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Miss Qianjin's IOU
墨書 Inktalez
"Sister, this is your three hundredth IOU."
My foster sister, Chu Yue, waved the crumpled note in her hand, a glimmer of triumph in her eyes.
I looked at the paper filled with numbers and suddenly laughed. Yes, from the age of ten to eighteen, a full eight years. I, Gu Churan, had become a debtor in this family.
Sitting on the bench outside the operating room, I opened my wallet. It was completely empty; I couldn't even scrape together the three thousand yuan for the surgery fee. Meanwhile, my foster sister was celebrating her eighteenth birthday on a Mediterranean cruise. My parents had gifted her the most expensive penthouse in Jiangcheng CBD as a Coming of Age Ceremony present, along with a limited edition Maserati.
And here I was, writing my three hundredth IOU in the hospital corridor.
"Gu Churan, you are already eighteen; we are no longer obligated to give you money," my father said coldly, looking at me. "Either write an IOU or figure it out yourself."
With tears in my eyes, I wrote on the paper: Owe Father Gu Mingyuan cash three thousand yuan in full. This was my three hundredth IOU in this household.
Scrolling through my phone, I saw a post from my foster sister. In the photo, she wore the latest Chanel gown, standing on the deck of the cruise ship surrounded by a group of socialites. And there was Lin Mo, my childhood friend, gazing at her with deep affection.
"Thank you to my beloved parents and Brother Mo for giving me the most perfect Coming of Age Ceremony gift," she captioned it beneath a string of extravagant emojis.
I looked down at the wrinkled IOU in my hand and suddenly smiled.
It was truly ironic. My biological parents, my adopted sister, and my childhood friend were all celebrating my adopted sister's coming of age ceremony, while I could only write down the three hundredth IOU.
I was determined to start making money like crazy. Those three hundred IOUs I had been forced to write over the past eight years—I would pay them off in one go and completely free myself from this hypocritical family, leaving us all square.
Chapter One
On the day I was discharged from the hospital, I dragged my still-healing leg back to the Gu Family. The winter in Jiangcheng was exceptionally cold, and the sycamore trees outside the hospital were already bare. I wore a thin hospital gown, shivering in the biting wind.
The nurses passing by couldn't help but glance at me a few more times, their eyes filled with sympathy.
"Miss, would you like me to take you home?" The caregiver looked at me with concern; she was the only person who had shown me kindness during these days. Every time she changed my bandages, she would softly ask if it hurt and secretly brought me warm porridge for several days in a row. "I’m worried about you going back alone..."
I shook my head tightly, clutching the discharge papers in my hand. It stated "fractured tibia due to car accident, multiple soft tissue contusions," but my injuries were far more than that. If it hadn't been for a passerby calling for help that day, I might have already died at that dark intersection. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
"Thank you for taking care of me these days, Auntie." I managed to force a smile as I turned and limped toward the hospital entrance. Behind me, I heard the caregiver sigh, which made my heart ache.
The cold wind howled as I wrapped my thin coat tighter around myself. This was a birthday gift from Mother Zhang last year; although it was just a cheap item from a street vendor, she was the only one in this family who remembered my birthday. Thinking of Mother Zhang made my eyes well up with warmth. She always secretly slipped me some snacks, saying I was too thin.
On the way home in the taxi, I scrolled through my phone.
The social media feed was filled with birthday photos of Chu Yue. She wore a custom gown worth six figures, her face radiating happiness. Beneath the pictures were countless messages of blessings from friends and family. Meanwhile, I hadn’t even received a single "Happy Birthday" message.
The large European-style villa was shrouded in darkness; even Mother Zhang, who was usually the most diligent, had taken the day off. "Miss is back..." Old Li, the doorman, saw me and hesitated to speak. I knew what he wanted to say. For the past few days, his family had gone to the Mediterranean to celebrate Chu Yue's birthday, while I lay alone in a regular hospital room.
I stumbled into the foyer, the cold marble floor reflecting my thin silhouette. Each step felt like walking on shards of glass, the wounds on my legs throbbing painfully. This home, where I had lived for eighteen years, now felt so foreign.
This scene was all too familiar. In this house, I had long grown accustomed to being forgotten. Just like three years ago when I won the gold medal at the Piano Competition; there wasn’t a single family member in the audience. They were busy celebrating Chu Yue for ranking in the top ten of her class.
Dragging my heavy feet, I grasped the handrail and climbed slowly to the second floor. With each step up, the pain in my leg felt like it was tearing apart. But compared to the ache in my heart, this physical pain was nothing.
With a creak, I pushed open the door, and a musty smell hit me hard. This was my "room" in the Gu Family—a less than ten square meter storage space. Aside from a rickety single bed, there was only a wobbly wooden table. Even the maid's room was brighter and more spacious than this.
In the corner, a pile of discarded clothes and toys belonging to Chu Yue lay heaped up. Those expensive luxuries were nothing but trash in her eyes. For me, a simple new piece of clothing was a distant hope.
I opened the top drawer of the wooden desk. Inside, neatly stacked were the IOUs accumulated over the past eight years. Each thin slip of paper recorded the little moments of my life in this home.
The earliest one was from when I was ten years old. Back then, I naively believed that when I grew up, I would be able to pay back my parents. But now, thinking back, what they wanted was never just money.
I flipped open the latest IOU, the ink still wet. The three thousand yuan for the surgery fee was merely pocket change in this family that spent money like water. Yet they preferred me to write an IOU rather than simply giving me the money directly.
Suddenly, voices from downstairs interrupted my thoughts.
“Dad, I want to eat the sweet and sour fish that my sister makes!” It was Chu Yue's whiny voice. Even through the floorboards, I could imagine her pitiful expression.
"Your sister has become wild; she didn’t even attend your coming-of-age ceremony and has no idea where she ran off to. When she comes back, I'll make sure she cooks for you," Father’s indulgent tone sent a chill down my spine.
I let out a cold laugh. Did they really not remember?
I share the same birthday as Chu Yue. Her Coming of Age Ceremony was supposed to be my Coming of Age Ceremony as well.
But now, I can only hide in this dark storage room, counting my IOUs like a pitiful creature. Meanwhile, she is on a cruise in the Mediterranean, enjoying the most luxurious Coming of Age Ceremony.
The sound of the door being pushed open interrupted my thoughts. The Gu family stood at the top of the stairs, and when they saw me, the cheerful atmosphere instantly froze.
Mother, Su Ya, was the first to change her expression. Dressed in a million-dollar custom gown, the diamond bracelet on her wrist sparkled under the lights. "You come back and don’t even turn on the lights. What are you being so mysterious about all day?"
Father, Gu Mingyuan, bluntly ordered, "Why aren’t you going to make Sweet and Sour Fish for your sister?"
Sweet and Sour Fish. This dish felt like an inescapable nightmare to me. Every time I heard those three words, my palms would ache faintly. The scars from hot oil splatters were still clearly visible.
The memory took me back six years. It was Mother’s fortieth birthday, and I had secretly learned how to make this dish to surprise her. At twelve years old, I stood in our kitchen, tiptoeing as I stir-fried the fish in the pan.
I had practiced for an entire month to perfect this dish. My hands were covered in blisters from the scalding oil, but I gritted my teeth and said nothing. I imagined how Mother would smile in surprise when I brought it to the table. Perhaps she would pat my head like she did with Chu Yue and say, "Well done."
When it was finally ready to be served, Mother didn’t even glance at it; she simply pushed the entire plate of fish in front of Chu Yue.
“Yue Yue likes to eat, so have more. Your sister made it for the first time, so it might not taste very good.”
I will never forget the smug look in Chu Yue’s eyes. Right in front of me, she slowly finished the fish, but then “accidentally” got a fishbone stuck in her throat.
“Mom, don’t blame my sister; it’s my fault for being too greedy…” She leaned into Mother’s arms, looking pitiful. With tears welling up in her eyes, she seemed genuinely remorseful. But only I saw the smug smile at the corner of her mouth when she turned her head.
Because of that statement, Mother slapped me hard. “Are you trying to harm your sister on purpose?! How can you be so cruel!”
From that day on, every time Chu Yue wanted to eat Sweet and Sour Fish, they would have someone keep an eye on me. They forced me to pick out every tiny fishbone cleanly, afraid that I would “deliberately” let Chu Yue get choked again.
In order to earn a compliment from my parents, I made Sweet and Sour Fish hundreds of times over the years. Each time I cooked, I would carefully remove the bones, terrified of being caught again. But now that I think about it, I was truly foolish and ridiculous.
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