Their precious elder daughter

When they got there, Shen Mei's room was locked. They tried to knock, but no one answered. Mr and Mrs Shen were afraid that something bad happened to their precious daughter, so they asked the servant to get the spare keys.

When they unlocked the door, they saw Shen Mei sitting on the floor beside the bed, hugging her knees with her face down. She looked like she was in pain, and her body was twitching.

When Mrs Shen saw her daughter's condition, she was pained and immediately went to hug her daughter.

"My poor daughter, what happened to you? Why are you like this? Tell mom... tell me... what's wrong!"

As Mrs Shen said these words, her tears started to fall down. She wiped them very quickly, afraid of looking weak in front of her daughter.

"My daughter... look at me. Mom is here... tell me what's wrong..." Mrs Shen stroked her daughter's hair lovingly.

"Mom..." Mrs Shen heard Shen Mei's feint voice.

"I'm here... tell me what's wrong." She replied very quickly. Mr Shen was already standing on the side near them. He was also looking at his daughter with a worried expression.

Shen Mei lifted her head slowly and looked at the people in front of her. When the couple saw her eyes, they were stunned. Shen Mei's eyes were bloodshot red!

"My daughter! What happened to you?" Mrs Shen's voice was not calm anymore. Her heart was pounding with fear. Did something bad happen to their daughter?

When Mr Shen also saw Shen Mei's eyes, he also had a bad feeling. What happened to their daughter? He started to regret going away for weeks to a business trip, far away from his two precious daughters. He should've taken them along. He thought that everything would be fine since they were big girls now, and they would take good care of themselves... but he was wrong.

His younger daughter nearly escaped death and was in the hospital, and now there seems to be something wrong with their elder daughter...

"Mom... dad... I..." Shen Mei replied with a feint voice, and her eyes started to pour a bucket of tears. She suddenly went forward and hugged her mother tightly.

"There's nothing wrong... there's nothing wrong with me... I... I just missed you a lot.." Shen Mei said with a muffled voice.

When the couple heard Shen Mei's words, their expressions softened. So that was the case? She was like this because she missed them? What a crybaby! But they loved their daughter like this. It meant they had a special place in her heart even though they were not her biological parents. They felt blessed!

"You silly child! You nearly scared us to death!" Mr Shen forced an angry expression. When the mother and daughter pair saw his expression, they chuckled.

"Dad... what are you doing?" Shen Mei wiped her tears and smiled. Mr Shen tilted his face to the side as if he did not want to talk to them. The atmosphere became light, and it was heartwarming.

"The maid told me that you have been locking yourself up inside your room ever since what happened to your sister? Are you perhaps blaming yourself for what happened?" Mrs Shen suddenly said, and Shen Mei's expression immediately changed.

"I... I.. " Shen Mei held her head down and couldn't say anything for a long time. The couple took Shen Mei's lack of words as confirmation.

"My daughter, you don't have to blame yourself. This was not your fault at all. I know that as an elder sister you feel that it is your duty protect your younger sister from everything and you feel that you have failed this time since something bad like this happened to your sister in your presence. It's really not your fault, so you should stop blaming yourself, okay? Your sister will not blame you either. She'll also feel bad if she sees you like this." Mrs Shen tried to comfort Shen Mei.

Seeing that Shen Mei was still not saying anything, Mr Shen chimed in.

"Your mother is right. You don't have to blame yourself. Cheer up and become the lively Mei we all know. Your sister will also cheer up when she sees your bubbly face tomorrow when we visit her."

When Shen Mei heard that they were going to visit Shen Xiaoting tomorrow, her expression became unnatural. The couple couldn't see it because Shen Mei still had her head hung down.

Shen Mei quickly changed her expression and then lifted her head to look at her parents with a wide smile.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

When Mr Shen heard her reply, he became happy with himself. His persuasion worked. As expected... Xiaoting was the most precious in Shen Mei's heart.

"Good girl. We're going to freshen up. You also do the same. After that, we're going to have a scrumptious dinner. Aunt Luo will cook all your favorite food." Mrs Shen patted her daughter's shoulder and left the room with her husband.

Shen Mei watched them as they left. The servant who had accompanied her parents to her room had actually not left. She was standing at the door the entire time.

The servant looked at Shen Mei meaningfully for a while and then closed the door as she left.

When Shen Mei saw that everyone had left and the door was closed, she started to frantically fan herself with both her hands.

'Arhh... why did I eat so much! My tongue is burning, and my eyes are almost popping out! Why did I eat so much? Why? That Mapo tofu [1] was too spicy! I almost died, for goodness sake! But... I have to admit... it was pretty yummy...'

Shen Mei was scolding herself in her mind. She was complaining about the dish being too spicy, but she still pulled another mapo tofu dish from under the bed and ate with relish.

[1] Mapo tofu is a popular Chinese dish consisting of tofu set in a spicy sauce, a thin, oily and bright red suspension, based on fermented broad bean and chilli paste, along with minced meat and beef.