Chapter 3: Subduing the Little Spiky Head

She cried with genuine emotion, her voice filled with real feeling, but no matter how Ye Qinglan listened, it sounded like she was wailing at a funeral.

“Mom, I’m not dead yet, don’t cry like that.”

“Uh—“

Yang Wenying’s crying stopped abruptly. She tried to smile but couldn’t stop the sniffles.

Ye Qinglan hugged her back, “I’m back, aren’t I? It’s a good thing I’m back, crying is bad luck.”

Back then, when they switched the children back, both families had agreed that the responsibility for raising them would be transferred to the biological parents. Going forward, the original owner and the female lead would only repay their biological parents for their upbringing, and they could treat their adoptive parents as relatives if they wished, but it wasn’t mandatory.

So, she still had to shoulder the responsibilities that belonged to the original owner.

Thinking about this, she said, “Don’t worry, I’m here, and no one will dare bully you anymore.”

“Good, good, Mom won’t cry anymore. Mom is just happy to see you back, really happy.” Yang Wenying wiped her eyes with one hand and pulled Ye Qinglan up and down with the other, “Where have you been all these years? Did you live well? You’ve grown so tall, and you’ve become even prettier and fairer.”

A mother’s filter was on full blast, making her daughter look perfect in her eyes.

“I haven’t been anywhere, don’t ask. Did anyone come to deliver things to you these years?”

“Yes, they sent things twice a year, always money. They said it was from a leader who told them to deliver it, but they wouldn’t say which leader. I didn’t dare use it. It was really you who had someone send it, right?”

Back then, her daughter came back to stay for one night and then ran away.

Who knew that a few months later, a young man came to deliver money. The young man was incredibly handsome, the kind she’d never seen before.

She thought about it and couldn’t figure out who could have sent her money. She suspected that it was her daughter who had left home, but she couldn’t be sure. After all, her daughter didn’t want to return from the Lin family because their family was poor and they didn’t have any affection for them. How could she possibly have someone send her money?

Because of this, she hadn’t dared to use the money until now, worried that someone might come asking for it and she wouldn’t have it to repay them.

“It was me who had someone send it. Don’t worry, use it. Buy yourself some nice clothes.”

“Mom is forty years old, what do I need nice clothes for?”

“…”

Mother and daughter stood in the living room talking. Because Old Lady Ye and the others didn’t close the door when they left, the neighbors passing by all peeked in. At first, seeing Ye Qinglan with her back to the door, wearing a black leather jacket and boots, they thought she was a man.

Some people were about to gossip and tease when they heard her call out, “Mom.”

Whoa!

Was this Ye Qinglan, the eldest daughter who ran away from the Ye family?

“What are you looking at? What are you all looking at? Don’t you have your own homes? Did you cook dinner? Get out of the way, if you block Jiao Ye’s path, Jiao Ye won’t be polite!”

With a series of sharp words, the people at the door automatically dispersed. This was Ye Jiao, the youngest daughter of the Ye family, who had returned.

This little girl was a real spiky head, carrying a slingshot everywhere, always ready to fight.

Ye Qinglan turned around and saw a little girl with a buzz cut and a blue smock, her big eyes filled with anger.

Then, she dashed towards Ye Qinglan, “You’re Ye Qinglan, right? I see you look a lot like me. Didn’t you run away? Why are you back—”

Before she could finish, Yang Wenying slapped her head.

“What are you babbling about? This is your sister, your sister has work to do.” Yang Wenying then said to the people outside the door, “My eldest daughter is back from work, we’re having a family reunion today. We’ll chat with you later.”

She was about to close the door.

The neighbors also turned to leave.

Wang Shen from 401 next door was about to leave when she said with concern, “Wenying, I saw your mother-in-law outside the courtyard just now. She came to your house again? Didn’t let them take advantage of you, did you?”

“Oh yeah, didn’t they say Jiaojiao was injured? She’s fine now, right? They didn’t trick you back, did they?”

“…”

Yang Wenying said, “It’s exactly like you think. They tricked me back to take our house and my job. Luckily, my eldest daughter came back in time, and they didn’t get anything.”

Actually, Yang Wenying wasn’t a pushover when facing the Ye family. It was just that her family couldn’t help her, and she and Ye Jiao couldn’t fight against the entire Ye family.

So she avoided the Ye family whenever she could. Today, if it wasn’t for Ye Song calling her from the factory, saying that Ye Jiao had been beaten up at school, she wouldn’t have come back from the factory.

“That’s good. Your mother-in-law is a classic example of a sweet-faced, bitter-hearted person. Her son died, and instead of taking care of you, she’s always looking for trouble. What a piece of work.”

Wang Shen finished her complaint and then said, “I still have some eggs at home. If you need them, come get them later.”

Now that her daughter was back, Wenying would definitely cook some good food.

“Okay, I’ll come over later.”

After closing the door, she turned around and saw Ye Jiao covering her head and glaring at Ye Qinglan.

Ye Jiao snorted, “She’s not my sister.”

She hadn’t forgotten how this sister had looked down on her when they first discovered they had been switched at birth.

“Coincidentally, I don’t think you’re my sister either.”

Ye Qinglan also remembered how this girl had glared at her when she came back from the Lin family when she first arrived in this world.

Ye Jiao was even angrier, her cheeks puffed up.

She snorted and pulled Yang Wenying aside, talking non-stop:

“Mom, Mom, I saw Ye Song and his gang of bastards after school, but they seemed to have been beaten up. Ye Song’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, his father was limping, and he lost a tooth. It was truly satisfying. Ye Shujuan was crying her eyes out, but the old hag was acting like nothing happened. Really, the heavens are blind, they didn’t even strike her with lightning.”

Yang Wenying patted her head again.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

But thinking back to the scene just now, she said, “Your sister did it.”

She didn’t know what kind of work her daughter did, but her movements were so quick, she hadn’t even reacted in time.

“What?!” Ye Jiao looked at Ye Qinglan with wide eyes, “You did it? You really did it?”

She looked Ye Qinglan up and down, suddenly feeling that this sister was different, she was full of heroic spirit, radiating Buddha’s light, compassionate and merciful, a Guanyin Bodhisattva of the world…

Ye Qinglan glanced at her, “It was me, so what?”

Actually, it wasn’t a big deal. It was just that the next second, Ye Jiao rushed over and hugged her, calling her “You’re really my sister, you’re truly my sister, you’re awesome, I admire you so much…”

All sorts of compliments came out in a torrent.

Ye Qinglan tried to push her away, saying, “Stop it, stop calling me sister, we’re not close. Who said she’s not my sister just now?”

Ye Jiao didn’t even think, “The bastards said it, definitely not Jiao Ye, Jiao Ye wouldn’t be so clueless.”

Ye Qinglan: “…”

Looking down at Ye Jiao, who was holding on to her arm, she couldn’t help but smile.

Yang Wenying also laughed, “Good, good.”

Just now, Jiaojiao was like that, she was worried that her two daughters wouldn’t get along in the future, but now she didn’t have to worry anymore.