True Daughter - Chapter 2
When the Xue family in Da Jing City received a call from the police station, they initially thought it was just a prank. They didn't know who was playing tricks on them.
However, as the caller presented their identity, Mr. Xue went to the police station and learned that the girl, whom he cherished like his own little princess, was actually an imposter. His biological daughter was now in a place he had never heard of before.
"Jianping, what's the situation?"
"It's true."
Mrs. Wu Meijun slumped on the sofa, holding her chest as she cried, "How could this happen? Oh my, why did this have to happen to our precious child? She's so unlucky!"
"Enough, stop crying."
"Jianping, you have to think of a solution. Maybe we could just accept the lie. After all, so many years have passed." Wu Meijun looked hopefully at Xue Jianping, but he shook his head heavily.
"No, the child will definitely be brought here. Her parents have passed away, and her two uncles and an aunt have been arrested. Besides, she’s been admitted to the University of Jing City, so she’ll come here for sure."
"Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan, what's wrong with you? Mom, Dad, come quickly and see Yuanyuan!" Xue Chen shouted to his parents downstairs as he hugged Xue Yuan who had fainted.
Xue Jianping and Wu Meijun turned around only to find that Xue Yuan had somehow appeared and fainted. Could she have overheard their conversation?
As they suspected, Xue Yuan had heard it all.
When she woke up, she bawled uncontrollably. "How could this happen? I'm not your biological child? Why?"
"It was done by Li Guifen and Zhao Lanfang. Zhao Lanfang is already dead, and Li Guifen has confessed. They conspired to replace the child."
Xue Jianping hated the mastermind behind this and was determined to make her pay for it.
"Li Guifen? Sister Fen?" Wu Meijun dredged up memories from long ago.
She remembered that she had driven Li Guifen away because she was involved in theft and had stolen her jewelry to sell it for her own benefit. When the truth was exposed, Li Guifen kneeled before her, begging her not to report her crime. Her heart softened; she allowed her to pack her things and leave.
Never did she expect that Li Guifen would do such a thing.
"Mom, I don't care. Yuanyuan is my only sister, and no one can replace her." Xue Chen was unwilling to accept this reality.
They were together for eighteen years. Even someone who was related to him by blood could not be compared to Xue Yuan.
"But… But she’s Dad and Mom's biological daughter. It's my fault that I took everything from her." Seeing that Xue Yuan was about to faint again, Xue Jianping and his wife quickly comforted her.
Refusing to take her back wasn't an option. Xue Jianping had gone to the police station to cooperate with the investigation. The police had already extracted his DNA. If it matched with Zhou Yang's DNA and confirmed their biological relationship, the police would send her over even if he refused to take her back.
This matter involved too many people, from human traffickers to human lives. It had caused quite a stir locally, and there might be people in Da Jing City who would get wind of it. However, for the time being, they might not have connected it to the Xue family, so he must find a solution as soon as possible.
"Why don't we say that she's our relative?" Wu Meijun held onto Xue Jianping's arm, looking at him expectantly.
"We don't know who has gotten the information yet. We have to wait and see. Let's discuss other things slowly."
With information being so advanced and the matter causing such a commotion, he feared that acting hastily might give leverage to ill-intentioned individuals. A misstep could potentially affect the Xue family.
Xue Jianping decided to go to A Province personally to handle this matter.
A'Yang saw her "biological father" outside the courtroom. All he did was glance at her indifferently and then inquired about some details from the local police.
"Are you happy?" A'Yang asked.
"Yeah." Zhou Yang nodded. "Is he really my biological father?"
"It seems so."
Saying she wasn't looking forward to it would be false. Just as Zhou Youquan and his wife wanted to meet their biological daughter, Zhou Yang also wanted to meet her biological parents.
In terms of emotional attachment, she was naturally closer to Zhou Youquan as he had believed for over a decade that Zhou Yang was his biological daughter. Despite that, in the end, he chose his real daughter.
Eighteen years of affection turned out to be false as well.
"But it seems like he doesn't like you."
"After all, we’re strangers." Zhou Yang felt that way too.
A'Yang shifted her gaze away from Xue Jianping and looked at the potted plant beside him. Xue Jianping also breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't like this girl who had suddenly emerged as his biological daughter at all. Her appearance disrupted his once harmonious family. Moreover, her gaze just then seemed as if she could see through him, exposing the secrets hidden in his heart to light. This made him feel extremely embarrassed.
Li Guifen was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for her lack of remorse and involvement in the case. As for Uncle Zhou, he received a lighter sentence. He only learned about the whole thing later, but his intent to traffic people remained a fact, even though it was not a successful attempt. He was sentenced to five years according to the law.
As for the person he brought in, after verification, they found that he was an important member of a human trafficking group. The police traced the lead by raiding several dens and rescuing more than ten abducted children.
Merit, like golden fireflies, surged toward A'Yang. She didn't reject it; this was something she deserved.
The merit restored the broken bones in her legs. Apparently, her soul couldn't completely return to her body earlier because she had suffered a severe fall.
"I'll give your body back to you once I completely fix it," A'Yang said as she touched her leg that was almost healed.
"Yes, thank you," Zhou Yang replied excitedly.
Xue Jianping completed the necessary procedures and took Zhou Yang's household registration documents.
The local police had prepared a transfer of household registration explanation for Zhou Yang. When she arrived at the local police station in Da Jing City to register her new residence, the verifying officer looked at her with sympathy.
The formalities were done quickly, but changing her name was quite troublesome. Zhou Yang had already received the acceptance letter from Da Jing City University. Changing her name now meant replacing all her student records after the start of the school year.
A'Yang didn't want to cause trouble so she turned to Xue Jianping for help.
"It's too troublesome. How about leaving it as it is?" Zhou Yang felt a headache as she looked at the piles of documents. She was already dead; she couldn't believe she still had to worry about these things.
"Let's not change it," Xue Jianping agreed. Having a different name would indeed cause complications during enrollment.
Xue Jianping had been observing A'Yang's expression all along, realizing that the gaze outside the courtroom might have been his illusion.
"In such an environment, you managed to get into Da Jing City University. You're excellent," Xue Jianping praised, feeling a sense of superiority as her blood-related father. Look, his daughter was outstanding, no matter the circumstances.
"Yeah," A'Yang nodded slightly.
The sense of superiority that Xue Jianping had just felt disappeared. He wondered what Yuanyuan would do in this situation. When praised, Xue Yuan would probably cling to his arm, asking for some rewards.
In this manner, the two returned to the Xue family home without much conversation.
When Wu Meijun received a call from Xue Jianping, she was anxious. However, when she heard that he was bringing the child back, she was shocked.
"You're bringing her back already?"
Xue Jianping was rendered speechless by her question. He didn't want to bring Zhou Yang back at all, but there were so many police officers around them at the time.
The Zhou family members had either died or were imprisoned, leaving only Zhou Sanshu who was too frightened to take Zhou Yang in.
The female police officer asked A'Yang, "Do you want to go home with your biological father?"
Before she could react, A'Yang had already nodded.
She couldn’t refuse; there were too many people around.
When Xue Jianping entered the house with A'Yang, he saw the whole family sitting on the sofa, looking at them with vigilance.
No one spoke, and A'Yang glanced around, comparing the environment to that of the Zhou family. It seemed fine here.
Xue Jianping also sat down with them, making A'Yang feel even more isolated.
Seeing the atmosphere wasn't right, Zhou Yang pulled her sleeve and whispered, "Maybe we should leave…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Xue Yuan stood up and walked over. "You must be Zhou Yang. I'm Xue Yuan. Mom has prepared your room. Let me take you upstairs to see it."
She held A'Yang's hand and led her upstairs.
"Ah!" A scream could be heard as Xue Yuan tumbled down the stairs, rolling onto the ground as she clutched her arm in disbelief. She quickly composed herself and said, "It's nothing. It was just an accidental misstep. Did I scare you?"
Xue Chen couldn't bear it any longer and rushed over to lift Xue Yuan. He carefully examined her arm which had a small scrape and was bleeding slightly.
When has Yuanyuan experienced such humiliation ever since birth?
When they watched them go upstairs earlier, they clearly saw A'Yang hand on Yuanyuan to push her down. Why would she be so malicious? Xue Chen immediately carried Xue Yuan in his arms, about to take her to the hospital.
A'Yang stood on the stairs, watching them leave with an expression that showed as if she was deep in thought.
Zhou Yang was extremely anxious, but as a wandering soul, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't understand why Xue Yuan was so wicked as she had clearly fallen on her own. Yet, she acted as if someone else had caused her fall.
"Is your hand okay?" Zhou Yang worriedly looked at A’Yang. A’Yang had used the merits she obtained earlier to heal the injuries on her leg, but her arm hadn't healed yet. She was concerned that A’Yang might be in pain after being pulled by Xue Yuan just a few moments ago.
However, A’Yang was thinking about something else. An untimely memory of a novel she had read in Zhou Yang's bookshelf came to her mind. It was about a pair of non-blood-related siblings who fell in love secretly. In the end, they found out they weren't related and happily got together. The scene just now seemed to be quite similar.
However, they shouldn't have known each other's identities before, right?
A’Yang looked somewhat at a loss as she gazed at the couple down the stairs. How did they raise such children? Good thing they weren't biologically related.
After thinking for a moment, she blurted out, "Even though they're not blood-related siblings, such behavior still goes against moral principles."
The couple was speechless. What on earth was A’Yang talking about?
They were still wondering how to make their two daughters live together peacefully, but Zhou Yang came up with this act, which naturally gave them the feeling that things couldn't get any worse.
However, what was the meaning behind those inexplicable words?
Xue Chen and Xue Yuan were siblings… No, they weren’t siblings anymore.
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tls123forgod – Pay attention *sets glasses*
A'Yang is the one inside Zhou Yang's body and Zhou Yang's a spirit. And you can't see spirits. Yuanyuan is Xue Yuan. Yuanyuan is the nickname of Xue Yuan.
