A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 95

Sisi Shen gazed at Ting Chen quietly, her eyes filled with a mixture of pity and sorrow. “Ting Chen, we cannot choose our birth, and many times we cannot choose our environment. Working hard is never wrong, but I didn’t expect you to blame all the unfairness of your fate and every grievance you’ve ever suffered on me.”

“You think I wanted this?” Ting Chen’s eyes bulged, and she broke into a near-manic, mocking laugh. “From the moment I was old enough to remember, my parents never stopped talking about you.”

“I wasn’t as pretty as you, wasn’t as tall as you, didn’t have skin as fair as yours. So I could only study like my life depended on it, hoping they would recognize me just once.”

“That year, I stayed up for several nights straight to memorize my texts and I ranked first in the class. I went home so happy, but what did my parents say? They said, ‘What’s there to be happy about? Even if you’re first in the whole school, you still can’t compare to Sisi.'”

“They would tell me how outstanding you were. Your birth alone gave you a position I could never reach even if I worked for a lifetime.”

“Nothing I did was right; I never got their approval. They always compared me to you, using you to scold me. Even when I got into the County Art Troupe and later transferred to the Provincial Art Troupe, they still looked down on me. They’d constantly mutter that I just got lucky—that the only reason I got the spot was because you didn’t want it…”

The more Ting Chen spoke, the more bitter she became. Finally, she covered her face and wept, large tears overflowing through the cracks in her fingers.

Sisi Shen looked at her defeated state, feeling both pity and sadness. She remembered that when they were young and gathered for the New Year, Ting Chen was actually quite good to her and played with her often. She didn’t know exactly when it had changed.

It turned out it was all the influence of the adults. The older generation loved to do this—comparing their children to others in everything. It ruined a child’s entire life.

Sisi sighed softly, suddenly feeling a surge of warmth envelop her shoulder. It was Chengfeng Gu. He had stood beside her without her noticing, lightly pulling her into his side for comfort. Sisi didn’t refuse; at this moment, she truly needed a warm harbor to lean against for a while.

Ting Chen was a sobbing mess, her aggrieved voice trembling through her throat. “Sisi Shen, I accepted being inferior to you as a child. I didn’t expect that even after your family fell from grace, you’d still act so high and mighty! Even being sent to the countryside to be a ‘mud-leg’ and having a sickly bastard child out of wedlock didn’t break you. Instead, you went and married an officer… on what grounds?”

“So, is that why you tried to harm me time and time again?” Sisi asked.

“Yes, and no. It doesn’t matter now—things have reached this point, so I’m not afraid of being a laughingstock. I, Ting Chen, never had a grand goal in life. My only goal was to surpass you, Sisi Shen.”

“I swore I would do better than you, marry better than you. One day, I would make you look up at me, and make my parents praise me with total conviction, saying that I, Ting Chen, am simply better than Sisi Shen!”

“But… but…”

But things had gone exactly against her wishes. Her father, Jianguo Chen, had lost her dowry and was buried in debt. Her boyfriend, whom she was supposed to marry, had suddenly changed his tune, delaying the wedding date indefinitely. And now, even her proud singing career was being strangled.

“Sisi Shen, look at me now—it’s all your fault!”

That roar was ear-splitting, causing Sisi’s face to turn even darker.

“Ting Chen, do you really think I am your enemy? Does my existence truly block your path? Even if you ‘win’ against me, are you sure you’ll be happy?”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word hit Ting Chen’s heart with the force of a bell. Yes, even if Sisi Shen were trampled into the mud while I stood high above, would I truly be happy?

Sisi sighed. “Ting Chen, I didn’t cause your tragedy. If you want to blame someone, blame your parents. You tried to push me into an abyss just to prove yourself to them, but you took the wrong road—a disastrously wrong road.”

Ting Chen wiped her tears away. Though her logic was twisted, her arrogance remained. “Don’t give me that nonsense. Wrong is wrong, what can you do about it? At the end of the day, all I did was spread a little gossip. Even if we go to the station, you can’t sue me for that.”

“Besides,” Ting Chen added smugly, “don’t you see whose territory this is?” She walked arrogantly over to Changmei Gu and tried to take her arm, but Changmei dodged her.

Ting Chen felt a flicker of embarrassment but kept up her act, patting her chest. “I am the pillar of this Troupe, Director Gu’s most prized student. You dared to use violence on Art Troupe grounds. Who do you think Director Gu will side with?”

“Right, Director?” Ting Chen deliberately tried to drag Changmei Gu into the fray. Changmei was the big leader here; with just one word from her, Sisi Shen would be in deep trouble today.

Sisi Shen and Chengfeng Gu exchanged a look, their lips curling into identical smirks. The way they looked at her was as if she were a fool.

Is Ting Chen okay? Does she really not know that Changmei Gu is their aunt?

Seeing them remain silent, Ting Chen thought she had intimidated them. She visibly puffed up with pride again. “Sisi Shen, why aren’t you talking? Keep acting tough! Go ahead, hit me again!”

She thrust her face forward, lightly patting her own cheek. “Come on, my face is right here… AAAAAAHHH!”

Before she could finish, a resounding slap landed on her face, sending her into a howl like a ghost.

Sisi Shen withdrew her palm and shrugged helplessly. “Everyone saw it. She begged me to hit her. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a strange request.”

The onlookers couldn’t help but burst into laughter. These two cousins were a hoot—one willing to hit and the other practically begging for it.

Ting Chen nearly jumped out of her skin in rage. She grabbed Changmei Gu’s hand and wailed, “Director Gu, look! These two are too arrogant! They dared to hit me right in front of you. I say we should arrest them and send them to the Public Security Bureau!”

“You truly deserve it!” Changmei Gu ground her teeth at Ting Chen.

Misinterpreting this, Ting Chen’s chin tilted even higher. “See, Sisi Shen? Just wait to go drink tea at the station! But, if you’re willing to kneel and apologize to me and pay for my medical expenses, I might find it in my heart to let you off the hook.”

Kneel? Apologize?

Sisi Shen felt as though she had heard the world’s funniest joke. “Ting Chen, if there’s something wrong with your head, please go to the hospital and get a neurological check-up, okay? You’re the one who harmed me. Why on earth would I apologize and pay you? Keep dreaming!”

“Fine! You just wait!”

Ting Chen spat at them, then leaned in close to Changmei Gu’s ear, completely missing the simmering fury in the Director’s eyes. “Director Gu, this cousin of mine is just an orphan ‘sent-down youth’ from the countryside. Her private life is incredibly scandalous—she had a kid out of wedlock. You don’t have to worry about offending her. Just cooperate with me a little later and make her kneel and apologize. It’s so cold out; I don’t want to cause you trouble by making you run to the police station…”

Her words managed to belittle Sisi, twist the truth, and use Changmei Gu while pretending to be “considerate” of her.

Changmei Gu arched an eyebrow, her voice icy cold. “Ting Chen, are you trying to teach me how to do my job?