Chapter 365: Chapter 365: She Is Selfish and Cannot Tolerate Zhenzhen

Five days later, Bai Zhuzhu arrived at the Cheng Family home.

She stood at the doorstep, hesitating, not daring to knock.

Cheng Zhiyin had called the night before to say they had returned to Yucheng.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Bai Zhuzhu raised her hand, ready to open the door.

The door was pulled open from the inside.

Guo Cuihua was holding a bag, seemingly prepared to go out.

Seeing Bai Zhuzhu at the door, she exclaimed with joyful surprise, "Zhiwei, you’ve come."

"Your dad and Zhiyin came back from our hometown, they brought fish cakes to make a nice soup, I was just about to bring it over to you," Guo Cuihua quickly pulled Bai Zhuzhu inside, "Come in, have a bowl while it’s hot, and then we can go together."

"Okay." Bai Zhuzhu followed her in and immediately saw Cheng Zhiyin standing across the room.

She smiled with her lips curved upward, yet the smile held mutual understanding of the effort it took.

Bai Zhuzhu felt a warmth in her eyes and looked down.

Guo Cuihua set the bag down, served Bai Zhuzhu the soup, and, seeing her reddened eyes, hurriedly asked what was wrong.

"It’s nothing." Bai Zhuzhu sat down, sipping the steaming fish cake soup spoon by spoon.

The soup was delicious.

Yet all Bai Zhuzhu could taste was bitterness, mechanically ingesting spoonful after spoonful.

The nicer Guo Cuihua was to her, the guiltier she felt.

Feeling unworthy of even drinking this bowl of fish cake soup.

After lingering over the soup until it was finished, Guo Cuihua softly asked if she wanted more.

"No, thanks, Mom. I have something to discuss with my sister; I’ll head over first."

"Oh, alright." Guo Cuihua felt something was amiss but refrained from questioning further and watched the two daughters enter the room.

With a "bang," the door closed.

This had been Bai Zhuzhu’s room before when she had left in a hurry, but now it was tidy and clean, evidently reorganized by Guo Cuihua.

Bai Zhuzhu couldn’t afford to dwell on those thoughts, as guilt weighed on her like a boulder on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Cheng Zhiyin approached her and asked softly, "Thank you for coming."

Such politeness made Bai Zhuzhu’s heart feel stuffy; she just nodded in agreement, "That’s what I should do."

Both fell silent.

The atmosphere turned awkward and heavy.

It was Cheng Zhiyin who finally broke the silence, her voice soft and gentle, "Zhiwei, don’t feel too guilty. This isn’t your fault. Dad didn’t protect her well back then."

Bai Zhuzhu lifted her gaze to hold back tears.

"As for what you asked me to inquire about, I did ask. Dad said the couple who adopted her died shortly after Bai Zhuzhu was born."

"Was that family’s last name Bai?"

"Uh-huh."

"Seo Zhenzhen..." When Cheng Zhiyin mentioned this name, the emotions in her heart were complicated.

She had suffered at the hands of Seo Zhenzhen, especially when Gao Wei bullied her; it was all a scheme orchestrated by He Lanzhi and Seo Zhenzhen.

"She was adopted by the Bai Family, but they didn’t treat her well. After Madam Bai got pregnant with Bai Zhuzhu, they threw her into an orphanage. Then, soon after Bai Zhuzhu was born, the couple died, and the Bai Family took care of her. Once they found out that Seo Zhenzhen was being sponsored by the Cheng Family, they dumped Bai Zhuzhu on her."

Cheng Zhiyin’s voice cracked, and she couldn’t help the tears that welled up in her eyes.

Back when she didn’t know that Seo Zhenzhen was her own sister, she detested her immeasurably. But in the past few days, knowing about Seo Zhenzhen’s upbringing had tormented her greatly.

Seo Zhenzhen had indeed suffered a lot.

Now that she was gone, whether to forgive her or not no longer mattered.

"Zhiwei, I know you’re hurting inside, which is why you moved out, but I still firmly believe this isn’t your fault," Cheng Zhiyin pushed aside all her complex emotions.

"Let’s figure out how to broach this with Mom first," Bai Zhuzhu said, leaving it undetermined whether it was her fault or not.

"Okay, let’s go outside."

Upon stepping outside, they found that Cheng Shang had already returned.

Not knowing what Cheng Shang had said, Guo Cuihua sat on the couch with a somewhat solemn expression, looking as though she wanted to stand up when they came out but then sat back down, possibly recalling something.

Bai Zhuzhu and Cheng Zhiyin took seats on the adjacent couch.

For a moment, no one spoke.

In the end, it was Guo Cuihua who asked, "What exactly happened?"

Bai Zhuzhu clenched her fingers, mouthed a few words, but found she couldn’t bring herself to say them.

Cheng Zhiyin sighed, "I’ll say it."

Guo Cuihua looked towards her.

Bai Zhuzhu’s lips were pressed tightly, her fingernails digging into her palms.

Cheng Zhiyin spoke, "Many years ago, Dad helped someone. When that person’s daughter was just born, he hid her to protect her from enemies. Then, through a series of unfortunate events, he lost his own daughter."

Guo Cuihua went still, incredulous, standing up, "What are you saying?"

She turned to look at Bai Zhuzhu, lips trembling.

Bai Zhuzhu, unable to meet that gaze, looked away.

Cheng Zhiyin continued, "Dad was afraid to tell you, so he kept it a secret all along, but he never stopped searching for that girl. After many years, he finally found her in an orphanage and supported her throughout her upbringing. Later, he even decided to adopt her."

Realization dawned on Guo Cuihua, who asked, trembling, "Is it... Seo Zhenzhen?"

Cheng Zhiyin nodded with difficulty, "It is her."

Guo Cuihua’s vision blurred, and she collapsed onto the couch.

No wonder Bai Zhuzhu suddenly decided to move out, no wonder Cheng Shang insisted on taking Seo Zhenzhen back to the ancestral home for the family registry.

No wonder... all these years, she had felt that Cheng Shang favored Seo Zhenzhen.

"Cuihua." Cheng Shang hurried to support her, "I know this is hard for you to accept, but I..."

"Shut up." Guo Cuihua held her forehead, anger bursting forth as she pushed Cheng Shang away, "What kind of foolishness have you done..."

"I never imagined," Cheng Shang said, guilt-ridden.

"That’s our daughter," Guo Cuihua yelled, heartbroken, "Cheng Shang, how could you do this to me, losing our daughter and then continuing to hide it after finding her..."

Overcome with sorrow and rage, Guo Cuihua nearly fainted.

"I was planning to tell you, just recently, but I didn’t know this would happen." As Cheng Shang spoke, his gaze towards Bai Zhuzhu subtly contained hatred.

Bai Zhuzhu felt a chill of fear; she had long known Cheng Shang would blame her for Seo Zhenzhen’s death.

Her complexion turned a shade paler.

"Cheng Shang." Guo Cuihua sharply interrupted him, "After all these years, you haven’t said a word, you really are worthless."

Her condemnation was decisive.

"Yes, it’s my fault." Cheng Shang readily admitted his mistake, but his next words were meant to put Bai Zhuzhu on the spot.

"I’ve always tried to make it up to our daughter, hoping we could be kinder to her, but Bai Zhuzhu is selfish and couldn’t tolerate Zhenzhen." Cheng Shang’s eyes reddened as he struggled to contain his resentment.

He had even thought of keeping this secret hidden forever, to persist in the mistake.

To treat Bai Zhuzhu as his own flesh and blood, silently compensating Seo Zhenzhen.

But then Seo Zhenzhen died.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read