Not The First Time

"Shitty reflex!" Unable to hold his anger, Zheng Haozu cursed.

"Young man, watch your mouth!" Jiang Jingguo gave Zheng Haozu a cold glance which made the later boiling more. Zheng Shuyu's left hand pat his back softly.

Tian Qisong watched from the side. He felt weird for Zheng Shuyu's soft movement who seem to have opposite effect towards his friend. The caress should sooth his friend's anger but why his friend kept acting so edgy?

"Reflex?"

"Yes. Since I was a child, she always eyed on my things and tried to have them. As I was the older one, my grandmother and my cousins always make me give them to her. If it only applied to what father and grandfather gave to me, I can still give it up. No, more like I was forced to yield to her. However, it should not be applied to what my mother gave to me. She is not my mother's daughter and all the things my mother gave to me was specifically designed for my mother's side family. Only us from the same surname can have it. When she could not get what she wanted, she would complained to others in the Zheng family, and the result of that, they would chastised me and sometimes even bullied me. Just now, when second brother grabbed my collar to hit me again, for the second time today, at this place, my necklace fell down to the floor. I saw she was trying to pick it up, so I rushed into her and took it before she took and later claimed it was hers." Chen Ziyi did not had any intention to keep silent of what happened to her.

Although the scene of Zheng Shuyu forcefully took her gifts away and made it her own possession did not happen yet, Chen Ziyi just had to use the future story. The story happened when she was a child was true anyway. "Sister- You-You're lying! I was just picking it up for you."

Chen Ziyi chuckled hearing that. "How would you know that it is mine? If it is you, there are few options that you will use. First, you might say it was yours to begin with and it was just coincidence to have the similar one."

"The second choice, you might say you found it by chance and use the excuse to hold it while waiting for the owner. But later, you infatuated with it and would reluctantly to return it back to me. Then, I will complain to my mother and my mother would fight with dad and everybody would scold my mother again for being so stingy with you."

"Lastly, which also the option that would show the true of your character, you would say since it is in your hand, then it is yours. If I forcefully took it back, you would make second brother hit me again. Isn't that right?"

Both Zheng Shuyu and Zheng Haozu were perplexed at Chen Ziyi's casual yet cold remark. Trembling, Zheng Shuyu forced herself to calm herself, but she could not help but to redden and tighten her small ball fist, unable to take in when Chen Ziyi managed to make her embarrassed like that.

"Sister-you. I'm not like that." Zheng Shuyu squeaked, stepped closer trying to approach Chen Ziyi.

"I only want to help to pick it up for you."

"What-"

"What are you doing? Shuyu, why would you try to go to her?" Zheng Haozu pulled Zheng Shuyu back, to his embrace.

"Brother...I-I only..." Lifted her chin up, looking back at her brother, Zheng Shuyu clutched on her brother's arm that hold her frame.

"Excuse me. I'm the one who want to ask what are you doing? Ziyi said you are not good with each other. I can see that. Then, why are you stepping closer to her? Ziyi hates you, and you know that. Or you actually wanted her to injure you so that your brother can hit her again?" Han Meirong did not missed when Chen Ziyi herself stepped back when Zheng Shuyu tried to approached her and touch her.

"I did not. It was an unconscious move." Stuttered, Zheng Shuyu defended herself while still in her brother's embrace.

Scoffed, Han Meirong ignored Zheng Shuyu's plead, making the later reddened more.

"And- they-, my cousins did not bully her." Trembling, Zheng Shuyu later unconsciously lowered her gaze to the ground, enduring the embarrassment in her brother's embrace.

Raised an eyebrow at that, Han Meirong rolled her eyes at the pair of siblings in front of her, before giving a more sarcastic reply, which making the later embarrassed more.

"Who knows what kind of situation in your mind that you would translated into bullying? If even by looking at a person who hit his own sister, she could simply defending that person by saying it was for 'education', not even trying to stop the fight, I wonder what kind of IQ she has."

"Does she even know what is bullying? Bullying is not limited to physically abused like what your brother did to Chen Ziyi. Ostracizing, spreading fake rumors, interfering with other's success path, humiliating others in public are also considered as bullying too. What you are doing to Chen Ziyi right now is what we can call as bully too. OR perhaps your IQ is too low to understand the term of bullying? Why? Getting too comfortable with your brother and friends that you feel no need to fix your IQ?"

Listening to that, Zheng Shuyu felt something explainable. Although she knew Han Meirong was scolding her, there were few difficult words that Han Meirong use that she could not understand, and she also felt lose with how Han Meirong going way around with her sentences. Thinking that, she became reddened more.

In their circle, Zheng Shuyu was clearly the more favourable one compared to Chen Ziyi. She was the cutest one, the adorable one, the kinder, the better one, and the apple of an eye to her father, her brothers, her grandparents, her uncles and aunts, and her cousins.

Although she was not the youngest one the family, as she still had few cousins than younger than her, she still hold the better position than Chen Ziyi. Her elder cousins adored her, and her younger cousins looked up to her. She had a good look inherited from her mother, a good voice, and had a knack for both singing and dancing. She was always full of praises from her family.

However, there was a thorn that sometimes appeared in her heart. She didn't want to be the inferior one in the comparison of hers with Chen Ziyi, but she could not help but to feel little anxious, when Chen Rumin once refuted back to her father and grandparents when they made the comparison.

Chen Rumin once said "Of course, to your eyes, that girl is the cuter one, the better one and the adorable one. I too can say that, that my daughter is the beautiful one, the brighter one, and the adorable one. My daughter recently had an improvement in her school exam and she even got praises from her teacher and classmates for her piano performance. That girl, what a good voice of hers can do? Is she the only one who can sing in this world? With just a good voice, and praises from her own family, I wish her luck in the future then."

At that time, she did not listen much on the continuation of the conversation. She could only grasp the hidden sarcastic boasting from that wicked aunt saying Chen Ziyi was brighter and smarter than her, and she was not happy with that. She could only felt relieve later when her father had not gave any praise to Chen Ziyi and even brushed her off when Chen Ziyi gleefully shared her happiness getting high scores and so on to her father.

Although her brother would comfort her by saying she was no inferior and clearly the better one compared to Chen Ziyi, she could not help to avoid from having a bit of that dark feeling when someone bring that topic. Her heart felt pricked at her own self-conscious.

Jiang Jingguo looked at Zheng Haozu later and asked, "You're the one who hit your own sister? For what? to educate her?"

Zheng Haozu was surprised that the man was asking him frankly like he was a teacher investigating why his students have fight.

"Yes. I hit her. You heard my sister's explanation. And she even admit it. She's the one who provoke me." Zheng Haozu said without any guilty feeling in his heart.

Hearing that, there was sad and hurtful feelings mixed in coldness in Chen Ziyi's eyes. A wry smile appeared on her face. Zheng Shuyu was nothing to her, but Zheng Haozu was her brother. She definitely would feel sad even after such a scene with him.

"This is not the first time he hit me anyway." Chuckle, Chen Ziyi bitterly muttered but her words was heard by everyone. Zheng Haozu did not like that tone because it sound like Chen Ziyi was complaining to the others and to him, it was similar with humiliating him in front of the others.