Chapter 2: She had heard it before—in her dreams.
byChapter 2: She had heard it before—in her dreams.
After the production crew left, Yongrui Village returned to its usual calm.
Xiao Jie, Zhu Zhu’s little brother, was woken up from his nap and was still cranky. Qin Meilan and Grandma were distressed by this and fussed over him, their hearts breaking. When they saw Zhu Zhu, they felt annoyed and waved her away, not letting her into the room to disturb her brother.
The village entrance had been decorated. Kids called out to their friends and snatched all the colorful balloons from the walls and under the banyan trees.
The lively sounds of children playing echoed through the air. Zhu Zhu, with her short legs, was too late. By the time she heard the noise and peeked out with her little head, not a single balloon was in sight.
Grandma Song spotted her from a distance and waved her over.
"This is specially kept for you," Grandma Song said with a kind smile, handing her the hidden blue balloon. "Take it quickly."
Zhu Zhu, with her small, soft voice, tilted her head to thank the old lady.
"Go play," Grandma Song said gently.
The blue balloon was still full of air, light and floating gently.
Zhu Zhu tiptoed to reach it, and the balloon tapped her little head. She looked up with her small face and stretched out her tiny hands, flapping to hug the balloon to her chest.
Her clear eyes fixed on the balloon, and she gave a shy, small smile.
She didn’t know how long she had been playing when a familiar crying sound grew closer.
Holding her son with one hand, Qin Meilan treated him like a precious gem, softly coaxing him. "I’ll get you another one. It’s just a balloon. We’ll find another."
The balloon flew higher again.
This time, Zhu Zhu had learned a trick. She jumped up with her little feet and reached out to grab the balloon again, but Qin Meilan was faster.
Zhu Zhu’s balloon became her brother’s again.
Without another word, Qin Meilan took the balloon and walked away, her son in tow.
"Acting like a wild child," she muttered coldly, giving Zhu Zhu a look.
Witnessing this, Grandma Song sighed with sorrow.
In fact, everyone in the village knew that Zhu Zhu wasn’t Qin Meilan’s biological daughter.
Ten years ago, after Qin Meilan married into Yongrui Village, she couldn’t have children for many years. She didn’t know how many hurtful words she had heard from her in-laws. It wasn’t until more than three years ago that Zhu Zhu, a baby, was brought back by Qin Meilan’s husband, Zhao Wu, who was working in the northern city.
The chubby, fair baby was adorable, but some said she was born from Zhao Wu’s affair with another woman. Even though Zhao Wu insisted he had just found the child, no one believed him—not even Qin Meilan. Over time, Zhao Wu stopped explaining. But no matter what, the child had already been brought home, and they couldn’t just abandon her. Zhao Wu said it would be a crime of abandonment.
Reluctantly, Qin Meilan had to swallow her anger and raise Zhu Zhu by her side.
To everyone's surprise, not long after, Qin Meilan became pregnant.
After giving birth to Xiao Jie, Qin Meilan planned to ask her husband to send Zhu Zhu to an orphanage. But Zhao Wu refused to agree, and the older generation in the village said that Zhu Zhu had brought good fortune to Qin Meilan, allowing her to conceive. If they sent the girl away, they might face bad luck. With everyone watching, Qin Meilan had no choice but to keep raising Zhu Zhu, though she resented it.
Three and a half years passed, and whenever Qin Meilan looked at Zhu Zhu, she felt irritated, reminded of her husband’s "romantic encounter" in the northern city, which filled her with anger.
Naturally, she couldn’t bring herself to love Zhu Zhu.
Over the years, everyone in the village had seen this.
They thought Qin Meilan was unfair and scolded Zhao Wu for his infidelity, but in the end, it was the child who was pitied.
Zhu Zhu scampered, hurrying to keep up with the adults and her younger brother.
She gathered her courage: "Want to play together?"
The younger brother was still small but acted as if he had someone backing him up.
He tilted his chin up, his beady eyes glancing sideways, his dark face radiating arrogance.
"Go away."
……
Ji Ning exited the airport, where a business car was already waiting outside the arrival hall. The automatic door slid open smoothly.
She gently lifted her skirt and slowly got into the car, her soft hair falling down.
Ji Ning gently brushed her hair aside with one hand and raised her eyes to meet the assistant’s observing gaze. She gave a slight nod, a faint smile playing at the corner of her lips.
The young assistant watched the scene and mentally noted it down. After instructing the driver on the destination, she took out her phone and jotted down notes in the memo.
On the way back, her notes were meticulous, recording everything from who sent the young miss to the airport, how elegantly she rejected a pick-up attempt in the first-class VIP lounge, to her impeccable demeanor after getting off the plane.
All of this was to be reported to Mrs. Ji.
Three years ago, after Ji Ning woke up from a car accident with amnesia, the little miss had already gone missing. With many people talking in the household, Mrs. Ji replaced the caretakers around Ji Ning. After months of rehabilitation, Mrs. Ji fabricated Ji Ning’s entire growth history. Once willful, she now resembled a delicate porcelain doll encased in a protective shell.
The past indiscretions couldn’t be entirely erased. After much consideration, Mrs. Ji decided to send her abroad.
The young assistant, Fu Xiaoman, the daughter of the Ji family’s driver, left with Ji Ning. On the surface, it was said they would take care of each other, but in reality, it was to spy on the young miss’s every move.
Fu Xiaoman secretly looked back at Ji Ning.
Ji Ning sat in the third row of the business car, her seat reclined, eyes closed resting.
The sunlight outside poured in, illuminating her skin, where even the fine hairs on her cheeks were clearly visible. Her thick, curly lashes cast soft shadows beneath her eyes.
Ji Ning had once been a well-known child star.
The world wondered what this once-cherubic child would grow up to be. However, Mrs. Ji valued privacy and protected her well. Occasionally, someone would come out with “inside information,” but it was mostly just attention-seeking.
Yet, there was one thing Fu Xiaoman couldn’t understand.
If Mrs. Ji was so against Ji Ning appearing in public, how did she become a child star in the first place?
Over the past three years, despite spending day and night together, Fu Xiaoman wasn’t sure if it was her own guilt or Ji Ning’s subtle distance that kept them from becoming true friends.
A horn sounded, disturbing Ji Ning.
She lifted her eyelids.
Fu Xiaoman was startled, her heart fluttered, and just as she was about to avert her gaze, she met Ji Ning’s eyes.
There was no impatience. Her beautiful eyes were like they were covered in a layer of mist, innocent and gentle, even seemingly lost.
A far cry from her current air of arrogance.
Many speculated about Ji Ning’s life after leaving the spotlight, but most of those rumors were unfounded.
She could be both arrogant and flamboyant, or gentle and restrained—these were all parts of Ji Ning.
After four years, even the assistant struggled to recognize the true Ji Ning, much less the person who had been deceived and manipulated during that time.
And so, a once vibrant and lively person had completely lost herself.
……
Ji Ning raised her hand, and the car window slowly rolled down.
She rested her cheek on the window frame with one hand, gazing at the retreating scenery by the roadside.
When she first woke up, the doctors told Ji Ning that the amnesia caused by the car accident was only temporary, and that one day, she would remember everything.
Her lost memories felt like scattered puzzle pieces. At first, she struggled to find them, but every time she tried to recall deeply, she was struck with a splitting headache. Her mother reassured her that if she couldn't remember something, it probably wasn't important, so there was no point obsessing over it.
Ji Ning let go of her obsession.
She followed her mother’s arrangements to study abroad.
It was the path she had always been destined to follow.
In the blink of an eye, many years had passed.
As the car wound through the mountainous villa district, a familiar feeling washed over her.
The Chinese-style courtyard villa, fragrant with flowers and the soothing sound of flowing water, felt peaceful and comforting.
The butler had already been waiting to welcome her. Before long, Ji Ning’s mother, Fu Mingya, and her father, Ji Guoting, walked out of the courtyard along the path paved with gravel.
Fu Mingya wore a professional suit, with faint lines around her eyes hinting at her age, looking serious and composed.
Ji Guoting had his arm around her shoulder, as graceful as ever.
The couple gazed at their daughter, now free from causing them any concern.
It was hard to imagine that their once most rebellious, unconventional daughter, who had given them so much trouble, had serendipitously returned to the right path after an accident.
"Ji Ning," Fu Mingya approached, "Are you tired?"
Ji Ning shook her head.
When her father asked why she had suddenly returned this time, she took out her phone and opened a WeChat chat box.
"Bai Hui is getting married," Ji Ning said, "She asked if I could come back for the wedding."
"The second daughter of the Bai family?" Fu Mingya looked up.
Ji Guoting’s eyes fell on the chat box.
Back then, all news about Ji Ning’s past mistakes had been completely suppressed by the Ji family. Her acquaintances only knew that she had suddenly disappeared again, unaware of which country she had run off to in search of so-called freedom.
Luckily, Ji Ning didn’t have many close friends.
As for Bai Hui, if memory served, they weren’t even casual acquaintances—they were what young people call "fair-weather friends," having clashed several times and never hesitating to speak their minds.
"Actually, I’ve already forgotten her," Ji Ning said, "But the doctor suggested that reconnecting with people and places from her past might help jog my memory."
"Alright," Fu Mingya masked her disapproval and calmly instructed, "Now that you’re back, take a bath in your room first, then join us for dinner later."
Fu Mingya's condemning gaze fell on Fu Xiaoman's face.
Fu Xiaoman immediately lowered her head.
"Got it, Mom." Ji Ning locked her phone.
Her eyes swept over the conversation window, filled with stickers like "Darling, I miss you so much," "hugs," and "muah."
Just then, Bai Hui sent a digital wedding invite.
Never having seen one before, Ji Ning casually tapped to open it.
In the photo of the digital invite, Bai Hui wore an aloof and world-weary look.
Annoyed, Ji Ning felt like punching her.
How strange.
Fu Xiaoman avoided the madam's condemning gaze and suddenly caught a glimpse of the young miss's face.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, proud and vivid.
Familiar arrogance, but it vanished in an instant, leaving her confused once more.
...
The first episode of the show had already ended, but Qin Meilan's anger hadn't subsided.
Even after a long time, she was still complaining to her mother-in-law.
"It's all because of this wretched girl. I gave her a signal to stall them. In a while, Grandma would have brought out the baby brother, but instead, she held onto this ragged doll and wouldn't let go. She has no sense of timing."
"If Xiao Jie had appeared on 'Switching Lives,' and a scout noticed him, making him a child model, his future would be bright!"
Zhu Zhu hid in the corner, sitting on her special "reflection chair."
'Switching Lives'...
She had heard that name before, in a dream.
Recently, Xiao Tuanzi had been having the same dream frequently.
A voice in the depths of her mind told her that she was living in an old, melodramatic novel.
The novel was called——
'Running Away with a Baby, Losing My Memory, and the Tyrannical CEO Who Fell in Love with Me.'
The child didn't understand.
At this moment, the voice became more distinct.
Zhu Zhu cupped her cheeks with both hands, looking worried, and corrected in a soft, hesitant voice.
"I'm not a ball."
"I'm a person..."