Chapter 293, psychological factors

Shuishui didn't care. "Let's go. Only the four of us are going. Zilin said his girlfriend isn't feeling well."

"She's not feeling well? Why didn't she say so earlier?" Qian Anzhi felt that Zilin's girlfriend was quite pretentious. She seemed to be very delicate when they were having lunch. She didn't seem to come from a wealthy family, but she acted like a rich girl. He really didn't know why Brother Zilin liked her. Perhaps she had good characteristics that attracted Brother Zilin. Anzhi, however, saw nothing attractive in that girl.

When the movie ended, they looked for a restaurant to eat.

They decided to eat at Shuishui's barbecue restaurant. Shuishui called the manager and asked him to prepare the private room. She also asked him to prepare the cutlery so that they could start eating directly.

The restaurant was full, and there were many customers lining up. They were lucky because they didn't have to wait. Fortunately, the manager had been able to prepare their set meal, and they were able to eat in time.

Qian Anzhi had seemed distracted and had been looking at his phone, but he didn't bother to do anything else.

When they finished eating, Qian Anzhi still seemed bothered. He would look very annoyed as he stared at his phone. Jiang Li approached Qian Anzhi and asked, "What's wrong with you? What's with the long face? Is the food not to your liking? That's not right. You were quite happy when we were eating just now."

"It's not that. I think the food is very good. It's just that my mother has been looking for me these past few days. I feel like she's planning something. She told my elder sister that she wanted to stay at our house and is waiting for us to go home. Don't you think it's too much? Can you think of a way to make them go away? I don't want them to disturb our lives anymore." He suddenly realized something. His mother still had no idea that Shuishui was not her own daughter. He didn't bother to say anything about it because he felt like it was too private to discuss and was not his secret to reveal. Besides, his mother, elder sister, and second sister had a strained and complicated relationship that was beyond reconciliation.

He felt that it was better for his mother to not know the truth. He knew she would make a fuss about it if she found out. However, nothing his mother would do would result to anything, because she had already divorced their father.

"Why don't you send a message saying that you are going home very late today? Let them go home instead. Drag it out for a while first, then we'll let Sister Qian and Brother Mu go out later. We can let them go home late. What do you think?" Jiang Li suggested.

Qian Anzhi nodded. "I'll send a message now."

Qian Anzhi then turned to Shuishui and said, "Sister, let's go watch another movie or go to the game console city. We rarely go out to play anyway."

Shuishui knew that at Qian Anzhi's age, it was normal for him to want to go out and enjoy. He and Jiang Li were only in their second year of high school, so there was no need to be very strict with them.

After going around and enjoying themselves, they all went home together. As they neared the village, Mu Ziyu turned to Shuishui and said, "Call me when you wake up tomorrow."

"Okay. Just drop us off at the main gate. Recently, cars of outsiders are no longer allowed to enter after ten o'clock," Shuishui said. The new policy confused several homeowners, but for their own safety, they conformed to it.

"All right. You have to be careful too. Qian Anzhi is a big boy now, so he can protect his sister," Mu Ziyu said as he turned to Anzhi and smiled. He watched them get out of the car. He grabbed Shuishui's hand and kissed it.

Shuishui lowered her head and smiled. "You have to be careful on your way home."

They entered the village area. They were chatting and laughing as they were walking towards their front door. Suddenly, a figure rushed out to meet them. Shuishui was going to make a move, but she somehow recognized the figure through the dim light from the lampposts. Shuishui stopped. "Qian Momo, what are you doing here?"

"We've been waiting for you for five to six hours. You're home so late," Qian Momo said as she stomped her feet. She helped Li Xue up and said, "See, I didn't lie to you."

Li Xue looked at the house they lived in. She was very upset. "What? It's a little cold outside. We've been waiting for you for several hours. We're about to catch a cold," she said.

Qian Anzhi was a little unhappy. "Didn't I tell you not to come? If you needed to see me, I could have visited you. What are you doing here now?"

It was late at night, and Shuishui and Anzhi were tired. They wanted to rest early. Li Xue and Momo's visit annoyed Shuishui.

Li Xue looked at her son. She was annoyed that he was complaining. "You're complaining to your mother? I worked hard to raise you up. Why are you being so disrespectful?"

"Mom, I have a class tomorrow. I won't be able to sleep on time because of your sudden visit." Anzhi's voice softened. No matter what, she was his mother. Although he didn't like the way she was behaving, he still had to be courteous because she was his own mother. "If you needed anything, we can talk about it tomorrow. I'll go see you after school tomorrow. I can take some time off from the self-study sessions," Anzhi said.

Shuishui looked at them. She knew that bringing Qian Momo there would bring trouble. She tried to be patient as she listened to their discussion.

She suddenly turned to Li Xue and Momo and said coldly, "We're going to wash up and sleep. We don't plan to entertain guests at home."

Qian Momo took a step forward and glared at Qian Shuishui. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't want to argue with you. It's useless. If there's nothing else, I can call a cab to send you off," Shuishui responded.

Shuishui had already unlocked the door, but she didn't go inside yet.

After a while, Li Xue and Momo were still unwilling to leave. Qian Shuishui looked at Qian Anzhi. He didn't know what to do either. Shuishui was getting a little annoyed. "Forget it. I don't want to disturb the neighbors," she said.

Of course, she didn't want to see their neighbor either. He would bring them food whenever he was free. Although they had never accepted whatever he gave, she was very annoyed with his persistence. She did not want to see him at all, but he continued to pester her. She could not understand what his intentions were. However, he didn't really pester her every day. He would only occasionally bring things over to their house, probably in the hopes of becoming their friend.

She looked over and saw his car, so she decided to let Li Xue and Momo in. "I'll give you guys some time."

Upon entering the house, Li Xue looked around. It was slightly bigger than their previous villa. She wondered how two children could live in such a big house. Could Jiang Li have provided it? It was possible. Why was Jiang Li so good to the two children? The apartment was not very comfortable, and it was far from the center. Li Xue had recently met a man in his fifties. She could feel that the man had feelings for her, and she had been hanging on to him. The man was a businessman and was considerably rich. He only had two daughters and lived in a high-class two-story apartment in the city center. She had visited him a few times. She felt that living in that villa would be good for her image. If she married that man, she would be able to live in a better environment. In the future, Momo could also get married. The apartment in the suburbs could be considered Momo's dowry. It was already good enough to have an apartment in the capital, even though it was in the suburbs.

Li Xue had never invited that man to the apartment because she was ashamed of her living conditions. She did not dare to bring him there. She was used to acting like a noblewoman. The apartment would destroy her image. She knew that Shuishui and Anzhi lived in a good house, but she did not expect it to be that beautiful.

Li Xue was not stupid. She was divorced. She knew that she could not ask the children to accept her unless she gave them something in return.

She sat down, and Qian Anzhi poured two glasses of water. "Mom, why did you and Big Sister come over today?"

"Well, we're still a family, so we should live together," Li Xue said casually.

Shuishui narrowed her eyes, and Qian Anzhi's expression slightly changed. He realized that his mother had set her eyes on his second sister's home.

"Mom, our guardian is Uncle Jiang, and he lives not too far away. If you want to see him, you can go over. You can't live with us. Besides, your apartment is so small, and I can't live there either," Qian Anzhi said.

Qian Momo knew that they would refuse. "It's not like you're going to live with us. We're the ones who will live here."

"That won't do." Qian Anzhi directly rejected them.

"Yeah, it won't do. Only Anzhi and I live here. Also, I don't like having strangers in the house," Shuishui said coldly.

The atmosphere was very awkward. They were surprised that Shuishui had spoken up. Shuishui added, "You don't have to look at me like that. I won't let you stay here. If there's nothing else, you can leave after drinking up your water. We also need to rest. If you insist on staying here, I'll ask the security guards to send you out."

"You," Li Xue said coldly. She was furious.

Shuishui sat down calmly. She was so cold, and she was already getting impatient. She glared at Li Xue and said, "I forgot to tell you before that I'm not biologically related to you, so don't call yourself my mother and come looking for me. What I said is indeed the truth. If you don't believe me, you can ask Anzhi. Although I'm also my father's child, I am not related to you. As for how that happened, I'm not too sure."

"What do you mean?" Li Xue was confused.

"It means that you and I are not related at all by blood. Do you understand?" Shuishui asked Qian Anzhi to explain because he knew the details.

Qian Anzhi was stunned. He didn't expect his second sister to blurt everything out just like that. He said, "Actually, it's like this. Mom, you never treated Second Sister well. One day, she suspected something, so she went to the hospital to undergo a DNA test and found out that she wasn't your biological child, so she let go of why you treated her so badly."

Shuishui smiled and thought it was amusing how Anzhi had explained it.

However, no matter how he explained it, he had made the clear the important details. Everything he said was basically true.

Qian Momo was stunned. "How is that possible?"

Li Xue was as confused. "How is that possible? I gave birth to a child. How could I not know about it?"

Shuishui shrugged. "I heard that I was swapped with another."

"No wonder," Li Xue said as she suddenly stood up and looked at Shuishui. She was in shock. She realized that Shuishui was slowly becoming more like that woman. That explained why Shuishui annoyed her. That was why she didn't treat Shuishui well in the past.

Shuishui looked at Li Xue and said, "You're not my biological mother, and you have never treated me well during those years I spent with the Qian family. I am not obligated to support you. If you and father were still married, I would have had to take care of you, even when I turned already became an *****. Unfortunately, you chose to divorce our father. That was a sign for us to really cut ties."

Li Xue's expression became malevolent. She rushed towards Shuishui and was about to slap her, but Shuishui grabbed her wrist and flung it away. Qian Anzhi was shocked. He went forward and hugged his mother. "Mom, what are you doing?"

"She is that b*tch's child. It was premeditated! It must have been premeditated!" She pointed at Qian Shuishui and was very emotional.

Shuishui looked at Li Xue. "Whether my biological mother had planned it or not, it has nothing to do with me. You are not welcome to interfere in my life. Don't show your face to me anymore. It's useless. I won't feel sorry for you, nor will I be soft-hearted. Father is not yet well, and the two of you are divorced. You are no longer in a relationship, so you don't have the right to continue finding excuses to visit him. A woman like you really doesn't deserve it. Because of you, I've understood what it means to share happiness with others and to protect yourself in times of trouble."

"Qian Shuishui, what do you mean by that? Aren't you just a bastard!" Qian Momo's words were too extreme.

It was too much for Shuishui. Shuishui approached Momo and immediately slapped her.

"If you say another word, I'll slap you again. Your mouth is so smelly, so I won't mind making your face look better." Shuishui had slapped her with such force that Momo's cheek was red.

Qian Momo covered her face in pain and wanted to hit back, but Shuishui slapped the other side of Momo's face.

"Ah!"

Qian Anzhi was shocked. "Don't be like this. Okay, Mom, you and Big Sister better leave now, okay? Second Sister has nothing to do with you. Let's just leave it at that."

Anzhi was afraid that they would all fight if his mother and Momo continued to pester Shuishui.

Shuishui crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You will have to leave now. Otherwise, I'll ask the security guards to come and drag you out. You'll be so embarrassed then."

Li Xue was so angry that her body was trembling. She started to ponder on things. Qian An must have known that Qian Shuishui was not her daughter. Why would he lie to her? How could he treat her like that? Then where was her real second daughter? Had she been taken away by that woman? She suddenly felt a heartache in her heart. She felt that she was really stupid. After so many years, she had not suspected anything at all. She should have known from Qian Shuishui's appearance that she was not her daughter. How could her daughter look like that woman?

She realized how stupid she was. She hadn't thought that Qian An would have communicated with that woman and slept with her even after they had married.

Li Xue felt that she had been betrayed. She was very angry and wanted to ask Qian An why he treated her like that. She had given birth to his children, but he slept with another woman, had a child with her, and even took away her child. What right did he have to do that to her?

Although Momo and Li Xue stood up, they didn't look like they were willing to leave.

Shuishui took out her phone. Qian Anzhi quickly said, "Second Sister, don't call the security."

Qian Anzhi dragged his mother and Momo outside. "Let's go. If the security comes, you might be taken into custody for trespassing. You'll be brought to the police station."

He pulled the two of them out forcefully.

Shuishui watched silently. She felt that it was all self-inflicted. Li Xue was really a selfish person. It was good that she had divorced her father. She felt relieved that her father wouldn't be implicated by Li Xue in the future.

Outside, Qian Anzhi was helpless. He said, "Big Sister, Mom, don't be like this. Second Sister only found out about it later. Moreover, it's all in the past. She deserves to live a good life. I'll visit you after school tomorrow, okay?"

Li Xue grabbed Qian Anzhi's wrist. "Come back with us. You can't live with her. She's a bastard."

"Yeah, we're family. She's an outsider," Qian Momo said.

Qian Anzhi felt a headache coming on. "I'll just stay here. Second Sister is very nice. She has a good heart. None of this is her fault. Mom, don't you understand? All of this is because of her biological mother. How can I say this? Second Sister and I are also related by blood."

"Are you on that bastard's side now? We're the ones closest to you." Li Xue wanted to bring Qian Anzhi home. Even if it was crowded, it was still better than staying in the large villa with Shuishui.

Anzhi explained further. "Mom, why can't you understand? Uncle Jiang is my guardian now, and I'm also staying with Dad, even if hasn't woken up yet. I don't understand why you filed a divorce when he was hospitalized and became bankrupt. You say you don't like Dad, so why do you still care whether he had an affair in the past?" Anzhi thought it was ridiculous.

"What are you saying?" Li Xue couldn't explain.

Qian Anzhi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm telling the truth. Do you know how I felt when I heard that you were going to file a divorce? Did you consider me? You're only thinking about yourself. Did you consider my current situation? Mom, I really think you're something else. Dad became bankrupt and fell ill, and you decided to leave him without hesitation. I just hope he wakes up."

Anzhi hoped that his wishes would come true. He missed his dad.

He was very disappointed with his mother's actions. He wanted to live peacefully with his second sister, take care of his vegetable father, and occasionally read stories to his father. It was a meaningful purpose to him. He also wanted to meet his father's expectations of him.

The lights outside were dim yellow, and there was no one on the street.

"Mom, it's late. Go home." His voice became gentle. He felt that he had said what he needed to say. It was fine if she wouldn't understand.

"Anzhi." Li Xue looked at Qian Anzhi. She was on the verge of crying. She suddenly realized that Anzhi was not on her side. He was not going with her. She regretted not working harder to keep him by her side.

Qian Anzhi's heart ached, but he took out his phone to call a car. He watched them get into the car before he went back inside.

Qian Momo covered her face. The burning sensation hadn't subsided. She suddenly remembered that Shuishui was skilled at martial arts. Of course she wouldn't be able to beat Shuishui up. "Mom, look at my face."

"Aiyo, my Momo, why did she hit you so hard? That damn bastard!" Li Xue touched her chest. It was painful.

Qian Anzhi returned home and sat down. "Sis, I'm sorry. I'm also at fault. Actually, I should have discussed the matter with you after we finished eating."

Shuishui shook her head and only touched Qian Anzhi's head.

After a while, Shuishui went to the kitchen and brought a cup of warm water. "Drink some water, then go upstairs to take a shower and rest early. You still have to wake up early tomorrow, right? You don't have to apologize to me. You didn't do anything wrong."

Qian Anzhi felt better when he woke up the next day. He went to school to start the new semester with a group of friends. Shui hui stayed at home. She woke up and made breakfast. She cleaned up after Anzhi finished eating. She thought of one thing. Should she have a good talk with Qian Anzhi. He was still young, and his mother was always pressuring him.

Shuishui didn't know what to do, so she called Mu Ziyu asked for his opinion.

On the phone, there were some things that were not easy to say. She waited until they saw each other that noon so she could tell him everything.