When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 480: Chapter 1166: The ’80s Drama Queen Forced to Become a Top Student (Part 1)

So, after they made their relationship official, Xiao Xuezhen took time off work to personally bring the mother and daughter to the Capital City.

”Yunyun, don’t be afraid. From now on, I’ll be your real dad.” Xiao Xuezhen shot an intense look at Ren Xingchen—Sheng Leyun’s mother, who was still as beautiful as ever—then turned to Sheng Leyun, lovingly stroking her head with a smile.

”From now on, you won’t just have a mom to dote on you; you’ll have a dad, too. Plus a big brother and a big sister at home. You’ll be the youngest in the family, so everyone will have to give in to you.”

”Xuezhen, you can’t say that to a child. You’ll spoil her,” Ren Xingchen quickly interjected. ”You’ll be out working to support us, and I’ll be home watching this girl every day. Do you think I’m going to let her go hungry or without proper clothes?”

”My girl is used to a tough life. She barely saw her father growing up. Even when he passed away, I hardly saw her shed a single tear.”

”But your son and daughter, they’re old enough to understand. It must be so hard for them, losing their mother so suddenly. When we get home, you absolutely must not show any favoritism toward my girl, or the children won’t be able to bear it.”

Xiao Xuezhen was moved. ”Chenchen, you’re so thoughtful and kind-hearted. The children will surely see the good in you and come to accept you quickly.”

”Don’t worry. I’ve already smoothed things over with my late wife’s family. They know I’m still young and can’t be expected to raise the children alone without remarrying. Besides, the kids are still little and need a woman to take care of them.”

”As long as you don’t hit or yell at them and make sure they’re fed and clothed, they won’t interfere much with our life. They’re at school during the week and stay with their maternal grandparents on the weekends.”

Ren Xingchen nodded eagerly. ”I’ll do my best. Since they’ve lost their mother, I’ll be their mother. I’ll love them as if they were my own!”

Right in front of her, the two of them discussed how to be good to the children, completely disregarding her happiness in the matter.

Sheng Leyun secretly rolled her eyes. She puffed out her cheeks, chewing the piece of gum her newfound father had stuffed in her hand. After listening to their uninspired conversation for a while, she began to ponder her own affairs.

She couldn’t feel a single wisp of emotion from the body’s original owner. ’This is rare, for all the missions I’ve done,’ she thought. ’Either the original owner had no lingering attachments to the world, or she was so deeply hurt that she’s retreated into a shell.’

The little girl was nine years old. Having lived with her mother at her maternal grandmother’s house, she had always been kept home to do chores and had never attended school. Her clothes carried the stains of old grease that would never wash out, her hair was dull, yellow, and frizzy, and her body was so thin it was practically skin and bones.

In truth, her features were quite fine. But her gauntness gave her a sharp-jawed, hollow-cheeked look, the kind associated with misfortune. Even her pretty, almond-shaped eyes held a defiant glint, entirely lacking the sweet, docile innocence of a child.

In the typically brief plot summary she’d received, the original owner had followed her mother to the Capital City. There, because she started school late, was older than her classmates, and came from the southern countryside with a thick accent, she was severely bullied by the other children.

Her stepbrother and stepsister were the worst, deliberately framing her at home. For instance, while ”helping” carry a bowl, she would—supposedly resentful—”accidentally” trip and smash a huge pot of braised potatoes and ribs. Or she would allegedly take a pair of scissors to the bedsheets hanging out to dry, cutting them into strips. And whenever the married couple tried to be intimate, she would constantly interrupt them, shouting that there was a mouse...

As these small incidents piled up, the couple came to see her as a bad kid—a liar who was jealous, malicious, and rotten to the core. They stopped bothering with her. After the original owner graduated from junior high, they found her some random job and threw her out of the house.

The original owner, starved for affection and too withdrawn to express herself, suffered one silent injustice after another.