Chapter 12: I Am Not Their Biological Child

Lin Bingwei continued, “I shouldn’t be called Ye Bingyu; I should be called Ye Bingyu. That’s the name my biological parents gave me. They gave you 3,000 yuan to take care of me temporarily until they settled down and came back to get me. Lin Wangsheng and Bihua saw they had money and changed our names as soon as they returned from the hospital.”

Lin Bingwei’s name was actually given by the Ye couple.

Since they were well-educated, both families had agreed that Lin Wangsheng and his wife would take her back temporarily to raise her as a twin, so they asked them to help give their daughter a name, and thus she was named Lin Bingwei.

Lin Wangsheng and Bihua were so shocked that their mouths could fit a chicken egg.

How could this be possible? How did she know all this? It was as if she had been there at the time.

The two exchanged glances.

Reflecting on all these years, had they ever mentioned these matters?

Of course, they had; such a big secret couldn’t have been kept quiet between just the two of them.

Could it be that during one of their private conversations, she had overheard them?

The onlookers were in an uproar.

“Oh my, is this true? If it is, then Lin Wangsheng, you and your wife are truly heartless! You took money to care for someone else’s daughter, didn’t take good care of her, and even swapped her out. Come on, everyone, isn’t this a crime?”

“Of course it’s a crime; this counts as human trafficking.”

“Oh my, no wonder they treated her poorly. She has to do endless chores every day and still endures beatings and scoldings, and they even took the bride price from her. I said, how could a biological child be treated like this? Turns out she isn’t even their biological child.”

Lin Wangsheng and Bihua felt their scalps tingle as they listened to the crowd’s chatter.

They thought that Lin Bingwei must have overheard them, and since it was overheard, they couldn’t admit it.

Lin Wangsheng and Bihua exchanged glances, deciding to deny it to the end.

“Don’t talk nonsense here; what do you mean she’s not our biological child? She is our biological child. How could we possibly swap children? That’s nonsense.”

Bihua looked at Lin Bingwei and said, “Weiwei, Mom admits that she usually dotes a bit more on your brother and makes you do more chores. I admit it’s unfair to you, but you wouldn’t go so far as to make up a story to deny us, would you?”

“Yeah, in this day and age, which family doesn’t favor their son a bit more? You’re older than him; you’re the sister, so it’s only right that you do more and let him have a bit of an easier time.”

Lin Bingwei replied coolly, “Did I mention Lin Yaozu? Why do you keep bringing him up? Are you using Lin Yaozu to distract everyone’s attention?”

Bihua was somewhat clever; she tried to use Lin Yaozu to shift the narrative from the conflict between biological daughter and adopted daughter to the issue of gender bias.

Years later, gender bias would be looked down upon, but for the villagers now, it was considered perfectly normal.

Daughters had to be married off, and men received more work points for farming than women.

Especially since Lin Yaozu was more than ten years younger than Lin Bingwei.

With Lin Bingwei’s reminder, everyone quickly refocused their attention.

Grandma Li Yurong said, “Weiwei has never claimed that you favor boys over girls, right? She hasn’t said that you make her yield to the younger one, has she? She and Ye Bingyu are the same age; how do you treat Ye Bingyu, and how do you treat her?”

Bihua choked for a moment but quickly regained her composure, saying, “I know you’ve always envied Xiaoyu, but her parents paid for it. You mentioned they gave 3,000 yuan; that’s not just three yuan! Our family could afford to live in a big tiled house because of that 3,000 yuan. You say we’ve benefited so much from them; shouldn’t we treat them a bit better?”

After her explanation, the onlookers split into two factions.

Some felt that the couple wouldn’t stoop so low and that Lin Bingwei was lying. For instance, Wang Pozi, who had previously clashed with her, stirred the crowd, claiming Lin Bingwei was fabricating stories, saying that after getting married, she recognized her biological parents and was making up such a lie to slander them over an 888 yuan bride price, which was truly unacceptable.

On the other hand, there were those who believed Lin Bingwei. They thought that even if biological parents favored boys over girls, they couldn’t be as cruel as Lin Wangsheng and his wife. They began recounting the grievances Lin Bingwei had suffered throughout her life, item by item.

“She started working for the family at just three years old, cooked on a stool at five, and even when she was sick during the winter and summer, she still had to get up and work. Bihua hasn’t cooked in eighteen years; I heard she almost burned down the house when she tried to cook yesterday. Tell me, could a biological parent be that heartless?”

Bihua felt a bit guilty.

Lin Wangsheng shot her a glare.

He thought that if it weren’t for her excessive behavior, they wouldn’t be under suspicion now.

But no matter what people said, they couldn’t admit it.

Lin Wangsheng said, “Weiwei, everyone wants to be born into a wealthy family, but you can’t let the desire to be a capitalist’s daughter make you forget your own biological parents, right? We admit we weren’t very good to you in the past; as your parents, we apologize. Can you stop saying such hurtful things?”

Bihua then began to cry, “I suffered so much when I gave birth to you! At that time, the town hospital wouldn’t take me, and they transferred me to the city hospital. I was in pain all the way to the city hospital and finally managed to give birth to you. How could you deny me just to become a capitalist’s daughter? You have no conscience.”

“Yes, yes, your mother really went through a lot to give birth to you. You had a difficult delivery and had to be taken to the city hospital for a cesarean to finally be born. Because of that, she couldn’t conceive again for over ten years; you were thirteen when your brother was born.”

The two began to lament, detailing their hardships.

In short, they would rather die than admit to swapping children, but they did acknowledge that they had indeed treated Lin Bingwei poorly.

They even generously stated that they wouldn’t take the 888 yuan, considering it as compensation for her.

What they didn’t know was that there was now technology for paternity testing abroad, and it would soon be available domestically.

At first, ordinary people might not have access to it, but if the Ye family wanted to, they could use connections and pay more to make it happen.

Lin Bingwei didn’t say anything for now, letting them continue with their dream of “as long as I stubbornly deny it, you can’t do anything about it.”

Lin Bingwei said, “The truth can’t be hidden, and lies can’t become truth. You can keep denying it, but when the Ye couple returns to the country, let’s see what you’ll say.”

The situation was gradually changing; capitalists were no longer seen as villains.

The Ye couple would soon return with significant funds to invest and do business.

But Lin Wangsheng and his wife weren’t worried; they didn’t understand these things and thought capitalists wouldn’t dare to come back.

Even if they did, so what? They were determined to deny it to the end.

Without receiving any money, Lin Wangsheng and his wife left.