Ji Yunshu carried the heavy canvas bag to the front door of her home. Before stepping inside, she heard voices coming from within. Ji Yunting’s voice was the loudest, his tone distinctly sharp.
“How did you find out that it was my mother whose child got swapped with the Meng family? And if you knew long ago, why did you only come looking for us now? Or are you hiding something and unwilling to tell us the truth?!”
Ji Yunshu stood at the door and, without any hesitation, pushed the door open and walked in.
In an instant, all four people in the room turned their heads to look at her.
In the main room, Meng Li sat in her original spot, the tea in front of her mostly untouched. Ji Yunting stood opposite her, hands on his hips, carrying the air of an interrogator. He Qiuxia sat on a chair nearby with an anxious expression on her face, seemingly trying to ease the somewhat aggressive atmosphere.
Ji Haiguo had also returned. He sat beside He Qiuxia, resting a hand on her shoulder, his complexion equally grim.
Upon seeing Ji Yunshu, Meng Li looked surprised for a fleeting moment. Soon, however, she pulled herself together and wrung her hands as if frightened by Ji Yunting’s scolding, her voice dropping down low: “I only confirmed it not too long ago… Before that, it was just a suspicion, and I didn’t dare intrude rashly…”
“Didn’t dare intrude rashly?” Ji Yunting scoffed. “The moment you walked in, you started calling people ‘Mom’ and ‘Brother.’ You call that not daring to intrude rashly?”
Meng Li pulled her shoulders in and fell silent.
Unable to watch this play out, He Qiuxia spoke up: “Yunting, say less.”
Ji Yunting was disgruntled, but he didn’t press further. He simply pulled up a chair to sit down, his eyes remaining fixed on Meng Li.
“Dad, Mom, I’m back.” Ji Yunshu placed the canvas bag on the cabinet by the door.
He Qiuxia quickly stood up: “You’re back? Is everything fine at Xiao Pei’s house? How is Grandma’s health?”
“Everything is fine.” Ji Yunshu nodded, her tone composed. “Grandma even asked me to bring back a lot of seafood.”
He Qiuxia nodded, glancing at her. Seeing that she didn’t look like she had been crying, she felt slightly more at ease.
Meng Li raised her head to look at Ji Yunshu once more. Her gaze lingered on Ji Yunshu’s face for a second before she lowered her head again.
Seeing Ji Yunshu return, Ji Yunting’s expression softened slightly, and he patted the chair beside him: “Sit here.”
Ji Yunshu walked over and sat down, her eyes involuntarily shifting to Meng Li again.
She felt that something was off.
Ji Yunting spoke again. This time his tone was slightly suppressed, but his words remained blunt: “You said you came to find your biological parents, so do your adoptive parents know you came?”
Meng Li paused.
It was this single pause that made Ji Yunshu spot the problem.
Meng Li twisted her fingers tighter, her voice dropping even lower than before: “They… aren’t quite clear about the specific situation. I told them I was coming to Beijing to seek medical treatment.”
“Medical treatment?” Ji Yunting frowned. “Didn’t you say you came to seek out your family? How did it become seeking medical treatment?”
Meng Li raised her head, looking on the verge of tears: “I really did come to see a doctor. I’ve had poor health since I was a child. The medical conditions in Beijing are better than in Su City, so my adoptive parents asked me to come over for a check-up. As for seeking out my family… I didn’t dare tell them. I was afraid that if they found out, they would be heartbroken.”
Ji Yunting looked at her without speaking.
Listening from the side, a exceedingly complex expression appeared on He Qiuxia’s face. She looked at Meng Li, then at Ji Yunshu, her lips moving before she finally asked a question: “Your adoptive parents… are they not good to you?”
“Their class background is, after all…” Meng Li trailed off, seemingly unwilling to actively mention the Meng family’s political background. Yet regarding He Qiuxia’s question, she neither denied nor affirmed it: “I just… I just felt that since I knew my true identity, I had to come and find my biological parents. Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel at peace for the rest of my life.”
He Qiuxia was silent for a moment before saying, “Then give us your adoptive parents’ contact information, and we adults from both families can sit down and discuss this properly. This isn’t something a young girl like you can decide alone.”
Meng Li bit her lip, staying silent for a long while.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Yunting grew impatient again. “You’re unwilling?”
“It’s not that I’m unwilling.” Meng Li’s voice grew even smaller. “It’s just… my adoptive mother’s health isn’t very good either. I’m afraid she can’t handle the strain. How about letting me recognize my biological parents first, and I’ll go back and slowly tell them later?”
Ji Yunshu had not spoken a word, but she had been watching Meng Li the entire time.
She noticed that when Meng Li spoke of her adoptive parents, her tone was very flat, and her eyes even darted away slightly. She didn’t sound like she was talking about family members she had lived with day and night for nineteen years; it was more like… reciting a script prepared in advance.
Furthermore, how did she know about the Ji family? Su City was so far from Beijing. How could a nineteen-year-old girl, even if she knew she was swapped at birth, happen to locate the military compound so precisely? There were so many military compounds in Beijing. Even if she had asked around for Ji Haiguo’s name and found this place, military compounds were not places just anyone could enter. How could she be so certain that the sentries on guard wouldn’t chase her away and would actually pass the message to the Ji family for her?
Unless she had known the Ji family’s location and everyone here long ago.
A thought suddenly popped into Ji Yunshu’s mind—had Meng Li also had that dream?
If so, everything made sense.
Meng Li had also had that dream and knew that she was actually the daughter of Chief Ji in the Beijing military compound. In that sudden, impending “Great Movement,” political identity was paramount. In the dream, Ji Yunshu was Chief Ji’s daughter, with a politically flawless background, which was why she continued to live a peaceful and happy life in the early stages of the “Great Movement.” But the Meng family was different; their class background was unfavorable, and they would undoubtedly suffer a hard time during the “Great Movement.” It was only natural that Meng Li wanted to break away from her adoptive parents and seek protection from her biological parents.
Ji Yunshu suddenly felt a trace of understanding toward her. If that was truly the case, there was nothing wrong with Meng Li making such a choice…
Before Ji Yunshu could finish her thought, Meng Li suddenly stood up and walked toward her.
Before Ji Yunshu could react, Meng Li squatted down in front of her, looking up at her with a smile in her eyes as she warmly hooked her arm through Ji Yunshu’s.
“Sister,” Meng Li said to Ji Yunshu with a smile, “the moment I set eyes on you, I felt a sense of familiarity. You look so much like my adoptive mother, as if cast from the exact same mold.”
The moment these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
Ji Haiguo and He Qiuxia’s faces darkened completely. Ji Yunting’s brows knit together, and just as he opened his mouth to say something, he looked at Ji Yunshu and ultimately held back.
Ji Yunshu’s heart sank as well. She certainly knew that she looked neither like her father nor her mother. Growing up, everyone said she didn’t resemble her parents, and He Qiuxia had always comforted her by saying her resemblance skipped a generation to look like her grandmother. But now, in front of He Qiuxia, Meng Li claimed that she looked like someone from the Meng family—wasn’t that just saying she was not He Qiuxia’s daughter?
Meng Li also seemed to realize something. The smile on her face stiffened for a moment before she quickly let go of Ji Yunshu’s arm, lowering her head as her voice turned pitiable: “Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way… I just thought Sister looked gentle and kind, so my tongue slipped…”
As she spoke, her eyes turned red again, and she let out a couple of soft coughs, covering her mouth with her hand while her shoulders trembled from coughing.
“I just have poor health, ever since I was small. I cough whenever the seasons change.” She raised her head, eyes filled with tears as she looked at Ji Yunting. “Brother, I know you don’t like me, but I really didn’t come to cause trouble. I just wanted to see what my biological parents look like, and I’ll leave right after taking one look.”
She sniffled, her voice growing lower and lower: “I also have an older brother in the Meng family, but he isn’t like you, protecting his sister. He’s… indifferent toward me, never speaking up for me the way you do for Sister. Seeing how good you were to Sister just now, I really felt so envious. I wish so badly that I had a brother who would stand by me resolutely…”
Having been spoken to like this, Ji Yunting found it hard to lose his temper further. He scoffed, turned his head away, and didn’t respond.
He Qiuxia sat there with an exceptionally complex expression. Looking at Meng Li’s pitiable display, then recalling the words she had spoken just now, she felt a lump in her chest, unable to describe the sensation.
Ji Haiguo, however, let out a cough: “If you truly are my and Qiuxia’s daughter, how could we let you leave? Does my, Ji Haiguo’s, household lack the rations to raise my own biological daughter?”
Hearing this, Ji Yunshu subconsciously looked at Ji Haiguo, only to find that Ji Haiguo was also looking at her. But the moment Ji Yunshu met his eyes, he suddenly shifted his gaze away.
Instead, hearing these words, Meng Li showed an embarrassed expression: “I… I can’t stay. My adoptive mother is in poor health, so I definitely have to go back to accompany her. It’s just that it would be wonderful if my adoptive mother could meet Sister… If my adoptive mother knew Sister was raised so well, she would definitely be very happy, and perhaps her condition might even improve.”
Sitting on the chair, Ji Yunshu looked at Meng Li squatted before her, with only one thought in her mind.
Was this playing hard to get?
Ji Yunshu noticed the corners of Meng Li’s mouth, which were continually being pressed down yet curling up repeatedly.
Every single word she spoke was like a performance. First, praising her for looking like a member of the Meng family to make He Qiuxia feel uncomfortable, then immediately apologizing, coughing, and playing the victim; next, praising Ji Yunting for treating her well to make him embarrassed to be harsh with her again; and once Ji Haiguo officially spoke up, offering her a place in the Ji family, she immediately brought up how her adoptive parents must miss their biological daughter, suggesting that Ji Yunshu return to the Meng family. Every sentence hit its mark, neither too much nor too little, just right.
If she were truly just an ordinary girl who came seeking her family, how could she speak like this upon their first meeting?
Ji Yunshu recalled the Meng Li from her dream. That woman, standing beside He Jianjun with a pregnant belly, smilingly calling her “Sister,” her tone dripping with triumph and mockery.
That Meng Li shared the exact same appearance as the Meng Li before her, yet they didn’t seem entirely identical.
Ji Yunshu suddenly felt that the Meng Li before her was far more terrifying than the one in her dream.
Because the Meng Li in her dream had merely stolen her identity and marriage, whereas the Meng Li right in front of her seemed to have known everything that would happen from the very beginning. She knew that Ji Yunshu, not being the Ji family’s biological daughter, would be driven away; she knew that He Jianjun would divorce her; she knew that the Ji family would disown her; she knew that the Meng family would be brought down.
Meng Li knew everything, which was why she came.
Looking into Meng Li’s amber pupils, Ji Yunshu felt entirely uneasy, as if a chill were continuously seeping out from her bones. On such a sweltering day, she felt utterly freezing cold.