Chapter 8: Exposing Your True Nature
1672 Words
"Aunt Li, bring a thermos of boiling water to my room. I need it to sterilize for the bandage change," Shi Yun said as they entered the room.
Shi Chu intentionally left the door open, thinking that if anything sudden happened, those downstairs might hear and she wouldn't be falsely accused by Shi Yun again. However, when Aunt Li brought the hot water in and left, she casually closed the door behind her. At that moment, Shi Chu was in the process of unwrapping the bandage from Shi Yun's arm.
Shi Yun's eyes, glancing at the now-closed door, instantly turned sinister and furious. "No one's watching now. You can drop the hypocritical act."
"You asked me to come up and help you, and now you call me hypocritical? It's your arm that's injured, not your brain…" Shi Chu wasn't angry; she almost felt like laughing.
"Stop playing innocent! This arm is all your fault! You were jealous of my beauty and wanted to disfigure me! Thankfully, Heaven wasn't on your side, and I only injured my wrist. Don't think I don't know! You gave me your phone password before the wedding – that was clearly the detonation code!"
In a fit of rage, Shi Yun shoved Shi Chu away as she was tending to the bandage.
Shi Chu looked up at her calmly. "When Aunt Jian Xi urgently needed a blood transfusion to save her life, I was knocked unconscious near the Shi residence. I missed the critical window, and my phone was stolen. I didn't know who wanted to harm me and Aunt Jian Xi. Yes, I did set a remote detonation for the phone. But you tell me, how did my phone end up with you? Don't tell me you just 'found' it."
That day, Shi Chu had been knocked out and her phone taken. She wasn't entirely sure if Shi Yun and Ning Shufang were behind it, so before the wedding, she had deliberately given Shi Yun a password.
She had set a trap, telling Shi Yun it was the phone's unlock code and that the phone contained evidence of her 'dissolute' behavior. She never expected Shi Yun to be so eager to seize this supposed leverage against her, ultimately getting burned—though Shi Chu hadn't anticipated the explosion would be so powerful.
"The phone… I naturally found it…" Shi Yun explained, her voice betraying her guilt. Then, her expression shifted back to one of vicious spite. She stood up, looking down at Shi Chu with a cold, sneering smile.
"My dear sister, what do you think would happen if I got injured right in front of you? Would everyone outside believe you did it on purpose? To get back at me for what I said earlier? Once they see your true, vengeful nature, how do you think Mo Qien would look at you then?"
She was determined to expose Shi Chu's two-faced nature in front of Mo Qien.
Shi Chu's heart sank. Before she could even react, barely getting out the words, "What are you trying to do?"—
She watched, stunned, as Shi Yun swiftly grabbed the thermos of boiling water Aunt Li had brought and poured it directly onto her own already injured wrist. This was immediately followed by her slamming the thermos to the floor with a loud CRASH, accompanied by an ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream.
"AHHH……!"
"If you want to die, don't drag me down with you…!"
Shocked, Shi Chu moved with lightning speed. She roughly grabbed Shi Yun and dragged her into the adjoining bathroom, shoving the scalded arm under the cold tap water and letting it run furiously over the burn.
Shi Yun laughed, her expression cunning and treacherous.
"I'll drag you down to hell with me! If it weren't for you, I could live in this family with a clear conscience! If it weren't for you, I would be the one married to Mo Qien! If it weren't for you, Mother Jian Xi wouldn't have died…!"
Shi Yun was filled with resentment. She was the one who should have been the precious only daughter. She was the one who had grown up by Jian Xi's side.
Yet, Jian Xi had still favored that b***h Shi Chu, even starting to suspect that Shi Chu was her real daughter. Fortunately, Jian Xi hadn't had time to tell Shi Yizhou. Shi Yun needed to bury that secret forever, which meant Jian Xi had to disappear.
But even with Jian Xi gone, Shi Chu had somehow ended up with Mo Qien!
What right did Shi Chu have? What right?!
SMACK!
Shi Chu raised her hand and slapped Shi Yun hard across the face. She was trembling with fury, her anger overwhelming.
"What nonsense are you spouting? You've grown up with a silver spoon in your mouth, cherished by everyone! The Shi family holds you in their hearts! And you? What are you thinking about all day? You have no right to even mention Mother Jian Xi…!"
Jian Xi was a line in Shi Chu's heart that no one was allowed to cross.
If it weren't for the fact that Shi Yizhou still deeply loved Shi Yun, and she didn't want him to lose his 'daughter' so soon after losing his wife, she would have dragged Shi Yun down to hell, even if it cost her own life.
Blinded by rage, Shi Chu's eyes darkened. She suddenly crouched down, grabbed Shi Yun's chin forcefully, and said with fierce intensity,
"I will get to the bottom of Mother Jian Xi's death. You and Ning Shufang had better hope it has nothing to do with you. Otherwise, I will spend my entire life making sure you never know a moment's peace."
Seeing Shi Chu like this made Shi Yun laugh, a sound full of smug malice.
"Shi Chu, Mo Qien and the entire Shi family should see you like this, grinding your teeth… Help! Daddy, help me…!"
Suddenly, Shi Yun began screaming for help with all her might, determined to be heard by everyone in the Shi villa.
Almost as soon as her cries ended, Shi Chu heard a violent impact against the door. The next second, she was pulled into a broad, warm embrace. Looking up in shock, she met Mo Qien's panicked eyes.
"What happened? Where did she hurt you?" he asked urgently.
Mo Qien had literally broken the door down.
He had been listening for any sound from upstairs since Shi Chu went up.
At Shi Yun's first scream, he had already left the dining table and charged upstairs.
Yet, even though he had burst in to see Shi Chu gripping Shi Yun's chin in a clearly aggressive posture, his first instinct was still that his girl must have been wronged.
Mo Qien's reaction made Shi Yun unable to believe her eyes. He had seen her injury with his own eyes!
By now, Shi Yizhou and the other family members had arrived. Seeing her father, Shi Yun's grievances transformed into a flood of tears.
"Daddy! Daddy, you're finally here…!"
Struggling to her feet, looking fragile and in pain, she threw herself against Shi Yizhou, sobbing her complaint.
"It was Sister…! If she didn't want to help me change the bandage, she could have just said so! But she used the pretense of helping to try and hurt me again! I told her the boiling water was for sterilization, but she poured it directly on my hand! Daddy, actually… I never dared to tell you before… the explosion in my room that day was also Sister's doing! Before her wedding, she gave me a phone to keep, saying it had things she didn't want Mo Qien to know about. She even told me to keep it charged, hypocritically giving me the password… But who knew it was a detonation code! It's a miracle I wasn't killed… otherwise… otherwise I'd be in heaven with Mother now…"
Shi Yun cried, tears streaming down her face like pear blossoms wet with rain. The injury on her arm was still bleeding slightly, a truly pitiful sight.
"My poor child! It must hurt terribly! What an ordeal you've suffered…!" Old Madame Shi's heart ached. She pulled Shi Yun from Shi Yizhou's arms to comfort her properly, her distress evident.
"Grandmother—!" Shi Yun called out weakly, her voice designed to evoke pity.
Old Master Shi, a man of few words, still shot a sigh full of reproach in Shi Chu's direction.
In this moment, even Shi Yizhou sided with Shi Yun.
After all, since childhood, Shi Yun had been a delicate girl. The slightest ache or pain would make her cry for ages. There was no way she would have poured boiling water on herself.
"A'Chu, I know you have grievances in your heart, but you shouldn't take them out on your younger sister…" Shi Yizhou said, his voice full of disappointment and pain.
"If you're angry, you can talk to me, your father. A'Yun is still young. She might speak bluntly, but it's all for your own good. How could you treat her like this? Today, you've really let me down…"
"I didn't…!" Shi Chu felt deeply wronged, her lips trembling slightly.
"If it wasn't you, then she scalded herself? And you're completely unharmed? She's cried over mosquito bites since she was a child. An injury this severe…" Shi Yizhou's voice grew increasingly accusatory.
Shi Yizhou's feelings towards Shi Chu were conflicted and unstable. Since her childhood, he had been one of the few who liked her. But of course, his favorite had always been Shi Yun, who was indeed more proper, gracious, obedient, and sensible.
Most importantly, Jian Xi had had a difficult labor when Shi Yun was born. Loving the mother, he extended that love to the daughter, doting on Shi Yun even more. It was precisely for this reason that when Jian Xi began to suspect the truth about Shi Chu's origins, she didn't dare tell Shi Yizhou rashly, wanting to wait for the right moment…
- Writer
