4: The Identity of an Illegitimate Child
Qi Jiang had never seen Qi Jun act this way. Someone who had been timid and weak ever since childhood was actually glaring at him and saying things like that. Had Eldest Brother been right when he called and said this idiot smashed his head? Had he knocked himself stupid? “Tch! What gives you the right to compare yourself to me? I’m Mom and Dad’s biological son. You? Nobody even knows who that person had you with!”
That one sentence explained why Qi Jun was unwelcome in this family. He was one hundred percent not Mother Qi’s biological child, and whether he was truly Father Qi’s son was apparently uncertain. Yet considering that Qi Jun resembled Father Qi by perhaps thirty percent, his biological mother had probably done no more than become Father Qi’s affair partner; she had not made him raise another man’s child.
When Qi Jun fell silent, Qi Jiang became smug. Pointing critically at the living room floor, which had not yet been completely cleaned, he sneered, “You really are useless. You can’t even clean a house properly! I bet this floor would be cleaner if you hadn’t mopped it at all!”
Qi Tian immediately objected. “You’re talking nonsense! Second Brother just cleaned upstairs, the kitchen, and the bathroom until they were spotless! The living room was the last part. He was just about to mop when you walked in. You’re the one who dirtied it!”
Qi Jiang frowned. “Stupid girl, why are you so dumb? Eldest Brother and I are your real brothers. He isn’t! Why do you always take his side?”
At that moment Mother Qi returned, carrying a vegetable basket that looked completely out of place with her professional working-woman outfit. Apparently, though, this was how ordinary households lived in the beast world. “What are you all arguing about? My god! Qi Jun! Is this what you call cleaning the floor? Look what you’ve done to it!”
Qi Jiang hurried to fan the flames. “Exactly! Qi Jun even said that once school starts he’s moving into a dormitory and won’t be living here anymore. How could he possibly have any mind left for helping the family clean?”
Mother Qi immediately exploded. “I knew it! Someone else’s son can never become my own flesh and blood! You’ve really turned rebellious! I ask you to clean the house and you make this whole production out of it! Fine, fine, fine! Feeding and raising you for seventeen years was all for nothing! Since you’re so capable now, don’t wait until school starts to move out. Leave right now! And don’t expect us to give you another point for living expenses!”
Although this was exactly the outcome Qi Jun wanted, he had to admit that the original Qi Jun’s memories still lived inside this body. Those memories filled him with an intense grief over what was happening now, even stronger than the sorrow of realizing a few days ago that everything from his previous life had become an illusion.