Chapter Forty-Nine: Don’t Be Moved Just Yet

Do not blame Lin Zhaozhao for thinking this way about Lin Qingci. In fact, during the first two years after she returned to the Lin residence, she only had conflicts with him.

If you say Lin Qingci was particularly bad, well, not really—after all, he was just a child. What could he truly understand?

All he could think about was that when he was little and unaware, he once broke a vase his mother cherished. It was Lin Wanyue who shielded him, asking the Bai family not to be angry or punish him.

Because of that, he always regarded Lin Wanyue as his own elder sister.

But suddenly one day, someone said Lin Wanyue was no longer his sister, and another girl was coming to the residence.

Seven-year-old Lin Wanyue wept in the mansion, unable to understand how she had become an outsider.

Yet, a spoiled child, faced with an intruder, naturally wished to beat her up and hurled all kinds of vicious words.

She would have gladly reached out to drive Lin Zhaozhao away, but when she realized Lin Zhaozhao was not so easily dismissed, she resorted to slanders and dirty accusations.

Lin Zhaozhao protested in grievance, but in Lin Qingci’s eyes, she was nothing more than a shrew making unreasonable trouble.

Thus, he preemptively detested this intruder.

He assured Lin Wanyue, “No matter how good Lin Zhaozhao is to me in the future, you will always be my only sister.”

Lin Wanyue felt satisfied, but what did she do then?

Lin Qingci was slow-witted; he always knew he was not as clever as the several elder brothers in the residence.

While his brothers could understand and memorize something after one reading, he might not grasp it even after ten attempts. Hence, his father looked down on him in many ways, rarely consulting him on family matters, and he had little presence in the household.

But fortunately, he was not without merits—Wanyue needed him very much.

Besides, if not good at academics, he could excel in martial skills!

He refused to believe he was utterly useless at everything.

So, at today’s polo match, his thoughts were: no matter if he ended up with a broken leg, they had insulted his sister, and no matter how scared he was, a real man must stand up to defend his sister when it counts.

And what was the outcome?

…If not for Lin Zhaozhao standing up for him, he might as well have called the other party “father” in surrender.

Usually, Lin Qingci would have protested loudly, claiming Lin Zhaozhao was cold-hearted and projected her own cruelty onto others.

But this time, he scratched his head and said, “Why am I laughing at you? You’re my sister. Mother said it’s not good to be overly quarrelsome and eat too little, so you—”

“Stop, stop! I know you’re touched, but don’t move yet.”

At this moment, Lin Zhaozhao finally understood what Lin Qingci meant.

This troublesome child wasn’t here just for the spectacle; it was probably because she had helped him in the polo match and was now seeking peace.

But, “I have to make this clear: today’s polo match wasn’t to help you. Even if the one being bullied were a servant in the household, I would intervene. After all, you are my brother by blood. Your disgrace is also a disgrace to our parents and me. I don’t want others to mock our parents in the future, so you don’t need to flatter me here just because I played polo.”

In plain terms, it was unnecessary.

Lin Zhaozhao had never acted for Lin Qingci’s sake.

To be blunt, Lin Qingci was naïve.

That was why he never understood the victim’s perspective in this “switched at birth” tale. From the original’s point of view, Lin Wanyue enjoyed everything she should have, which caused the original to resent her.

After being swapped away, the original grew up in the countryside, waking before dawn to feed cattle, washing clothes, cooking, and taking care of several younger brothers. Starving was one hardship, but her drunken foster father also often slapped her.

When Lin Wanyue, the daughter of the Marquis of Qingyuan, celebrated her birthday in the mansion, the original couldn’t even have a bowl of longevity noodles, nor did she own a single piece of clothing bought by her parents.