Chapter 4

“Your sister is only like this because she’s in the fishing village. Once she comes to the city, she won’t be like this anymore.”

“When your sister comes, there’ll be one more person to play with you and one more person to take care of you. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Ethan’s words coaxing Clara stabbed into my heart like knives.

I hated that sentence with everything I had: you’re the older sister, and you enjoyed good days for many years, so you should give way to your adopted sister and let your adopted sister live a good life.

After the video call ended, my mom took a pen and paper from her bag.

She wrote a few lines on it:

“Anna, Mom will go back for now this time.”

“You made the house far too dirty and messy, so Mom will give you one month to clean both the house and yourself.”

“One month later, Mom will come to inspect it, and if the hygiene is up to standard, Mom will take you home.”

“If it isn’t up to standard, you’ll stay here and continue reforming yourself.”

After writing it, she looked at the house not far away and hesitated, then stuffed the note into Grandma’s drafty pocket:

“This note is for Anna, so you must make sure she sees it.”

“I’ll go back for now this time, and tell Anna I’ll come again in one month.”

After saying that, she hurried away without looking back.

I watched her back, smiling until I started crying.

Grandma stared dazedly at her back for a long time.

“Grandma, go back inside. Don’t stay out here in the sun.”

The scorching sun made sweat pour from her head, but she stared blankly and did not know to wipe it away.

Maybe she was also just lucky, because after getting heatstroke several times, she had managed to survive.

“Anna... Anna, catching bugs, playing, dead child, sea, fish.”

She began talking nonsense again.

I watched helplessly as she was left to fend for herself, just like I had once been.

Even though she was not my biological grandmother, I still did not want to watch her fend for herself the way I once had.

But I was powerless.

I ran into the house and anxiously reached out to clean the room.

But my hands could not pick up anything, and I stomped my feet and cried in panic.

“I can’t help you anymore. What do I do? What do I do?”

But she cheerfully picked up the maggot-infested food from the table and began eating.

I cried even louder at the top of my lungs, trying to make her hear my voice.

But everything was in vain.

One month later, Sophia and Ethan came back together.

This time, their hands were empty.

I pouted and complained, “What are you coming back for? Only Clara is your precious baby, so don’t come back here and disgust me.”

They could not hear anything, but I heard plenty of them complaining that I was sloppy and disobedient.

It just so happened that the village chief came to deliver food to Grandma.

He knew Grandma could not cook, so he only brought food enough for one day, with meat and vegetables, and the meat was stewed very soft so Grandma could chew it.

The rest was water, bread, and other instant food.

When the village chief saw my dad, he asked curiously:

“Is the Clara you adopted never coming back? Then are you responsible for taking care of her grandmother?”

My mom said, “Anna is still here, so we sent her here to train herself a little.”

The confusion on the village chief’s face grew deeper.

Sophia looked at the room that had not been cleaned at all, covered her nose, and said in disgust again:

“Why does this child Anna never change no matter how many times she’s taught? I told her to clean the place up, and then I’d come get her!”

“She actually didn’t clean up at all! This child really can make a person furious!”

Ethan could not help feeling nauseated either, but in front of others, he held it back.

The village chief looked suspicious. “Wasn’t Anna taken to the city by you a few years ago?”