Chapter 21 - Step Sister?

"Are you my father's illegitimate daughter?"

Shi Ai(who had not even expected such a question): "..."

After a moment,she shook her head vigorously in negative.But her insistent shaking of the head made Zhang Min misunderstand. He thought that she was lying to protect herself or maybe spare his feelings in regard to his so he felt a little angry and said sullenly,"There is no need to lie.You can tell the truth."

Shi Ai was at a loss for words.She realized that Dr Zheng had been tight lipped about his reason for taking a sudden interest her.Then another thought struck her.What if his wife,Mrs Zheng,felt the same and assumed that?Then even the thought of living in such a family was scary.She needed to clear the misunderstanding before she decided the future course of her actions.

"Umm,senior brother,you are mistaken.I really am not in any biological way related to Dr Zheng.See I was brought up in an orphanage when it was discovered that I had an almost incurable heart disease.Your father is the best heart surgeon in country C and a benefactor convinced him to take on my case.Even I do not know the benefactor(that was a lie,but nobody knew she knew) only that he sponsored my treatment.Mrs Wu was the coordinator at the orphanage and had no children.When it was decided that I should be coming here for my treatment, she did not want to leave me alone in a new place so she came here with me as my legal guardian.That was the only time we had any interactions with your father.He was one of the panel doctors for my complicated case.Some time she was diagnosed with a lung disease and had very little time to live.Maybe that is when she contacted your father to convince him to be my guardian when she died.He must be the only one from our country that she had known." Shi Ai hated to explain her history to anyone because she was always met with pitying eyes.And she hated pity.She could see something similar in the senior brother's voice but she knew that she needed to tell them everything to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

Zhang Min didn't know why but he believed her.And he was thankful that his father had not done anything that would make him stop worshipping him.So Zhang Min decided to follow his hero's orders and welcomed Shi Ai with a big and genuine smile."Then Ms. Shi Ai, I will continue to address you as little cousin in the future and you must address me as Brother Min.Alright?And are you finished packing to move your stuff?I can help you bring it to the house.."

Zhang Min unconditional support and welcome made Shi feel bad.She had not even decided what to do and he was already welcoming her.She needed to interrupt him so she did,"Senior Brother,I have not yet decided whether I want to move in or not.I was actually hoping that you would answer a few of my questions before I make my decision.I hope you do not mind the trouble."

Zhang Min stared at the girl in front of him with his brows furrowed.He had thought that with her sad history,she would be happy to receive an opportunity to live with a family.But she was taking her sweet time deciding.As if they were not a good family.He would have been offended but then his brain kicked in and he thought that he had mostly not given her a good impression of their family with doubting his father.Plus she had lived alone all her life so naturally she would be wary of trusting and going into a home blindly.Nodding to himself,he said,"Alright,tell me what you want to know and I will answer all your questions."His heart was now set on becoming a big brother as he was the youngest in the family and having a little sister would be a good thing!So he was going to convince her to join their family.

Not even Shi Ai could have imagined that on this day she had found her strongest ally and a real big brother.