Jiang Muyan’s words made Liu Fangmei freeze, her body seemingly moving on its own as she turned to stare directly at Jiang Muyan.
“Liu Fangmei, did you bring all the ration coupons from the house just now?”
Again! Liu Fangmei’s heart tightened. Before she could even raise her hand to cover her mouth, her lips had already moved uncontrollably: “Of course not! You don’t even know how many coupons we have!”
Everyone in the room except Jiang Muyan stared at Liu Fangmei in stunned silence. Something was wrong. Everything felt off.
Jiang Muyan swept her gaze over the dazed faces, her tone calm yet carrying an unshakable resolve:
“Since you’re not sincere, let’s just call the police. They can help me find my biological parents while they’re at it.”
“No, I’ll go get them! I’ll go right now!” Terrified out of her wits, Liu Fangmei frantically waved her hands and rushed toward the inner room. She absolutely could not go to jail, and she could not let Jiang Muyan steal her biological daughter’s identity as the wealthy young lady—that was her hope for the rest of her life!
Watching Liu Fangmei’s panicked retreat, Jiang Muyan curled her lips in a cold, mocking smile. She simply had no desire to seek out the original owner’s biological parents. After all, they were the original owner’s parents, not hers!
Besides, she had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before she met them.
Until then, she just wanted to focus on cultivating and strengthening herself properly.
This time, Liu Fangmei emerged from the inner room quickly. With her uncontrollable mouth, she didn’t dare try any more tricks.
She held out the money and coupons to Jiang Muyan again:
“Here!” But her eyes remained fixed on the money and coupons, her heart aching with loss.
Jiang Muyan reached out and took them, smiling as she said:
“Now that the money and coupons are all here, we’re even. Oh, and after I go to the countryside, my household registration will be transferred as well. From now on, I have no connection whatsoever to your Jiang family.”
Although she had a feeling she would see them again, by the time they met next, it would be at the lowest point of their lives.
Oh, and making them hand over all their money and coupons was just like carving a piece of flesh from their hearts. How could such “compensation” ever make up for the years of torment and suffering the original owner had endured?
As for what came next, Jiang Muyan planned to carry it out just before she left!
Hospital
Zhang Qiuyan looked at her son lying pale on the hospital bed, her heart filled with worry. Her husband, Wang Xiaojun, sitting on the other side of the bed, glanced at her and said with a hint of relief:
“Thank goodness you went over there today, otherwise our son would have been in real danger!”
Wang Xiaojun then asked, somewhat puzzled:
“Weren’t you supposed to be at work today? What made you think of going to the school to find our son?”
Zhang Qiuyan wanted to tell her husband about the young girl, but the words stuck in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t speak.
Unwilling to give up, she gathered her thoughts and tried again, but still, nothing came out. It was as if her mouth no longer obeyed her mind—she simply couldn’t open it.
Her eyes widened in shock as she realized she had truly encountered someone extraordinary.
She was lucky to have run into that young girl. If something had happened to her son, she probably wouldn’t have been able to go on living either.
Thinking this, Zhang Qiuyan completely dismissed the idea of mentioning Jiang Muyan. She looked at her husband and casually found a reason to say:
“I was just thinking that lately, our son has been coming home quite late. Sometimes I’ve already gotten off work, and he still hasn’t arrived home, so I thought I’d go check at his school.
After searching around the school and not finding him, I went to the small woods behind the school. As soon as I entered, I found our son lying unconscious there, with blood all over the back of his head!”
Zhang Qiuyan realized that since she had no intention of mentioning the little girl, her mouth had returned to normal. At this moment, her trust in Jiang Muyan deepened even further.
She secretly felt relieved. The doctor had said that today, it was fortunate their son was brought in promptly. If he had been brought any later, not only might he not have woken up, but even if he did, there was a high chance he would have been left with lasting effects.
Upon hearing his wife’s words, Wang Xiaojun couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, mixed with deep anger:
“When the child wakes up, we must ask clearly what exactly happened! Who hurt him like this? When we find out, we won’t let them off easily!”
Zhang Qiuyan quickly nodded in agreement. In her heart, she was also thinking that tomorrow she must find time to go back and properly thank that little girl.
The Jiang Household
That night, everyone in the Jiang household except Jiang Muyan found it difficult to sleep.
Liu Fangmei looked at Jiang Yucheng’s gloomy face, carefully blew out the candle, and then quietly felt her way in the dark to the bed.
During this, her injured arm bumped against the wardrobe, causing her to cry out in pain, “Ouch!” But remembering Jiang Yucheng’s dark expression, she forced herself to immediately stifle her voice.
“Liu Fangmei, you have quite the nerve! How dare you hide such an important matter from me!”
“I… I was just afraid you’d blame me for swapping our own daughter. Back then, that family was well-dressed. Only the expectant mother herself went to the hospital to give birth. I also heard her say that her husband was a soldier. When she was giving birth, her husband was on a mission and couldn’t make it back.
Soldiers have high salaries, you know. At that time, I didn’t have a job yet, and you had just started yours. I saw that family’s conditions were a bit better than ours, so I secretly swapped the babies.”
As Liu Fangmei spoke, sensing that her husband wasn’t responding, she cautiously continued:
“I did this so our daughter wouldn’t have to suffer with us! Who… who could have imagined that little wretch would find out about her own background!”
As she spoke, Liu Fangmei turned on her side:
“Husband, what should we do? We can’t just let Jiang Muyan, that little wretch, take all that money and ration coupons! Also, do you think Jiang Muyan is possessed? Why is she so different from before?”
At this moment, a trace of unwillingness also appeared in Jiang Yucheng’s eyes. That thousand yuan was all their savings over the years. Now that Jiang Muyan had taken it, of course he couldn’t bear to part with it.
But hearing Liu Fangmei’s words, he coldly replied, “I think you’re the one who’s possessed! Why did you spill everything today?”
Jiang Yucheng’s words made Liu Fangmei somewhat agitated. She tried to prop herself up with her arm, but the pain made her give up:
“That wasn’t what I wanted to say! Do you think I’m that stupid? I’ve kept it from you for over ten years, why would I choose now to reveal it?”
Jiang Yucheng carefully considered Liu Fangmei’s words. His wife had always been shrewd, and what she said made sense—she had kept it hidden from him for so long, so she wouldn’t just blurt it out like that.
Could she really be possessed? Just as Jiang Yucheng was pondering this, Liu Fangmei’s voice continued to drift through the darkness:
“At that moment, my mouth was completely out of my control. No matter what you asked, even if I wanted to hide it in my heart, my mouth just spoke the truth on its own.
Husband, do you think Jiang Muyan is behind all this? I feel like she’s been different ever since she woke up!”
Jiang Yucheng thought about Jiang Muyan’s behavior over the past two days. He nodded, then shook his head and said:
“It probably isn’t anything supernatural. That girl has changed like this mostly because Director Zhang’s situation pushed her to the brink, making her reckless.”
Mentioning Director Zhang, Jiang Yucheng grew worried again: “If Jiang Muyan really goes to the countryside, how will she marry Director Zhang? What about our son’s job?”
Liu Fangmei seemed to forget the pain in her arm for a moment, a sinister glint flashing in her eyes:
“Husband, what if we drug her?”