-year-old second sister was already married?!

But what surprised her even more was that the seventeen-year-old third sister had been so bold as to bring the fifteen-year-old fourth sister all the way from their hometown to Hong Kong City!

So???

Why had the third sister changed her name to Bai Yuanzhi?

Well, it made some sense for the eldest sister to change her name from Zhou Sidi to Zhou Sier.

But why had the third sister even changed her surname?

Bai Yuanzhi—

Was there some meaning behind it?

Bai Yuanzhi had no intention of explaining.

She wasn’t in the mood.

First, because she was worried about the eldest sister’s safety.

Second, because she noticed that Wu Jiayin’s bedroom door had quietly cracked open a sliver.

Light spilled from inside, and she could even see two heads peeking through the crack, looking toward the living room.

Zhou Xiangmei had been deeply absorbed in Zhou Zhaodi’s account, utterly astonished.

But seeing Bai Yuanzhi frequently glancing in that direction,

she followed Bai Yuanzhi’s gaze and quickly noticed Wu Jiayin and Chen Yongzhen eavesdropping.

Zhou Xiangmei’s expression fell slightly, and she suddenly raised her voice, calling out, “Jiayin, do you want some supper? Should I make noodles for you?”

Startled, Wu Jiayin slammed the door shut with a bang.

A moment later, Wu Jiayin opened the door a crack again, as if protesting her innocence, “Mommy, I’m not hungry. I won’t eat.”

“Then you and Yongzhen should rest early. Otherwise, if you can’t get up tomorrow morning, I can skip making breakfast and save some money,” Zhou Xiangmei said.

Wu Jiayin closed the door resentfully.

Zhou Xiangmei bit her lower lip.

After a moment, she whispered softly to Bai Yuanzhi and Zhou Zhaodi, “Wait here for a bit.”

She went into the room and came out a few minutes later, carrying a cloth bag.

She walked straight up to the sisters, took Bai Yuanzhi by one hand and pulled Zhou Zhaodi up with the other, leading them toward the door.

Zhou Zhaodi froze. “Mom? What are you doing?”

Zhou Xiangmei pushed Zhou Zhaodi to the front door, opened it, and shoved her outside.

Bai Yuanzhi didn’t need Zhou Xiangmei to push her; she walked out of the Wu household on her own.

Zhou Zhaodi had already realized what was happening and was both panicked and flustered, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, on the verge of falling. “Mom, don’t chase me away… don’t chase me away! Third sister and I don’t know anyone here. If you drive us out, how will we survive?”

“How about this—you let third sister leave, and I’ll stay with you…”

“Mom, I promise I’ll eat very little! I can also help you with the housework.”

“Mom! Please, let me stay!” Zhou Zhaodi pleaded tearfully.

Zhou Xiangmei handed the cloth bag to Bai Yuanzhi. “I had no idea when Sier processed your immigration paperwork, and it has nothing to do with me.”

“But I’m not the wealthy lady you imagined I’d become…”

“I also have to ask Jiayin’s daddy for money to get by…”

“Jiayin’s daddy works alone to support the four of us, and it’s already very hard for him.”

“Even your eldest sister, she came to Hong Kong City with me at sixteen, and by seventeen she was already self-sufficient.”

“Now that something has happened to your eldest sister, there’s nothing I can do!”

“There are a few of my clothes in this bag, you can take them to wear. I also put a little money inside, spend it carefully. If it really doesn’t work out, just go back… Don’t come looking for me again in the future!”

After saying this, Zhou Xiangmei made as if to close the door.

Bai Yuanzhi said, “Wait a moment.”

Zhou Zhaodi cried out, “Wait a moment!”

Zhou Xiangmei frowned tightly.

Zhou Zhaodi was so anxious she began to cry, “Mom, I’m your biological daughter too, I’m not asking you to feed me delicacies! I just want a place to stay and three meals a day. I went through so much hardship to come here and find you, how… how can you treat me like this? Mom, you… you’re so heartless, you’re leaving me to die!”

Bai Yuanzhi said, “Tomorrow, find time to meet me. I still have many details to ask you about eldest sister’s situation. Don’t hide, otherwise I’ll come specifically when your husband is home to ask.”

Zhou Xiangmei was furious.

But Bai Yuanzhi’s request was clearly more reasonable.

So Zhou Xiangmei thought for a moment and said, “Tomorrow I’ll treat you to lunch. Let’s meet at 2:30 in the afternoon at Jiang’s Roast Meat Shop on Shuangqiao Street.”

Bai Yuanzhi grabbed the cloth bag and turned to leave.

Zhou Zhaodi was so anxious she stomped her feet on the spot.

She was unwilling to be driven away by Zhou Xiangmei, yet also worried that Bai Yuanzhi would really abandon her.

In the end—

After Zhou Xiangmei closed the door, Zhou Zhaodi had no choice but to run after Bai Yuanzhi, crying, “Third sister, are you crazy? You just leave like that… where will we live in the future? What will we eat! Third sister! What do we do now?”

“You’re the crazy one! If you want to stay here, then stay. I’m going to see eldest sister.”

Author’s note: