Gao Min didn’t know how to answer that question for a moment.
Did she want to acknowledge her? Yes.
From the moment she learned that woman was their birth mother, a vague, indescribable feeling had risen in her heart.
It was a complex emotion—curiosity, longing, and… anticipation.
She had grown up beside her adoptive father, Gao Shubai, who treated her like his own daughter, giving her his complete love and even remaining unmarried for her sake. Yet, there had always been a void in her heart—the void left by the absence of a mother.
As a child, she had asked him countless times: “Dad, where’s my mom? All the other kids have one.”
Gao Shubai would fall silent for a long time before patting her head and saying vaguely, “Mom went somewhere far away. Maybe when you’re older, you’ll get to see her.”
As she grew older, she stopped asking.
Because she had learned to be sensible.
But deep down, she had always held an image of her mother—was she gentle or strict?
She wondered if her life would have been different if her mother had been there. Would she no longer have to envy other children?
Now that she knew the truth about her origins and had even seen her mother with her own eyes, that longing had taken root like a seed buried in her heart, quietly sprouting.
But she also knew her sister was different from her.
Liu Yutong had grown up in the home of that gambling addict, enduring scolding, beatings, and domestic violence.
She dared not imagine, nor could she bear to think about, the suffering her younger sister had endured over those years.
Her sister had every right to hate, every right to refuse forgiveness, every right to shut that woman out.
But she herself… did not.
Gao Min took a deep breath and looked seriously at Liu Yutong. “Little sister, I told you—your decision is my decision. I’ll stand by you, always. If you don’t want to acknowledge her, I’ll treat her like a stranger. Only if you want to, then I will too.”
Liu Yutong turned her head and looked at her sister.
Gao Min’s eyes were resolute, as if she had made up her mind completely.
Liu Yutong sat up and said, with a hint of resignation, “You don’t have to say that. You’re my sister; of course I know what you’re thinking.”
“Little sister—”
“Alright, alright. We’re close, you and me. You really don’t have to worry so much about my feelings, because you and I are different.”
Liu Yutong leaned back, finding a comfortable position. “You were raised by Uncle Gao. He treated you like his own daughter, so you never lacked love when you were young. It’s only natural you want to acknowledge her. I’m not unreasonable, and I’m certainly not selfish enough to take away your right to reconnect with her.”
Gao Min bit her lip. “But… I’m afraid it might make you uncomfortable, given how she treated us back then—”
Liu Yutong cut her off with a wave. “You’re my sister. If you want to acknowledge her, go ahead. If that woman—our ‘mother’—actually treats you well and sincerely tries to make it up to you, I’d be happy for you. Why would I stop you?”
Gao Min stared at her sister, her eyes slowly reddening, tears misting over them.
She hadn’t expected her sister to be so understanding. It filled her with both gratitude and guilt.
“Stop right there!”
Seeing that Gao Min was about to cry again, Liu Yutong raised her hand in a “halt” gesture, looking disdainful. “Don’t get all mushy on me. I’m not falling for that. If you dare to cry, I’ll throw you out.”
Gao Min couldn’t help but laugh. “You little rascal, who said I was going to cry?”
“Enough, enough. Let’s talk business.”
Liu Yutong dropped the playful expression and spoke seriously. “If you want to acknowledge her, I won’t stop you. But you need to promise me one thing.”
Gao Min: “What is it?”
Liu Yutong: “Come to my office tomorrow morning and act as my assistant. Let me probe her a little first. Don’t reveal your identity yet; just listen to what she has to say.”
“After you’ve heard her out, you can make your decision.”
“If you want to acknowledge her then, go ahead. If not, don’t. In the end, it’s your choice. Don’t worry about me, and don’t worry about how I feel.”
Gao Min was silent for a few seconds before asking, “And what about you?”
Liu Yutong didn’t answer right away.
She stood up, walked to the French window, and pushed it open.
The night wind rushed in, carrying the chill of early autumn, stirring her hair and dispelling the stuffiness in the room.
Beyond the window lay the nightscape of Pearl City—countless lights glimmering like a cascading river of stars scattered across the ground.
This was the empire she had built piece by piece, the very foundation of her organization, the Dragon Alliance.
“Me?”
“I’ve told you before—I’ve long passed the age where I need a mother.”
To be honest, did she hate Jiang Lu?
Not really.
After all, how could you hate someone you had no memory of from childhood? That kind of feeling was too abstract for her.
Was she lacking in familial love?
No, she wasn’t. If anything, she had more of it than most.
Her grandparents, Yaya, Gao Min, Yuncheng, Mada, Yu Xin, Li Xiaohui… and the thousands of brothers and sisters in the Dragon Alliance—they were all her family.
So whether she acknowledged her mother or not didn’t really matter.
Of course, deep down, she still leaned toward keeping her distance from Jiang Lu.
After all, her mother was now the wife of the Lin family, and Liu Yutong didn’t carry the Lin surname.
Of course, she didn’t intend to acknowledge the family bond, but the Lin family connection could still be exploited.
After all, the Lin family was once a noble and wealthy house. Even if they had fallen from grace, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. They might still have some value to be used when the time came.
As long as Jiang Lu didn’t cause trouble in the future, maintaining a surface-level harmony or even cooperation wouldn’t be out of the question.
Gao Min walked over and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
“Little sister.”
“Hmm?”
“No matter what, I’ll always be your sister. That’s something no one can change.”
Liu Yutong turned to look at her sister’s earnest expression and suddenly joked, “Maybe in the next life, you can be my younger sister instead.”
Unexpectedly, Gao Min seriously tilted her head, thought about it, and then nodded solemnly.
“That works too!”
Liu Yutong: “???”
Gao Min: “Then I could accept you looking out for me without feeling guilty.”
Liu Yutong was thrown off by that. It took her a couple of seconds to process before she responded, “Wait a minute—how does that logic work? You know I’ve always had your back even when you’re the older sister.
“It’s not the same.”
Gao Min said matter-of-factly. “When you’re the older sister, you have to keep up appearances, you know? Being taken care of by you makes me feel like a failure as an older sister. If I were the younger sister, it’d be completely natural to be looked after by you.”
Liu Yutong: “…”
She stared at Gao Min for a long moment, then said darkly, “Are you tricking me? And in a really sneaky way, too.”
Gao Min looked completely innocent. “What are you talking about? I’m just telling the truth.”
Liu Yutong: “Fine, you win. This life you’re the older sister, but next life you want to be the younger one. You’re trying to have it both ways, aren’t you?”
Gao Min smiled so hard her eyes turned into crescent moons. “Want to switch? You can be the older sister next life, and I’ll stay the younger sister in this one. Then we’ll be even, and no one’s losing out.”
Liu Yutong: “Alright… wait, it feels like you’re messing with my head again!”
Gao Min: “Hahaha…”
