My Beloved

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"Young Miss, please wait for me." The butler was hurriedly running after a six years old girl. She was wearing a white shirt with a red tie around her white collar. A navy blue beret was gracefully on her head, matching her navy blue skirt and shoes – the shoes decorated with white lace. Her shiny black hair was tied into two braids which danced in the air as she ran. She was carrying a pink school bag on her shoulders, contrasting from her clothing.

"I can't wait!" The girl giggled and sprinted even faster.

After much effort, the butler had finally caught up to her. He panted heavily as he worriedly said, "Young Miss, you shouldn't run like that. What if you were to fall down?"

"I won't fall!" The girl darted down the road to a huge mansion. The door of the mansion was open. She paused and quickly took off her shoes before scurrying up to the second floor. The girl reached her destination and took a deep breath before politely knocking on the door.

"Enter." A manly voice could be heard from inside the room.

The girl turned the doorknob and went inside the room. She saw a man sitting on the couch who was looking through some documents. The girl grinned radiantly and exclaimed, "Uncle, uncle I came first place this year!"

The middle-aged man looked up and smiled upon hearing the good news. His hair had turned grey because of his painful workload, but his dark expression instantly brightened up. "You did? That's wonderful! Let me see your results."

The girl sat beside him and handed over the blue book. The man opened it and chuckled. "Full marks in every subject! Luo'er you have done a good job despite being sick. I am very proud of you."

"I couldn't have done it if it weren't for you, uncle," Han Luo sweetly sung. She couldn't keep in her happiness.

Han Luo had passed the first year of elementary school.

Previously, throughout her entire time in kindergarten, she had nearly always come first place. Han Luo's cousin, who was older than her by a year, was studying in the same class as her. Her cousin was scolded by her father after she got fifteenth place. Han Changhong chided, "Look at Luo'er. She is a year younger than you, yet she can do better than you. You are both in the same class, so you cannot give me any excuses! What were you doing the whole year? No more dolls and dresses for you, Luilui!"

Han Luilui panicked and asked for her mother's help. Du Liu defended her. "She tried her best and got fifteenth place. Shouldn't you congratulate her? Many students received fewer marks than her."

Han Changhong snapped at his wife. "If you didn't pamper her and let her play with dolls day and night, she could have done better. It's the first year of kindergarten and the first year is very important, yet she did not get a good mark! A whole life is waiting ahead of her. The more she grows up, the harder the path will become. Can she ever win with fifteenth place? We won't always be by her side to support her. If you can't teach her what's more important and what's less important now, by the time she grows up, she will turn into an idiot who doesn't know what to prioritize."

When the two girls were in their second year of kindergarten, Du Liu bribed the teachers to get the questions on the exam.

"Ma'am, instead of begging us for the questions, why don't you get your daughter to actually study properly?"

This was Du Liu's third attempt to get the exam questions from the teacher in charge of the exams. "My daughter is studying very, very hard! More than what a young girl her age should do…"

"Then what's the problem? Look, if you ask me again, I will report you to the authorities."

Du Liu's eyes glowed cunningly. "I'll give you 50,000 RMB."

It was only because of this Han Luilui came fourth. But once again, Han Luo came first. Han Luilui could only feel a bitter hatred towards her father, as he was always praising her cousin in front of everyone. Always bragging about her. It was all about her. Yet, he didn't talk much about his own daughters. There were also a few busybody aunts who had nothing else to do in their daily lives but sneer at Han Luilui and compare her to Han Luo. Han Luilui became blinded by envy.

In the third year of kindergarten, before the exam, Han Luilui put insecticide in Han Luo's food.

"Mommy, there are so many insects in the garden!" Han Luilui complained to Du Liu.

"The maids always put insecticide in the garden, Luilui," her mother replied. "Why would there be so many?"

"The maids aren't doing a good job then! I will put the insect- isecti… insect killing liquid myself!"

Little did Du Liu know that her daughter actually used the insecticide for other purposes. Han Luo vomited blood and became unconscious, leaving the whole house in an uproar. Han Luo was in the hospital for several days and was discharged right before the exam. She wasn't able to prepare herself for the exam. Han Luilui, on the other hand, already knew the exam questions after Du Liu's second successful bribery. In the end, Han Luilui came first, and Han Luo came third. This time, although Han Luilui was praised and congratulated by all, people couldn't stop talking about Han Luo's intelligence. After all, she didn't have time to prepare herself for the exam but still came third. That year, Han Luilui still didn't get the spotlight.

Ma Rui was the one who was most worried about Han Luo; she even hired a highly skilled butler for Han Luo after the poisoning incident. Han Changhong also had known about the butler's identity, but it was unknown to Du Liu and the rest of the people in the Han Mansion. The butler wasn't under Du Liu nor Han Changhong, so he never took any orders from them. He wasn't obliged to answer them either. His direct superior was Ma Rui and he only cared about Han Luo. He took care of her and – when it was needed – protected her.

However, there were still times he couldn't keep an eye on Han Luo. At that time, she was bullied by Han Luilui and Han Wanwan. Since he didn't have the order to be harsh on the Han Family members, he couldn't do anything to the two sisters, even though he wanted to punish them severely.

The first year of the elementary school had come, and Han Luo was almost poisoned by Han Luilui and her scheming maid again. But this time, she was caught by Han Luo's butler and was forced to confess everything. Even still, Han Luilui denied everything without blinking an eye. Du Liu also wanted to cover the incident as soon as possible. Before her husband found out about this incident, she had to fire Han Luilui's maid.

Yet the butler refused to remain silent. Although he didn't tell anything to Han Changhong, he reported everything back to Ma Rui. And Ma Rui felt her blood scorch.

"That girl did what?! I will meet her, and I hope she doesn't think just because she is seven years old, I won't do anything violent to her! Anyone who harms Luo'er will be harmed by me!"

Ma Rui was burning to meet Han Luilui herself, but Han Luo didn't want a massive fight to break out between everyone.

In the end, she still came first, and Han Luilui came second.