Chapter 15: Arrival in S City

Huo Yong felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up under the steady gaze of Huo Sining's eyes.

Looking at Huo Sining's face, he couldn't help but think of his deceased sister.

Over the years, Huo Sining had always been oppressed by Xu Lian in the Huo family, and he had never lifted a finger to help.

Every time he thought about this, Huo Yong felt a sense of guilt, and couldn't help but hang his head in shame.

But Huo Sining was utterly disappointed in Huo Yong.

No matter how the world changed, whether she was reborn or not, she couldn't deny one fact — the man in front of her was her blood relative.

In her previous life, Huo Sining had always felt that Huo Yong was the only family she had in this world and the only person she could truly trust.

So no matter how she was treated by the members of the Huo family, her affection for Huo Yong had never changed.

It was only at this moment that she realized that in the Huo family, the most selfish person wasn't Xu Lian, but Huo Yong.

Being timid and cowardly was no excuse; the only person Huo Yong ever truly loved was himself.

Well then, if that was the case, why should she torment herself?

She had long been tired of dealing with the Huo family, and today's incident provided a perfect excuse to move out openly and rightfully.

Better to have it out and from now on, simply never to have anything to do with each other.

Huo Sining cast away the last bit of miscellaneous thoughts in her heart and said to Huo Yong, her voice calm:

"Uncle, this is the last time I will call you uncle. Today, in front of these people, I'm not afraid to lose face — you know better than anyone how I've been living these years. My mom left me to you, not to be a slave for the Huo family."

"You little bastard, without our additional care over the years, would you still be able to stand here all well and fine? You'd have become a beggar whore ridden by thousands!" Xu Lian, always coarse in speech, couldn't help but curse upon hearing Huo Sining's words.

At this juncture, Huo Sining had no intention of sparing Xu Lian any face:

"Aunt, did you take me in for any other reason than the hundred thousand yuan my mother left? Ask yourself, that money is enough to cover the cost of my food, clothing, housing, and transportation for over a decade in the Huo family, not to mention the hard labor I've done for you all these years!"

Seeing Huo Sining bringing up the hundred thousand yuan again, especially in front of Xu Xia and Zhou Sao, Xu Lian's heart skipped a beat, and her complexion instantly turned sinister as she denied flatly, "What hundred thousand yuan? I don't know what you're talking about?"

Knowing Xu Lian would never admit it, Huo Sining scoffed:

"You really don't know, aunt? That dark red bankbook hidden in the secret compartment under the floorboard of your bed in the east wing room, isn't it written in my mother's name?"

Xu Lian's face turned pale, and she was unable to refute.

Even Huo Yong was unaware that she had hidden the passbook under the bed, and Huo Sining had hit Xu Lian's Achilles' heel dead on.

"I've decided to move out, and from now on, I will have nothing to do with the Huo family."

Huo Sining left these words behind, turned, and left the Huo household without a single hint of attachment.

Seeing her actually walk away, Xu Lian was at first stunned, then a wave of resentment rose in her heart.

"Ungrateful wretch, now that your wings are hard, no one can control you, is that it? If you have the guts to walk out that door, then don't come back! I warn you, you better not regret it!"

Xu Lian chased to the doorway, cursing and swearing, but Huo Sining didn't slow her steps in the slightest.

How could she regret it? With her own two hands and the Water-Repelling Pearl by her side, she was determined to live a better life than anyone in the Huo family, even without relying on anyone else.

Huo Yong thought that Huo Sining was merely acting on a momentary impulse and would return once she cooled down, but by evening, there was still no sign of her.

Only then did he feel something was amiss and tugged at Xu Lian, wanting to go to the village to find people.

Xu Lian, with her face swollen and bruised from Huo Sining's trip, wished she could give Huo Sining a good beating to vent the hatred in her heart. Seeing Huo Yong actually wanted to find that little wretch, she was unwilling to comply and said impatiently,

"Find what? She isn't without legs, can't she come back on her own? Do you think she can really get that far? Her identity card is with me, without it, she can't even find a job once she's out. I bet it won't be many days before she comes back on her own!"

Huo Yong was stunned, "Why are you hiding her identity card? Where is it?"

"Didn't she want to go fill out her college entrance examination choices? I was afraid she would stealthily take her identity card and run away, so I hid her ID and household registration in the gap between the boards of our bed..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Lian's face turned white as she suddenly thought of the ten thousand yuan savings book Huo Sining had mentioned. Her heart skipped a beat, and she exclaimed, "Damn, that wretched girl knows where I hide the savings book; she might have stolen our family's savings book and run away!"

"What?" Huo Yong also panicked when he heard this, "How could you keep the savings book, and how could you let her steal it?!"

Xu Lian rushed to the eastern wing in a flurry, lifted the bed board, and with trembling hands, took out the silk-wrapped package.

Only when she saw that the dark red booklet was still there did Xu Lian's hanging heart finally settle down.

However, before she could rejoice, she noticed a big problem—Huo Sining's identity card and household registration book were gone!

"This shameless wretch, I knew she wasn't clean, secretly taking off with the ID card and household book!"

Xu Lian was so angry her face contorted, and even the fat on her body quivered.

She had not expected that this wild girl Huo Sining, who was usually silent, had such deep schemes, silently stealing the household and ID cards!

Xu Lian grew even more certain that Huo Sining's departure from home was likely pre-planned.

Compared to Xu Lian's unwillingness, Huo Yong felt an indescribable relief.

Ever since he brought Huo Sining back home, he had become a sandwich cookie.

Seeing his niece being bullied by his own wife, his heart was uneasy.

But every time he spoke up for Huo Sining, Xu Lian would scold him, and in this house, he always felt an invisible pressure.

This time, with Huo Sining gone, Xu Lian couldn't take her anger out on Huo Sining anymore, and he was happy to be at ease.

Seeing Xu Lian angry, he couldn't help but comfort her,

"Let it go, let it go, she's gone, she's already an adult. She's studied so much, Mei Ling from my older sister's house can still earn four or five thousand a month. She's got hands and feet, she won't starve to death out there."

"You don't know shit!"

How could Xu Lian possibly worry about Huo Sining's well-being? She was simply not content.

She had waited so many years, finally seeing the wretched girl grow up into an adult, just on the verge of getting married.

Zhou Sao even promised that if her son's affair with Huo Sining went through, the Zhou family was willing to give the Huo family a bride price of one hundred and twenty thousand.

Xu Lian was set on getting that one hundred and twenty thousand in hand, and just as it was about to happen, Huo Sining had ruined her plans.

No matter how angry and unwilling Xu Lian was, Huo Sining was, after all, gone.

Apart from the ID card, household book and bank card, she didn't take any extra things, not even a change of clothes.

That very afternoon, she took a three-hour bus ride to the provincial city, then bought a night train ticket from there to S City, and soon climbed aboard the train to S City.

The train traveled for nearly forty hours. On the third day in the afternoon, just after three o'clock, it finally arrived at S City.