1 The Pauper

June in Feng City felt like there was a furnace in the sky that would overturn the human world. The heat was suffocating and the asphalt road emitted heat waves like a piece of heated iron plate, ready to cook food at any time. There were almost no pedestrians - they were most likely afraid that the soles of their shoes would melt on this 'iron plate'.

In a villa, Su Yu dragged out from her room the luggage that she had just packed. Just as she was about to go downstairs, she heard a discussion coming from below.

"Father, Mother, are Su Yu's biological parents really going to take her away?" asked Su Man in disbelief.

Mr. Su reprimanded her sternly, "This is none of your business. Have you finished practicing the piano piece you're going to perform later? Your grandma's friend is from Yucheng, a professor at AIER art college and a national-level pianist. You have to perform well so that your grandma can recommend you to study in Yucheng!"

"Father, I've practiced it so many times. Dad, what do you think sister's biological parents look like?"

Before Mr. Su could reply, Su Man mumbled in disdain, "Her biological parents said they were coming a few days ago, but they only arrived today. Did they take the train for two days and one night from the mountains?"

When Su Yu heard these words, she stopped in her tracks. A hint of ridicule flashed in her cold eyes. Four months ago, she accidentally found out that her sister was cheating on her boyfriend with Su Yu's boyfriend. Su Yu was so angry that she went crazy and blew up the matter. Only then did she realize that she was not the Su family's biological child, but was instead adopted from an orphanage. But the Su family did not adopt her out of kindness. Rather, it was only because the Su family's biological daughter, Su Man, had contracted a very rare blood disease and had to undergo a blood transfusion every month, in addition to being on medication.

The Su family had their own company and it was listed a year ago. As such, they were considered a wealthy family in Feng City. For them, the cost of frequent blood transfusions was not an issue. Instead, it was the fact their daughter had O-negative blood. Such Rh-negative blood was so rare that it is often called panda-type blood.

Therefore, no matter how rich the Su family was, they could not guarantee that their daughter would be able to receive a blood transfusion treatment every month. Her blood type was limited in the blood bank of the country. So, after much thought, they finally came up with another idea: to find an orphan with the same blood type among the orphanages in Feng City. They would adopt the child to be a mobile blood bag for their daughter. Right now, that blood bag was none other than Su Yu.

Su Yu had been taught to be a 'good' elder sister since she was young. Not only did she have to give up good food, fun toys, and beautiful clothes to her younger sister, but she also had to deliberately lose to her younger sister in any competitions so that her younger sister could win awards. If it weren't for how good her younger sister's relationship with her boyfriend - Jin Mubai - seemed, she might never have known the scandalous affair going on behind her back.

And now that Su Man had recovered after years of treatment, the Su family was finally willing to reveal everything to Su Yu since they no longer need her anymore. But it wasn't the truth that hurt Su Yu. Instead, it was the fact that the Su family revealed everything during Su Man's birthday party. The embarrassment was made worse when others started labeling her as the 'fake rich lady'.

Mr. Su no longer wanted to talk about Su Yu, so he firmly said, "Don't talk so much."

Su Man pouted and said, "But that's the truth! If they could afford plane tickets, they would have come a long time ago. Why would they wait until now? She's definitely a pauper!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Mr. Su had spotted Su Yu on the stairs from the corner of his eye.

Since she had been discovered, Su Yu decided to continue her way down the stairs. The first thing that caught everyone's eyes was how cold she looked despite her outfit which consisted of an apricot-white T-shirt matched with a light blue denim skirt, revealing her long and white legs. The Su family was usually fairer than others, but Su Yu was much fairer than them, especially in the summer. No matter how hot or sunny the weather was, Su Yu's skin never tanned in the slightest. The fairness of her skin always remained, almost glowing. In contrast to her skin, Su Yu's eyes were as black as ink. 

He could never figure out if it was because of this contrast or something else, but Su Weiguo had always felt alienated from her, most likely because she was not his biological daughter in the first place.

Regardless, he had raised her for more than ten years. Even if he did not see her as his own daughter, he still had some parental feelings for her.

"Yu, you've packed all your things?" asked Mr. Su gently.

Compared to the rest of the Su family, Mr. Su usually treated Su Yu quite well.

"Yes."