“Father, Mother, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, I know it’s hard for you to believe all this after hearing it so suddenly, but I would never joke about something like this.”
Shen Yuehua’s expression was solemn. Only then did she remember that she had yet to introduce her daughter to the family.
She quickly pulled Shen Shuli forward.
“Father, Mother, this is my biological daughter. She just came back from Qingzhou. She grew up in the Lin family in Qingzhou. She and Wanwan were accidentally switched at birth, so I brought her back this time to introduce her to all of you.”
“The news I just told you was brought back by her from Qingzhou. There’s no mistake about it.”
Shen Yuehua then explained to her family how her daughter had been switched at birth.
The Shen family had noticed the bruised and swollen girl who had come with Shen Yuehua from the moment they arrived, but since Shen Yuehua hadn’t mentioned her, they hadn’t had a chance to ask.
Only now did they learn that the granddaughter they had loved all these years wasn’t actually their biological granddaughter…
“I never would have imagined our family could run into something so outrageous. Thank goodness we finally found out the truth.”
Old Madam Shen carefully studied the granddaughter she was meeting for the first time, hoping to find some resemblance to her daughter in that swollen face.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t find any.
Shen Shuli could sense that the Shen family’s gazes held no malice. If anything, there was a trace of sympathy in them.
But there was no deeper affection yet.
After all, they had never spent time together. Family bonds couldn’t appear simply because they had met once.
“Grandfather, Grandmother, Eldest Uncle, Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt.”
Shen Shuli greeted them one by one.
Not seeing her Second Uncle, she casually asked, “By the way, when did Second Uncle go into the mountains? When will he be back?”
“He’s been gone for a day and a night. He should be back by tonight at the latest.”
Her Second Aunt answered with a smile.
She had only packed enough provisions for her husband to stay in the mountains for two days.
The deeper the mountains, the greater the danger. The longer he stayed, the more dangerous it became. Two days was already the limit.
Shen Shuli nodded in understanding.
She was just about to say something when she suddenly remembered something, and her expression changed.
She had just recalled a brief passage about her maternal family from the original novel.
Seven days from now—on the very day the fake daughter finally endured countless hardships and made her way back to Peach Blossom Village—a group of bandits from the nearby mountains would happen to come down to rob all the surrounding villages.
Peach Blossom Village and Baishan Village would both be among them, along with more than a dozen nearby villages.
Many people would die.
Fortunately, everyone in the Su family except the fake daughter would escape unharmed, thanks to the author’s blatant favoritism toward them.
The Shen family, however, wouldn’t be nearly as lucky.
While hunting in the mountains, Shen Shuli’s Second Uncle would encounter a herd of wild boars and suffer severe injuries.
The Shen family lived at the edge of the village. When the bandits attacked, they would originally have had a chance to escape.
But because Second Uncle was injured and had to be carried, they were slowed down.
The bandits caught up with them and killed several of the younger members of the family. The women were also assaulted.
Second Uncle would suffer an especially horrific death.
The surviving members of the Shen family would later join the famine migration, but without any able-bodied men to support them, most of them would soon die along the way.
Shen Shuli immediately leaned close to her mother’s ear.
“Mom, I suddenly remembered a plot point from the book. Second Uncle might be in danger this time while hunting in the mountains. I want to go in and look for him. I don’t know if we’re still in time.”
The Shen family would very likely flee the famine with them.
If they had a seriously injured man who was also the family’s main provider, it would put a tremendous burden on the entire family.
Shen Yuehua’s expression immediately tightened.
She grabbed her daughter’s hand, unwilling to let her go into danger alone, but she was also deeply worried about her second brother.
She was caught in a difficult dilemma.
“Don’t worry. If I run into danger, I’ll put my own safety first.”
Shen Yuehua reluctantly nodded.
Then she turned to her eldest nephew.
“Ziqian, your cousin has never seen what the mountains are like. Why don’t you take her around for a look?”
Shen Ziqian was the eldest grandson of the Shen family. He was tall and sturdy, and he had learned some self-defense skills from Su Yunhai. He often went hunting in the mountains with his second uncle.
He was a good guide.
Shen Ziqian glanced at Shen Shuli with some reluctance, but eventually nodded.
“Come on, Cousin. I’ll show you around. But there’s been a severe drought lately, and the villagers have already stripped the mountains bare. There isn’t much to see.”
He gave his pampered cousin a warning in advance, afraid she would have unrealistic expectations and end up disappointed.
“Okay, I understand, Cousin.”
Shen Shuli obediently followed him out.
After watching her daughter leave, Shen Yuehua took a deep breath and turned to her parents.
“Father, Mother, I know it’s hard for you to believe all this right away. How about after lunch, we go into town and see if we can find out more about the situation? We can buy some grain while we’re there.”
If the rain continued to hold off, grain prices would only keep rising.
Even if her parents still didn’t believe her, they could at least go into town and ask around.
If they found nothing, they could simply treat the trip as a chance to buy grain.
Old Master Shen and Old Madam Shen trusted their daughter, but the matter was simply too serious for them to make a decision blindly.
“Fine. After lunch, you can go into town with your eldest brother and sister-in-law. I’ll go to the village chief’s house now and see if I can find out anything.”
Old Master Shen was deeply troubled.
He couldn’t sit still, as though he were sitting on a bed of nails. He desperately wanted to do something—anything—to ease the anxiety in his heart.
“Cousin, are you sure Second Uncle went into the mountains from this direction?”
Shen Shuli climbed quickly, moving so fast that she even left Shen Ziqian behind.
Shen Ziqian had assumed his cousin really had never seen the countryside before and merely wanted to take a look around the foothills.
He hadn’t expected her to actually head deep into the mountains.
“Cousin, we’re already very close to the deep mountains. It’s dangerous. Let’s go back. We might run into wild animals.”
Shen Ziqian kept a wary eye on their surroundings as he tried to persuade her.
Shen Shuli knew he was worried about her safety.
To get him to cooperate, she had no choice but to explain.
“Cousin, the Lin family had more than a dozen renowned teachers instructing me. I’ve been practicing martial arts since I was little. You might not even be able to beat me.”
“More importantly, there’s been a severe drought recently, so the water sources in the mountains must be extremely scarce as well.”
“To survive, the wild beasts will inevitably expand their territories in search of places where they can find food and water. They’ll be wandering around more than usual.”
“I’m worried something might have happened to Second Uncle. That’s why I asked you to secretly bring me up here.”
“You don’t want anything to happen to your uncle either, do you?”
Shen Shuli put the question to him, leaving the choice in his hands.
Shen Ziqian’s heart tightened.
He had never considered the possibility before.
But after hearing his cousin’s reasoning, he realized she had a point.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became.
Without hesitation, he urged her, “Cousin, you go back down the mountain. I’ll search for him myself.”
Shen Shuli’s lips curved slightly.
At least her cousin was reliable.
She continued following the human tracks up the mountain, leaving Shen Ziqian behind as her voice drifted back to him.
“Catch up with me first.”
Shen Ziqian stared at his cousin’s retreating figure.
He had no time to think and immediately chased after her.
Shen Shuli had frequently carried out jungle missions in her previous life.
Tracking down a single person in mountains of this difficulty was hardly a challenge for her.
The two followed the trail through the deep mountains for two hours.
At last, they found Second Uncle Shen Yuebai.
Shen Ziqian stared at the distance.
His second uncle was surrounded by a herd of wild boars and had taken refuge in a tree for the time being.
Cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
“We’re in trouble! Second Uncle is surrounded by wild boars! What do we do? What do we do?”
He stared anxiously at the scene in the distance, regretting that he hadn’t brought his bow and arrows.
If he had, they wouldn’t have been forced to stand here helplessly.
But he also didn’t dare charge in recklessly.
His voice trembled as he muttered nervously to himself.
Seeing this, Shen Shuli quietly pulled two short knives from inside her boots and handed one to Shen Ziqian.
“Use it when you see an opening.”
With that, she shot toward the herd of wild boars like a gust of wind.