Four years ago, she had returned here. It took less than a month for her to discover she was pregnant. She’d wanted a sweet little daughter, but she hadn’t expected that man’s little tadpoles to be so aggressive—two of them had been chosen by her egg princess.
So she gave birth to healthy, beautiful twins: a boy and a girl. Both babies were rosy-cheeked, adorable, and soft as can be.
But she’d only wanted a daughter! Boys were nothing but money pits. Right then and there, she wanted to return the son she’d been given as a bonus.
If the masters hadn’t taken pity on her for having just given birth and needing to rest during her confinement, they would’ve beaten her to death.
Truthfully, looking at her adorable son filled her with maternal love, but… not that much maternal love.
When she thought about how much money he’d cost as he grew up, how she’d have to buy him a house and get him married, pay the bride price, and bring home a natural enemy to fight with her before giving her a pair of grandchildren, Yuetao felt as if the sky were falling.
Her freewheeling life as a heartless woman couldn’t go on happily anymore.
Luckily, she had plenty of masters. Together, they’d raised both babies, feeding them and changing their diapers until they grew up.
In the blink of an eye, the children were three years old.
Then, a few days ago, the masters had suddenly thrown in the towel. With nobody left to watch the kids, she’d gone into a panic and sent her sensible, obedient, adorable, beautiful eldest son off to find his biological father.
She wondered if Goudan’er had found that man yet.
“Mama~ What’s your pretty, cute, clever daughter gonna have for breakfast? Niannian’s little tummy is soooo hungry~”
Uh…
Cooking was Yuetao’s Achilles’ heel!
She couldn’t do it.
She’d blown up the kitchen yesterday, which was why she’d sent her son to find his biological father. Otherwise, the three of them would have had to devolve into Xiaotuanzi’s kind in these mountains.
“Mama, Niannian misses Big Brother too~ I wonder if Big Brother found Daddy, and if there’s food at Daddy’s house.”
Yuetao said, “…Niannian, now that you mention it, Goudan’er really is kind of pitiful. Oh, right—the letter your grandpas left yesterday. Where is it? I don’t think I finished reading it.”
The masters had all suddenly disappeared, leaving behind just one letter. It said they wanted to go see the outside world; if they stayed here taking care of the children any longer, they’d all become depressed.
Before, Yuetao hadn’t understood how anyone could get depressed when children were so cute.
After looking after them by herself for two days, she’d wanted to destroy the world. Now she understood exactly how her masters had felt.
She’d only read the beginning of the letter before getting busy running wild up the mountain.
Niannian scratched her little head, unable to remember where Mama had tossed the letter after reading it.
Xiaotuanzi, who had nearly been squashed flat by its little owner, let out a helpless wolfish sigh. Wriggling its round body, it dug the letter out from beneath a pile of assorted junk, then carried it back to Yuetao.
“Niannian, who would’ve thought your mama and I would be less reliable than Xiaotuanzi? Without Xiaotuanzi, this family would probably fall apart.”
Niannian clung to Yuetao’s leg in fright.
“Mama, don’t leave Niannian all alone. Niannian’s scared.”
“Good girl~ Mama went to so much trouble to bring you into this world. I’m not going to abandon you.”
“Was Big Brother just a bonus, so Mama could throw him away whenever she wanted?”
Yuetao said, “…Shen Chunian, get out.”
“Tuantuan, let’s get out of here. Mama doesn’t have a loving heart for her cute, clever baby girl.”
Niannian ran outside. The little girl was so hungry that she squatted in the courtyard and asked Xiaotuanzi,
“Tuantuan, are you Niannian’s good friend?”
Xiaotuanzi: “Awooo~”
Niannian: “Then make Niannian some food, Tuantuan. Don’t just stare at your good friend while she starves to death.”
Xiaotuanzi tilted its little wolf head at its owner, looking utterly baffled.
It was an animal. How was it supposed to cook? Its little owner was so silly. What a worry.
“Tuantuan, why did you make yourself look like a marshmallow? Was it so Niannian could eat you?”
The little snow wolf pup lying on the ground suddenly had a bad feeling.
Its little owner had flopped down beside it and opened her mouth wide, about to bite.
Terrified, Tuantuan’s wolf heart jumped. It bolted away in a flash.
“Tuantuan, don’t run away~ Hurry up and let Niannian eat you. Niannian’s so hungry…”
Inside the room,
Yuetao unfolded the crumpled letter and picked up where she’d left off the day before.
She’d last read that if the masters didn’t go see the outside world soon, they’d become depressed. The rest said…
“Xiaotaozi, you weren’t abandoned and found by us. Someone we knew entrusted you to us on their deathbed. You’re the only daughter of the original Shen family of Kyoto, and you have four older brothers.
“The Shen family still bears the Shen name, but it has long since changed at its core. We’re old now and can’t do much to help you. If you want to avenge your mother and reclaim what was originally yours, you’ll have to rely on yourself.
“Your four brothers are your biological brothers. That beloved Shen family daughter, Shen Baozhu, was born a few days before you. She was born to your biological father and Fang Xuelian, the orphan who had been his childhood sweetheart. To let their child enjoy wealth and privilege, and to let his mistress take your mother’s place, he plotted the tragedy that happened back then…”
The more Yuetao read, the colder her heart grew.
By the time she finished the letter, the fury in her heart had reached its peak.
She had never imagined that this was her true background. She’d grown up carefree, always believing she was an orphan with neither father nor mother.
Who would’ve thought she had not only a father and mother, but also four capable biological brothers? Meanwhile, the mistress’s daughter had stolen her identity and basked in her brothers’ affection. That mistress was Shen Baozhu’s biological mother, yet she’d married Yuetao’s deadbeat dad as her stepmother.
Her purpose had been to keep the brothers from getting suspicious. She’d never had another child, and had treated only Shen Baozhu as her own, earning the brothers’ trust.
The original Madam Shen Yuetao’s biological mother, the Shen family’s only daughter—had been innocently killed just so Fang Xuelian could take her place.
Women were most likely to die in childbirth, especially older mothers who had already borne four children!
After Yuetao had been switched out, her deadbeat dad had sent someone to dump her in these remote mountains, leaving her to fend for herself.
Her pale, tender hand clenched the envelope so tightly it crackled.
The last time Yuetao had been this angry was when a wild boar had charged her. Ever since then, the wild boars on the mountain had gone out of their way to avoid her whenever they spotted her from afar.
Shen Wansong, president of Shen Group; your beloved wife, Fang Xuelian; your precious daughter, Shen Baozhu—your good days are over!
“Bang!” She kicked the door open. In the courtyard, Niannian had grabbed Tuantuan and was pretending to take a bite. Mama’s sudden entrance made the little girl jump, and Tuantuan fell from her hands and escaped.
The little girl saw Mama standing in the doorway, a whip in one hand and the sword Third Granduncle had made in the other. The look on her face was the same as whenever she went out to beat up wild boars.
“Pretty fairy Mama? Are you going to beat up the piggies again?”
Yuetao said gravely, “Niannian, we’re heading to the capital right now, to live the good life!”