“There’s no such person as Cao Man Hui?”
Ruan Yao Yao turned around after finishing her granddaughter’s checkup, hearing Xu Liang Han’s answer and frowning slightly.
She felt a bit suspicious: Did Xu Liang Han really look into it? He wouldn’t just be brushing me off, would he?
“I made a phone call and asked. Mom, what are you thinking? What era is this? It’s not like we’re making a movie. How could you suspect someone would steal our daughter? She married into the Cheng family, and the Cheng family isn’t any less well-off than ours.”
“You can know a person’s face but not their heart. How do you know what they’re thinking? Besides, didn’t you two fall out because of that woman, Cao Man Hui? After you got married, your relationship with Cheng Xiang Rong cooled off. After all these years, do you even know what the Cheng family is like now?”
Ruan Yao Yao didn’t believe him and made Xu Liang Han make the call right in front of her.
She was certain: in her dream, her precious granddaughter had been swapped with Cao Man Hui’s daughter. If Cao Man Hui wasn’t there, how could the swap have happened?
It couldn’t be that someone did a ‘good deed,’ stole Cao Man Hui’s daughter, and used her to swap out my granddaughter, could it?
If that were the case, why not give my granddaughter to Cao Man Hui instead of abandoning her at an orphanage?
That doesn’t make sense.
With a complicated expression, Xu Liang Han dialed the hospital director’s number again, putting it on speakerphone and asking the questions once more in front of Ruan Yao Yao.
“Nothing, right?”
Ruan Yao Yao felt something was off: “What about the one surnamed Cheng? Is there a Cheng Xiang Rong?”
The reply came: “No.”
“Any other Chengs, or anyone surnamed Cao?” Ruan Yao Yao refused to give up and pressed further.
The person on the other end was exasperated. If this weren’t his boss, he would have lost his temper. What hospital would casually disclose patient privacy? Helping them look into this was already inappropriate, wasn’t it?
“There are people surnamed Cao and Cheng.”
“Then read them out to me. Let me see who they are.”
“…Cao Yu Shi…”
“Wait, what name did you just say?”
“Cao Yu Shi.”
See, I found it.
Ruan Yao Yao turned to Xu Liang Han and said, “If I remember correctly, your White Moonlight has a younger sister, something like ‘Shi,’ right? Is that the name?”
“…Yes, she does have a younger sister named Cao Yu Shi.”
How kind-hearted—giving birth herself yet helping another expectant mother pay the fees. The entire nursing department knew about this great benefactor.
That mother was extremely grateful to Cao Yu Shi, saying that without her, her own family couldn’t have afforded to come to such a good hospital.
She and Cao Yu Shi weren’t old acquaintances; they had met during prenatal checkups after becoming pregnant. Seeing her struggling, even unable to afford the checkup fees, Cao Yu Shi had brought her along.
The two shared a hospital room and gave birth one after the other.
Oh, and Cao Yu Shi also “found” a newborn baby girl, planning to raise her alongside the child from her own womb as twins…
The call was made in the morning, and by noon, the information was delivered to Xu Liang Han. There was also the fact that when Cao Yu Shi was hospitalized, a large group of people came with her. Her older sister had visited too—a very beautiful young woman who looked somewhat pale.
If they hadn’t mentioned it themselves, no one would have guessed she was the older sister; they would have thought she was the younger one.
Ruan Yao Yao looked at Xu Liang Han and said, “Is Sister Cao Man Hui really that kind-hearted? Isn’t her family very poor? I remember when you were pursuing Cao Man Hui back then, you praised her for being poor yet determined, treating gold and silver like dirt, just like a White Lotus emerging unstained from the mud…
So, after all these years, has her family become wealthy? Is her sister now spending money extravagantly everywhere?”
【Isn’t this obvious?】
【There’s something fishy about this.】
【If Xu Liang Han still doesn’t believe me, I’ll crack open his head and see what’s inside.】
Then, glancing at the baby sleeping soundly in the crib beside her, Ruan Yao Yao told herself: 【Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. Such a little jerk will eventually ruin himself one day. Why should I get so worked up?】
【I’m the woman who’s going to survive until the very end, watching how their family meets its downfall.】
【It’s just my granddaughter who’s pitiful. I’ll save her, but as for the others, I couldn’t care less if they die.】
Xu Liang Han’s mouth twitched, wanting to remind Ruan Yao Yao: Mom, “our whole family” includes you too!
And besides, she has to be my daughter first before she can be your granddaughter!
However, Xu Liang Han had managed the Xu Group for so many years and was no pushover. With so many suspicious points laid out before him, if he didn’t investigate thoroughly, he’d be a fool.
Otherwise, the Xu Group would have collapsed long ago.
Moreover, although his relationship with Ruan Yao Yao wasn’t great, she had never harmed him. He didn’t believe she was making baseless accusations or stirring up trouble for no reason—there had to be a cause.
Perhaps it was related to his ability to hear her “Inner Voice.”
Yes, that’s right. Xu Liang Han was now certain that what he heard was his mother Ruan Yao Yao’s Inner Voice. For some undisclosed purpose, he hadn’t told her.
He thought, perhaps this was the golden finger bestowed upon him by heaven, seeing his desire to improve their mother-son relationship.
“Mom, I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll look into it. If something like this really happened, I definitely wouldn’t let anyone swap my daughter. She’s my own flesh and blood—I’m not stupid.”
Ruan Yao Yao stared fixedly at Xu Liang Han, as if not believing him, and after a long moment, she said, “It better be that way. If you can’t even handle such a small matter, don’t blame me for not sparing your feelings and taking your daughter away.”
Xu Liang Han laughed. “How is that taking my daughter away? If Mom likes her, from now on, Ling Xuan can be raised by you. I absolutely won’t have any objections.”
He would be more than happy for Ruan Yao Yao to help take care of the child so that he and his wife could have some private space, right?
He had finally managed to send his three sons away, having his younger sister Xu Nannan take them out to play. Otherwise, how would he have this peace and quiet now?
Hearing Xu Liang Han call his granddaughter “Ling Xuan,” Ruan Yao Yao knew he had accepted the name and felt pleased.
This name was originally given to her granddaughter by her adoptive mother at the orphanage. Before her granddaughter was recognized and brought back, it had always “protected” her, ensuring everything went smoothly. Later, after being recognized, she was given a new name: Xu Zhenzhu.
What “treasured pearl of the Xu Family”? What kind of treasured pearl would suffer so miserably?
Whenever Ruan Yao Yao thought about how much misfortune that name had brought her granddaughter, she wished she could erase it, as if it had never existed.
“Xu Lingxuan” was much better. She hoped it would protect her granddaughter for life, keeping her safe, peaceful, and happy.
“Ling Xuan, Ling Xuan, my little treasure, did you hear that? From now on, your name will be Xu Lingxuan. Isn’t it much nicer than the lousy name your biological father gave you…”
“What Xu Zhenzhu, we don’t want that. Pearls may seem precious, but they’re just playthings—not auspicious at all.”
“We’d rather be a spirited xuancao grass instead—resilient and full of life, a divine herb at that.”
…
As if responding to Ruan Yao Yao, the sleeping Xu Lingxuan curled her lips into an angelic smile.
Overjoyed, Ruan Yao Yao quickly took out her phone, captured a GIF, and sent it to the family group: [Look, isn’t your adorable niece just the cutest? She’s like a little angel!]
Unfortunately, aside from Xu Liang Han responding immediately, no one else replied for a long time.
Staring at the empty family group and thinking about her complicated relationships with them, Ruan Yao Yao sighed softly, “Sigh…”
No wonder she was all alone in her dreams—there had been signs all along, but she was just too foolish to see them.