Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ji Yunshu lugged the heavy canvas bag up to her front door. Before she even went in, she could hear voices coming from inside. Ji Yunting's voice was the loudest, and he clearly didn't sound happy.

"How did you know it was my mom whose baby got switched with the Meng family's? And since you knew all along, why did you only come looking now? Or are you hiding something, not willing to tell us the truth?"

Ji Yunshu didn't hesitate at the door and pushed it open.

All four people in the room turned to look at her at once.

In the main room, Meng Li was still sitting in her original seat, her tea barely touched. Ji Yunting stood across from her, hands on his hips, like he was grilling a suspect. He Qiuxia sat nearby, looking anxious, as if trying to defuse the tense atmosphere.

Ji Haiguo was back too, sitting beside He Qiuxia with a hand on her shoulder, looking just as grim.

When she saw Ji Yunshu, Meng Li seemed surprised for a second. But she quickly recovered, and as if scared of Ji Yunting's scolding, she twisted her hands together and said in a small voice: "I only found out for sure not long ago... Before that, I just had suspicions. I didn't dare come bother you out of the blue..."

"Didn't dare come bother?" Ji Yunting snorted. "You show up calling people 'Mom' and 'Brother' right off the bat—and that's your idea of not being rash?"

Meng Li's shoulders hunched, and she went quiet.

He Qiuxia couldn't stand it and spoke up: "Yunting, cut it out."

Ji Yunting wasn't happy about it but didn't push it. He just pulled up a chair and sat down, still staring at Meng Li.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back." Ji Yunshu put the canvas bag on the cabinet by the door.

He Qiuxia quickly stood up: "You're back? Is everything okay at Xiao Pei's? How's his grandma doing?"

"Everything's fine." Ji Yunshu nodded, her tone calm. "Grandma even sent back a bunch of dried seafood."

He Qiuxia nodded and glanced at her. Seeing that she didn't look like she'd been crying, she relaxed a little.

Meng Li looked up at Ji Yunshu again, her gaze lingering on her face for a moment before she looked down again.

When he saw Ji Yunshu come back, Ji Yunting's expression softened a bit. He patted the chair next to him: "Sit here."

Ji Yunshu walked over and sat down, her eyes drifting to Meng Li again without her meaning to.

Something felt off.

Ji Yunting spoke again, his tone a bit more restrained this time, but his words were still harsh: "You say you came to find your biological parents—do your adoptive parents know you're here?"

Meng Li paused. That pause was all Ji Yunshu needed.

Meng Li twisted her fingers even tighter, and her voice got even quieter: "They... don't know the specifics. I told them I came to the capital to see a doctor."

"See a doctor?" Ji Yunting frowned. "Didn't you say you came to find your birth family? Now it's about seeing a doctor?"

Meng Li looked up, looking like she was about to cry: "I really did come for treatment. I've been sickly since I was little, and the hospitals in the capital are better than in Su City. My adoptive parents asked me to come for a check-up. As for finding my birth family... I didn't dare tell them. I was afraid they'd be upset if they found out."

Ji Yunting looked at her without saying a word.

He Qiuxia listened nearby, her face a mess of complicated emotions. She looked at Meng Li, then at Ji Yunshu, her lips twitching before she finally asked: "Your adoptive parents... do they treat you badly?"

"Their family background, after all..." Meng Li trailed off, seemingly unwilling to bring up the Meng family's political standing. But she didn't deny or confirm anything. "I just... I just felt that since I knew the truth, I had to come find my birth parents. Otherwise, I'd never feel at peace for the rest of my life."

He Qiuxia was silent for a moment, then said: "Then give us your adoptive parents' contact info. The two families can sit down and talk this through properly. This isn't something a young girl like you can decide on her own."

Meng Li bit her lip and didn't say anything for a long time.

"What?" Ji Yunting grew impatient again. "You don't want to?"

"It's not that I don't want to." Meng Li's voice got even softer. "It's just... my adoptive mom isn't in great health either. I'm afraid she can't handle all the drama. How about this—let me first meet my birth parents, and then I'll break it to them slowly when I get back?"

Ji Yunshu hadn't said a word the whole time, but she'd been watching Meng Li closely the whole while.

She noticed that when Meng Li talked about her adoptive parents, her tone was flat, and her eyes kept darting away. She didn't sound like someone talking about the family she'd lived with for nineteen years—more like... someone reciting a script she'd prepared.

And anyway, how did she even know about the Ji family? Su City was so far from the capital. Even if she knew she'd been switched at birth, how did she manage to find the military compound so easily? There were tons of military compounds in the capital. Even if she'd tracked down Ji Haiguo's name and found the place, military compounds weren't open to just anyone. How was she so sure the guards at the gate wouldn't turn her away and would actually pass her message along to the Ji family?

Unless she already knew where the Ji family lived and knew everyone here.

A thought suddenly hit Ji Yunshu—had Meng Li had that dream too?

If so, everything made sense.

Meng Li had dreamed it too, and knew she was actually the daughter of Chief Ji in the capital's military compound. In that sudden "Great Movement," political background was everything. In the dream, Ji Yunshu was Chief Ji's daughter, with a spotless background, so she lived a peaceful, happy life in the early days of the "Great Movement." But the Meng family was different—their background was bad, so they must have suffered during the "Great Movement." It was only natural that Meng Li would want to escape her adoptive parents and seek shelter with her birth parents.

Ji Yunshu suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for her. If that were really the case, then Meng Li's choice wasn't unreasonable...

Before Ji Yunshu could finish the thought, Meng Li suddenly stood up and walked over to her.

Before Ji Yunshu could react, Meng Li crouched down in front of her, looked up at her with a smile in her eyes, and warmly took her arm.

"Sister." Meng Li said, smiling at Ji Yunshu. "The moment I saw you, I felt a connection. You look so much like my adoptive mother—it's like you were cut from the same mold."

The moment those words left her mouth, the mood in the room changed instantly.

Ji Haiguo and He Qiuxia's faces immediately darkened. Ji Yunting frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but when he looked at Ji Yunshu, he held back.

Ji Yunshu's heart sank too. She knew very well she didn't look like her father or mother. Since she was little, everyone said she didn't look like her parents, and He Qiuxia always comforted her by saying she took after her grandmother—skipping a generation. But now, right in front of He Qiuxia, Meng Li was saying she looked like someone from the Meng family. Wasn't that basically saying—she wasn't He Qiuxia's daughter?

Meng Li seemed to realize what she'd done. Her smile froze for a second, and she quickly let go of Ji Yunshu's arm, lowered her head, and made her voice sound pitiful: "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that... I just thought my sister looked nice, and I spoke without thinking..."

As she spoke, her eyes got red again, and she coughed a couple of times, covering her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking with each cough.

"I've just got bad health—I've been like this since I was little. I always cough when the seasons change." She looked up with tears in her eyes and turned to Ji Yunting. "Brother, I know you don't like me, but I really didn't come here to cause trouble. I just wanted to see what my birth parents look like. I'll leave after I see them."

She sniffled, her voice getting softer: "I have a brother in the Meng family too, but he's not like you—he doesn't look out for his sister the way you do. He's... cold to me. He'd never stand up for me the way you do for your sister. Just now, when I saw how good you are to your sister, I was really jealous. I wish I had a brother who'd always have my back..."

Hearing that, Ji Yunting found it hard to stay mad. He snorted and turned his head away without saying anything.

He Qiuxia sat there, her expression complicated. She looked at Meng Li's pitiful act, thought about everything she'd just said, and felt something stuck in her chest—she couldn't quite describe the feeling.

Ji Haiguo, though, cleared his throat: "If you really are mine and Qiuxia's daughter, how could we let you leave? Does the Ji family lack food that we can't even support our own flesh and blood?"

Hearing this, Ji Yunshu instinctively glanced at Ji Haiguo, only to find him looking back at her. When he noticed her gaze, he quickly looked away.

It was Meng Li who looked embarrassed at his words: "I... I can't. My adoptive mom isn't well, so I definitely have to go back and take care of her. But if only my adoptive mom could meet my sister... She'd be so happy to see how well my sister's been raised. Maybe her condition would even get better."

Ji Yunshu sat in her chair, looking at Meng Li crouched in front of her, with only one thought in her head.

Is she pulling back to move forward?

Ji Yunshu noticed the corners of Meng Li's mouth, which kept pressing down but kept curling back up.

Every word she said felt like a performance. First, she said Ji Yunshu looked like the Meng family, making He Qiuxia uncomfortable, then immediately apologized, coughed, and played the victim. Next, she praised Ji Yunting for being good to his sister, making it hard for him to stay harsh. And once Ji Haiguo formally said she could stay with the Ji family, she immediately brought up how her adoptive parents must miss their biological daughter and that she should go back to the Meng family. Every word hit its mark—not too much, not too little, just right.

If she were truly just an ordinary girl looking for her birth family, how could she talk like this on their first meeting?

Ji Yunshu recalled Meng Li from her dream. That woman standing beside He Jianjun, with a swollen belly, smiling as she called her "sister," her voice full of smugness and mockery.

That Meng Li had the exact same face as the Meng Li before her, yet somehow seemed different.

Ji Yunshu suddenly felt that the Meng Li in front of her was even scarier than the one in her dream.

Because the Meng Li in her dream had only stolen her identity and marriage, while this Meng Li knew from the start that everything would happen. She knew that Ji Yunshu, who was not the Ji family's biological daughter, would be kicked out. She knew that He Jianjun would divorce her. She knew the Ji family would disown her. She knew the Meng family would be brought down.

Meng Li knew everything, and so she came.

Ji Yunshu looked into Meng Li's amber pupils and felt utterly uneasy, as if a chill were seeping out from her very bones. Despite the scorching heat, she felt only coldness.

Author's note:

None.