“Did he hit you?”
The Xie family patriarch asked calmly but with authority.
Wu Fengrao felt dizzy and nodded weakly.
Xie Qingsong: “!!!”
“Dad, it’s a mis ugh ugh ugh ugh!!!”
The elderly Xie patriarch, who had been sitting in his wheelchair a moment ago, suddenly leapt up and flew out with a flying kick, sending Xie Qingsong rolling and his eyes flipping.
Then he grabbed a broom nearby and began swinging it at Xie Qingsong like a monk’s vajra staff.
Though old, he had been trained in martial arts in his youth.
“Ah! Dad! Listen to me! Listen to me! You always do this, hitting me without listening to anything!”
Xie Qingsong completely lost his composure.
He had grown up as the enviable “perfect child” well-educated, well-mannered, smart!
Yet the patriarch had always looked down on him, pinching half his eyelids with disdain.
He had an older brother, Xie Qingbai, the patriarch’s favorite son, but he died in an accident at sixteen.
Fortunately, Qingbai had died young, unmarried and childless, so Xie Qingsong inherited the family leadership but the patriarch still didn’t think highly of him.
“Dad! You’ve looked down on me since I was little! Whenever something happens, you just hit me without a word!”
Xie Qingsong shouted out all the grievances he had suppressed for years.
The old man paused, realizing that, indeed, for years he had struck Xie Qingsong without question.
He was old now, and his heart had softened.
The patriarch turned back to his wheelchair, nodding.
“All right, tell me. What happened today?”
Xie Qingsong glared at Xie Li, sitting on the ground with her teeth bared, watching the scene, and said angrily:
“I was trying to hit Xie Li, and accidentally hit Fengrao. I didn’t mean to hit her.”
The old man, still catching his breath, suddenly leapt again and grabbed the broom, swinging it at Xie Qingsong with a flurry of strikes, scolding him as he went:
“How dare you hit little Li? Do you think I’m wrong to hit you? Wrong?!”
Xie Qingsong, in his forties, cried from the beating.
Xie Li lowered her eyes and hid her face, afraid she’d laugh out loud. She pretended to tug at a loose thread on the patriarch’s sleeve:
“Grandpa, don’t hit Dad anymore. He’s the only male heir in the Xie family. If you beat him to death, who will inherit the Xie family’s estate?”
The patriarch swung the broom with wind-whipping speed, while Xie Li grinned and tugged at the thread beside him.
She couldn’t stop him there was no stopping him!
“You wretched child! Your mother had a difficult birth with you, leaving your face blue and swollen. I said at the time this child was hopeless, surely born a fool! I, Xie Boyou, a man of valor, how could I give birth to such a fool?! I’ll beat you to death! The family inheritance goes to little Li!”
The patriarch, panting heavily, finally sat back in his wheelchair and took a long while to calm down.
The Xie family’s lineage was weak, with generations of only sons. By the time it reached Xie Qingsong, there were no heirs left.
Xie Qingsong had had a son early on. Perhaps he had cherished him too much, always lifting him high, tossing him into the air and catching him.
The boy loved playing, and Xie Qingsong kept throwing him.
Who would have thought that one day he threw him too high, missed catching him, and the child fell headfirst to his death. Later, Xie Li was born, but Wu Fengrao’s health had been weakened, making childbirth difficult.
Now, the one remaining daughter had almost been swapped at birth almost erasing the family’s last bloodline.
The patriarch looked at the back of Xie Li’s head and rubbed her hair.
“Child, the Xie family has wronged you, and Grandpa has wronged you. Over the past three years since you returned, I didn’t even realize the suffering you endured.”
The old man choked back his voice.
When Xie Li returned to the Xie household, the patriarch had seen her once, then fell ill. He handed over all family matters to Xie Qingsong, instructing him to treat Xie Li well and make up for the eighteen years lost.
After setting everything in order, he went south to recuperate, leaving the Xie family entirely.
Three years had passed.
Finally, this day came.
He was old and could no longer be cured.
He had hoped to spend his remaining years with his family in Shanghai, but as soon as he returned, he heard rumors about Xie Li’s years in the Pei household.
“Child, divorce that Pei boy and come home. Grandpa can take care of you.”
The patriarch felt guilty toward Xie Li.
“Grandpa…”
Xie Li felt her throat burn. This was the first person to care for her, the first person to support her since entering this world of a book.
“I didn’t dare come home. Dad just said he would send me back to the countryside, kick me out of the Xie family…”
Xie Li sobbed.
Xie Qingsong: “???!?”
“Dad! I didn’t say that! I really didn’t!”
Xie Qingsong denied vehemently.
“You said it, Dad. Just now, Silin tried to jump off the balcony and said she didn’t want to see me. You said to send me back to the countryside, kick me out of the Ye family, waaaah…”
Xie Li continued crying.
Xie Silin: “???”
This Xie Li… even more manipulative than her?
The patriarch swept his gaze across Xie Qingsong, Wu Fengrao, and Xie Silin.
His eyes lingered on Xie Silin for a few seconds.
In that short time, cold sweat had already begun running down her back.
His gaze was so sharp it felt as if it could see straight through her, making her uneasy.
“Li wasn’t raised by you two, so naturally you’re closer to Silin, who grew up with you. But remember—Li is your biological daughter. She carries the Xie family’s blood. She was lost for eighteen years; that was the Xie family’s fault. Don’t make another mistake on top of that.”
The patriarch glanced at Xie Qingsong and continued:
“Li is a Xie family child. Her reputation affects yours. Moreover, now all of Shanghai says you’re unfit to be a father. Don’t forget your responsibilities you carry the fate of the entire Xie family.”
Xie Qingsong’s eyes cleared instantly.
The patriarch left, and Xie Li stayed behind.
“Li, Dad and Mom are sorry. We neglected your feelings. You must understand we were naturally biased toward Silin since she stayed with us all these years. But rest assured, we will make up for the love you missed out on.”
Xie Qingsong lowered his head and apologized to Xie Li.
Xie Li knew he wasn’t genuinely remorseful. He was simply afraid of damaging his reputation and the Xie family’s future.
Perhaps he did truly care for Silin but in terms of his reputation and the family’s future, Silin was secondary.
Xie Qingsong was selfish. Fortunately, the patriarch knew this and had said the final words.
Xie Qingsong arranged living quarters for Xie Li and had Silin move her bedroom for her:
“Silin, Li wasn’t raised with us. It’s natural that we care more for her now. You must understand. I hope you and Li can get along well.”
Xie Silin’s nails dug into her palm so hard she didn’t even notice when they broke.
With a seemingly obedient face, she nodded:
“Dad, I understand. I was too emotional just now. Li and I were born on the same day, but I think you were born two hours earlier. I’ll call you sister. From now on, we’ll be like real sisters!”
Xie Li raised an eyebrow.
What a good actor!
Wiping her tears, she hugged Xie Silin, adding a touch of her own performance:
“You are my real sister! Silin, I’m sorry. I was too reckless this time. I shouldn’t have done that, but I was furious about you and my husband. I lost my head!”
Hearing this, Xie Silin’s lips trembled with anger, but on the surface, she still maintained sisterly affection:
“Sister, I’m sorry!”
“Sister! Don’t say that! We’re real sisters, sharing the same branch. Yours is mine, mine is yours. Isn’t it just a man? Sister gives him to you! There are plenty of small men!”
Xie Li humbly bowed, showing a “selfless” attitude.
Seeing the two girls getting along, Xie Qingsong and Wu Fengrao were pleased.
Xie Silin, angry, blurted:
“Hahaha, thanks, sister! Then I’ll accept him!”
Then she realized what she’d just said.
She had truly dug her own grave.
Before she had an affair with Pei Shuchen, she had deliberately called Xie Li to see her in bed with him, hoping to enrage her.
Given Xie Li’s timid nature, she would have gone up in smoke, possibly seriously ill.
Xie Silin had already secured her position in the Xie family. By dealing with Xie Li then, she would remove future threats.
But somehow, Xie Li acted like a warrior that day, brutally punishing Pei Shuchen.
Not only that, but that traitor also secretly photographed the scene and spread it all over Shanghai.
Biting her lips, Xie Silin realized she had only hurt herself.
She had been waiting for time to pass, thinking the old man Xie Boyou would soon die and leave Xie Li a huge inheritance.
Then she would snatch it for herself.
What were Xie Qingsong, Wu Fengrao, and Pei Shuchen?
Just paper characters in a story.
Yes. Xie Silin was a book-world traveler.
After acting out the “sisters’ deep bond,” Xie Li and Xie Silin returned to their rooms. Xie Li lay on Silin’s little princess bed, staring at the ceiling.
After a while, she grinned.
A layered plot.
In the original story, Xie Silin was a book-world traveler who, from a god’s perspective, turned Xie Li the original heroine into cannon fodder and stole everything that belonged to her.
In the end, she teamed up with Pei Shuchen to kill Xie Li, took all the family fortune, fled to Hong Kong, and lived the rest of her life smoothly.
Xie Li closed her eyes.
This time, she had the god’s perspective.