Seven in the evening.
Xiao Ciyou sat inside the Maybach, watching the brightly lit mansion draw nearer beyond the car window. A cold glint flickered in her eyes.
The scene from yesterday, when the original owner had been thrown out of the house, was still vivid—
The elegant woman she had called “Mom” for more than ten years had shoved her down the steps. Then she watched as the girl knelt in the torrential rain, begging desperately.
“If we hadn’t wanted to switch Yingying’s fate pattern, why would we ever have raised a poor family’s child like you?”
“Yingying suffered out there for eighteen years in your place, while you enjoyed eighteen years of good fortune in the Song Family. You should be satisfied. Get as far away as you can!”
Enjoyed good fortune?
From the time the original owner could remember, she had never seen a smile on her parents’ faces.
When she did badly on an exam, they called her a blockhead. When she entered a competition, they mocked her for making a fool of herself. On her birthday, they made her wash their feet to repay their kindness. Even when she was sick, she had to wash their clothes by hand…
The reason was simple: the original owner had the Phoenix Noble Fate, a destiny seen only once in a century. To take it from her, they needed sorcery, backed up by years of crushing her spirit and sense of self.
The more they oppressed her, the weaker her constitution became and the more timid her nature grew. Eventually, she could no longer bear such a noble fate, and an evil Xiu cultivator’s spell would transfer it to their biological daughter, Song Yingshi, whose fate was naturally marked by misfortune and calamity.
After her fate pattern was switched, the original owner was thrown out of the house on the pretext that she had been mistakenly taken in. Even if she hadn’t been in a car accident yesterday, she would still have “died unexpectedly” within three months.
Pei Xiuyan, meanwhile, had been watching the girl beside him.
The impact had indeed been severe, but the doctor said she had only superficial injuries and could be discharged at any time.
She had just turned eighteen. Her features were youthful, yet her gaze was at times resolute and at times cold, carrying an air of authority that seemed tempered by the years. She was impossible to read.
“Have you looked long enough?”
Meeting the girl’s bright eyes, Pei Xiuyan blurted out, “If you need money, you can come to the Pei Family. Don’t do this sort of thing again.”
Xiao Ciyou looked at him with pity. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. You’re not entirely alive, anyway. You’re only half-dead.”
Pei Xiuyan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Someone tampered with your fate pattern, just as they did with mine. Today isn’t your day to die, but your soul has already left your body. That means you’ve been to the Gates of the Underworld and back. Your scent has left a trace in the Underworld, and the ghost messengers will follow it to find you again.
“If they hook your soul a second time within seven days, you won’t be coming back.”
Qi Jia, driving, looked at the little girl in the rearview mirror as she went on about ghosts and spirits, and teased her with a chuckle:
“Well, Miss Song, are you going to help us fend off the ghost messengers next—and charge us for it?”
Xiao Ciyou smiled faintly. “I can’t stop them from coming, but I can beat them back.”
Pei Xiuyan silently pinched the bridge of his nose. “Turn the corner up ahead and you’ll be home. Go on.”
This girl had clearly read too many fantasy novels.
…
The Song Family.
Song Yingshi wore a custom-made gown and jewelry worth a million. She gazed at herself in the mirror, with the spacious room and its extravagant furnishings behind her.
Silk gauze curtains, a crystal chandelier, countless designer handbags in the wardrobe…
Most important of all, she had a healthy body!
“Yingying, stop admiring yourself. You’re already beautiful enough. Come downstairs with Mom—President Pei will be here soon.”
Song Yingshi’s eyes shone with excitement. “Mom, is this real? Pinch me! Do I really have the Phoenix Noble Fate now?!”
Zheng Meilan answered fondly, “Of course it’s real. Otherwise, why would a top-tier family like the Pei Family suddenly send us gifts? A hundred million in cash! And all these jades and jewels—they’re all for you!
“And Pei Xiuyan, the Pei Family’s only grandson, never attends social engagements. But as soon as you returned to the Song Family, he asked for an invitation and insisted on coming to your homecoming banquet. Isn’t that because he was drawn to your Phoenix Noble Fate?”
Song Yingshi took an excited, deep breath. “Mom, thank you and Dad for everything you’ve done for me. Now that I have the Phoenix Noble Fate, I’ll help the Song Family climb to even greater heights!”
The Pei Family! A top-tier family! The position of Young Madam! Here she comes!
The mother and daughter reached the entrance just as a Maybach with the license plate “Jiang A8888” pulled up.
They had a servant fetch Song Chengye while they straightened their clothes and fixed their hair, then waited proudly and respectfully to welcome the distinguished guest in the car, under everyone’s gaze.
The car door opened. The first thing they saw was a leg clad in jeans. Wait—jeans?
Then a pair of white sneakers touched the ground.
Wearing a white knit sweater and jeans, Xiao Ciyou climbed out of the Maybach.
Wearing a white knit sweater and jeans, Xiao Ciyou climbed out of the Maybach.
A flicker of disgust crossed Zheng Meilan’s eyes. She raised her voice. “Well, look who decided to come back! I thought I’d have to beg you to let me, your own mother, bring my daughter, Song Yingshi, home!”
The guests around them began to whisper.
“I heard Mrs. Song say as soon as I arrived that she couldn’t accept her biological daughter coming back. She even threatened to leave home!”
“She’s an adopted daughter. She should be grateful to the Song Family for raising her, not resent them for bringing their real daughter home! Who does she think she is? She ought to take a look in the mirror!”
“Jealous, obviously. The Song Family spent years raising her, and she amounted to nothing. I hear their biological daughter grew up poor, but she never let poverty hold her back—excellent grades, well-bred and considerate.”
“Like father, like son, like mother, like daughter. A pheasant will never become a phoenix!”
Pei Xiuyan’s expression darkened inside the car.
Just as he thought!
He was about to get out when, from the corner of his eye, he saw a golden flash at Song Zhien’s fingertips, as though she had sent a talisman flying.
The red thread around his wrist flashed into view with a swish, then vanished again.
“Huh? Huh? Am I seeing things again?!”
Outside the car, Xiao Ciyou had intended to take the things and leave. She had only just been reborn, and her spiritual power and merit were pitifully weak.
But they had gone too far and started bullying her to her face!
She wasn’t Song Zhien!
In this life or her last, she had never known how to be timid!
With a turn of her delicate hand, she sent a Truth Talisman flying at Zheng Meilan.
Zheng Meilan stiffened. Glaring viciously at Xiao Ciyou, she began to curse:
“You little slut, born in some poor hovel! You should be grateful I let you wash my feet!
“You wanted to study, to learn the piano? Dream on! You’re fit for nothing but being a maid in my house!
“Once you’ve used up all your good luck in my home, I’ll send you out the door to get run over by a car!”
Song Chengye had just hurried over. Hearing these unvarnished truths, he nearly fainted and rushed to cover his wife’s mouth.
Xiao Ciyou sent another Empowerment Talisman at him.
With a sharp slap, Song Chengye’s palm struck Zheng Meilan across the mouth. “Shut up!”
Zheng Meilan shrieked. “Song Chengye, how dare you hit me! If I hadn’t helped you all these years, would a man with your limited understanding have been able to build the company up this much?
“You’re no good at business, and you can’t even get it up in bed. You still want a son? Dream on!
“That little bullet of yours can’t even get me pregnant. Where do you think a son’s going to come from? How did I end up marrying a useless man like you?!”
Song Chengye’s face flushed. He meant to drag Zheng Meilan away, but instead he grabbed her by the hair.
“Shut up! Shut up!”
“I’ll say it! Useless! Useless! You’re a boiled enoki mushroom—thin and limp!”
It wasn’t until the servants had dragged the two of them back to their room that everyone came back to their senses after Zheng Meilan’s stream of obscenities.
“Is Mrs. Zheng mentally unwell? She wasn’t just cursing people—she was talking about switching fates and a phoenix fate. It scared me just listening to her.”
“But she really meant what she said about making her adopted daughter wash her feet and work as a maid, didn’t she? Even if the girls were switched at birth, she raised her for eighteen years. To curse the child she raised to get run over by a car the moment she left the house—that’s vicious!”
Song Yingshi had barely returned to the wealthy world before the entire upper circle was pointing fingers at her. Her eyes immediately reddened.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. She had the Phoenix Noble Fate. Every problem would resolve itself!
Her gaze fell on the Maybach.
Right—Young Master Pei!
The person who could stand up for her had already arrived at her door, hadn’t he?
Xiao Ciyou was about to go inside when Song Yingshi suddenly stepped in front of her.
“Older Sister, you’ve gone too far. Mom and Dad raised you for all these years. How could you just run off like that? And now you’ve suddenly come back, knowing full well that Mom is sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. How could you provoke her like this?”
Xiao Ciyou turned her delicate hand over again.
Damn, she was out of spiritual power.