Chapter 8 - Abuse

The scene happening was a usual one. Hua cleaning and the Zhang family going about their business. Her existence was invisible when they didn't need her to do anything.

Hua was cleaning the apartment's living room when she saw that Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were having a serious discussion. There was a large mirror right across the room that reflected the couple so Hua to be able to see them clearly while she cleaned.

She could read their lips very easily. She had become an expert over the years. Of course, this skill was something the Zhangs did not know she had developed.

Mrs. Zhang glanced at Hua, "What about Hua?"

"What about her?" Mr. Zhang snorted glancing at Hua as well.

"Hubby, remember the adoption paper said that we are responsible for her only till she is 18. That orphanage woman made us sign it remember."

"So what? It's not like that woman is here to stop us from keeping Hua."

"True, that girl also doesn't know that she is free to leave after she turns 18."

"Whatever, just keep her. I don't want her going out and talking badly about our family in the future. She can follow Mingmei to her future in-law's place when our daughter gets married. She can help Mingmei with housework."

Mrs. Zhang smiled, "Like a dowry maid. Hubby, you're so smart."

Hua's eyes flashed with mirth as she read their lips. She turned her back to them as she cleaned and smirked lightly to herself. This family had truly underestimated her. All the years of laying low had made them never have their guard up against her. But she already knew.

When Hua turned 11, she was deemed "responsible" enough by Mr. Zhang to clean his study room. This responsibility was an unexpected golden opportunity for Hua.

During one such occasion of dusting shelves in the study room, Hua dropped a stack of files. One of the files had her name on it. Hua quickly looked through and determined that these were papers about her adoption, so she hid the file under her shirt. Mr. Zhang walked in soon after but he didn't notice anything amiss.

Later, when Hua read the papers, she realized that she was adopted only till she turned 18. Once, she was an adult, she could leave this vile family. She was only registered as a distant relative under temporary custody.

She was glad her last name was not changed to Zhang when they adopted her. Well, they probably never wanted her to be truly part of their family so that was one less issue to deal with.

Since, then, Hua had started to plan what to do and how to leave this family. Did they really think she would continue to be their maid for the rest of her life?

Hua had taken the documents to the library and got photocopies of them. She put the copies back in Mr. Zhang's study and kept the original documents.

Her birthday was documented as July 9th. It wasn't her real birthday but one estimated after she was found on Dec 9th on that bench during the cold winter. The national exams were held from July 7th - 8th. So, she planned to leave right after completing her exam. Hua was confident that her grades for the exams would be great and that she would receive a scholarship to university.

From then on, she had the plan to start saving as much as she could to go independent. She had 8 years to prep for her new life after. So, Hua barely spent money on herself. Everything was from the flea market or the used goods store or the junkyard. She took advantage of Mingmei's habit of throwing out things very easily once they were damaged.

Her storage closet was now a decent room with an old desk, chair, and even an old laptop. Courtesy of Mrs. Zhang to help Mingmei with homework.

She got by on leftover food from the Zhangs' kitchen and at Mrs. Po's restaurant.

If she got a scholarship, she could be able to easily get a dorm room too. So, Hua planned to get an on-campus job to supplement her income. Hua had done her research into which university would be the best for her. She had narrowed it down to a few choices.

National University was the top best university and was known for having prodigies and geniuses who had gone on to take on many prestigious roles in society. They had a program about language history and diplomatic relations.

Over the years, Hua's interest in languages only got stronger. She was fluent in English and German. She was now learning French.

There was also King's University which was also well-renowned. They were direct competitors to National University in terms of academic rankings and facilities. But Fang was a freshman there and Mingmei planned to attend the same university, so Hua wasn't planning on going there at all.

Fang had many connections and a gang of rich fraternity friends who would probably make her life miserable if she went there. Mr. Zhang had dreamed of his son going to the National. He wasn't able to get the top scores to get into National. He ended up going to King's after Mr. Zhang made a rather large donation to King's.

The night before the exams, Fang's girlfriend had broken up with him and he had an all-night pity party at his friend's house. His hangover was the actual reason why he didn't get the grades he should have gotten. Mr. Zhang was upset but Mrs. Zhang pacified him saying that King's was also a prestigious university and no less than National.

Mingmei wanted to go to King's too since they had a vocal and acting program. Mingmei had dreams of being a celebrity. She had fewer choices academically since she was at a very basic level in most subjects.

When she was 7, Mingmei started attending vocal, acting, and dance classes. Her teacher, Mrs. Lily had taught many stars when they were younger or before they became famous. Mr. Zhang had to pull a lot of connections to get Mingmei into those classes.

One time, when Hua was 12, she had to drop off Mingmei's dance shoes that she had forgotten. Hua watched the dance routine and was able to do some of the moves. Mrs. Lily had happened to see her and made a comment, "She's a diamond in the rough."

Mingmei heard it and threw a huge tantrum when she got home.

"Mom! Hua doesn't need to come to give me things at the studio!"

"Why not?"

"MOM! MRS. LILY SAID HUA IS A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH! SHE CALLED HER DIAMOND!"

Fang snorted, "Do you even know what that means?"

Mingmei stopped wailing, "What does it mean? Doesn't it mean she is a diamond?"

Fang rolled his eyes, "Mingmei, please try to get smarter. Diamond in the rough means she will be a diamond only after polishing."

"Oh… but I still hate that Mrs. Lily even paid her even an ounce of attention. Do you know how hard it is to please her? Hua stood outside my class for like five minutes and she got that. WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?!"

Mrs. Zhang felt miffed as well and slapped Hua really hard a few times to appease Mingmei's anger.

"She can't even hear or speak, how can she dance or sing?" Mrs. Zhang cackle-laughed.

Many a time, Mingmei would purposely make up something that Hua supposedly did and Mrs. Zhang would just slap her to make her daughter happy.

Worse things were on their way for Hua.

Written by Uner90 (R.R.)