After a long while, Qin Man finally stood up from the ground, grabbed her handbag, and stepped out of the door. She didn’t even bother looking back. If Yao Yuanwanted it this way, then so be it.

However, just as she was about to reach for the door handle, she heard a knock.

“Who is it?” she snapped. “Get lost!”

“I—It’s me, Mom.” Yao Ran’s hesitant voice echoed from the other side of the door.

Despite hearing her daughter’s voice, Qin Man’s mood still didn’t improve. Instead, she threw the door open and stalked down the corridor, completely ignoring the young woman behind her.

As soon as they had reached their home, all hell broke loose. Qin Man finally turned around to look at her. Her fists were clenched, and her cheeks were flushed.

“Why are you following me around like a lost puppy? Are you ready for your next exam? You couldn’t even compare to Yao Tang when it comes to your violin! You have all the resources in the world, and you still find a way to waste them.”

However, Yao Ran didn’t resist at all.

She knew that the woman was only using her to vent out her frustrations. She didn’t really need to say anything else. Instead, she nodded and took it all in without any resistance.

Qin Man had always announced to the entire world that she loved her, but in reality…

In reality, she viewed her as nothing but a pet she could play with. She’d entertain her whenever she had the time then toss her aside whenever she was unhappy.

Yao Ran lowered her head as a trace of mockery flashed across her eyes.

Unsatisfied by her lack of response, she reached out to grab Yao Ran’s arm. “You little brat!” she snapped. “You’re simply a waste of my resources! You don’t belong here in the Yao Family!”

Her tone was filled with malice.

Qin Man couldn’t help but think about Yao Yuan—how she needed to build a good relationship with Yao Tangand be wary of her mother-in-law. Anger pulsed in her heart.

If it weren’t for the fact that Yao Ran couldn’t be compared to that Yao Tang, why would she have to go down this route?

“It’s all my fault.” Yao Ran cried as her mother’s fingernails dug into her arm. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry.”

Only when she cried did she finally let go.

Qin Man gazed at her, looking as if she had finally snapped back to her senses. Looking at Yao Ran’s bruised arm, a guilty feeling stirred in her chest. She froze.

However, she didn’t show a single expression on her face. Instead, she sighed in frustration. “You know that I’m only doing this for your own good, right?” she snapped. “You have to work even harder so that you can surpass that brat. Only then no one would question us—question me.”

Yao Ran stifled the urge to scoff before nodding.

Qin Man gazed at her bruised arm, which was now colored red, blue, and purple. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. “Don’t you still have that ointment? When you gave it to Grandma, her arm healed so quickly. Come on, I’ll apply it on you.”

Nodding, she took the ointment from her pocket and gave it to her.

The older woman quickly applied it, before sitting back and staring at the bruise.

She had waited for five minutes.

Yet, the bruise on Yao Ran’s arm didn’t disappear. In fact, the bruise had grown even more serious.

Qin Man glanced at the ointment in surprise. Squeezing another lump of ointment, she quickly applied it to Yao Ran’s arm.

However, even after three minutes, her arm still didn’t recover.

“Ranran,” she demanded. “Did you pull out the wrong ointment?”

Yao Ran, however, wasn’t surprised.

After all, she had applied it before she when she was injured. Her wound didn’t heal as quickly then, so she wasn’t expecting her skin to act any differently today.

However…

When she thought back to Grandma Yao’s wound, she couldn’t help but frown. Why did her wound heal so quickly?

Could it be the effect of Yao Tang’s ointment?

No!

It definitely wasn’t. “It’s the same ointment,” she stated. “I can’t be wrong.”

She couldn’t have been wrong.

“Then why are you healing so slowly?”

Yao Ran raised her tearful face. She wanted to tell her mother that she didn’t have anything to worry about, that she’d be fine. What she didn’t expect was for her mother to say, “If others would see it, what would they think of our family?”