Following the direction of the voice, everyone turned toward the curtain by the stairway.
Meng Yao calmly pulled the curtain aside and walked toward them with a smile.
That little performance of selling a daughter for wealth and status had truly been impressive.
Their hypocrisy and practiced acting were so convincing that it would have been a waste if those two women had not played vicious stepmothers onstage.
Since the Meng family was determined to exchange a daughter for money, Meng Yao would simply help fulfill everyone’s wishes today.
After all, the Meng family had more than one daughter.
Since this was a business transaction, both sides ought to be satisfied.
Whenever people spent money to buy something, they naturally compared their options and carefully chose the one they liked best.
Her sharp gaze swept across everyone, and she quickly formed a plan.
At that moment, Lin Xiuzhu’s gaze settled on Meng Yao. She examined her carefully as though inspecting a piece of merchandise.
It had to be said that Meng Yao’s figure and appearance were flawless. The only possible criticism was that she was slightly too thin.
After all, in the eyes of the older generation, plump women were believed to be better at bearing children.
Still, considering her son’s condition, Lin Xiuzhu could not afford to be overly selective.
Otherwise, with the Qi family’s status, they would never have considered the greedy and vain Meng family.
“And this young lady is?”
Li Yuqin quickly took Meng Yao’s hand and smiled brightly.
“This is my precious daughter, Meng Yao.”
As she spoke, she gently pushed Meng Yao forward.
“Hurry and greet them.”
Meng Yao obediently put on a sweet and well-behaved expression.
“Hello, Auntie.”
Her voice was so gentle that it nearly melted Lin Xiuzhu’s heart. Lin Xiuzhu quickly nodded, looking extremely satisfied.
Meng Yao blinked her bright, lively eyes and asked innocently,
“Could you be the elegant and beautiful future mother-in-law Meng Ying always talks about?”
Hearing herself being praised, Lin Xiuzhu covered her mouth and laughed shyly.
“What a sweet-tongued child.”
Meng Yao quickly waved her hands and explained,
“Auntie, you’ve misunderstood. I wasn’t the one who praised you. It was my dear younger sister, Meng Ying.”
Meng Ying?
Didn’t the Meng family have only one son and one daughter?
Where had this younger sister suddenly come from?
Qi Shuai immediately sensed that something was wrong. He frowned at Meng Liangcai, demanding an explanation.
In truth, Meng Ying had only returned to acknowledge her family six months earlier.
At the time, she had brought along a two-year-old boy.
She could not even clearly explain who the child’s father was.
The Meng family’s small factory was already facing a crisis. If rumors about their family’s questionable morals spread as well, it would only make matters worse.
Therefore, they had publicly claimed that Meng Ying was merely a distant niece who had come to seek refuge with them.
Li Yuqin hurriedly pulled Meng Yao toward her and glared fiercely at her, warning her not to say anything else.
Meng Liangcai was so frightened that cold sweat poured down his face. He stood and explained,
“Yingzi is… she’s my distant niece. She and Yaoyao are about the same age…”
After hearing this, Qi Shuai and Lin Xiuzhu remained silent, clearly doubtful.
Meng Yao sneered inwardly.
They wanted to hide their biological daughter and push their adopted daughter into the fire instead?
They could keep dreaming.
Meng Yao pouted angrily and muttered,
“Dad, how could you say that about Meng Ying?”
“Although we were switched at birth, she is still your biological daughter. How can you call her a distant niece? If someone deliberately spread those words, wouldn’t it break Meng Ying’s heart and hurt the rest of the family?”
Qi Shuai and Lin Xiuzhu froze after hearing this, their expressions becoming dazed.
What?
Meng Yao was not the Meng family’s biological daughter?
Meng Yao’s eyes became moist.
“So, Auntie, I really do have a younger sister!”
Qi Shuai’s expression darkened as he sternly demanded,
“What exactly is going on? Which daughter is your Meng family actually planning to marry off?”
Seeing that the truth had been exposed, Meng Liangcai became anxious and furious.
“Of course, the marriage we’re discussing today is Yaoyao’s.”
He immediately explained everything about Meng Ying.
Meng Ying had been escorted back by two police officers.
She had learned from her adoptive parents shortly before their sudden deaths that she had been switched at birth.
Since paternity testing technology did not yet exist in this era, and so much time had already passed, Meng Ying had no choice but to seek help from the police, especially since she was alone with a child.
The police had gone to great lengths before finally helping her locate her biological parents.
Following the clues Meng Ying provided, they had also unexpectedly uncovered a major child-trafficking case at a hospital in the capital, including medical staff who had secretly worked with human traffickers.
The public security bureau reopened the old case and eventually arrested and prosecuted those who had escaped justice.
Because Meng Ying had helped solve the case, two police officers had personally escorted her back to the Meng family.
After hearing this, Lin Xiuzhu became conflicted and looked at Qi Shuai with a frown.
What should they do?
They had merely come to arrange a marriage, yet now they had stumbled into a situation involving a true daughter and a fake daughter.
Without this complication, Meng Yao would have been a fairly good choice.
Qi Shuai sighed inwardly.
That was true, but Meng Yao was only an adopted daughter.
If they truly brought her into the family, people might mock the Qi family for marrying an abandoned girl whom another family did not want.
It would be humiliating.
Lin Xiuzhu silently agreed.
No wonder the Meng family had accepted the marriage so readily.
It turned out that they had been hiding such malicious intentions and waiting to trick them.
Although their son’s current reputation made it difficult for him to find a wife, the Qi family had not fallen so low that they would accept just anyone.
Meng Liangcai saw the couple’s gloomy expressions and realized that the marriage arrangement was about to change.
He quickly signaled for Li Yuqin to take Meng Yao away, afraid that the thick envelope they had just received would be taken back.
Meng Yao did not resist.
As she walked away, she continued murmuring,
“It really wasn’t easy for Meng Ying to return alone with a child. As her older sister, I should naturally help her more often.”
She sighed softly.
“That little fellow is only a little over two years old, yet he’s extremely mischievous. Sigh…”
“But I suppose that’s normal. After all, he’s a little boy.”
Meng Liangcai was speechless.
Li Yuqin was speechless.
Qi Shuai and his wife were stunned.
As Meng Yao turned and went upstairs, a victorious smile appeared on her face.
The bait had already been cast.
Whether the Qi family took it was entirely up to them.
One option was a worthless adopted daughter.
The other was their biological daughter, a single mother with a child whose father was unknown.
The Qi family had always worried that Qi Yunhai’s infertility would leave the family without an heir.
Now such a suitable marriage candidate had appeared.
It was truly a heaven-sent opportunity.
Judging by the child’s age, the timing even matched the period before Qi Yunhai enlisted in the army.
Should they marry Meng Ying and bring her child into the Qi family, they could publicly claim that the boy had been conceived before Qi Yunhai joined the army.
This would silence the gossip and solve the Qi family’s succession problem.
It was truly a perfect transaction.
In Meng Yao’s previous life, before the wedding, Meng Ying had given the child to her for adoption.
The boy had moved into the Qi family’s household registration with her and had been renamed Qi Qinghe.
Meng Yao had loved and cared for Qi Qinghe as though he were her own biological son.
Yet whenever Qi Yunhai brutally beat her, Qi Qinghe had responded only with indifference and mockery.
He had not only monitored her movements for the Qi family but had also secretly reported her every time she attempted to escape, helping Qi Yunhai imprison her inside the house.
Qi Qinghe had known from childhood that Meng Yao was not his biological mother.
Therefore, no matter how much she gave him, he always believed that her sacrifices were only natural.
The Meng family had taught him that Meng Yao owed their family—
and that she owed him.
Since Meng Yao had already repaid the debt of raising him in her previous life, everyone could now return to their rightful places in this one.
The Meng family’s daughter?
The Qi family’s daughter-in-law?
Whoever wanted those roles could have them.
Lin Xiuzhu suppressed the excitement in her heart, her eyes gleaming sharply.
“Where is Meng Ying’s husband’s family from?”