Chapter 126: Chapter 126

Ye Qian had been crying and making a fuss for half the afternoon before she got tired and returned to the West Room to sleep. Bai Xue was also anxious from the commotion and hadn’t rested. She took the opportunity while her daughter was asleep to catch some lice. In just one afternoon, she managed to catch two more, which left Bai Xue feeling quite stressed.

She understood in her heart that these lice came from her niece to her younger daughter, but what could she say? Her younger daughter already disliked her niece, and since she was a guest in their home, causing a scene would only bring ridicule. She could only swallow her pride, but seeing it , her younger daughter’s hair couldn’t be kept. Otherwise, the lice would only grow in number, and the thought of a head full of lice made Bai Xue’s skin crawl.

In the end, she steeled her heart. While her daughter was deeply asleep, she quietly cut off the two braids her daughter had grown. The hair had been left long for many years and taken care of well. Her daughter was learning dance, and she had never cut it boy-short from a young age until now. Bai Xue felt distressed, but for her daughter’s sake, she could only harden her heart.

Thinking about her younger daughter waking up and causing another scene, Bai Xue’s heart sank further. She didn’t cut it too meticulously, only snipped it first; she planned to tidy it up after her daughter woke. Then she took scissors and went to the East Room, carrying the two cut braids in her hand. Bai Hehua’s face turned pale at the sight.

"Aunt..." Her voice choked as if about to cry.

Bai Xue kept a cold face, "Come over here, I’ll cut your hair too. At sixteen, you still have lice on your head. Don’t you wash your hair at home? I wonder what your mother is doing, raising you in such a filthy state."

Bai Hehua dared not cry out loud and obediently sat by the bed. Bai Xue’s hands were much less gentle than when she cut her younger daughter’s hair. She almost shaved it to the scalp, giving Bai Hehua a boyish short haircut.

After cutting, Bai Xue felt itchy all over just holding the hair, so she tossed it to the ground. "Go get a dustpan, sweep it up, and throw it outside the courtyard."

Bai Hehua obediently left the room. Bai Xue had already approached her elder daughter, "There are lice in the house, everyone’s hair has to be cut. Your sister’s already is, only yours is left."

"I don’t have lice on my head. I’m not cutting it," Ye Ling didn’t want to end up looking as unattractive as Bai Hehua.

Bai Xue knew how stubborn she was, "How do you know you don’t have them? Waiting for them to fall off in clumps? Your sister needs her hair more than you for dance, and she had it cut. So why shouldn’t you? Once your sister’s head is clean, what if you pass them to her again?"

She always thought only about her younger daughter.

Ye Ling said she wasn’t jealous of Ye Qian, but that was false. She glanced at Bai Hehua quietly sweeping the floor, and then looked at her mother.

"Mom, are you saying I’m not as good as Ye Qian?" Ye Ling wasn’t angry, "There’s only a few days left till school starts. Dad and I have talked it over; I’ll be boarding in high school. So you don’t need to worry; even if I did have lice, they wouldn’t spread to Ye Qian. Besides, Mom, you should know why only Ye Qian has lice. If there are lice in her hair, they’re also on her bedding and clothes. Don’t just focus on the hair."

Bai Xue wasn’t keen on her elder daughter boarding at school, after all, it meant extra expense and losing her as a helper in the kitchen. But she was soon distracted by the rest of the sentence.

Lice were indeed like that. Bai Xue gave her elder daughter a stern look and turned back to the West Room. When she returned, she had several pieces of clothing in hand. She didn’t throw them on the bed, "Hehua, strip the duvet cover and sheets, then put these clothes on."

These clothes were chosen from Ye Qian’s garments.

Ye Qian didn’t have many clothes, and Bai Xue felt a pang of heartache. But since her niece hadn’t brought a full change of clothes and now had lice, Bai Xue couldn’t let the family risk getting lice. She could only sacrifice some clothes.

While Ye Ling spoke, Bai Hehua was in the room and now faced with her aunt’s treatment, she couldn’t not understand. Her face turned red, and she quietly agreed, taking the clothes and placing them on the table. She then stripped the duvet cover and sheets, and at Bai Xue’s direction, removed the pillowcases before changing clothes.

It was embarrassing to undress in front of two people in the room, but her aunt was waiting beside her, so she could only summon her courage to undress. She had just taken off her shirt when Bai Xue stopped her, "Alright, alright, don’t change yet. Take the clothes; I’ll take you for a bath first."

In the height of summer, the body was not only dirty, but there was also paint. It was distressing for Bai Xue to see.

Bai Xue swept her along, and Ye Ling thought about the lice, feeling uncomfortable all over, so she got up too to wash her hair. She rinsed the basin several times before daring to wash her hair. While she was drying her hair, Ye Qian, who had been sleeping in the West Room, awoke, and an ear-piercing scream followed.

Ye Ling heard her shouting, ’My hair,’ and then she rushed out of the room in a fluster. Seeing Ye Qian’s state, Ye Ling carefully observed — in two lifetimes, she had never seen Ye Qian look this miserable.

Her hair hadn’t been finely trimmed, but it seemed like a student cut, not as short as Bai Hehua’s, only to her shoulders. Still, it was enough to upset Ye Qian. Tired from crying, she’d slept, only to wake and find her hair gone. After rushing out and not seeing a trace of her mother, seeing Ye Ling with her head of perfectly intact hair scrutinizing her, she felt like an ugly duckling.

"Pleased with yourself now? Satisfied? It’s all because of you. Since you came to this house, nothing good has happened. You made me too sick to take exams, even spoiled my dance exam. Now I have those things, my hair’s gone, all because of you. You bring bad luck. Didn’t you run away before? Then just leave. Why come back? This house doesn’t welcome you, and I hate you." Ye Qian shouted with all her strength, eyes burning as if she wanted to devour Ye Ling.

At that moment, she vented all her grievances and anger onto Ye Ling. In Ye Qian’s mind, Ye Ling was her nemesis. Since Ye Ling’s return, she hadn’t had any good fortune.

Facing Ye Qian’s hysterical outburst, Ye Ling continued drying her hair leisurely, "Ye Qian, look at yourself now, like a mad dog biting whoever. The elders always say something, what is it again? The wind and water shift is it? You’ve always looked down on me, now look at yourself in the mirror, do you still have the pride to be above me?"

"If I’m truly your bad luck, then that’s my fortune. Making you unhappy is my greatest happiness." Ye Ling chuckled coldly, her face turning stern, "Do you think what you care about is also what I care about?" (To be continued. If you work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)