"That..." Shui Koshing walked over to the corner and picked up a basketball that had been placed on a box. The basketball clearly was quite old and there were several marks of time left on its surface. But Shui Koshing knew how special it was. "This is Xian's favorite basketball. Or should I call it the lucky one?"

"The lucky one?" repeated Raelle as she tilted her head slightly with her eyes blinking reflecting the innocence of her heart.

"Yes, the lucky one," echoed Shui Koshing. He turned the basketball around and showed it to Raelle. There seemed to be something written on the basketball but with time, it had faded a lot. It was difficult to make out what was written on it.

"I can't read it," said Raelle.

"It says, 'My son is a champion.'" told Shui Koshing to her. "When Xian was young, although he loved basketball, he couldn't win. He was shorter than other boys and it put him at an even greater disadvantage. He was so upset about it that he complained to his mother repeatedly. Then on his next match, this was the basketball that his mother gave him. She wrote this and said, 'Whenever you look at this in future, remember, only you're the champion for mom.' Perhaps, her trust in him worked like magic and that day, Xian won the match. He was over the moon."

"So, it's like that."

Shui Koshing nodded his head, "Indeed, it's like that. Later, this became Xian's lucky basketball. He always took it with him on his important days."

"Isn't that superstitious?" asked Raelle. "Of course, he only won because his failure cornered him to the point where he only had two choices, either he gave up or he broke through his limits. And I believe he chose the latter and that's why he won."

Shui Koshing chuckled at her logical words and said, "What you said is true. But he was only 9 back then. He couldn't understand that. It only mattered to him that this basketball was his lucky charm." Thinking of something, he added, "In fact, since Koi fishes are believed to bring good luck, Xian even raised Koi fishes."

Honestly speaking, it was difficult for someone like Raelle to feel any connection with this discussion since she was a strong believer that everything in life had a logical reason behind it. Claims that can't be proven with facts can't possibly be true. But she'd rarely admonish others' beliefs in such things as well. It didn't concern her anyway.

"Well, it's good that doesn't believe in such things anymore," stated Raelle.

"I don't know whether he believes in such things anymore or not," began Shui Koshing. "But I certainly do." He looked at her with a gentle gaze as he went on, "I believe that you are the one who carried luck into this family all over again. And I couldn't be more thankful for that."

"I?" questioned Raelle in an odd manner but Shui Koshing didn't notice it.

"Yes, you," he answered. "I feel like everything has started to change with your presence. It means you are our little lucky charm."

Raelle didn't show any change on her face to him but she continued to look at him carefully as if trying to understand something. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't understand it for some reason.

"I'll join you for dinner in a while," said Raelle and left the storeroom. She went upstairs to her bedroom and sat down on a chair.

Usually, she'd never recall something from her past. However, Shui Koshing's words really made something replay in her mind. Those voices were still very clear in her head. As if she just heard those voices.

~~~

'Poor child! Even though her parents are alive, she has to grow up like an orphan!'

'What poor child? She is the bringer of misfortune for everyone!'

'Exactly! A child strengthens the connection between parents and makes it stronger. What did she do? She even made her parents separate on the day she was born!'

'Let's not forget that just two days after her birth, Madam Xiang lost her life. Such bad luck she is to the Xiang family!'

'Even Elder Xiang is really sick since she is born. Who knows if she'll eat his life as well. I don't even want to step close to her.'

'Keep your voices down! What if Miss Mu heard you all? Don't you know how much she values this girl?'

historical

'Hmph! I don't even know what's so good about her. If I had an unlucky child her, I'd have long thrown her away!'

'Isn't that why her parents abandoned her as well? They also wanted to save themselves from this bad luck.'

'She is nothing but the worst nightmare for the Xiang family.'

~~~

It had been such a long time since she last heard someone calling her bad luck. And yet, she could recall it all in detail. Even their malicious and hostile eyes were engraved in the part of her memory that she never touched before.

Suddenly, when Shui Koshing said she was the good luck of this family, her brain instinctively flashed back to the past. It seemed her brain was reminding her of all that she never bothered to think about.

It wasn't that she ever ran from her past but she didn't actively remember it as well. She believed in look forward. How could she look back?

She shook her head to shake off these thoughts from her head and stood up to change clothes. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she reminded herself, "There is no such thing as bad luck or good luck."

She didn't need this reminder but she still reminded herself. Luck had never been a part of her life because she got where she was through her own hard work. Luck played no role in her life. And she'd never let something like 'luck' take the credit for her achievements.

Since she was called a nightmare, she had proven herself to be the worst nightmare for her business rivals.