It was Mrs. Lu, Ye Shuhui, who discovered that the children had been switched.
Ye Shuhui suspected her husband, Lu Zhaoming, had a child out of wedlock. She hired a private investigator to look into it, and sure enough, they found a boy.
While arranging a paternity test for the boy, Ye Shuhui had a sudden impulse and ordered one for herself and Lu Ning as well.
After all, Lu Ning looked nothing like either her or her husband.
People had often joked that Lu Ning might have been switched at birth in the hospital.
The test confirmed there was a problem: Lu Ning really wasn’t her biological daughter.
Ye Shuhui immediately took the test results to the police. After a week of investigation, they found a likely match.
The child who had probably been switched at birth was Xia Yuwei.
The police went to the Xia family and explained the situation. As soon as Xia Yuwei heard that the Lu family was very wealthy, she immediately said she was willing to take a paternity test.
At the time, Lu Ning had been assigned to travel around Southeast Asia with the Yangcheng Song and Dance Troupe, reporting on its performances.
By the time she returned to China, Xia Yuwei had not only reunited with her biological family and returned to the Lu family, but had also registered her marriage to Shen Qingshi, the man the Lu family had arranged for Lu Ning to marry.
After Lu Ning met the Xia family, Wu Lizhen mentioned Zhou Lie and said she hoped her daughter would meet him.
If Lu Ning really didn’t like him, Wu Lizhen would speak to the Zhou family and call off the engagement.
After all, Lu Ning had grown up in a wealthy family like the Lus’, and Wu Lizhen thought her daughter might look down on Zhou Lie.
But to her surprise, after meeting, both young people agreed to the marriage.
It all felt like a dream—and yet like a connection destined to be. Wu Lizhen was filled with emotion.
In this exchange of daughters, she had gained not only a beautiful, well-behaved daughter but also a handsome son-in-law.
That was why she liked the young couple so much, whichever way she looked at them.
Still, she felt that her daughter, who had grown up surrounded by every luxury, had been treated unfairly.
So she discussed it with her husband and son: once the compensation for demolishing their old house was distributed, they would give half to Lu Ning.
The demolition had not yet been finalized, so Wu Lizhen didn’t tell her adopted daughter, Xia Yuwei.
She knew Xia Yuwei was vain and materialistic. She and her husband had repeatedly tried to reason with her, urging her not to care so much about money.
But Xia Yuwei had turned around and called them useless parents, saying they were making excuses for their own incompetence.
Wu Lizhen had sometimes felt puzzled before. Why was her daughter’s personality so different from theirs? And why didn’t she look like them, either?
It was only when she met Lu Zhaoming and his wife that she understood: what ran in one’s blood really couldn’t be changed.
In both appearance and temperament, Xia Yuwei was the spitting image of Lu Zhaoming and his wife.
After taking Zhou Lin’s temperature, Xia Weihong found that it had reached 39.5 degrees—a high fever.
Zhou Lie insisted that Zhou Lin get a fever-reducing shot and take some medicine home.
The moment Zhou Lin heard he would have to get a shot—and in his butt, no less—he vehemently protested, saying he would rather burn to death than get an injection.
Lu Ning couldn’t help laughing. She tried to scare him: “People don’t usually die from a fever, but it can fry your brain. Do you want to turn into an idiot? If you do, you’ll never get to achieve your dream.”
Zhou Lin was astonished. How did Lu Ning know what his dream was? He had never told anyone.
Zhou Lie also found it strange that Lu Ning had suddenly brought up dreams.
As far as he knew, all his younger brother wanted to do was play video games. What dream could he have?
But the next moment, Zhou Lin obediently followed Nurse Chen Yuanyuan into the injection room.
Zhou Lie: “…”
Once Zhou Lin had gone inside, Zhou Lie leaned close to Lu Ning and asked in a low voice, “Did Zhou Lin tell you what his dream is?”
Lu Ning shook her head. “No.”
“Then how did you know he had one?”
“Captain Zhou, do you really have to ask? Didn’t you have a dream when you were Zhou Lin’s age?”
Zhou Lie was at a loss for words.
Lu Ning’s curiosity was piqued. She smiled at him and asked, “Was your dream to become a police officer?”
“Yeah.” Zhou Lie answered honestly, then asked her, “What about you? Was your dream to become a reporter?”
Lu Ning answered just as candidly. “That’s right. Ever since I was little, I’ve been fascinated by the reporters I saw on TV. That was the only thing I ever wanted to do.”
Zhou Lie’s lips curled. “I can see that. You’re pretty stubborn.”
“Hey, you have terrible people skills. You don’t know how to talk to people at all. Such a typical straight guy.”
Zhou Lie just smiled and didn’t argue.
In the injection room, Chen Yuanyuan prepared the medicine and said to Zhou Lin, “Handsome, pull down your pants.”
Zhou Lin’s face turned bright red, all the way to his neck. Stammering, he asked, “Could… could you have Uncle give me the shot?”
Chen Yuanyuan giggled. “Shy? I’m afraid not. Giving injections is the nurses’ job. Doctor Xia is here to treat patients.”
Chen Yuanyuan was two years younger than Lu Ning. She had a sweet face, and when she smiled, two little dimples appeared in her cheeks. Her voice was gentle, too.
For some inexplicable reason, Zhou Lin’s heart began beating faster.
He had never taken his pants off in front of a girl before, and this girl had such a pretty smile.
When Chen Yuanyuan saw that Zhou Lin still wouldn’t move, she reached over and tugged his pants down herself. “What are you so shy about, kid? Have you even grown all your hair yet?”
Zhou Lin’s face grew even hotter. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.
Chen Yuanyuan swabbed his butt with an alcohol pad, then quickly plunged the needle in.
It felt as if a hornet had suddenly stung him in the butt. The pain nearly made him cry out.
Next time he got sick, he might as well let his brother beat him to death. Why bother with shots?
Chen Yuanyuan finished injecting the medicine and pulled out the needle. “Hold the cotton swab in place and press for a while. Wait a bit before you go out.”
Still holding the swab in place, Zhou Lin was too embarrassed to look at Chen Yuanyuan.
As she tidied up, Chen Yuanyuan teased him. “You don’t have a girlfriend? You’re so handsome, surely lots of girls are after you. But from the look of you, you haven’t even held a girl’s hand before, have you?”
“We have a lot of schoolwork. I don’t have time to date,” Zhou Lin said defensively. “Besides, you have to feel something for the person you date. You can’t just pick a random girl and start seeing her, can you?”
Chen Yuanyuan reached out and ruffled his hair. “You little brat. Just say you haven’t met a girl you like yet.”
With that, she turned and left the injection room.
Zhou Lin sniffed. The hair Chen Yuanyuan had ruffled carried a fresh, clean fragrance. It was lovely.
He was still lost in thought when Zhou Lie came in and asked, “All done?”
Zhou Lin tossed the cotton swab away, pulled up his pants, shot his brother an angry glance, and strode out of the injection room.
Every step tugged at the muscles in his butt. It hurt…
Watching Zhou Lin limp along, Lu Ning couldn’t help laughing. “Are you really that afraid of pain?”
Frowning, Zhou Lin retorted, “You try getting a shot. My butt’s gone numb. I’d rather you let me burn my brain to a crisp.”
Lu Ning lowered her voice so only he could hear. “If you’re that afraid of pain, you shouldn’t be thinking about joining the peacekeeping forces. The battlefields they go to are real battlefields, with live ammunition. You could get hurt at any time, or even die.”
Zhou Lin paused, then stuck out his chest. “I was just pretending. I’m not afraid of pain. And don’t you dare tell anyone my secret, or I’ll fall out with you.”
Lu Ning smiled and took out her phone. “Let’s add each other on WeChat.”
“What for? Trying to suck up to me? You don’t have to. My brother treats you better than he treats me now.”
“You wanted to learn about the peacekeeping forces, didn’t you? I just asked a service member who’s currently on a mission in Country Y. He agreed to be friends with you and said you can ask him anything you want to know.”