Gao Yunxiu was incredulous. Jiang Zhen, true to her word, entered the operating room. She asked the police: “Aren’t you going to stop her?”
Stop what? Gu Liancheng’s status as he accompanied his wife into the operating room was highly irregular. Since they had entered, the officers couldn’t interfere—Gao Yunxiu’s own suspicious intentions made her look more dangerous in their eyes.
“Gao, before Liu Jinyin wakes, stay put and cooperate with us.”
Gao Yunxiu felt uneasy. Could Jiang Zhen coerce Liu Jinyin into giving false testimony against her? She had been careless this time and hoped Liu Jinyin would die on the operating table.
…
Jiang Zhen and Gu Liancheng changed into surgical gowns. Director Wan was baffled. The surgery had nearly failed; if continued, Liu Jinyin might never awaken.
Yet Jiang Zhen, inside the operating room, somehow stabilized Liu Jinyin’s vital signs. How could this be?
Gu Liancheng sternly warned: “Director Wan, this is serious. Whoever you tell could be put in danger. Keep it secret—especially from your spouse.”
Wan understood the gravity and asked: “Can you tell me if Qingfeng knows about Jiang Zhen?”
Gu Liancheng nodded: “Qingfeng and I work in the same department.”
No further explanation was needed. Wan regretted losing such a talented prospective son-in-law.
…
Inside Liu Jinyin’s subconscious, Jiang Zhen saw her gleefully leading the family to move into Jiang Zhen’s old mansion, complete with celebratory firecrackers.
Liu Jinyin, seeing Jiang Zhen appear at the gate, panicked: “You were arrested and sentenced for life! How are you out? This mansion was my reward—you can’t take it back!”
So that was her dream. Jiang Zhen decided to wake her from it.
She systematically destroyed the imagined family members Liu Jinyin conjured.
Watching them fall, Liu Jinyin wept: “Why don’t you go after Gao Yunxiu, the one who harmed you?”
“I am going after her. First, I must deal with you. Remember this: Gao Yunxiu tricked you into using Jiang Zhao to testify I wasn’t his mother. During the struggle, you suffered internal bleeding, right?”
Liu Jinyin froze, confused, sensing both truth and error.
Jiang Zhen continued: “If you want your family to live again, follow me. Say each sentence I say, or I’ll repeat killing your family countless times until you go mad.”
Liu Jinyin turned to see her family alive again—but invisible to her.
“All right, I’ll go with you.”
Jiang Zhen spoke deliberately: “Gao Yunxiu, to seize the factory, bribed you to frame me using my twin identity. She even tried bribing Jiang Zhao. When that failed, she tried to kill you and Jiang Zhao. Fortunately, you survived.”
Liu Jinyin recalled: “Yes… that’s exactly it.”
“Yes, Gao Yunxiu is terrible. She bribed me—I hid the money in my waistband. Where is my money?”
“It’s safe,” Jiang Zhen reassured. “When the police ask, admit it, but you can say it’s spent. I won’t mention the money; the money Gao Yunxiu gave, you can take back.”
“That’s wonderful. Jiang Zhen, you’re still kind.”
“You’ve cared for me for over ten years. I won’t punish you completely. Now let’s hurry home before Gao Yunxiu escapes.”
“I won’t let her go free—she wanted to kill me. By the way, how did she try?”
Jiang Zhen explained: “She tried to get you to give false testimony. You asked for more money, she refused, and tried to kill you. Jiang Zhao saw it, she still tried to kill him. I had to find my son.”
“Yes, exactly. Thank you for telling me,” Liu Jinyin said gratefully.
Jiang Zhen corrected: “I didn’t tell you; you experienced it. Don’t misstate it.”
…
Hours after surgery, Liu Jinyin woke, surprisingly alert, able to recount events to the police.
“All Gao Yunxiu’s idea. She thought Jiang Zhen was involved, bribed the Shi factory to outsiders, and sent me to falsely accuse Jiang Zhen. She even bribed Jiang Zhao. Luckily, I survived.”
Police immediately detained Gao Yunxiu and brought her in for questioning.
Gao Yunxiu protested: “Jiang Zhen and Liu Jinyin must have planned this during surgery to frame me!”
The officers were exasperated: “Full anesthesia—you think they could plan while unconscious? You can’t shift blame so absurdly.”
Gao Yunxiu was speechless. How had Jiang Zhen pulled this off?
…
Even Director Wan couldn’t explain why Liu Jinyin had enough energy post-surgery to answer the police.
Gu Liancheng couldn’t understand either. While searching for the child, he had no time to question Jiang Zhen; they had split up. He didn’t even know where she was.
He heard faint childlike cries, grabbed a small tree growing in a rock crevice, and peered down the cliff—seeing nothing. Still, he decided to find a way down.
…
As the sun neared the horizon, night approached. In such cold weather, one night could be fatal.
Jiang Zhen couldn’t wait. She used her last-resort method, releasing the spatial ability to locate Jiang Zhao. The effort drained her greatly.
She couldn’t find Jiang Zhao immediately, but sensed the space nearby. At the base of a steep slope, she descended and found him curled up in a small wooden hut.
“Mom, as soon as I sensed the space, I knew you were here. I was so scared.”
Jiang Zhao crawled to her. Jiang Zhen crouched, holding him, checking carefully. Though he had multiple injuries from the fall, he was healing unusually fast. Hours after falling down the slope and breaking his ankle, he was almost recovered.
Jiang Zhen realized the reason: he had gained powers from the vegetables grown in the space.
It was good news. She patted him reassuringly: “Don’t be afraid, Jiang Zhao. You know I’m not your mother. It’s okay—you can voice your doubts. Today, we’ll clarify everything so no one can use you again.”
….
Jiang Zhen’s comfort and honesty caused Jiang Zhao to suddenly release the barrier in his heart and tell Jiang Zhen everything he had been holding inside.
“Mom, I still call you Mom. From the very beginning, I knew the original Mom was gone, but I couldn’t bear to lose the family we have now. I felt that this pieced-together family—with Dad, Mom, younger brother and sister—was very happy, so I pretended not to know.”
“Are you Aunt? Godmother said Aunt killed Mom, took Mom’s place, and was hiding here to cause trouble. She wanted to take me to report you, but I refused. When I resisted, I pushed her just a little. Godmother flew back a long way and hit the tree trunk. That tree shook very hard. Godmother vomited a lot of blood. I was terrified, so I ran into the mountains.”
It seemed that Jiang Zhao not only had gained self-healing ability, but his strength had also increased.
Jiang Zhen said, “Now I’ll answer your question. I am your aunt. I came from a very terrible world. The day I arrived was the same day you, your mother, and your sister encountered the bandits. When I came over, your mother had already been killed by the bandits. I could only change into her clothes, pretend to be her, and take her place raising you.”
“Your godmother didn’t die. I already saved her. You didn’t kill anyone. But you really do have some abilities that only people from my world have. For now, it seems you have two abilities—greater strength and the ability to heal your own injuries.”
So that was how it was. Children accepted things much faster than adults. Having abilities others did not have made Jiang Zhao happy.
“Mom, I’ll listen to you.” Jiang Zhao instead became even more dependent on Jiang Zhen and clutched her tightly. “Mom, should we tell Tangtang?”
Jiang Zhen thought for a moment. “For now, don’t tell anyone that I’m your aunt. You ate vegetables grown in the space and gained abilities. Gu Pan, Gu Hui, and Tangtang might also get them. Later I’ll test it.”
“Mm, Mom, I’ll listen to you.” Jiang Zhao suddenly became sad. “The old Mom… is she really dead?”
Jiang Zhen nodded. She had seen it with her own eyes and was powerless to change what had already happened.
“Mom, why does your face look so bad?” As soon as Jiang Zhen began breaking into a cold sweat, Jiang Zhao noticed and became extremely worried.
Jiang Zhen smiled and explained, “It’s nothing. Letting out the space to look for you consumed a lot of energy. I’ll be fine after resting a while.”
…
After resting for half an hour, Jiang Zhen carried Jiang Zhao out of the space. After going around a patch of grass and several big trees, she ran into Gu Liancheng, who was searching down the steep slope.
Gu Liancheng looked around front, back, left, and right, uncertain. “I searched this area two or three times. Which direction did you come from?”
Jiang Zhen lifted Jiang Zhao higher on her back and turned her head to the left. “We came from that direction.”
But at the same time, Jiang Zhao on her back pointed to the right. “Dad, we came from that direction.”
Jiang Zhen chuckled awkwardly a few times. “It’s dark. We can’t tell directions clearly. Jiang Zhao is injured. You lead the way. Let’s go to the hospital first. If you have any doubts, we can talk about it when we get home.”
Gu Liancheng quickly took Jiang Zhao and held him in his arms. “The road is hard to walk in the dim light. Hold onto me and watch your step. Don’t fall again.”