"Do not push my limits again. Although I am an orphan, I am not someone you can easily manipulate, Wang Rui. Whether you want to buy clothes or hire a tutor, those are your family's affairs. If your family has money, buy clothes and hire tutors; that's none of my business. But don't dare suggest my parents were biased. As your aunt and uncle, my parents did more than enough. Don't push it too far. My parents are watching from above." Wang Qiqi walked two steps, turned back to face Wang Rui, and said, "Compared to that, how much did your parents do for me? Shouldn't I complain that, since I was little, the only times your mother praised me were when she wanted my parents to give your family money or things?"

Wang Qiqi finished this sentence and, unsurprised, noticed several gossipy neighbors already watching from the side. She knew they had been listening from the start. Li Cui was trying desperately to whitewash herself, but unfortunately, she ran into a pig-headed opponent. Wang Rui was an extremely spoiled child. When her mother was alive, because Wang Rui wasn't her own child, she couldn't discipline her much. What could Li Cui teach her besides how to flatter their own family? "Wang Rui, if you hadn't just accused my parents of favoritism, I genuinely wouldn't have gotten this angry. Even though my parents are gone, I won't allow anyone to slander them, especially not you, Wang Rui. Everyone saw how my parents treated your family, and everyone also saw how you repaid our family. My family doesn't owe yours anything. Even if my father was the eldest son, I certainly shouldn't have to shoulder this burden after his death."

Wang Rui hadn't expected that just a few slight complaints would provoke such a terrifying backlash from Wang Qiqi, especially educating her in front of so many people. "Qiqi, really, I was only complaining a little bit." In Wang Rui's view, what she had said earlier was not wrong at all.

Although Gao Kai was a bit of a rogue, he understood basic principles. He knew a little about Qiqi's family situation and that many of Wang Rui's clothes were bought by Wang Qiqi's family. In his opinion, Wang Qiqi’s family had already done more than enough. His own family was wealthy, but his mother hadn't been generous enough to cover his cousin's entire educational expenses; they only sent gifts during holidays. He was surprised that Wang Rui still felt Wang Qiqi's family was biased. "You have your own parents; your uncle can't be expected to consider everything for you."

"People are just insatiably greedy. I thought the older generation was greedy, but it turns out the younger one is just as foolish. I really don't know what sins Wang Dajun and his wife committed to have given so much only to be accused of favoritism."

"You're only just realizing that now? Like father, like daughter. How could petty people like Wang Dagui and Li Cui raise anyone decent? Tsk, tsk. And she’s even more ruthless than her parents! After receiving so much, she tries to measure things against the daughter of the other family. Why doesn't she mention the things her parents bought for her—did she give anything to that girl, Qiqi?"

"What else would they need to buy for their daughter? Wang Dajun and his wife covered the food, clothing, and tuition. What else did they need to cover? Oh, right, they needed to provide a room for their daughter to sleep in."

"It must be so easy to raise children that way—you could easily have ten or eight."

"Isn't Li Cui going around saying life is hard and they don't have enough money to spend?" a neighbor who had recently moved into the complex and had a decent relationship with Li Cui asked doubtfully. "She used to complain a lot about their poor living conditions and how her uncle's family didn't offer any support." Hearing their conversation, it seemed completely different from what Li Cui had been saying. How come everyone here said Li Cui's uncle's family took great care of Li Cui's family?

"Not enough money to spend? Li Cui practically wants her and her husband to save every penny while the uncle's family covers all their dining, entertainment, and fun..." Some gossipy woman launched into a long account of Wang Dagui’s family matters, focusing heavily on how Wang Dajun looked after his younger brother’s family.

Wang Rui realized that her few words had stirred up dissatisfaction among many neighbors toward her own family. Her heart hammered. This was the first time she felt her mouth had moved too quickly, that she hadn't managed to hold back. She knew that people in the city district had recently developed a poor impression of their family. She needed to find a way to reverse this situation so that later, under the pretext of looking after Qiqi, she could live in Qiqi's house, or when Qiqi got into university, they would have a legitimate reason to move in. But now, she felt she had ruined everything.

Gao Kai watched Wang Rui's clearly frightened expression and sighed. "Let's go. If we don't leave now, it'll be too late." Although Gao Kai thought Wang Rui was a bit excessive, seeing her expression made him feel she hadn't meant it maliciously.

Wang Rui hadn't expected Gao Kai to treat her like this, and she was nearly in tears. "Gao Kai, you are still the best to me. Honestly, I was just complaining absentmindedly, but I didn't expect Qiqi sis to react so strongly. I should have realized long ago that Auntie treated me so well; Qiqi couldn't possibly have no feelings about that. It’s just that Qiqi didn't lash out before, and now that Auntie is gone..."

Wang Rui caught herself. Why was she still worrying about her mother's opinion? The situation was already messed up. Messed up, so be it, but she absolutely had to secure Gao Kai. As long as she could win him over, there would be no designer clothes she couldn't buy, and she wouldn't need to look at anyone's face to travel like Auntie used to. She knew she couldn't change what her parents had done before, but she could certainly work to change what Gao Kai thought of her now.

Gao Kai listened to Wang Rui’s words. While he thought there was a bit of exaggeration in what she said, upon reflection, it made some sense. No one could see their parents treating their cousin exactly the same as they treated themselves without feeling some resentment. "What you're saying has a point, but what you said just now will definitely make Qiqi furious, and you also mentioned before that you weren't planning on going to high school."

Wang Rui heard Gao Kai’s words. Although she was slightly annoyed that he had taken Qiqi's side on the latter point, she was happy that Gao Kai was showing concern for her. "I know, I was just momentarily agitated. Forget it, forget it, I’ll apologize."

After walking out of the complex, Wang Qiqi felt the weather today was genuinely lovely. "The sky is so blue today, and Mr. Sun is smiling sweetly."

Shi Man had expected Wang Qiqi's mood to be terrible, especially since Wang Rui had just accused Uncle Wang and his wife of favoritism. She had been thinking about how to comfort Qiqi, but unexpectedly, Qiqi’s mood seemed to clear up on its own. "The sky has always been like this." The summer sky was blue, occasionally traversed by white clouds. Wasn't the summer sky always like this every year? "Unless it was gloomy today. By the way, Wang Rui said those things about your parents just now—how did your mood recover so quickly?"

Wang Qiqi smiled. "I know. I notice that every time I mention Uncle and his family, my mood improves significantly. I tell myself internally that I must live well and see what kind of outcome awaits those who treat my family like fools."

Shi Man was stunned into silence. Although she knew quite a bit already, she hadn't expected some details to be even more explosive than what she already knew.

"And right now, Wang Rui will definitely call me petty, jealous that my mother treated her better than me," Wang Qiqi said with a slight smile. "And that brainless Gao Kai—or rather, his usually sharp brain—goes completely haywire when faced with a beautiful girl."

Shi Man chuckled at Wang Qiqi’s unreserved assessment of someone. However, Qiqi's critique was quite accurate for that particular person. "If Gao Kai ends up with your cousin, they would actually be quite well-matched. But I think your uncle and aunt would be thrilled, feeling a great sense of accomplishment for snatching such a good catch away from you."

"That’s their business. Maybe tonight or tomorrow, Little Rui will apologize to me, but she’ll word it in a way that makes me seem especially petty." Wang Qiqi thought, Please don't let it be anything other than that, otherwise, there won't be any fun left.

As Wang Qiqi and Shi Man sauntered toward the teaching building, they saw Zhu Lina rushing toward them, her speed nearly matching that of a hundred-meter dash trial. "Notebook, notebook, let me see, let me see!" Zhu Lina had been waiting there for a long time, worried that Shi Man's math notebook would be snatched by someone else first.

Shi Man never expected to have such a moment of triumph. Although she was displeased by Zhu Lina breathing hot air right in her face, she was in a good mood today. She told Zhu Lina to get the homework out of her own schoolbag. She had actually expected Zhu Lina to say a few nice words, but to her disappointment, after grabbing the notebook, the girl darted away upstairs.

"Not bad. At least someone was waiting for you downstairs," Wang Qiqi consoled Shi Man, who looked a little disappointed. "Look, my notebook isn't in demand. You're doing much better than me."

Just as Shi Man was about to nod in agreement, another person rushed down from the stairwell. "Wang Qiqi, can I borrow your notebook to look at?" A girl rushed over, standing about thirty centimeters away from Wang Qiqi, panting heavily as she spoke.

Wang Qiqi certainly didn't mind; she was going up to share anyway. "It's in my bag; grab it yourself."

After taking the math notebook, Shi Man expected the girl to run off to class like Zhu Lina. To her surprise, the girl turned back toward Wang Qiqi and said, "Thank you so much, Qiqi."

Shi Man watched the other girl quickly turn back to head to her desk despite her haste to finish her homework, and she sighed. "It seems you have the best connections after all."

"That's because you're close with Zhu Lina, so she felt no need to thank you, but since I'm not that close with her, of course, she thanked me," Wang Qiqi explained as they walked toward the classroom. "By the way, your parents are coming back tomorrow, right?" Starting tomorrow, she would be back to being alone again; ah, it was still a bit lonely.

Shi Man calculated. "Yeah, they're back tomorrow." No, I have to figure something out, or my math scores will drop again. Unfortunately, she couldn't just pull out Han Tao’s notebook. Shi Man considered copying some tonight so she could review it after returning home. (To be continued)