Lin Jinran turned her head and her eyes flashed a cold light, as cold as the perennial snow on the mountaintop, sending shivers down one's spine. Lin Tingnian fell to the ground, propping her hands on the floor. She looked up at Lin Jinran with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Sister, I... I just wanted to help you carry your luggage. I really didn't mean to do anything wrong. Did you misunderstand me?" Lin Tingnian sobbed, pulling out one hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes aggrievedly. She looked extremely sad.
"I haven't seen you for so long. I missed you so much. I thought it would be good for me, as your younger sister, to do something for you since you rarely come home."
Seeing this, Yang Jinzhi was greatly surprised and quickly rushed over to support Lin Tingnian's arm. "Jinran, your sister meant well. She just wanted to help you carry your luggage. Why did you push her?"
"Come on, Niannian. Let's get up. The floor is cold. You might catch a cold." Yang Jinzhi carefully helped Lin Tingnian up and patted the dust off her clothes.
Then she turned to Lin Jinran and said earnestly, "Although I'm not your biological mother, I'm at least your aunt. It's okay for me to give you some advice, right?"
"A harmonious family is the best. Lin Jinran, your sister didn't do anything wrong. Why did you push her? She was doing it for your own good."
Lin Jinran's hand that was hanging by her waist tightened into a fist. She stared coldly at Yang Jinzhi.
As soon as she got home, these two people were giving her a hard time.
"What's going on? Why is everyone gathered at the stairs?" A figure appeared at the corner of the second - floor landing. It was Lin Cheng.
When he first appeared, he had no idea what had happened.
"Nothing, Dad. I just wanted to help my sister carry her suitcase." As Lin Cheng walked down, Lin Tingnian walked over with a smile. She reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a section of her arm.
There were clearly the marks of a bruise from the fall just now.
"What happened to your arm?" Lin Cheng asked in a deep voice, slowly looking down at Lin Jinran from a higher position.
"Lin Tingnian accidentally fell," Lin Jinran said preemptively, glancing at Lin Tingnian indifferently with a blank expression.
Lin Tingnian's smile froze for a moment, then she nodded in agreement. "Yes, I accidentally fell while helping my sister carry her luggage."
Lin Cheng's gaze shifted downward and landed on the suitcase beside Lin Jinran.
"I must say Niannian is just too careless. Jinran hadn't even stood still properly, and Niannian rushed over to help carry the suitcase. That's how she accidentally fell. Niannian, you have to be more careful in the future. If your sister hasn't let go of the suitcase for you, don't rush to take it."
Yang Jinzhi gave Lin Jinran a subtle look but didn't say it directly.
"Okay, I'll be more careful in the future," Lin Tingnian nodded obediently.
Sure enough, Lin Cheng frowned and stared at Lin Jinran unkindly. "Lin Jinran, explain what just happened. How did Niannian fall for no reason?"
He still didn't trust her. Just like before, whenever something happened, it was always her fault.
Perhaps this was the difference between being loved and not being loved.
Lin Jinran hooked the corner of her lips into a smile, but the smile never reached her eyes. "I just got home and was about to carry my suitcase upstairs. Lin Tingnian rushed over and insisted on helping me carry it. I didn't want to give it to her, so I didn't. Then she lost her balance and fell on her own. What, is it my fault that she fell?"
"But what I saw was that you pushed Niannian, and that's why she fell," Yang Jinzhi murmured in a low voice. Although her voice was not loud, it reached everyone's ears.
"No, no. Mom, you must have seen it wrong. I really fell accidentally," Lin Tingnian quickly explained. She stole a careful look at Lin Jinran and took a step back.
This look of hers made Lin Jinran laugh out of anger.
Lin Cheng frowned even deeper. A wave of anger welled up in his heart. His knife - like gaze landed on Lin Jinran. He questioned her again, "Lin Jinran, you'd better tell the truth."
"Do you think I'll be believed if I tell the truth? Lin Tingnian fell on her own. She insisted on snatching my suitcase. It has nothing to do with me," Lin Jinran said word by word, her eyes full of disappointment.
"Lin Jinran, have you become more temperamental after going to Wannan City? You've even learned to lie! Tell me, where did the injury on Lin Tingnian's arm come from? Do you think she would fall on purpose and then frame you?"
Lin Cheng was furious. He pointed at Lin Jinran, and his temple throbbed with pain.
"I've already said that I didn't push her. Why don't you believe me? Lin Tingnian fell on her own and then framed me. She is so despicable and shameless. You'll never believe me. You only know how to believe your mistress and her daughter..."
With a "slap", a clear handprint appeared on Lin Jinran's face. It burned with pain.
Lin Jinran covered the side of her face that had been slapped red and casually wiped the corner of her mouth. Good, there was no blood.
"Oh, Jinran is at least your daughter. Even if she has done something wrong, you shouldn't hit her. She's almost an adult. How can you hit her? Where will she put her face?"
Yang Jinzhi always remembered that she was Lin Jinran's step - mother. She quickly stepped forward to hold Lin Cheng back and patted his back to soothe him.
"Dad, it was just an accident that my sister pushed me and made me fall. You shouldn't have hit her. What if there are guests at home tomorrow and they see her beaten face?"
Lin Tingnian glanced at Lin Jinran, a hint of sarcasm on her lips.
But soon, this hint of sarcasm was replaced by feigned concern.
"She doesn't have to come out and meet people!" Lin Cheng was hopping mad. He pointed at Lin Jinran and said heart - brokenly, "How could I have such a daughter? She tells lies one after another and refuses to admit that she pushed her younger sister."
"Yes, how could I have such a father? After you married my mother, you had an affair with your mistress. In the same year that my mother was pregnant with me, your mistress was also pregnant with her child."
Lin Jinran's eyes were cold, as cold as ice. With a hint of casual sarcasm, she sneered.
She turned around and saw Yang Jinzhi firmly blocking Lin Cheng who wanted to rush over. The sarcasm in her eyes became even more obvious. "I wonder how people in the whole imperial capital are talking about our family."
"The legitimate wife has become a vegetable and lies in a cold hospital bed. The biological daughter has suffered from depression and also lies in the hospital bed all day. But their husband and father are having a great time with some immoral women outside. And there's a child almost the same age as the biological daughter."
"Soon, regardless of all the gossips, he abandoned his original wife and married his mistress. Everyone in the imperial capital is laughing at our family."
Lin Jinran took a deep look at Lin Cheng, whose face was distorted with anger, then turned around and left.
Perhaps she should never have come back to this home in the first place.
It would never welcome her.