When Yang Huishu married into the same family as Yang Huixian, their mothers each prepared sixty-six gold bars and a set of jade jewelry for them.
Later, when society became turbulent, Yang Huixian felt that jade jewelry was hard to keep safe and not as valuable as gold, so she wanted to sell it. Yang Huishu then took twenty-four gold bars and exchanged them for the entire set of jade jewelry.
Over the years, with An Heping's salary not being low, Yang Huishu had used a total of twelve gold bars. Unlike Yang Huixian's miserly nature, Yang Huishu was willing to spend money to enjoy life.
If not for the special circumstances of the current era, she would have used far more than just twelve gold bars.
Hearing An Ran's words, Yang Huishu found them quite reasonable, so she took out ten of the remaining twenty gold bars and gave them to her, then let her pick a set of jewelry for herself.
The two sets of jewelry were similar in style and value. An Ran casually picked one set, then put it in her schoolbag to hide it, but in reality, as soon as she stepped out of the house, she placed everything into the Space.
Meanwhile, An Heping brought the police home. While the police were taking statements and asking what had been lost in the house, Yang Huixian, with a heartbroken expression, told them what she had lost, but in the end, she dared not mention the ninety-eight gold bars.
Even so, Yang Huixian had suffered heavy losses, so the police had no doubt about her heartbroken expression.
Just as An Heping had analyzed, the police also believed that the culprit was likely someone from the same residential building. However, after visiting the neighbors, they found no suspicious persons, and no one had seen anything suspicious either, which left the two officers baffled.
Yang Huixian suggested searching house by house, reasoning that if the culprit was from the same building, they would surely find her family's belongings in the thief's home.
After all, so many things had been stolen from her house, and some were large items—if they really searched, they would be easy to find.
The two police officers said that without evidence, they could not arbitrarily enter people's homes to search, but if Yang Huixian could convince the residents to let her search, then there would be no problem.
Hearing this, Yang Huixian was instantly energized and prepared to search house by house, but in this day and age, every household had its own little secrets, so no one was willing to let her search.
"If you won't let me search, then you're all thieves!"
In her haste, Yang Huixian blurted out a remark that offended the entire building, and it was like poking a hornet's nest—she was immediately surrounded and attacked by everyone. If the two police officers hadn't intervened in time, Yang Huixian would have ended up bleeding today. However, during the commotion, the two officers overheard the matter of the swapped children. If An Heping hadn't said they had already reconciled, Yang Huixian would have been taken to the police station for questioning.
In the end, the two officers left, and Yang Huixian gained nothing except offending the entire building.
Despite the unexpected incident, An Heping still dragged An Hugui to the police station to get the household registration matters settled.
When he returned home, An Heping learned that Yang Huishu had given her dowry to An Ran to hide. Although Yang Huishu's concern was valid, An Heping felt uneasy about entrusting the items to An Ran for safekeeping:
"If you wanted to hide them outside the house, wouldn't it be better to give them to me? Am I not more reliable than An Ran?"
Yang Huishu said awkwardly, "I didn't think that far ahead. An Ran asked me if I trusted her, and I couldn't very well say I didn't. Besides, I think An Ran is quite reliable, and we've never been good to An Ran all these years. I told her I'd give her half as compensation, and she promised she would hide the things well. I'm willing to trust her. And even if she doesn't hide them well, as long as it doesn't bring us trouble, that's fine."
When An Heping heard his wife say this, he said no more. After all, those things were technically his wife's dowry, and she could handle them however she wished.
An Ran didn't come home at noon. After lunch, An Heping went to work, and before leaving, he told his wife to pack up all of An Shu's belongings so that when An Shu returned, she could be sent straight back to her own home.
Around four in the afternoon, An Shu came home joyfully with her two younger brothers, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers in her hands, which she presented to Yang Huishu: "I picked these especially for you."
Yang Huishu looked at An Shu's charming and adorable appearance with a complex expression: "Thank you."
An Shu noticed her mother's unusual demeanor and asked what was wrong.
Usually, when she brought flowers home, her mother would be very happy.
And what about the luggage bags in the living room?
Had guests come to their house?
Yang Huishu looked at An Shu and told her that An Ran had gone for a blood test today and discovered her true identity, and that Yang Huixian had admitted to deliberately swapping the children back then.
After hearing this, An Shu couldn't accept it: "I don't want to be Uncle and Auntie's daughter. I just want to be Mom and Dad's daughter. Can more than ten years of raising and bonding really not compare to blood ties? Even if I'm not Mom and Dad's biological daughter, I still share blood with you. Mom, let me continue being your and Dad's daughter. Can't we just let the mistake stand?"
The two brothers, An Jianshe and An Jianbang, were completely stunned by the sudden news.
They had only gone out to play with their sister for a day—how could they come back to be told that she wasn't their biological sister?
Yang Huishu watched An Shu cry in a way that looked exactly like Yang Huixian, yet she could hardly muster any pity: "The life you've lived all these years and the life An Ran has lived—they're as different as heaven and earth. How do you expect me to just let bygones be bygones? Every time I think of how your mother swapped my child for her own selfish gain and abused my child, I gnash my teeth in hatred. The fact that I'm not taking my anger out on you is already my restraint, born of over a decade of raising you… I've already packed your things. Go now. Jianshe, Jianbang, see your cousin off…"
An Shu, panicked, clung to Yang Huishu's leg: "No, I won't go. Mom, I'm your daughter. Don't kick me out…"
Yang Huishu felt a pang of sorrow at the words: "You're not my daughter. You're my niece. Your household registration has already been transferred to your biological parents' home. From now on, you'll still be called An Shu, but not the 'Shu' of virtuous and gentle—rather, the 'Shu' of books and learning."
An Shu: "…"
In just the span of a single day, not only had her parents changed, her household registration changed, but even her name had changed.
Seeing Yang Huishu's heartless demeanor, An Shu—no, An Shu—felt a flicker of resentment in her heart: "Fine. From now on, I'll be An Shu. I'm leaving… Aunt."
Yang Huishu, afraid she might soften, deliberately turned her head away to avoid looking at An Shu.
Seeing this, An Shu wiped her tears, stood up, and bowed to Yang Huishu in apology: "I apologize to you and An Ran for what my biological mother did…"
Thinking of how she had always acted so superior in front of An Ran, An Shu turned and ran out in shame.
She had thought she was luckier than An Ran, born into a better family, but it turned out she was nothing but a cuckoo in the nest, a fake. How could she bear such a fall from grace?
Seeing this, the two brothers An Jianshe and An Jianbang quickly grabbed An Shu's belongings and chased after her…
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