“Why can’t I hit her?!”
Xie Wuni was grabbed and dragged backward by someone who had rushed in. Struggling in a mix of rage and sorrow, she cried out, “Big Sister, let go of me!”
“When she was pretending to be a man, she was treated like gold. Now that she’s just another worthless girl like the rest of us, why should she still be more precious than us?!”
“She deceived us so terribly—what’s wrong with hitting her? I wish I could kill her!”
“I told you to stop talking!”
Xie Dahua, panting heavily, pulled the furious girl away. Turning to see Xie Jinzhu cowering in the corner, she instinctively softened her tone. “Little Brother, don’t be afraid. Your Fifth Sister is just temporarily out of her mind with anger. She won’t…”
Halfway through her words, Xie Dahua fell silent as she looked at Xie Jinzhu’s face.
Xie Jinzhu gazed at the person desperately trying to protect her, her emotions in turmoil. With trembling lips, she forced out the words, “Big Sister, I’m not a man.”
The original host had indeed deceived everyone for many years.
But a fake was still a fake.
She was not a man, nor did she have any interest in pretending to be one for the rest of her life.
The lie had already been exposed. No matter how harsh the truth sounded, she had to speak it.
Xie Dahua had originally returned to her parents’ home today to bring rice for her younger brother. As soon as she entered the village, she heard people gossiping about the Xie family.
But before hearing Xie Jinzhu’s answer with her own ears, she hadn’t believed it.
How could the younger brother she had doted on for so many years turn out to be fake?
Seeing Xie Dahua’s stunned expression, Xie Wuni sneered through gritted teeth. “Did you hear that?”
“She admitted it herself—it was all a lie!”
“Our family is destined to have no male heirs, and this fake…”
“I told you to shut up! Stop talking!”
Xie Dahua, usually gentle and mild-tempered, shouted tearfully, “Even if she’s not our brother, she’s still our youngest sister!”
“We’re both older sisters. Are you really going to push her to her death before you’re satisfied?!”
Xie Wuni stared at her as if seeing a ghost. “Have you lost your mind?”
“She’s the one who lied! Why are you yelling at me…”
“Shut up and get out!”
Without another word, Xie Dahua shoved Xie Wuni out of the room. Suppressing the disappointment and suffocating shock, she forced a smile and said hoarsely, “Jinzhu, don’t panic.”
“Grandma loves you the most. Your Fifth Sister just has a sharp tongue—she didn’t mean it.”
“I heard you fell into the water and caught a chill. Just rest well in your room. I’ll go talk to the others for you.”
Xie Dahua was only twenty-five this year, but she had married early. After ten years of marriage, she was already the mother of two children.
Time had shown her no mercy. Despite her youth, strands of white hair were already visible, and a perpetual cloud of worry lingered between her brows.
Xie Dahua wanted to stroke Xie Jinzhu’s face to comfort her, but as soon as she reached out, she awkwardly withdrew her hand. “Rest easy. I’ll go out now.”
Xie Jinzhu watched the hands that had retreated, staring blankly as Xie Dahua disappeared behind the curtain. Her throat felt as if blocked by a lump of lead, making it hard to breathe.
When Big Sister got married, the original host was five years old.
The budding young girl had been hastily arranged into a marriage by her family and resigned herself to marrying a lame man.
The bride price was a total of two taels of silver.
Half of it was made into a silver-plated copper longevity lock, which was hung around the original host’s neck to ensure a long life and that her soul would not be lost.
The other half was exchanged for golden millet, used to make porridge for the original host.
The original host ate the millet that her eldest sister had exchanged for with her own marriage, enjoying her sister’s meticulous care and protection in every detail. Yet, she showed no respect at all for this eldest sister who supported her by washing clothes in the laundry.
The original host had always disliked her sister’s rough, cracked hands, which in winter became red, swollen, and bruised, each finger looking as ugly as a frozen radish.
But if it weren’t for the white rice that the original host demanded, how could her sister’s hands have become so damaged from soaking in water?
The eldest sister had always unconditionally defended the original host, doting on her like a precious jewel since childhood.
But Xie Jinzhu never expected that, even in such a situation, her eldest sister would still protect her…
Listening to the cries, shouts, and curses outside the curtain, Xie Jinzhu rubbed her own fair and delicate face vigorously with both hands.
In the main hall, her parents knelt on the ground, pleading with guilt in their hearts.
Old Mrs. Xie wailed incessantly.
Xie Wuni’s anger and Xie Dahua’s helpless attempts to mediate all mixed together, creating a chaotic scene.
Yet, even in such turmoil, the person who had sparked the storm remained shielded from it.
Third Master Xie and his wife believed the fault lay with themselves, thinking the original host had merely been forced to perpetuate this terrible lie.
Now, whatever the consequences, they believed it should be borne by them as parents, not by the original host.
But how could the original host be blameless?
She was gravely mistaken.
Xie Jinzhu herself did not know what millet porridge tainted with human blood tasted like.
But now, she was the one consuming rice stained with human blood.
She could no longer stand by and watch those who had sacrificed so much for her over the years rush forward once more, only to be shattered to pieces.
When Xie Jinzhu stepped out, Xie Dahua panicked: “Go back and lie down!”
The Xie family struggled to make ends meet, and with their only son idling away his time at the Academy, expenses were considerable.
Thus, everyone in the family who could work had found ways to earn money outside, leaving before dawn and returning late at night.
With such a major incident occurring at home, those who received the news would surely rush back to confirm it.
With more people came more opinions.
Even Old Mrs. Xie, who had always favored the original host, was crying as if the sky had fallen.
Xie Dahua dared not imagine how the others would react!
Madam Wang, kneeling on the ground, hurriedly stood up and grabbed Xie Jinzhu: “Go inside first!”
“Your uncles are at the docks and are surely on their way back now. You…”
“But I’m just a fake.”
Xie Jinzhu supported Madam Wang’s sweaty, trembling hand, helping her stand steady as she said bitterly, “Hiding won’t solve the problem.”
“If I hide, what will happen to all of you?”
No one in the Xie family had wronged the original host; it was the original host, that foolish and immoral creature, who had wronged the entire family.
Since she now occupied the original host’s body, she owed an explanation to those who had been deceived.
Otherwise, how could she live like a rat in the gutter, drowning in a sea of scorn?
Xie Jinzhu helped Madam Wang sit down to the side, then went to assist Third Master Xie, who was kneeling with his head bowed: “Father, please stand up too.”
Third Master Xie, his face ashen, raised his voice gruffly: “This has nothing to do with you!”
“Get back inside and stay there! You…”
“I caused this trouble.”
Xie Jinzhu raised her voice slightly: “I will take responsibility myself.”
“You don’t need to kneel, and no one needs to apologize on my behalf.”
Under the astonished gazes of several people, Xie Jinzhu firmly helped the stunned Third Master Xie to his feet.
Xie Jinzhu walked up to Old Mrs. Xie, crouched down, and looked up at her, saying word by word, “Grandma, I am indeed a girl. I deceived all of you before.”
“I know I have done many wrongs and owe many people. I admit all of it.”
Facts cannot be changed, and the past cannot be undone.
What can change is the future.
Old Mrs. Xie’s face was covered in tears, as if she had aged more than a decade in an instant.
With tear-filled eyes, she looked at her once most beloved grandson, her withered hand gently stroking Xie Jinzhu’s face, and cried, “My child, how could you be a girl…”
If Xie Jinzhu were a man, the Xie family’s lineage would continue, and even the greatest trouble would not be a big deal.
But the only heir turned out to be a girl…
Old Mrs. Xie cried, “What good does it do for you to change?”
“The Old Xie Family will have no descendants. What’s the point of me living anymore!”
Xie Jinzhu frantically grabbed her sleeve to wipe Old Mrs. Xie’s tears.
But at that moment, Old Mrs. Xie pushed her away, turned around, and lunged headfirst toward the corner of the table. “I might as well die and go apologize to the old man!”
“Mother!”
“Grandma!”
“Ah!”