Hong Kong Island, the Song Family.
By the time He Yichen arrived, it was already close to evening.
Song Fuxue’s parents and her older sister, Song Ni, had long been waiting.
“Uncle, Aunt, A-Ni.”
As He Yichen entered, Madam Song quickly grabbed his hand. “Yichen, how is it? Is there any news about Fuxue?”
“We’ve found some clues. The He Family discovered that Fuxue encountered a kidnapping on her way to the airport.”
“I had those kidnappers captured. They said that late at night, Fuxue jumped into the sea…”
“But we searched the surrounding sea area for a long time and still couldn’t find any trace of her…”
“Then that means she’s still alive!”
Song Ni said firmly, “A-Fu has always been the best swimmer on Hong Kong Island. She was on the swim team all throughout middle school. The chances of her surviving after jumping into the sea are very high!”
“That’s right. She might be injured and trapped somewhere on Hong Kong Island, unable to find us…”
Madam Song’s eyes gradually reddened.
He Yichen lowered his gaze. “This is also my fault. If I had come to Hong Kong Island personally to bring her back to Beijing, she wouldn’t have met with such an accident.”
“How could this be your fault?” Madam Song shook her head. “It was all because of Old Master Song’s selfish schemes, and our own negligence, that we failed to protect Fuxue.”
He Yichen asked the question that had been troubling him, “What exactly is this matter about the ‘fake heiress’ that Old Master Song mentioned? Is Fuxue really not Aunt’s biological daughter?”
“…Fuxue is indeed not my biological child.”
Madam Song recalled, “When she was seven years old, we discovered that she and A-Ni had been switched at birth.”
“We brought A-Ni back, and later found out that her biological parents had both passed away. So we decided not to send Fuxue back, but to raise her by our side.”
“This child was just too lovable. A-Ni also liked her very much. If others found out she was a fake heiress, she would definitely suffer exclusion and gossip within the Song Family.”
“So we hid her identity as a fake heiress and raised her as our biological daughter.”
“From then on, whether it was the fake heiress Song Fuxue or the true heiress Song Ni, both were my daughters, and they lived together as sisters.”
“Only our family and A-Ni knew about this. We thought this secret would remain hidden forever.”
“Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, the old master discovered Fuxue’s identity as a fake heiress.”
“He had long been dissatisfied that our branch of the family held too much power and too many shares within the Song Family.”
“So after discovering that Fuxue was a fake heiress, he took advantage of our absence to scheme and seize all the shares and assets we had left for Fuxue, and then drove her out of the Song Family.”
At this point, Madam Song’s face was filled with anger. “What’s even worse is that after Fuxue went missing, the old master immediately concealed all the news, causing us to miss the best time for rescue.”
Song Ni sneered. “The old master only wanted to take the wealth we worked so hard to earn and give it to his illegitimate son.”
“A-Fu is the younger sister I cherish the most. They caused her to go missing—this debt, I won’t let it go so easily!”
He Yichen had already heard that after Song Fuxue’s incident, the internal situation of the Song Family had completely fallen apart.
There would be a tough battle ahead, and the Song Family would not be peaceful anytime soon.
“Do what you must without worry. Only by securing power and position within the Song Family can Fuxue continue to live as that carefree younger sister when she returns.”
“In the coming period, I’ll stay in Hong Kong Island and contact the major families here to help. We will definitely find Fuxue.”
Father Song said gratefully, “Yichen, thank you for your hard work, coming all the way from Beijing.”
“It’s only right. Fuxue is also a younger sister I care for deeply.”
Although He Yichen and Song Fuxue were cousins, their relationship was extremely close. He Yichen treated her like his own younger sister, caring for and accompanying her without fail since childhood.
That was why, after being driven out by Old Master Song and losing contact with her parents and sister, Song Fuxue had immediately gone to find her older brother, He Yichen.
Now that his younger sister was missing, no one was more anxious than him.
Beijing, night had already fallen.
The Pei Family’s car stopped at Yunqi Residence.
Song Fuxue was still asleep.
She seemed trapped in a nightmare, her expression uneasy, her brows tightly furrowed.
Pei Shangyue noticed and pulled her into his arms, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.
“Wake up. We’re home.”
He gently called to her.
Song Fuxue woke from the nightmare, opened her eyes, and tears slid down from the corners.
Pei Shangyue wiped them away and comforted her. “Don’t be afraid. It was just a nightmare.”
“It didn’t feel like a nightmare… It felt like something that really happened, but it’s a piece of memory I lost.”
Song Fuxue shook her head, trying to recall.
“In the dream, I heard gunshots. I kept running, but there was no way forward, so I could only jump into the sea…”
“I also saw many people. I couldn’t see their faces clearly, but they were calling me ‘Fuxue’…”
“Is that my name?”
Pei Shangyue paused for a moment but said nothing.
Instead, he handed her a cup of brown sugar ginger tea to warm her up.
Warmth spread through her body.
“Bro, my intuition tells me that must be my name!”
“I was probably kidnapped, which is why I jumped into the sea and got injured and lost my memory. After all, in wealthy circles, kidnapping isn’t anything unusual.”
“Bro, you must have people protect me from now on. Kidnapping is too scary!”
Song Fuxue clung to his arm, still shaken.
Pei Shangyue gave a soft acknowledgment, looking at her with unreadable thoughts.
Song Fuxue did not continue pressing him about her past.
Even with her memory loss, she did not dwell on it too much.
She had always believed in living in the present.
So she quickly recovered from the nightmare, then suddenly looked out the window and exclaimed in delight,
“Bro, it’s snowing!”
She opened the car window. Large, fluffy snowflakes drifted down, dissolving upon touch—beautiful like a dreamlike fairy tale.
“Bro, I want to go play in the snow. You go inside first!”
Excited, Song Fuxue opened the car door to get out, but was quickly stopped by Pei Shangyue.
“What’s wrong, Bro?”
“Wait.”
Pei Shangyue hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not stop her.
Instead, he put a thick down jacket on her, wrapped her in a scarf, gloves, and a hat, bundling her up tightly.
He then grabbed her leg and changed her shoes into soft snow boots.
“Bro, I look like a penguin dressed this thick.”
Song Fuxue felt a bit strange—she did not seem used to wearing such heavy clothing.
“Then may I ask Miss Penguin, do you still want to play in the snow?”
“Of course!”
Afraid he might change his mind and stop her, Song Fuxue quickly jumped out of the car and dashed into the snow.
The once quiet and lifeless Chinese-style courtyard was suddenly filled with the presence of a beautiful girl.
She laughed happily, playing in the falling snow.
Against the backdrop of bare winter branches, she was vivid and radiant, more dazzling than the scenery itself.
Pei Shangyue got out of the car and followed her with his gaze, watching her quietly for a long time.
It felt as though time and the moment itself had frozen there.
Until a snowball suddenly flew toward him.
Song Fuxue laughed. “Bro, your reaction is too slow—you got hit!”
Then she began ordering him around again.
“Bro, I want to build a snowman. Hurry and help me find something for the snowman’s eyes and nose, and clothes for it too! They have to look nice!”
Pei Shangyue sighed helplessly but still did as she asked, preparing everything she needed.
Song Fuxue played happily, quickly building two snowmen—one big and one small—and carefully decorating them.
Pei Shangyue did not go inside. He stayed in the courtyard, silently watching and accompanying her.
Before long, Assistant Xu arrived.
Seeing Song Fuxue playing in the snow, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Well, anyone can tell Younger Sister is from the south. Only southerners get this excited seeing snow—especially a girl from Hong Kong Island like her.”
“After all, snow in Hong Kong Island is rarer than red rain!”
Pei Shangyue glanced at him. “Get to the point.”
“Ahem.”
Assistant Xu returned to the matter at hand. “President Pei, we’ve found that Younger Sister did indeed swim ashore from the sea and made her way to the mountain road.”
“People at the Hong Kong Island estate also found something near the seaside that likely belongs to her.”
Assistant Xu took out the item—it was a red safety knot.
At the bottom on the back of the knot, three small characters were engraved:
Song Fuxue.