After all, her original body also had half of the Jiang family’s blood flowing through it; she was her own brother’s daughter! Forget it, she probably only saw her brother as a cash cow! Jiang Ruyi was both hungry and bored. In the afternoon, she took a nap, and when she woke up, it was already dark outside, and there were noises, but her dad hadn’t come back. If he had, Jiang Qiuyue wouldn’t dare to keep her locked up. But since she was still locked up, it meant her dad probably wasn’t coming back tonight. Things were not looking good. She felt a bit uneasy, got off the bed, and started knocking on the door: “Auntie, Auntie, I’m hungry, Auntie, let me out—” No one answered. She heard the voices of mother and daughter outside: “Mom, why is sister locked up?” “Because she did something wrong.” “What did she do wrong?” “She was born into the wrong family.” “Huh? Mom, what does that mean, born into the wrong family?” “It means she shouldn’t have been born.” Or even lived. Jiang Qiuyue really hated Xu Xiangying and her daughter, ignoring Jiang Ruyi’s knocking for half an hour without opening the door. Hearing those words, Jiang Ruyi thought she needed to try a different approach: “Auntie, Auntie, I’m not feeling well…” She pretended to be sick, exaggerating the severity of her condition: “Uhh, Auntie, I feel so uncomfortable, it’s unbearable…” Jiang Qiuyue wouldn’t dare let her get sick. She was right. Upon hearing she was unwell, Jiang Qiuyue was somewhat concerned and quickly opened the door, coldly assessing her complexion. Jiang Ruyi lay on the ground, clutching her stomach, curled up into a ball, only able to moan in pain: “My stomach hurts, Auntie—” Jiang Qiuyue helped her sit up: “Where does it hurt? How does it hurt?” She glanced at the floor, littered with snack wrappers. Could she have eaten too many snacks? “Okay, just bear with it, it will stop hurting soon. Here, let Auntie rub it for you—” She casually massaged her a couple of times and then handed her a cup of hot water: “Drink this. It will stop hurting soon.” Jiang Ruyi obediently drank it, but after a while, she still cried out in pain, even shedding tears to make it look more real: “Auntie, I want my dad, wuu wuu, I miss my dad—” She knew that as soon as she saw her dad, she could expose Jiang Qiuyue’s true nature. But how could Jiang Qiuyue let her have her way? “Your dad went to find your mom. Don’t you want your mom?” “Yes, but Ruyi misses her dad.” “You’ll have to wait!” Seeing she seemed fine, Jiang Qiuyue thought she might be hungry and went to prepare dinner. Dinner was simple, just boiled noodles with an egg. Jiang Ruyi, while Jiang Qiuyue was in the kitchen, reached for the phone on the coffee table to call her dad. Her original self remembered her parents’ phone numbers, which her mom had taught her to memorize and asked her about daily. Unfortunately, Feng Mingzhu disrupted this. Feng Mingzhu was playing with her new doll on the carpet, a very large one with an ultra-pretty dress, costing over two hundred. She was deeply engrossed when she glanced over and saw Jiang Ruyi with her mom’s phone, immediately shouting: “That’s my mom’s phone, you can’t touch it!” Jiang Ruyi rolled her eyes but coaxed her gently: “I’m calling my dad, don’t you want to see him?” Of course, she did. Feng Mingzhu preferred her uncle to her own dad, so upon hearing this, she demanded authoritatively: “Give it to me. I’ll call him. You can’t!” Just as she spoke, she tried to snatch the phone: “Give it to me quickly! That’s my mom’s phone!” Jiang Ruyi instinctively dodged, which only annoyed her more, and she yelled: “Mom, Jiang Ruyi is grabbing my phone!” Always running to her mom at the slightest disagreement. Having a mom was such a big deal! Jiang Ruyi was quite scared of that old witch and immediately returned the phone to her. Actually, she was a bit scared. But she reminded herself, he who knows the times is a wise man. The old witch came out from the kitchen, saw her daughter with the phone about to call her uncle, and quickly coaxed her with a smile: “Your uncle is busy right now. He’s looking for your aunt. Do you remember your aunt? Don’t you want to see her?” Feng Mingzhu, thinking of the beautiful aunt who bought her pretty clothes and lots of delicious food, shook her head: “No.” Jiang Qiuyue smiled and asked: “Why not?” “Uncle should only be good to Zhu Zhu.” Such possessiveness! Jiang Ruyi covered her mouth, not saying the words — you are all bad people. And you’re all bad together. A typical case of the apple not falling far from the tree. Jiang Ruyi sat back on the sofa, swinging her short legs, pondering her next move. She definitely needed to make that call, definitely needed to report, and definitely couldn’t suffer for nothing. She waited for an opportunity. Since Jiang Qiuyue wouldn’t let her use the phone, she would find someone else. There was still the security room downstairs. With that in mind, she took the chance when Jiang Qiuyue returned to the kitchen to cook the noodles and slid off the sofa, slowly moving towards the door. Feng Mingzhu watched her intently, ready to call out at any unusual move, to make a spectacle of her. So, Jiang Ruyi had to coax her: “Pearl, let’s play hide and seek, okay?” This was a game children loved. Jiang Ruyi had played it a lot at the orphanage with the other kids. Sure enough, Feng Mingzhu was interested: “Okay. I’ll hide, you find me.” Exactly what she wanted: “Okay. I’ll close my eyes, you go hide—” A flurry of footsteps ensued. Once Feng Mingzhu was hidden in her room, Jiang Ruyi dashed out. She exited the apartment, frantically pressing the elevator button, all the while keeping an eye on her door, fearing Jiang Qiuyue might suddenly appear. Speak of the devil, as the elevator doors closed, Jiang Qiuyue ran out, seemingly aware of her intentions, her face looking fierce: “Jiang Ruyi, you little brat, what are you up to?”
Author’s Note: Thanks for your support. Seeing Jiang Qiuyue, who was aggressively chasing after them, and Jiang Ruyi, who was so scared that she hid behind them, everyone felt an urge to protect her. The man whose shirt was being clutched by Jiang Ruyi even picked her up, gently patting her back to comfort her, “Don’t be afraid, brother is here.” In fact, he was not her brother but looked older than her father, nearing thirty, with a sharply defined face, a prominent nose, and thin lips. His eyes were striking, with long, upturned tails, sharp yet cold, exuding an aura of authority without anger. Seeing his niece in his arms and the protective stance of the crowd, Jiang Qiuyue realized the situation was not in her favor and immediately put on a smile, “Everyone, are you misunderstanding something? That’s my niece. Ruyi, come down, your dad called.”
“Where’s the phone? A call from Mr. Jiang?”
“What have we misunderstood?”
“Didn’t little Ruyi say anything?”
“Isn’t this an admission of guilt?”
They were all astute, seeing through the situation clearly. Jiang Qiuyue’s face turned red and white with embarrassment, but feeling guilty and seeing them all in suits and polished appearances, she didn’t dare to get angry. She had to patiently say, “Give me back the child. Ruyi, be good, come home with your aunt. Or else aunt will get mad.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ruyi’s tears flowed freely, “Aunt gets mad and hits me, boohoo, I’m scared, I want daddy—” Her cute and spirited appearance made no one want to see her cry. They all stepped forward to comfort her gently, “Be good, Ruyi, shall sister call your dad? / Yes, do you know your dad’s number? / Don’t be scared, uncle is here.”
