AMRWFA -Chapter 408 The “Virtuous Elder Sister”

Had Shi Jinyu never gone through a rebellious phase?

Of course she had.

Her rebellion was falling “in love” with her younger sister Shi Qionghua’s boyfriend. He was simply too kind—within her limited life experience, she had never met a man so “gentle and considerate.”

When she once soiled her pants during her period because she couldn’t bear to spend money, it was Shi Qionghua’s boyfriend who frowned and “warned” the men mocking her, took off his coat to cover her, and went to a nearby shop to buy her sanitary pads.

Not only that, he also bought sugar and paper cups, asked the shop owner for some hot water, and made her a cup of brown sugar water.

Shi Jinyu’s eyes reddened on the spot. She had never experienced such warmth. Forget brown sugar water during her period—even asking for money to buy sanitary pads would get her scolded by her mother for being shameless and wasting money. Instead, she was ordered to wash her younger brother and sister’s clothes and socks in cold water.

Yes, that’s right.

While Shi Qionghua complained that their parents favored others, all her clothes—socks and even underwear—were washed by Shi Jinyu.

Shi Qionghua was a “delicate girl,” so she wasn’t allowed to touch cold water during her period, and even her drinking water had to be boiled. But Shi Jinyu, even during her own period, couldn’t skip a single chore—washing clothes, cooking, mopping floors—none of it could be left undone.

As for sanitary pads? She had no money for them and could only use tissues.

That was why she often leaked onto her pants.

Her younger sister was about to get married, yet no one in the family remembered that Shi Jinyu was actually older than Shi Qionghua—she, too, should have had a chance to marry.

But she was nothing more than the Shi family’s unpaid maid. If she worked less, she’d be scolded. If she went out to do odd jobs, she still had to hand over the money to support the household.

If she worked less at home because of her jobs, she’d be scolded. If she focused on housework and brought back less money, she’d still be scolded.

She was “bad at studying,” “lazy,” ugly, “unwanted by men,” and a burden dragging down her siblings… It was as if her very existence in the family was a disgrace.

Such a disgrace that her siblings never acknowledged her as their “elder sister” outside—they only said she was a relative staying temporarily at their home.

Because she “couldn’t get married,” the men arranged for her were always old bachelors, widowers, or even disabled men.

And yet her mother would still say with a reluctant expression, “What kind of men are these? No matter how bad our Zhaodi is, she can’t marry someone like that!”

In such circumstances, when Shi Qionghua suddenly brought home a man who at least seemed decent, even if his kindness was only out of politeness—or because she was his girlfriend’s “elder sister”—to Shi Jinyu, it was incredibly precious. It was one of the rare moments of “warmth” in her life.

To her, he was like the “prince on a white horse” from childhood fairy tales.

So she quickly fell for him, making a fool of herself—secretly using Shi Qionghua’s makeup and ending up looking like a ghost, suddenly appearing behind him and startling him.

She wore a discarded slip dress from her mother and awkwardly posed in the stairwell waiting for him, only to be treated like a lunatic.

Yes—after that, Shi Jinyu gained another label: “crazy.”

Her father beat her, her mother cursed her, and her siblings nearly drove her out of the house.

It was also at this point that her mother, finally “unable to endure anymore,” revealed the truth: Shi Jinyu was not their biological child. She had been “picked up” and raised out of pity.

But she never expected they had raised an ungrateful wretch.

“How could you seduce your sister’s boyfriend? If that’s not ingratitude, what is?”

“You’re driving me mad!”

“I raised you, and this is how you repay me?!”

…

That was Shi Jinyu’s only act of “rebellion.” After that, her entire life turned gray.

So she had no real parents.

She had been abandoned since birth—if not for her adoptive parents’ kindness, she wouldn’t have survived.

She had “stolen” her siblings’ parents. No wonder they didn’t like her.

It was all her fault.

She was born with “sin.”

She had to repay it.

If she didn’t, she wouldn’t even be human.

So she endured everything without complaint—working multiple jobs a day, then returning home to take care of all the housework. In the end, to save up a “bride price” for her younger brother, she “willingly” married an older man with a history of domestic violence.

After being beaten and losing a child, she climbed a high-rise building constructed by her biological father and fell to her death—while her father, unaware of her existence, was on his way to demand unpaid wages.

Seeing her ending, Ruan Yaoyao’s eyes turned red.

She had seen countless “storylines,” but never one so tragic, so suffocatingly unjust.

【Why?】

【Why?!】

She desperately wanted to ask the one behind it all—were they even human? Why arrange such a fate for an innocent girl?

【What did Shi Jinyu do wrong?】

【She should have had loving parents, a sister who truly cared for her—just because this story needed a “self-sacrificing elder sister,” was this how her life had to be written?】

In the milk tea shop, Shi Jinyu’s hands trembled.

She thought she must be hallucinating—how else could she hear something like this?

It was too terrifying.

How could she not be her parents’ biological child?

Her siblings didn’t dislike her—they were just immature.

Her parents didn’t not love her—they were just too tired from working and supporting the family.

【If she knew that her mother once clutched her belly tightly to protect her and her sister, choosing to endure being flayed alive just to give birth to them…】

【If she knew that after learning his wife and daughter had died, her father had been consumed by grief for years…】

【If she knew how happy her father would be to learn he still had a daughter—how much would she hate everything?】

Tears streamed down Shi Jinyu’s face.

She really wanted to ask:
Was it true?
Was there really someone in this world who would love her?

Would he truly love her unconditionally, as that voice claimed?

At first, her coworkers didn’t notice. They just thought she was tired from work and were about to say something—but when they turned and saw her crying uncontrollably, they were startled.

“Jinyu, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Shi Jinyu shook her head. Unable to hold it in any longer, she muttered an apology and bolted out of the shop, sprinting toward the mall’s public restroom.

Ruan Yaoyao, standing outside, was startled.

【What the hell?!】

【What’s wrong with her?!】

Ruan Zhihe grew uneasy, suspecting that Shi Jinyu might have heard Aunt Xu’s inner voice, and quickly signaled her teammates.

Ruan Yaoyao noticed from the corner of her eye but pretended not to see, continuing her inner monologue:
【Could it be period pain?】

【That’s awful…】

【Does it hurt that much? She’s crying like that!】

【But then again, washing clothes and socks in cold weather—it makes sense…】

Without the slightest guilt, she casually smoothed things over.

Shi Jinyu’s coworkers exchanged glances. Though she was usually quiet and withdrawn, seeing her cry like that made it seem serious.

After a moment of hesitation, they sent a young girl to check on her, while the others continued taking orders and waited for news.