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Why would a father prefer to be kind to others rather than his own daughter?

The Xu family also had only one daughter, yet Father Xu had never treated her cousin better than her.

Xu Conglu believed that Lu Qing's father must have had some sort of mental illness.

Chu Yuening continued with her recount: "At age fourteen, your father forbade you from studying and wanted to marry you off to a widower in the neighboring village as his second wife."

Seeing Lu Qing nod, Xu Conglu's anger could no longer be contained. "Is this still a father? To marry off a minor as a concubine, it's inhumane! Disgraceful for a parent!"

But Fang Jiajia found nothing wrong with it. "But they were very poor. Isn't it reasonable to marry into their family for the dowry to improve their living conditions?"

"Of course not," Xu Conglu replied with displeasure. "There are ways to live frugally. Couldn't they just eat less? Must they sell their daughter for a full stomach?"

Indeed.

Marrying a fourteen-year-old girl to an elderly widower as his second wife was equivalent to selling her.

"Luckily, your mother was sensible," Chu Yuening went on. "She fled with you the day before the widower was due to bring the betrothal gifts. You hid and moved around until your father finally remarried and gave up looking for you."

Lu Qing seemed to see those days of ignorant escape from years past. They couldn't rely on their relatives because both sides would inform her father.

Didn't every family have its troubles? Didn't every household have its squabbles?

After all, couples who fought in bed reconciled by the foot of it.

Anger passed, and harmony should resume.

But no one had ever considered the feelings of her mother and herself.

"Later on, you stowed away to Hong Kong, risking life and limb. Your mother barely made it through, but she eventually pulled through. For a legitimate identity, she remarried to a stepfather."

"This time, your hardships finally paid off. The stepfather treated your mother well and didn't disdain her body worn out from labor. Sadly, your mother didn't make it through the harsh winter."

Lu Qing nodded. "After Mother passed away, I moved out of my stepfather's house. He was still young, and he wouldn't remember my mother forever. Eventually, there would be another woman in his home."

Lu Qing took it rather well.

"However, during festive seasons, I still visit my stepfather. Not for any other reason, but because those few years with him were the happiest moments of my mother's life. She was free from endless farmwork and scolding from her in-laws. Back then, she was just an ordinary person basking in love."

Chu Yuening concurred, "You have a strong sense of pride, refusing to accept help from your stepfather after completing middle school. You ventured out into the world to find work."

"To make ends meet, you took on two jobs each day. Rising early and retiring late, your initial enthusiasm dwindled into despair as you realized that mere effort seemed insufficient in Hong Kong."

Lu Qing, at that very moment, was indeed in a state of confusion and nodded powerlessly.

"All the money earned went towards rent. Forget about clothing, you had to meticulously calculate every meal to ensure it wouldn't exceed the budget, for fear of not making it through to the next paycheck."

"Feeling as if fate was against you, work wasn't going smoothly either. Master, everything you predicted has come true. I wonder what my future holds? Is there truly no place for someone like me in Hong Kong?"

Feeling exhausted, Lu Qing found herself in a foggy crossroads, unable to discern the path ahead or decide on her next step.

Fixing her gaze on Lu Qing's hand, Chu Yuening inquired, "What do you have there?"

Lu Qing unfolded a poster, revealing the clear print on its cover: Application for the 1994 TVB Miss Hong Kong Pageant.

Startled, she explained, "This just blew into my hand as I was walking home from work."

In that moment, as Lu Qing held the paper, she wondered if it was a sign of divine intervention, a guiding light pointing her in the right direction.

Upon realizing it was a poster for the Miss Hong Kong pageant, she could only laugh through her tears.

With her current appearance, it would be better to forget about it.

"Unless you try, how can you know for sure?" Chu Yuening smiled. "You have star potential, but your other fortunes aren't as favorable. Apart from the entertainment industry, you might struggle in any other field."

Lu Qing couldn't believe her ears; she looked up abruptly, yet a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Really?"

"Indeed," Chu Yuening replied with a slight grin. "Your destiny foretells sixty years of success in the entertainment industry. If you participate, you will be this year's Miss Hong Kong champion."

Sixty years of stardom!

As soon as those words left her lips, a collective gasp rose from the curious onlookers.

Lu Qing's mind buzzed, rendering her deaf to the outside world.

Was it possible?

She was just an ordinary rural girl, with average looks and no outstanding talents.

Fang Jiajia had also entered the TVB's Miss Hong Kong competition, mocking, "What does it mean to be popular for sixty years? It means being famous from young till old, wouldn't that mean being popular until eighty?"

"Even Anita Mui wouldn't dare to boast like that!"

Fang Jiajia sized up Lu Qing, noticing her sallow skin and thin frame, and sneered again.

"Not to mention that most of the girls who participate in Miss Hong Kong have high education and come from good backgrounds. With such a slovenly image, do you really think you're fit for Miss Hong Kong? You'd be better off cleaning toilets."

'Beijiang girl' was a derogatory term for mainland Chinese women.

Chu Yuening looked at her and said calmly, "If you keep calling others 'Beijiang girls', don't forget your own roots. Fang Jingguo is from the mainland, and you're his illegitimate daughter. Doesn't that make you one of those so-called 'Beijiang girls' as well?"

Fang Jiajia retorted, "I'm not a Beijiang girl! I've lived in Hong Kong all my life. I'm a Hongkonger."

"Oh, a Hong Kong Beijiang girl, then," Chu Yuening replied.

Fang Jiajia was so angry she clamped her mouth shut.

When the fortune-telling session ended, Lu Qing got up gratefully and bowed to Chu Yuening. "Thank you, Master, for showing me the way."

Initially, she had planned to return to the mainland.

It was Chu Yuening's words that reignited her determination.