Chapter 392: Odd and Strange – Daily Gossip in the Sickly Aunt’s Courtyard

Chapter 392: Odd and Strange – The Frail Young Woman’s Gossipy Daily Life in the Courtyard

Lin Qing had just finished a stretch of work, stretched with relief, and took a few sips from her water bottle.

As she did, she glanced around at her coworkers.

Hmm, since entering the accounting period, everyone had been quite busy—few were idle, except for…

Lin Qing looked over at Zhang Mengyun. Hmph, hadn’t this person just said she’d focus on proper bookkeeping?

How could she forget what she just said so quickly?

Zhang Mengyun was unconsciously smiling to herself, and Lin Qing could barely stand to look—what was so strange about that?

Her expression seemed off.

It felt…

Holding her water bottle, Lin Qing pondered for a moment. Zhang Mengyun, Jin Jianhua. Zhang Mengyun, Jin Jianhua. Could the two of them be secretly dating?

Lin Qing thought carefully. Jin Jianhua had previously been sent down to the countryside, undoubtedly pushed by Factory Director Wang. It was obvious Factory Director Wang wouldn’t let him return so easily. Who could have intervened…?

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Lin Qing, and she realized—Zhang Mengyun had been mistakenly swapped at birth. So, what twist of fate had led to their reunion?

And why *had* they been able to reunite at all?

Lin Qing stole another glance at Zhang Mengyun. Her skin was still somewhat dark and uneven, but her features were delicate. If she could lighten her skin tone, she’d turn into quite a beauty.

Lin Qing ventured a guess that Zhang Mengyun being recognized as their biological daughter must be connected to Jin Jianhua.

Most likely, he had returned to the city because of her.

Thinking it through like this made things make much more sense. Jin Jianhua’s luck was truly remarkable!

Before, he had nearly landed the factory director’s daughter. Now, after returning from the countryside, he had the Deputy Factory Manager’s daughter. Tch, his luck was simply unbelievable.

She had seen Jin Jianhua before—he was good-looking, with a classic square-jawed face, well-defined features and fair skin. Parents his parents’ age would love that kind of look. Thinking this way, it wasn’t surprising he attracted so many girls’ attention.

Hey! Now that Jin Jianhua was back, did Wang Qiaomei know?

There had been rumors before that Wang Qiaomei was pregnant with the “lover’s” child—was that true?

Now that the “man” had returned, would these two get involved again?

Looks like there was going to be more drama at the factory!

After working through her thoughts, Lin Qing turned her focus back to her work.

…

In truth, Lin Qing’s guess was right on the money—Jin Jianhua had indeed used this opportunity to return to the city.

He was quite bold. Knowing he couldn’t hide it from his family, he negotiated terms with them upfront. Otherwise, his parents would have preferred to use this chance to secure a job for themselves.

But Jin Jianhua was no pushover.

“Dad, Mom—if you want to use up this chance all at once, or if you’d rather milk it long-term—which do you prefer?”

“What do you mean?”

"Think about it. As long as I become the deputy factory manager’s son-in-law, there’ll be no shortage of job opportunities. We need to think long-term."

His parents pondered for a moment. "Heh, our boy’s got vision. Alright, we’ll go with your plan. So, what do we do?"

"Like this..." And with that, the family began their scheming.

In the end, his parents staged a 'chance' meeting with Deputy Factory Manager Zhang’s wife.

"Ah!" Jin Jianhua’s mother deliberately bumped into her.

"You okay, ma’am?"

"I’m fine. Just be more careful next time," Zhang’s wife replied without much concern, assuming it was just an accident.

Jin Jianhua’s mother gave her a hesitant look.

Anyone would find that strange, and Zhang’s wife was no exception. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, no. It’s just that you look familiar," Jin’s mom said, frowning.

"Must be a coincidence," Zhang’s wife responded, her face tightening slightly, suspecting another attempt at small talk.

"Wait—hold on, ma’am! I remember now! A while back when I visited my son in the countryside, I saw a girl who looked exactly like you!"

Zhang’s wife felt her stomach drop. She faked a smile. "Must’ve just been someone who looks similar."

"No, really—she was a spitting image of you, like your own kid."

Zhang’s wife blurted out, "No way. My daughter’s at home!"

"Oh? You have a daughter too? Does she look like you?" Jin’s mother’s words dug under her skin.

Zhang’s wife wasn’t any great beauty, but she’d been quite pretty in her youth. Even now, she’d aged well.

But her daughter wasn’t much to look at. Still, she was the baby she’d spoiled rotten since birth. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that ugly thought.

"Of course she looks like me." The lie tasted bitter even as she said it.

Jin’s mother, still focused on her mission, kept needling. "Really? I was wondering if that girl I saw might actually be your daughter."

Zhang’s wife got twitchy and didn’t want to keep talking. She made a quick exit.

But as she walked home, the woman’s words stuck in her craw. Especially after arriving home and seeing her daughter walk in from work.

No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t see any resemblance between her daughter and either herself or her husband.

Her gut twisted again. Dread pooled in her stomach, growing heavier by the second.

"Mom, what’s wrong?"

"Just restless with too much free time lately. Not used to it, that’s all."

Zhang Mengting immediately fell silent. This was her fault—her mother had given up her job so she wouldn’t have to go to the countryside.

Dinner fizzled out awkwardly.

That night, when Deputy Factory Manager Zhang came home, his wife realized that bottling it up wasn’t doing her any good. She told her husband everything.

"What's going on?" He read her like a book after years of marriage.

"Ugh... today was..." She sighed, then honestly recounted everything that had happened to her that day.

Deputy Factory Manager Zhang wasn't stupid—he'd gotten this far for a reason. He suspected that the person his wife met might have set up the whole thing on purpose. They were probably targeting them, but who knows what they want.

"They really said there was a girl who looked just like me?"

"Yeah. After I got home and looked at our daughter, I couldn’t find any resemblance to either of us at all. I started freaking out—what if Mengting isn’t really our biological daughter?"

Deputy Factory Manager Zhang thought about what their daughter looked like. Hmm, now that he thought about it, he couldn’t see any similarities either.

"Alright, don’t panic. If they’re after us, they must have a reason. We’ll deal with it when the time comes. As for whether Mengting is our real daughter or not, I’ll look into it."

"Okay, okay." His wife finally calmed down a little, feeling more at ease.

...