He was almost sort of brought up by his sister.
But human feelings are strange. The more you care, the more you can’t afford to be provoked, let alone by his own mother.
When Ling Liwei first told him that Zheng Yan didn’t really like him, that she was only being nice to him to confuse him and loosen his defences, and that she might get him killed one day, his first reaction wasn’t fear, it was disbelief.
He even foolishly ran to Zheng Yan to assure her that he would behave himself and that his sister would not hate him.
But Ling Liwei still kept telling him that his father would not like him as long as Zheng Yan was around.
Zheng Yan would be nice to him, but only to show off in front of dad.
Plus his dad is busy at work and usually spends very little time at home. Every time he comes back, he is always very strict with him, but he will hug and cajole his sister non-stop and buy her lots of gifts ……
Children’s minds are always sensitive.
If no one deliberately reminds him, he may not think much about it, but it happens that Ling Liwei will always magnify these small things infinitely and put all the fault on Zheng Yan, gradually, Zheng Hao also wavered.
Adolescence is the time for rebellion. When he decided that his sister did not really like him, but only to use him, he became angry and aggrieved inside.
All he wanted to do was to get back at her.
So he listened to Ling Liwei and spread rumours about Zheng Yan outside.
In fact, at that time, he did not know that it was a rumour, he had always listened to Ling Liwei and thought that Zheng Yan was that kind of person who was not what she appeared to be.
Just like how good she was to herself, it was a cake with broken glass crumbs in it.
It looked wonderful, but one bite would be bloody.
He waited to see Zheng Yan angry, waited to see her fight back, but after waiting for a long, long time, all she seemed to do was be sad.
At that time, it wasn’t that he hadn’t suspected that he had done wrong and that his sister wasn’t actually a bad person.
But he had just wavered when Ling Liwei would seize on something else to show him Zheng Yan’s ambition, until Zheng Yan entered the company one step ahead of him and gained the approval of the company’s executives ……
The competition between their siblings seemed to whittle down in an instant, never to return to the past.
Now that he thinks back, he could actually feel early on that Zheng Yan was not as calculating towards him as Ling Liwei had said, that hearts are long, and that Zheng Yan’s kindness to him was not entirely lost on him.
But he had already gone wrong, and Ling Liwei would not allow him to turn back.
He can only keep hypnotizing himself and telling himself that Zheng Yan is that bad of a person to make himself feel better ……
“Sis, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I didn’t really want to get you killed, I just didn’t have the courage to say what I knew, it was my mother ……”
Zheng Hao covered his face with his hands, the young, older boy, crying like a child.
Tears dripped from his fingers and he broke down emotionally to the point of sobbing all over.
Zheng Yan had waited for this apology for many years, and when he really heard it, he seemed calm instead.
She didn’t even cry, her eyes were only slightly red.
Quietly listening to Zheng Hao finish, without a word, she stood up from her chair, turned around and walked out.
After walking a few steps, she stopped again and looked back at Zheng Hao who was still crying.
On his bright face, no emotion could be seen, one word at a time.
“The day you come home from prison, remember to ask the housekeeper to cook you a bowl of pig’s feet noodles.”
