But there was no helping it—because the original didn’t like Xie Zhengnian, she didn’t like his children either.

Especially the little daughter.

As soon as she found out she was pregnant, the original bounced around trying to miscarry the child.

But Xie Zhengnian’s seed was too strong.

No matter how much trouble the original made, the child grew well.

When she gave birth, she even enjoyed an extraordinarily fast labor—less than ten minutes after it began, the little girl slid right out.

The older women, who had all suffered through childbirth, immediately said this girl must have come to repay a debt of gratitude.

She was a delicate, doll-like little girl, so pretty it was dazzling, yet the original still didn’t cherish her.

Once, when the little girl had a fever, the original owner let her burn without giving her medicine.

By the time Qin Mu discovered her granddaughter’s fever, the child’s brain had already been damaged.

Now, at three years old, she clearly showed signs of mental delay.

“Nian Nian, I know your plot to kill your children and run away with me has been exposed, and you feel ashamed. You can slander me however you want, but don’t hurt innocent people. Qin Wan is your cousin—you shouldn’t pour filth on her.”

Han Mingze gazed at Qin Nian with deep affection, wearing the righteous expression of a man who thought himself noble.

Smack… Smack…

Already fuming after being struck down by her own children’s words, Qin Nian, hearing Han Mingze’s speech, unleashed her rage and slapped him hard twice across the face.

“You disgusting pair of scum—don’t act in front of me to ruin my reputation. I saw what you two did with my own eyes.”

Her gaze turned mocking as she looked at Qin Wan. “Hasn’t your period been missing for two months? Should we ask Doctor Ma to check your pulse?”

In her previous life, Qin Wan had taken the original’s two children with her as a military dependent. Dressed up brightly, she drew the attention of human traffickers.

During the struggle when the traffickers snatched them, Qin Wan was kicked in the stomach, and blood flowed heavily.

The novel described that kick as injuring her uterus. Later, when she married Xie Zhengnian but couldn’t conceive, he believed it was because she had sacrificed herself to protect his children, and he doted on her all the more.

When Qin Nian read that, she too thought Qin Wan seemed noble.

But now, inhabiting the original’s body, Qin Nian saw that Qin Wan was no kind person at all.

And Han Mingze was even worse—selfish and self-serving.

In an era when reputation was everything, for him to throw away his own name to help Qin Wan chase after Xie Zhengnian meant only one thing: Qin Wan must have given him something tempting in return.

From the sheer amount of blood Qin Wan lost after that kick on the train, as a doctor, Qin Nian felt the truth must not be so simple.

So she deliberately said what she did.

Her words struck like lightning.

Qin Wan collapsed to the ground like a pile of rotten mud.

Seeing this, how could the onlookers not understand?

Anything else could be denied to the death, but a pregnancy couldn’t be faked.

Doctor Ma was known throughout ten surrounding villages as a goddess of fertility.

One touch of her fingers, and she could tell if a woman was with child.

Now that Qin Nian had hammered Qin Wan to the point of no return, the villagers instantly turned into haters, all condemning Qin Wan.

“Never thought Qin Wan was that kind of girl—so young yet already fooling with men, unmarried and pregnant, and even slandering her cousin for killing children. Truly an ungrateful white-eyed wolf.”

“Exactly. Secretary Qin wasted ten years raising her. If only they’d left her with her stepfather, let him beat her three times a day.”

“When she was twelve, she ran back covered in bruises. If Secretary Qin hadn’t beaten her stepfather away, she’d already have been that man’s little wife. And now she repays kindness with betrayal—how black-hearted.”

Exposed and surrounded by venomous scolding, Han Mingze hurriedly dragged Qin Wan away in panic.

Qin Fu tried to chase them, but Qin Nian stopped him.

“Dad, don’t bother. Han Mingze tried to kill me and slander me—just report it to the police and let them catch him.”

Qin Nian then smiled sweetly at the crowd. “Uncles, aunties, when the police come, you’ll testify for me, won’t you? That it was Han Mingze who tried to smear me?”

Hearing she truly meant to call the police and even make them testify, the villagers all quickly made excuses and slipped away.

“Nian Nian, thank goodness you were smart enough to uncover their scheme, or today’s stain would never have been washed away,” Qin Mu said with heartache.

Then she turned angrily to her husband. “It’s all your fault. I told you from the start that child had no good character, that she could never be raised right. You insisted on keeping her, and now she nearly ruined our daughter.”

Qin Fu said painfully, “Second Brother was an honest man. I never thought his daughter would turn out this way.”

“Mom, it’s fine—it was just a false alarm, and I’m unharmed. Don’t blame Dad anymore. The children and I are filthy. Go heat some water for us to wash.”

“All right, I’ll fetch water right away.”

“Take the children’s wet clothes off first. I’ll carry water,” Qin Fu added, getting up to leave.

Qin Nian’s eyes fell on Fantuan.

The boy instantly pulled Douya(Xiaobao) behind him protectively, and Douya trembled in fear.

The sight of their instinctive defense stabbed Qin Nian’s heart like a knife.

Her nose stung, her eyes filled with tears, and guilt overwhelmed her.

She knew these were the original’s lingering emotions.

When the original saw her two children struggling in the water, she had regretted it.

Her leap into the water was truly to save them, but something had dragged her down into the deep.

She died filled with regret and guilt for her children.

Qin Nian silently promised in her heart:

Don’t worry. Now that I’ve taken your body, I’ll treat your children as my own. I’ll care for them well and let them grow up safe and healthy.

Perhaps the original soul heard her words, because the pain in her heart suddenly eased.

“Fan… Tuantuan, when I nearly died in the water today, I realized how wrong I’ve been. I’m sorry to you and your sister. I want to be a good mother. Will you… give me a chance?”

Fantuan snorted coldly and turned his head, clearly not believing Qin Nian would ever change.

Qin Nian then looked at Douya with a pleading smile. “Dou Dou, do you believe Mom? Will you give me a chance—to help you take a bath?”

Douya was afraid of her mother, but she loved bathing.

At the word “bath,” her big black-grape eyes sparkled.

“Yes!”

“You can’t let the bad woman bathe you! She’ll hold you down in the water and drown you! Did you forget she pushed you in today? Don’t you remember how it felt when the water filled your mouth?” Fantuan quickly stopped his sister angrily.

At his words, Douya immediately shook her head frantically, terrified.