Chapter 44 Humiliation

  At noon, Qiao Anyu returned home and found that her father, Qiao Sheng, who was supposed to be on a business trip, had come back. He was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, reading the newspaper.

  "Dad, you're back!" Qiao Anyu exclaimed excitedly, throwing her school bag aside and sitting down in the empty seat beside her father.

  Qiao Sheng smiled and put the newspaper on the tea table, pinching her cheek and said: "Our Liang'er is getting more and more beautiful."

  Qiao An's face turned pale and she made a ghostly face, mischievously smiling: "Dad is getting younger and younger."

  "Little girl, your mouth is as sweet as honey. Where's Nuan? Why didn't you two come back together?" Qiao Sheng hadn't been home for several months now. Every time he went on a business trip, it would take him many days to return. Each time he came back, he would bring gifts for his two daughters.

  Yu Nuan came back quickly. Dad, are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen and see if there's anything that needs help. Qiao An Yu Liang was about to head to the kitchen when the door creaked open and Qiao Yu Nuan pushed it open and walked in.

  "Nu'er!" Qiao Sheng called out to his daughter.

  "Dad! You're finally home!" Qiao Anyu was also delighted to see her long-absent father, and she directly threw herself into Qiao Sheng's arms, coquettishly saying: "Dad, I haven't seen you for so long, it's made your daughter think of you day and night. What do you say we should do to make up for the three of us?"

  "Great, great, I'll forget your gift next time I come back." Qiao Sheng was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. He took out a small bag from a pile of bags on the sofa and said mysteriously: "Guess what the gift is?"

  Qiao An Yu Nu grabbed the gift bag, pulled out a silver-white necklace with a small angel pendant, which was very exquisite. Qiao An Yu Nu lovingly put it around her neck and couldn't stop admiring herself.

  "Here you are, that's for your sister, yours is here!" Qiao Sheng magically pulled out another gift bag.

  "Oh." Qiao Anyu Nuan reluctantly put down the necklace in her hand and opened the bag handed over by Qiao Sheng with a full of hope, which was a silver bracelet, also stunningly beautiful. But Qiao Anyu Nuan seemed to be disinterested, casually putting on the bracelet and turning it around her wrist.

  Qiao Anyu walked out of the kitchen with a plate of dishes, Qiao Sheng smiled and called her over, pulled her hand, put the necklace in her palm, and said: "Liang'er, your birthday is coming soon too. Dad can't be with you on your birthday, so I can only give you a birthday gift in advance. However, Dad's heart and blessings haven't changed at all, hoping Liang'er will be happy and healthy every day."

  Qiao Anyu's nose suddenly turned sour, and she almost shed tears. It turned out that her father still remembered her birthday. Her mother seemed to never remember her own birthday, every year on her birthday, she would secretly sing the birthday song to herself in her bedroom. Qiao Anyu's warm birthday had a rich dinner, cake, and gifts, all of which were carefully prepared by her mother. Although her father loved her dearly, he was not at home for many years, so on Qiao Anyu's birthday, he couldn't attend, making the day feel cold and empty. Even Qiao Anyu herself felt that it was even more desolate than usual.

  Qiao Anyu nodded vigorously and Qiao Sheng patted her on the back of the head, going into the kitchen to find An Yan.

  "Sister, how about exchanging this bracelet of mine for your necklace?" Qiao Anyu asked with a thick face, really loving that necklace but finding it hard to bring up the topic, taking advantage of Qiao Sheng's absence.

  "This was given by Dad, I won't exchange it." If it were in the past, Qiao An would have let her sister have it, but this time it's not possible, after all, it's a birthday gift from Dad.

  For the first time being directly rejected, Qiao An's face turned red with displeasure, and she muttered: "Dad seems to only have you as his daughter, he only remembers your birthday, but has never remembered mine!"

  Qiao Anyu felt uncomfortable in her heart, but she had no choice. She had learned not to argue with her sister.

  Qiao Sheng had just come out of the kitchen, and Qiao Anyu warmed up to go into the kitchen. Qiao Anyu Liang knew that she was going to use her mother's authority to indirectly ask him for that necklace again.

  Before long, An Yan walked out with a cold face and scolded Qiao Anyu, saying: "You, as an elder sister, don't know how to give in to your younger sister. You've read so many years of books, but you don't even understand such simple truth."

  Qiao Anyu was sitting on the sofa with Qiao Sheng, looking down at the newspaper, when she heard her mother's scolding. She had already mentally prepared herself, but still wanted to defend herself: "I..."

  Qiao Sheng also looked at his wife, not knowing what had happened, and said: "As a sister, you can't always compromise without principle. Yanzhi, when educating children, you must make sense, you can't just push all the blame onto Liang'er's body without distinguishing right from wrong, it will spoil Nuan'er."

  Qiao Anyu felt a pang of grievance in her heart, thinking that her sister must have told their mother that she wanted the necklace for herself but wouldn't give it to her. Why was it always like this, favoring one daughter over the other? This question had been bothering her for years, and she had never gotten a reasonable explanation. At one point, she even suspected that she wasn't their biological daughter, but the resemblance between her and her mother's eyes and eyebrows was unmistakable. This suspicion seemed unfounded.

  An Yan softened her voice and said to Qiao Sheng: "You're one to talk, you're the same, always protecting Yu Liang, an older sister should have the demeanor of an older sister..."

  Qiao Anyu didn't want to hear them discuss educational issues anymore, her good mood was gone. Taking advantage of their discussion, she quietly ate dinner, cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, didn't go back to the bedroom for a nap, and directly carried her schoolbag to school early.