“It means that if you choose the side that’s beneficial to you, you have to bear other people’s disdain. After all… Xiao Cui committed a crime for you, and it’s human nature to sympathize with the weak.”

Sheng Weixia finished speaking and turned to go to the third floor.

At night, the couple, for the first time in ages, slept in the same bed, each with their own worries.

Jiang Xiuhou frowned, “After Xiao Cui died, she didn’t go, we thought she was afraid that we would have a grudge, but actually, people can’t be so heartless. You say, will she be so… bad to us in the future?”

Gu Desheng turned his back to his wife, “We still have to believe in the daughter we raised, not to mention anything else, from childhood to adulthood, she has been coaxing us, coaxing your family, who is she doing it for? Isn’t it for this family?”

“But I still feel something’s wrong. Didn’t we forget, Xia is the most pitiful person in this whole thing?”

Gu Desheng turned off the light in annoyance, “We have time to cultivate feelings with our biological daughter, go to sleep.”

But the couple thought the same thing in their hearts, she’s grown up now, how can we cultivate feelings?

In the darkness, Gu Desheng mumbled, “Your brother called and said, tomorrow we’ll discuss bringing Xia back home to see your dad, and formally get together.”

Sheng Weixia hadn’t officially met her elders after she came back.

Gu Desheng was an orphan, he didn’t have any elders, but the Jiang family had been waiting for the couple to arrange it.

Jiang Mingzhi couldn’t stand it anymore, so he took the initiative to say that he wanted to discuss it.

Gu Desheng had a hard time saying it, it wasn’t that he deliberately neglected it, it was just that there wasn’t a suitable time.

The two sisters had been adjusting to each other, at first, they were at odds, now they were finally not arguing, and then Sheng Danyan’s incident happened.

They completely forgot about it.

Jiang Mingzhi’s request was simple, to acknowledge the flesh and blood, to achieve success in the college entrance exam, this was a double happiness, to formally go back home and do it, they had to call all the relatives and friends and have a big celebration.

It was like a wedding.

“Brother, no need, right?” Gu Desheng said with a bitter face.

Wasn’t this deliberately stimulating Gu Qingwei?

Jiang Mingzhi was used to being a leader, he put on a serious face, “What, you can’t afford the banquet? Don’t worry, we brothers and sisters, the red envelopes we give will be enough.”

“That’s not what I mean. This matter, to be honest, is a little unpleasant, it’s not worth making a big fuss about.”

Jiang Mingzhi made a decisive decision, “I’m just informing you two, since it’s going back to the Jiang family to do this, I’m the one who decides. I’ve already made arrangements, it’s the day off, everyone will be free.”

On this day, the Jiang family’s old house made of blue bricks was newly renovated, red lanterns were hung on both sides of the gate, it was a festive scene.

Gu Desheng’s car drove closer and saw that Jiang Mingzhi was standing at the gate with his brothers on either side.

He trembled his lips and turned his head to look at Jiang Xiuhou, “Get out.”

Jiang Mingzhi was the backbone of the Jiang family, he had to be polite to this brother-in-law—if it hadn’t been for his brother-in-law’s help back then, he wouldn’t have been able to rent his first mine.

Even now, he still had to ask him to do things from time to time.

But Jiang Mingzhi waved his hand at the car, he actually made a gesture for them to drive in directly.

“Did my brother add a ramp to the threshold of the gate?” Jiang Xiuhou muttered.

They hadn’t had this kind of pomp and circumstance in years, back then only when the two elder brothers got married did they have this kind of treatment.

The car drove to the front of the gate and drove directly into the courtyard of the Jiang family’s old house along the ramp.

“Good! Our little sister’s daughter is home!” Jiang Mingzhi raised his hand solemnly, leading the whole family in clapping.

The couple looked at the two daughters in the back row from the rearview mirror.

Sheng Weixia was very calm, her emotions were not obvious, but Gu Qingwei’s face clearly darkened.

Gu Desheng’s mood was complex, he felt both relieved and sorry for Gu Qingwei—sometimes he would escape and think, was everything a dream, did Xiao Cui not switch the children eighteen years ago, did Jiang Xiuhou really give birth to twins.

Jiang Mingzhi went forward and opened the back door of the car, he personally brought Sheng Weixia out, he introduced her one by one, “Xia, come, this is your second uncle, your second aunt, that’s your aunt, you’ve met Pengtao, your cousins, you met them at your house last time, have a good chat today! Come on, uncle will take you to see your grandfather.”

Sheng Weixia greeted everyone one by one, while Gu Qingwei went to her cousins.

Everyone crowded around, when they saw Sheng Weixia’s face, the expressions of the two Jiang family wives were a little strange:

“She’s so alike, she’s really so alike…”

“Of course.” Jiang Mingzhi’s gaze was faint, he led her, “Good girl, come.”

He whispered to Sheng Weixia, “Grandpa’s not feeling well, his mind is also a little confused, when you see him, just respond.”

“Okay.”

Sheng Weixia didn’t have much experience dealing with the elderly, nor did she know how to coax people like Gu Qingwei, but she liked the natural kindness in Jiang Mingzhi, and she felt three parts kindness, three parts naturalness, and four parts curiosity towards the elderly she had never met.

When Gu Qingwei saw Jiang Mingzhi gently embracing Sheng Weixia, and the Gu family couple followed them into the main room, she bit her lip and stopped.

That room, only a few elders were allowed to enter.

She knew she couldn’t go in at this moment.

The old man’s room had the curtains drawn, as if time had frozen, filled with a hazy atmosphere.

Old Man Jiang was lying down, a thin blanket covered him, revealing his thin outline, he turned his head when he heard the sound.

Jiang Mingzhi pulled Sheng Weixia to sit by the bed, he bent down and leaned close to the old man’s ear, “Dad, your little sister’s daughter is here to see you, open your eyes and take a look.”

After he finished speaking, he motioned for her to sit forward so that the old man could see clearly.

The old man slowly opened his eyelids, his cloudy lens focused for a long time, then suddenly burst out with intense emotions, he mumbled and shouted urgently, “Wan’er, Wan’er! Eldest brother, look, your mother is here, she’s come to pick me up!”

The last sentence was filled with sobs.

Hearing this, Jiang Xiuhou’s eyes immediately turned red.

Jiang Mingzhi felt a little choked up, “Dad, it’s your little sister’s daughter who was taken away, she looks like my mother, doesn’t she?”

Actually, there was no need for a DNA test, this face, it was exactly like the old lady’s when she was young, there was no mistake.

“Like!” The old man finally became clear-headed, he stared at Sheng Weixia for a long time, his trembling hand pointed at the five-drawer chest beside the bed, he took a key from under his pillow, “Eldest brother, open it, open the first drawer, take out that red envelope.”

The old man gave Sheng Weixia a red envelope with a thousand yuan and a gold locket.

Jiang Mingzhi stuffed it into her hand, “Xia, be a good girl and take it, your parents gave it to you, that’s theirs, this is from Grandpa.”

The topic naturally shifted to compensation.

Jiang Mingzhi called his daughter to take Sheng Weixia out, his attitude was firm and clear, “If you want to continue raising Qingwei, I don’t personally object, people are all made of flesh and blood. But—”

He looked sternly at Jiang Xiuhou and Gu Desheng, “One thing, the compensation for our Xia, cannot be less than Qingwei’s tuition fees! Do you two have enough money?”

How could they not have enough?

Gu Desheng, “Brother, we have money, didn’t we say last time, we’ll buy her a house near the school when she goes to school.”

“Yeah.” Jiang Mingzhi pondered for a moment, “The environment around the school is average, don’t buy a small one, don’t be stingy!”

After he finished speaking, he snorted, “Also, you have to be prepared to pay for Qingwei’s education, in the end, it’s like throwing a meat bun to a dog.”

“That’s impossible!” Gu Desheng was confident, “Qingwei has always been a good student!”

Jiang Mingzhi’s eyes showed a hint of disdain, “I’m talking about her staying abroad and not coming back! There’s one more thing, when are you going to change Xia’s name? Sheng Danyan wants money, just give it to him, things have their priorities, some small things are not worth being petty about, take the bigger picture and do things well!”

“Okay.” Gu Desheng agreed repeatedly.

“You should have called the police, you two are stupid, you missed the best opportunity, now you’re making mistake after mistake!” Jiang Mingzhi continued to scold.

Outside in the main hall.

Several cousins surrounded Sheng Weixia.

The last time they met was at Gu Qingwei’s farewell party.

Sheng Danyan made a scene, Sheng Weixia refuted him in a few words, making them impressed, so they were very curious about this cousin.

“Sister, how many points did you get on the college entrance exam?” Jiang Wei, the youngest daughter of the second branch of the Jiang family, asked.

“668?” Sheng Weixia was unsure.

Jiang Tongtong, Jiang Pengtao’s sister, let out a snort, “How can you not even remember your college entrance exam score!”

It had been so many years.

Sheng Weixia smiled, “It’s not important after you’ve been admitted.”

“That’s a high score!” Jiang Wei exclaimed, “Is it He Li High School? Did you get 140 in Chinese?”

“I think… maybe.” She really forgot the sub-scores.

“You’re the Chinese single-subject champion of Jinzhong this year! I thought the name sounded familiar.” Jiang Wei jumped up, “I have the newspaper, wait for me to get it!”

The Jinzhong Education Newspaper that Jiang Wei brought, the front page was the report of this year’s college entrance exam, besides the champion of the city, it also announced the single-subject champions, He Li High School’s Sheng Weixia was prominently listed.

“Wow…”

Even though everyone except Jiang Wei was already out of high school, everyone was still amazed.

Even Gu Qingwei looked surprised.

“Then what school did you get into?”

“Beijing University.”

“Wow!”

Gu Qingwei’s face froze a little, these people used to revolve around her, now that Sheng Weixia was here, they all surrounded her, how fast they changed.

At this time, Jiang Pengtao pushed open the door, “Where are my dad and my aunt? I’ve booked a place to eat, let’s chat while we eat.” He looked at Sheng Weixia, “Should I ask my cousin to call them?”

They were probably discussing her inside.

Sheng Weixia naturally agreed, when she knocked on the door, she heard Jiang Mingzhi say seriously through the door that they should change her name.