Chapter 1 — The Big Sister Returns

Entering the fifth year of my secluded life in the village, an aggressively self-absorbed young princess suddenly arrived to film a reality entertainment program. She had deliberately gathered a group of country girls to act as her foil, hoping to accentuate her own unmatched beauty and aristocratic elegance. Naturally, I was dragged into the spectacle to make up the numbers. However, the real-time commentary streaming across the screen completely derailed her carefully laid plans.

"That girl on the far right is drop-dead gorgeous! She makes the little princess look like some rustic peasant girl who just crawled out of a mud hut."

Le Anh Tuyet instantly suffered a mental breakdown right there on the spot.

"Did you deliberately come here to overshadow my appearance?"

"Anh Tuyet has been pampered since childhood; her nature is timid, and she never dares to provoke anyone."

"Why don't you just apologize to me and carve up that pretty face of yours? Then Anh Tuyet might hold back her tears and stop crying."

Astonishment washed over my face.

"Are you out of your mind? Is there something seriously wrong with your brain?"

Le Anh Tuyet shrank back in feigned terror, whimpering as she hurriedly sent a voice message.

"Big brothers, Anh Tuyet is so scared..."

Before her voice even faded, a dull, heavy drone echoed from the distance, growing louder and more oppressive by the second. The live commentary stream instantly erupted into a frenzy of shock and disbelief.

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"Holy mother of God! Isn't that the personal helicopter of Tan Thanh, the wealthiest man in the Capital? And look, isn't that the elite medical team of the legendary divine doctor Tong Hac Mien on board as well?"

"The public relations squad of top-tier idol Co Van Khoi has just entered the livestream room too!"

"Le Anh Tuyet is infamous for her fragile glass heart and extreme narcissism, yet the eight supreme lords of the Capital's elite circle dote on her like their own precious lives. Sigh, that poor, unlucky village woman is definitely doomed today!"

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I was so infuriated that I actually laughed out loud. So, those crybaby brats of mine and that prickly, stubborn fellow surnamed Tong were involved in this farce too? The longer I stared at Le Anh Tuyet, the more uncomfortably familiar she looked. Wait a minute! Isn't she none other than the impoverished student I funded for ten whole years, the one we used to call Ngu Hac Oa? Before I packed up and left for the mountains, I specifically instructed Tan Thanh and the others to take good care of her. And those idiots actually took my words to heart, directly spoiling and pampering her into this utterly grotesque monster?!

I shook my head and heaved a heavy sigh, lowering my voice to interrogate Le Anh Tuyet:

"Those little bastards spoiled you rotten into this ridiculous state—do your parents even know about this?"

The surrounding villagers turned pale with terror, wishing they could physically throw themselves forward to clamp their hands over my mouth. The online comments were similarly flooded with pure disbelief.

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"Shut your reckless mouth, you doomed wretch! Does anyone not know that Le Anh Tuyet, the darling princess of the Capital's elite, has been an orphan since childhood, raised in the palm of eight powerful older brothers?"

"She merely mentioned a mild headache once, and Tong Hac Mien immediately shut down his entire hospital clinic, personally summoning eight department heads for an emergency medical consultation."

"I still remember her birthday—Tan Thanh replaced every single LED billboard across the entire nation with her portraits, and he almost went as far as turning all the traffic lights pink. The indulgence is completely beyond imagination!"

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Soothed and emboldened by the adoring comments, Le Anh Tuyet finally stopped crying, her tone softening into a delicate whine.

"My brothers treat me exceptionally well. I always feel guilty knowing how hard they work, and I constantly advise them not to spoil me so much."

"But they always tell me that my mere existence is the most beautiful promise in this world. Taking good care of me is what brings them the greatest joy."

"What else could I possibly do?"

She spread her hands open with a face of pure, innocent helplessness. The live commentary was instantly flooded with waves of envy and admiration. However, my brows slowly knit together as a heavy sinking feeling gripped my heart. Fifteen years ago, she was nothing like this. Back then, Le Anh Tuyet still went by the name Ngu Hac Oa—dark-skinned, painfully skinny, short, and from a desperately destitute family. Pitying her plight, I offered to sponsor her education. Her parents had dragged her down to the dirt, kneeling and kowtowing to express their gratitude. At that time, she had wiped her snot all over my trousers, her eyes wide, clear, and innocent.

And what about Tan Thanh and the others? Back then, when we were all struggling in the deepest gutters of poverty, they were painfully kind-hearted. Even when they miraculously scavenged a single dirty steamed bun, they would insist on sharing half of it with a stray cat. Now look at them—having achieved wealth and status, they had actually learned how to wield power and oppress ordinary people?! And they had even raised Le Anh Tuyet into such a warped, arrogant creature!

I took a deep, steady breath. Whatever. I, Ta Dan, have never once lived a life of regret. If problems arise, I will simply clean up the mess. I raised my head and glared at the descending helicopter.

"Perfect timing. Let's go."

"First, I'm going to track down Tan Thanh and those ungrateful wretches to settle the score, then I'll find her parents and sort out the truth, and finally, I'm going to deal with you properly!"

Le Anh Tuyet immediately pouted, planting her hands on her hips and pointing straight at me.

"You are truly scheming and full of malice! You clearly want to use my beauty as a stepping stone to get close to my brothers!"

The louder she screamed, the more arrogant and aggressive her momentum became.

"Keep dreaming! Women all over the world might bully Anh Tuyet, but my brothers are my absolute, impenetrable fortress!"

"They would never, ever dote on anyone else!"

Good grief, such nauseating drivel rolled off her tongue with a straight face, yet my ears felt violated just listening to it. I reached out, grabbed her slender wrist, and prepared to drag her away. But Le Anh Tuyet shrieked at the top of her lungs and burst into theatrical tears right on the spot.

"You're hurting me!"

"My brothers have bathed me in pure milk since I was a baby; my skin is extremely delicate!"

The director and Le Anh Tuyet's personal assistants immediately swarmed forward like rabid dogs.

"How insolent! What is wrong with this commoner? She doesn't even bother to look at what trash she is before daring to touch Ms. Le!"

"Hurry up and kneel down to kowtow and apologize to our eldest young miss, or else we will bulldoze this entire village to the ground!"

True to their word, some of them began rampaging through the area. Aunt Liu's watermelon stall was kicked over with brutal force. The ringleader deliberately stomped on the split fruit just to amuse himself. Uncle Trieu's vegetable patch was trampled into a muddy ruin—that was his family's entire harvest for the whole year!

I clenched my fists so tightly my knuckles turned white, a raging fire scorching straight up to my throat.

"All of you, stop this instant!"

"You're actually going to destroy this innocent village?"

Le Anh Tuyet pouted once more, her face radiating absolute indifference.

"So what if I do? My body is worth a thousand pieces of gold; these peasants aren't worth anything anyway. What's wrong with using them to amuse me?"

The moment those words dropped, even the wind seemed to halt for a fraction of a second. I had foolishly assumed that after five years of quiet cultivation in the countryside, my temper had mellowed out considerably. Little did I know, some people were still born to be instantly set off. I squeezed the bones of Le Anh Tuyet's wrist so hard I could distinctly hear a faint cracking sound. Staring directly into her panic-stricken eyes, I let out a cold, chilling laugh.

"Weren't you just a filthy peasant girl yourself not too long ago? Barely five years in the city, and you've already learned to wallow in such hollow vanity."

I enunciated every single syllable with icy clarity.

"Ngu, Hac, Oa?"

Le Anh Tuyet froze instantly, staring at me with a gaze full of utter disbelief and dread.

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The live chat was losing its collective mind.

"Ngu Hac Oa???"

"Holy crap, does this sister know some deep inside information? Spill the tea, I'm grabbing my popcorn!"

"The majestic princess of the Capital's elite circle has a nickname like that? That sounds painfully rustic!"

Le Anh Tuyet's face flushed bright red, a mixture of intense humiliation and blind rage. Her fingers dug fiercely into the fabric of her designer dress, her voice turning shrill and piercing out of sheer panic.

"What Ngu Hac Oa? I have been a golden branch and jade leaf since the day I was born! Such a vulgar, lowly name is an insult just to hear!"

"Who the hell are you anyway? First you deliberately tried to outshine my looks, and now you're fabricating slander to defame me. You just want to destroy everything I've built and replace me as the beloved sister of my brothers!"

"But my eight brothers only dote on me alone, so keep dreaming!"

Hearing this, I desperately wanted to laugh out loud. She really was overestimating herself to a comical degree. A beloved little sister? Hah! The moment I laid eyes on those eight ungrateful little brats, beating them half to death would already be me showing immense restraint!

However, Le Anh Tuyet refused to grant me even a second to speak. She suddenly pointed frantically toward the background, barking orders in a panic.

"Bodyguards! This vile woman is bullying Anh Tuyet!"

"My tongue is clumsy and I can't outargue her. Hurry up and sew her mouth shut for me!"

My gaze grew colder by the fraction of a second. Did Le Anh Tuyet genuinely believe she was the legitimate princess of the Capital's elite? Just because I called her by her childhood name, she was terrified enough to have someone sew my mouth shut? If her arrogance had swollen to such monstrous proportions, what about Tan Thanh and the rest of them?

Right at that moment, the helicopter finally touched down with a heavy thud. Simultaneously, over a dozen pitch-black off-road vehicles roared into the far end of the village lane. Eight distinct teams, sporting eight different uniforms and insignia, poured out. A suffocating sea of black surrounded the entire filming location so tightly not even a drop of water could leak through.

The online audience was completely losing control.

"Oh sweet lord, look at that squad dressed entirely in black! Those are the personal bodyguards trained by Master Bach himself! The last time someone crossed Le Anh Tuyet, they ended up with three fractured ribs within seconds!"

"Tong Hac Mien's elite medical team is right behind them for immediate field treatment, while their legal powerhouse concurrently handles all public relations from top to bottom..."

"That is what I call comprehensive, all-inclusive VIP service."

"That ordinary woman is completely finished. She better kneel down and apologize right now if she wants to keep her head attached to her shoulders!"

A towering inferno of fury blazed through my veins as I forced out a harsh, chilling laugh.

"Good, very good indeed!"

"Tan Thanh, Tong Hac Mien, Bach Da... has committing assault and breaking the law simply become your daily routine now? You lot have certainly grown ambitious!"

Le Anh Tuyet was immediately displeased, her brows furrowing deeply.

"Who gave you permission to address my brothers so familiarly?"

"What are you all waiting for? Get her!"

Before her command even settled, the sea of black-clad men surged forward. I lifted my leg and kicked the foremost assailants soaring backward. However, the mercenaries trained personally by Bach Tieu Dao were indeed far from ordinary thugs. The ones behind quickly adapted, coordinating their movements with ruthless efficiency. One locked my left arm, another drove his knee fiercely into my spine, while two others wrenched my arms violently behind my back. In a matter of breaths, I was forcefully slammed flat against the dusty ground.

Seeing me pinned, Le Anh Tuyet could not suppress a smirk of smug triumph. Then, she swiftly put on a pitiful, teary act, drawing a shiny sewing needle from her pocket. She stepped toward my face with trembling steps, deliberately covering one eye with her free hand as if too delicate to bear witness to her own cruelty.

My entire body tensed up as I grit my teeth and glared daggers at her through the dirt.

"Do you really believe that? The moment you dare to scratch me even slightly, those eight good brothers of yours will repay you a thousand, ten thousand fold!"

Back in the day, when we fought turf wars against rival gangs and I swung wooden clubs around, a tiny wood splinter would occasionally pierce my skin. Those idiots would instantly turn red-eyed with fury and tear the enemy's stronghold apart brick by brick. Before I retreated into seclusion, those eight brats practically worshipped every single strand of my hair, demanding weekly updates on my height and weight just out of sheer paranoia that I might suffer a moment of hardship. If they were to witness this exact scene unfold, they would likely lose their minds entirely.

Yet, Le Anh Tuyet remained utterly unfazed. The gaze flickering through her fingers was drenched in absolute contempt and malice. Lowering her voice, she chuckled maliciously right beside my ear.

"What are you even worth? My brothers love me the most; they would never break my heart over some worthless, pathetic ant!"

"Do you have any idea how much grueling effort I poured into completely shedding my past and meticulously constructing this persona of a noble Capital heiress?"

"No matter how you found out about that wretched name, don't even think about destroying me!"

Her hand suddenly shoved forcefully forward, the sharp tip of the needle aggressively piercing my lower lip. A blinding wave of agonizing pain erupted, a bead of crimson blood oozing out as my teeth ground together with a sharp, grating crunch.

"Stop right there!"

A furious roar suddenly ripped through the air. I forced my eyes upward to see Le Anh Tuyet's parents sprinting toward us in sheer, unadulterated panic.