Chapter 3: Going to a Banquet (Part 1)

Enchantress | December 12, 2021

Zhang Yansheng wiped her face while staring at the little boy in front of her. She was surprised — Zhang Shoucheng is so young now?

Zhang Shuocheng is seven years old this year, the age when children suddenly become disobedient. He saw that Zhang Yansheng was successfully attacked, so he laughed hard, leaning forward and backward, a typical exaggeration made by a child deliberately.

Back then, the 15-year-old Zhang Yansheng chased him downstairs, scolded him loudly, and quarreled with Liang Yingying who was defending him, which delayed their time. When the family arrived at the reception, her granny’s birthday banquet had already begun, so the family was very disrespectful.

Her grandma1 had lost her face in front of her sister-in-law and was very upset. Liang Yingying was the wicked person who complained first, saying that it was Zhang Yansheng that wasted everyone’s time and made them late.

What was even more hateful is that Zhang Shuocheng took the small water gun and ruined the skirt that Zhang Yansheng later changed onto at the birthday banquet.

At that time, Zhang Yansheng only hated Liang Yingying in her eyes. She felt that many witnesses could prove that Zhang Shuocheng was naughty and not that she was wrong. So, she angrily pulled Zhang Shuocheng up to quarrel with her, completely disregarding the occasion.

Naturally, it makes her grandma even lose more face.

The 15-year-old Zhang Yansheng didn’t realize at that time that her extreme behavior had gradually alienated her relatives who had felt sorry for her.

For example, her grandma, her father.

At this time, Zhang Yansheng stared at the seven-year-old Zhang Shoucheng, who suddenly laughed.

“You’re good.” She pretended to be fierce and said, “If you dare to do it again, I will… ask Dad to beat your ass.”

That is a false statement because the Zhang family basically doesn’t hit their children. Zhang Huan even regards Zhang Shuocheng as a treasure. Therefore, even children like Zhang Shuocheng can see Zhang Yansheng’s ‘bluff’.

The little brat was not afraid of his sister’s bluffing. He pulled his eyelid and stuck out his tongue, who arrogantly provoked her: “Lüè lüè lüè2, come on!” After that, he ran away.

“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry, he is a kid.” Aunt Luo pulled Zhang Yansheng back into the room, “Don’t bother yourself arguing with the likes of him. How old is he?”

After Zhang Yansheng entered puberty, her temper became more and more irritable. She had a little fight with a woman surnamed Liang for three days and will have a big fight with her for five days. But she is a half-grown adult, so how can she still fight with Liang Yingying? What’s even more is that Liang Yingying can still blow the pillow wind3 to Zhang Huan, but Zhang Yansheng always yells at Zhang Huan because of her unstable emotions, which gives headache to Zhang Huan whenever he sees her, so he is getting more reluctant to see her.

In the end, Zhang Yansheng suffered.

Aunt Luo grasped her arm very hard and she understood why. In the past, Aunt Luo has always advised her not to confront Liang Yingying’s head on, because she will just suffer loss for nothing. However, she couldn’t listen and endure it.

In the end, the outcome was that her relatives turned away from her, as if she was an outsider in this family, a family of four talented people who love each other.

When she was reborn, Zhang Yansheng said to herself that she will not make the same mistakes again.

She patted Aunt Luo’s hand and calmly said: “It’s okay, this little brat, I won’t bother anymore.”

Aunt Luo was relieved, so she let go of her arm and pushed her into the cloakroom: “That’s it, just ignore him.”

Zhang Yansheng changed clothes inside while Aunt Luo was waiting for her outside. Then, she heard the girl inside as if she was talking to herself: “However, Zhang Shuocheng has to be supervised, otherwise, I don’t know what kind of rubbish he’ll grow into.”

Aunt Luo became nervous again: “With his father and mother, how can you control him? You just need to go to school and study well, and give your mother a break.”

The cloakroom became quiet for a few seconds, then she heard the sound of changing clothes.

Faintly, it’s as if a sentence floated out: “There’s a father, there’s no father…”

Aunt Luo did not speak.

So what? Although he is Zhang Shuocheng’s father, he is also Zhang Yansheng’s father.

Zhang Yansheng changed into a new skirt and walked down the stairs. When she reached the first floor, she stopped and looked at the people below.

Hearing the footsteps, Zhang Huan raised his head and frowned, but he still called her as kindly as possible: “Yanyan, hurry up.”

Zhang Yansheng walked down unhurriedly. Liang Yingying looked at her, “Heh”.

Zhang Huan pretended not to hear her and asked casually: “What took you so long?”

Zhang Yansheng glanced at him, feeling inexplicable in her heart.

She is noisy, always tossing around, and making trouble. She used to think that Zhang Huan was sorry for her and her mother, so she has the right to be like that. But now that she calmed down, she finally understood after looking at him that all the troubles created by the rebellious children were just to get more attention from their parents.

Yes, it is so sad.

Now that Zhang Yansheng can see clearly, everything she has done in the past, uncovering the reason behind, ignoring all excuses; in the end, all she wanted is just to make this man look at her more and to care about her more.

Finally, what she got was his impatience. When she died, he only shed a few symbolic tears, and then gave her a ‘decent’ funeral.

It is so ridiculous.

The rebellious and arrogant Zhang Yansheng with heavy makeup is nothing more than a child who can’t get love.

Ridiculous, pathetic.

Zhang Huan got inexplicably uncomfortable under the gaze of his daughter, and forced a smile: “What’s the matter, why don’t you speak?”

He doesn’t know what’s going on with this daughter today. Yesterday, she had a fierce fight with his young wife and her screams pierced his ears. But she is so quiet today and those pitch-black eyes faintly looking at him are like two pools of water with unknown depth.

It’s inexplicably disturbing.

Zhang Yansheng lowered her eyes.

She didn’t notice it in the past that her longing for love and care had disappeared. In this life, she will not ask for anything, not from the outside, but from the inside.

She has to live well all by herself.