Chapter 4 The True and False Daughter’s Melon

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside, as if someone was having an argument. After learning that Lu Jingchuan hadn’t died in the war, the Lu family breathed a sigh of relief, and their curiosity and gossip instincts quickly resurfaced. Hearing the noise outside, everyone grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and headed toward the courtyard.

“Your wallet is in your hand—you stole it! Don’t even think about denying it. Come with me to the commune office and explain yourself right now!”
“Stop talking nonsense! Your wallet fell, I picked it up to return it to you, and you falsely accused me of stealing it!”
“Hmph! My wallet is obviously high-end; you couldn’t have kept your mind clean, could you?”
“I didn’t!”
“……”

In front of the yard, the path was blocked. Ji Xiao Xi, holding Lu Qi’an’s hand, was standing behind and couldn’t see the people, and the voices were drowned out by the surrounding chatter. Not being able to catch the gossip, Ji Xiao Xi felt frustrated.

【001, please detail this gossip.】

The two people arguing were one, Zhang Xiu, the real daughter currently living in the countryside, and the other, Su Qing, the switched daughter living in the city. Twenty-two years ago, at the commune health clinic, Su Qing’s biological mother, Wan Chunhua, saw a neighboring woman suffering from a hemorrhage after childbirth. The newborn was unattended, so she devised a plan and swapped her own newborn daughter with the baby in the next room.

Wan Chunhua was extremely biased toward sons. However, seeing that the neighbor appeared wealthy and even had a car, she decided to send her daughter there for a better life. The daughter she gave away would be forced to work hard doing all the household chores; if she survived, fine; if not, it didn’t matter—she wasn’t her biological child anyway.

Last month, Su Qing became ill, and the hospital performed a blood test. Her family discovered that Su Qing’s blood type was O, yet neither parent was O. Suspicion about her true identity arose. Her parents sent someone to investigate, but Su Qing found out. Together with her fiancé, she traced Zhang Xiu to Baiyun Village. At first glance, she realized that Zhang Xiu was the baby swapped with her, as Zhang Xiu resembled Mrs. Su greatly.

Fearing that the Su family would reclaim Zhang Xiu and force her own switched daughter back to the countryside to live a hard life, Su Qing decided to act first. She planned to frame Zhang Xiu for theft. Once the accusation succeeded, Zhang Xiu’s reputation would be ruined. Even if the Su family later found Zhang Xiu, they probably wouldn’t accept a daughter who was branded a thief.

【Ew, how malicious! That way, she can continue staying in the Su family.】
【Yes, truly a wicked woman!】

【001, can you amplify the voices from earlier?】
【Seems possible, I’ll try.】
【If that works, can you make the voices sound like clear young male voices? I like hearing young boys talk, hehe.】
【Woman, you’re asking a lot!】
【Ah! Yes, yes, exactly that voice.】
【Hmph, the system has already adjusted the voice.】

By the way, Zhang Xiu was also pitiful. A proper real daughter had been swapped into such a small place, abused, and now schemed against. One would really want to warn her.
【Host, even if you want to say something, no one would believe you.】

Zhang Xiu, who was being dragged away by Su Qing, suddenly heard two voices. She looked around and realized that no one else seemed to hear them—only she could.

—That voice said she was the real daughter?—
What did that mean? Was it suggesting she wasn’t the biological daughter of the Zhang family?

【Did Su Qing resemble Wan Chunhua at all? If they were mother and daughter, there should be some resemblance, right?】
【Yes, but Wan Chunhua didn’t come. Her family was taking advantage of Zhang Xiu going out to chop firewood and eating meat at home.】

—Su Qing?—
Could it be that this woman in front of her was named Su Qing? She was Wan Chunhua’s biological daughter?

Zhang Xiu stared seriously at Su Qing and noticed she did resemble her: a slightly flattened nose and downward-slanting eyes, just like Wan Chunhua. No wonder Wan Chunhua had always disliked her, saying she had a fox-like face, always giving anything good to her brother Zhang Lang, claiming girls would marry one day and didn’t deserve the good food at home.

Ever since she could remember, she had been brainwashed to give all the good things to her brother. In the Zhang household, she lived like a servant, working constantly. During the day, she earned work points; at night, she completed all the household chores. Wan Chunhua wouldn’t let her sit at the table, claiming she was a girl and had no right to eat at the table. She was only left with leftover soup and half a cornbread. When guests visited, Wan Chunhua would give her a whole cornbread in front of them—that would be her most filling meal. When hungry, she could only drink water, while even eating meat required her to go chop firewood first.

Her brother Zhang Lang had always bullied her, calling her a mutt. Trying to please him, she once traded mushrooms she collected with village children for a candy, happily giving it to Zhang Lang. He ate it, yet continued to insult her, deliberately telling Wan Chunhua that she had hoarded candy, and even accusing her of trying to seduce him. That night, Wan Chunhua beat her so badly she couldn’t get out of bed. From then on, Zhang Xiu never approached Zhang Lang willingly again.

Rumors spread in the village that Zhang Xiu tried to seduce her biological brother, which she knew were all fabricated by Zhang Lang. She had always thought this was because her mother favored sons over daughters.

But she never expected that she wasn’t even a member of the Zhang family! Zhang Lang must have known this a long time ago, which was why he always called her a “mutt.”

【001, was there really no one nearby at the time? Such things are hard to clarify with just words, and even if Wan Chunhua had come, she would probably have sided with Su Qing.】
【There was someone—a person who had just finished in the outhouse happened to walk out and saw it.】
【Who?】
【Liang Mancang, an older bachelor in the village. He had a crush on Zhang Xiu and wanted Wan Chunhua to marry her to him, but Wan Chunhua thought his bride price was too low and insulted him, saying the toad wanted to eat the swan. That deal fell through, and Liang Mancang still harbored some resentment toward the Zhang family. I don’t think he would want to get involved in this matter.】

—Someone saw it!—

Zhang Xiu felt a surge of confidence. She no longer struggled with Su Qing. She sharply pulled back, causing Su Qing to stumble and almost fall.

Su Qing’s fiancé, Wu Youqian, pointed at Zhang Xiu, ready to scold her. “You…”
“Weren’t we going to the commune office? I’ll go myself!”

Zhang Xiu straightened her clothes, lifted her chin, and walked forward proudly. Su Qing was stunned—she never expected that this rural woman wouldn’t fear being branded a thief. But since Zhang Xiu was willing to go to the commune office herself, so be it. Then Su Qing and her fiancé could both accuse her of stealing the wallet.

She didn’t believe anyone would trust Zhang Xiu, whose reputation in the village was already poor. She had even been rumored to seduce her own brother.