Dad asked me if I wanted to eat something, I said I wasn't hungry, so he took me home.

He still had some anger lingering, probably because he found out Mom had left me behind, and they had another argument.

Lately, they've been arguing a lot, Mom is very anxious, and Dad is no longer as accommodating.

They don't have a deep emotional bond usually, it's said they had an arranged marriage after meeting through a matchmaker.

Aunt has always been jealous of Mom, who had such outstanding results from the arranged marriage, always subtly bringing up the time Mom spent giving birth in public.

Over the years, one of my parents stayed home to take care of the kids, while the other did business outside, rarely meeting, so they didn't argue but also weren't close.

I gradually got sleepy in the back seat, half of my body slid down, so I just lay down and fell asleep.

In a daze, Dad covered me with a jacket.

Half-awake, raindrops tapped on the window.

The front car door opened, someone brought in a chill, sat in the passenger seat.

The person shouted, "Has your little sister come back? I helped you settle that absurd matter back then. Otherwise, could she have gone abroad to study cleanly, and you smoothly take over the old man's position? She's an orphan who sought refuge with the old man."

Dad made a "shh" sound, as if reminding the person that there was someone in the back seat.

The person lowered their voice, half pleading, half threatening, "I can't fill that hole anymore, I won't ask you for much, fifty thousand is a piece of cake for you."

Dad coldly said, "Who told Jiang Die about this?"

"Do you want me to tell her?"

The uncle urgently raised his voice, "You can tell just by looking at her face, it's your wife who's blind."

"Stop it." Dad abruptly interrupted him.

The atmosphere in the car was heavy and cold.

When we arrived home, Dad asked me to get off the car, then invited that uncle into the study.

I was very curious about what they talked about, my intuition told me that Teacher Jiang indeed had a big secret.

After Dad went on a business trip, I sneaked into his study.

After rummaging through things quietly, I found a stack of photos in a thick book.

All taken in this house, of the same person.

A young girl smiling under the osmanthus tree in the courtyard, resting her chin on the desk in the study.

Although they had been eroded by moisture and become blurry, that sweet oval face resembled my sister.

Resembled my sister, but wasn't her.

Because the back was labeled with the date of the photoshoot.

The time was a year before my sister and I were born.