Qiao Shiyue, seeing everyone's attention shift to Shen Yunyun, immediately spoke in a soft, delicate voice: "Oh, so big sister went for some medical aesthetics, no wonder you look so fresh and youthful. But really, you're being so wasteful—you're only twenty, why would you need that? Isn't it just throwing money away? Don't you know how hard Mom and Dad work to support the family?"
"Oh, here you go again, dragging me into it to make your big face look better? Fine, you're thrifty, you're frugal—you've got crow's feet and scars on your body. Even if I did go for medical aesthetics, even if I folded my money into paper boats and set them adrift, what's it to you? Did I spend a single cent of yours? If you're so worried about Mom and Dad working hard, why don't you save up by not eating or drinking? Their hard work has nothing to do with me—I don't use a penny of it."
Qiao Shiyue's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she choked out: "Big sister, that's not what I meant. I know you're still holding a grudge against Mom and Dad, blaming them for not giving you money when you ran away from home. But they were just trying to keep you there."
"Haha, right. Without you stirring things up behind the scenes, they might have actually tried to keep me and given me some travel money. But with you opening your mouth, they had to search through all my luggage and even my phone, terrified of leaving me a single cent."
"Big sister, how can you say that about me? You've misunderstood me. Boohoo..."
Damn it, a crying machine.
"Yunyun, I raised you for nothing—you're an ungrateful brat. Apologize to Shiyue right now." Guo Yuhua's chest heaved with anger, her head buzzing. She was already in a bad state mentally, and if she hadn't taken some medication beforehand, she thought she might go crazy. Even now, with the meds, she couldn't vent her anger properly.
Shen Yunyun sneered at Guo Yuhua and said, "You raised me for nothing? You tore me away from my biological parents, and you have the nerve to say you raised me for nothing?"
"You were just an abandoned child in an orphanage, unwanted by anyone. We raised you, and this is the thanks we get?" Qiao Zhenguo was also furious.
Shen Yunyun immediately seized on the flaw in his words, turning to face them and saying, "So you took me from an orphanage? Then what about your biological daughter? Did you lose her yourselves and adopt from an orphanage to replace her? Why didn't you go look for her? Because you don't love her? Or because, for some reason, you're afraid of outsiders finding out you lost her? Could there be something shameful going on?"
"Shut up." Qiao Zhenguo immediately realized he'd slipped up, but the words were already out, and he didn't know how to take them back.
The three Qiao Pengyu brothers stared wide-eyed and asked, "Dad, is what she said true? Was little sister lost by you, not swapped at the hospital?"
Before Qiao Zhenguo could figure out how to explain, Shen Yunyun said to Qiao Shiyue, "Qiao Shiyue, looks like your parents don't care that much about you after all. They lost you and never bothered to look for you, instead adopting someone else to take your place. All the suffering you've endured over the years is their fault. If they had made a big deal out of searching for you, with the Qiao family's resources, they'd have found you quickly. But they'd rather watch you suffer out there than look for you—maybe they just don't love you enough. Don't go thinking I stole your life; it was your parents who dragged me into this mess."
Qiao Shiyue's eyes glistened with tears as she looked at Qiao Zhenguo and Guo Yuhua.