Xu Liuying and her husband moved out after getting married, while Zhao Yunshen and his wife lived with Zhao's parents.
Zhao Yunhua frequently visited the old residence under the guise of seeing his parents, but his heart was truly set on Wang Lin.
Xu Liuying came from a good family, so Zhao's mother dared not openly act like a mother-in-law. She strongly disapproved of Xu Liuying's "extravagant and wasteful" lifestyle.
In contrast, their younger daughter-in-law came from a modest background, was sweet-spoken and knew how to talk, always pampering Zhao's mother like an empress dowager.
Zhao's mother doted on her, and her preference for the younger daughter-in-law directly influenced her attitude towards her two granddaughters.
During Xu Liuying's pregnancy, she often quarreled with Zhao Yunhua. In her late pregnancy, she accidentally fell and went into premature labor.
Xu Liuying eventually died from severe bleeding, leaving behind only the frail original host. After burying Xu Liuying, Zhao Yunhua moved back to the Zhao family's old residence with the original host.
Zhao Yunhua completely neglected the original host, only thinking that with their large family fortune, no one would mistreat his daughter.
Zhao's mother lavished praise on her elder granddaughter, calling her "my dear darling," while completely ignoring the original host.
Zhao's father was biased towards males and was determined to have Zhao Yunshen's couple have another child.
The cooperation with the Xu family still needed to continue, and he didn't want Zhao Yunhua to remarry so soon.
Zhao Yunhua was more than happy with this arrangement. The nanny taking care of the original host also realized that the Zhao family did not care much for her, and often mistreated her when no one from the Zhao family was around.
As the original host grew older, the situation worsened. She didn't understand why everyone liked her cousin but not her.
Even her own father only thought of her cousin when it came to benefits. Their indifferent attitude made it seem as if the original host was not part of their family.
Wang Lin gave birth to a grandson for the Zhao family the following year, which made Zhao's father amiable towards the entire second branch of the family.
If the Xu family sent anything good to the original host, her cousin would eagerly receive it from her father.
He would then comfort the original host, saying he would buy her something better, but it would always be forgotten after some time. When the original host brought it up, she was accused of being calculative and unreasonable.
Growing up in such an environment, the original host's personality became somewhat obsessive. She wanted to compete with her cousin in everything, which made her situation even more difficult.
As a child, she didn't understand much and could only compete over clothes, jewelry, and toys.
Surrounding people were prone to fawning over the favored and stepping on the unfavored. Knowing the Zhao family's attitude towards these two children, they often compared the two children and belittled the original host.
Meanwhile, her cousin grew more outstanding, studying calligraphy and piano from a young age. Ironically, these lessons were meticulously chosen by the original host's father.
Whenever the original host showed interest in learning as well, her father would look at her with disgust.
"Can you be more sensible? Whatever your cousin learns, you learn. You mimic everything, can't you have your own ideas? Having a daughter like you, I feel truly ashamed."
After saying this, he would simply walk away. But as a child, the original host could only access what was available within the household.
She had no idea what else she could learn.
Zhao Yunhua's blatant favoritism towards her own daughter finally made the visually impaired Zhao family realize something was amiss.
Upon learning the truth, Zhao's father flew into a rage. To avoid impacting the relationship between Wang Lin and her husband,
Zhao Yunhua went abroad to develop her career and never returned to China. The substantial inheritance she accumulated was entirely left to Wang Lin's daughter.
The original host didn't understand why Zhao Yunhua was so biased when she was Zhao Yunhua's biological daughter.
Was it truly because she herself wasn't good enough? Was it because she couldn't compare to her cousin in anything, which was why her father left her nothing?
After Zhao Yunhua left, the original host lost even the person she could vent her frustrations to and was completely ostracized by the Zhao family.
This meant she wasn't even invited to meals, and no one paid attention to her when school started.
Zhao Yunhua, having gone abroad, vowed to leave all domestic matters behind and didn't even send money to the original host.
Zhao Tianduo, the original host's cousin, had always been at odds with her since childhood, often mocking her as an unwanted child.
The original host had always envied her cousin, Zhao Yiyi, and how cherished she was by the entire family. She felt that being loved and cared for by her family was a wonderful feeling.
She always wished she had a mother, thinking then someone would dote on her and care about her feelings.
But she didn't. All she could do after being bullied was to hold onto Xu Liuying's photograph and weep silently.
The original host became a foil to her cousin. She was taciturn and uncommunicative, with only her academic achievements being somewhat noteworthy.
Having grown up under constant suppression, she developed depression. Yet, those people wouldn't leave her alone, claiming she was faking illness to gain sympathy.
By the time the Xu family realized something was wrong, it was already too late. Her maternal uncle directly came to the Zhao family, caused a scene, and took her back.
At that time, the Xu family's development had already fallen behind the Zhao family's, and they lacked the ability to seek justice for her.
A profoundly unfortunate childhood could not be healed by a lifetime. The original host's greatest wish was to be a child cherished by her mother.
Shui Wa: "This request is very simple, Host, you can do it."
Jun Jiuli could do nothing at the moment but obediently stay in Xu Liuying's womb.
She would cultivate from time to time, using her spiritual energy to nourish Xu Liuying's body, ensuring her life would be saved during childbirth.
Xu Liuying felt extremely uncomfortable. Even eating downstairs felt unappetizing. After eating, she still had to bring some items to visit Wang Lin and her daughter.
Although she had some suspicions, she still had to maintain proper etiquette.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Zhao's mother, despite her dissatisfaction upon seeing her, managed to force a smile.
"Why have you come? Xiao Lin has everything here. It's inconvenient for you with your pregnancy, and no one would fault you for not coming."
"I'm fine. It's proper that I come to see her."
Zhao's father left after learning they had a daughter. Now, only Zhao's mother and Zhao Yunshen were in the hospital room.
Everyone smiled when Xu Liuying entered. Zhao Yunshen quickly made space for her to sit and then brought the baby over for her to see.
"Sister-in-law, isn't she cute? This is my daughter."
Zhao Yunshen looked proudly, and Wang Lin, lying in bed, also looked at the father and daughter with a happy smile.
Xu Liuying looked at the sleeping child and genuinely thought she was ugly, but she praised her as cute. After a glance, she lost interest.
"Her eyes are like her mother's, and her nose is like mine."
Zhao's mother: "Oh dear, you can't tell these things yet. All babies look alike."
"I can tell."
Xu Liuying smiled, "Indeed, she resembles you."
"See, my sister-in-law also says she resembles me."
Seeing that the baby was sleeping soundly, Zhao's mother had Zhao Yunshen take her back and looked at Xu Liuying with concern.
"Yingying, how are you feeling? Yunhua said you weren't feeling well. What happened yesterday?"
While her concern was superficial, she was actually sarcastically calling Xu Liuying lazy.
Xu Liuying replied indignantly, "I feel perfectly fine, and the baby in my belly is very well-behaved."
She stopped there, giving Zhao Yunshen a strange look.
Wang Lin wanted to change the subject, but Zhao's mother spoke first: "Then why didn't you come to see Xiao Lin yesterday? We're all family. I even posted a message in the group chat, didn't you see it? That's strange, Yunhua rushed over."
"Mom, please don't say anything more. Eldest sister-in-law must have been busy, and big brother just happened to be nearby, so he came to visit."
Seeing Wang Lin's anxious reaction, Xu Liuying became even more certain that there was something going on between them.
"What could I possibly be busy with? I was with Zhao Yunhua all day yesterday. As soon as he heard that my sister-in-law was giving birth, he unceremoniously abandoned me at the movie theater. I waited outside for quite a while before the driver came to pick me up. I called him several times, but he ignored me. It wasn't until I got home that I learned you, sister-in-law, were giving birth."
"Yingying, don't be angry. When he gets back, I'll scold him. He's actually learned to lie to me. Don't worry, he definitely didn't abandon you on purpose."
Zhao Yunshen: "Yes, sister-in-law. My brother is a good man. He must have forgotten in his haste when he saw the news."
Xu Liuying's head was spinning. Did this family not see anything wrong? Or was she overthinking it?
Wang Lin, lying weakly in bed, steered the conversation towards Xu Liuying's pregnancy. After chatting for a while, Xu Liuying went home.