Chapter 56: Li Yurong Proudly Introduces Her Family Situation

So what if she wasn’t the Ye family’s biological child? The life that had been swapped wouldn’t change just because of blood ties.

That village girl, Lin Bingwei, would never be able to compare to her in this lifetime.

Faced with her provocation, Lin Bingwei simply smiled and naturally replied, “That’s right, I only studied up to third grade. I wasn’t as fortunate as you, Sister. Even though your grades were worse than mine at the time, they still paid for your schooling. I was just unlucky. They never let me do homework, never let me touch books at home, and always arranged endless chores for me. They did everything they could to make the neighbors believe that I wasn’t allowed to study because my grades were too poor.”

Ye Bingyu was left speechless.

Mrs. Ye couldn’t help but tear up.

“In this era, knowledge is power. If you didn’t even finish elementary school, what will you do in the future?”

Li Yurong took over the conversation. “Weiwei is very smart—she has a photographic memory! She’s already read all the textbooks from elementary to high school that my son, Tingyuan, used. He said he’ll send back his university books in a few days. Weiwei is going to take this year’s college entrance exam.”

What?!

Mr. Ye and Mrs. Ye looked at Lin Bingwei in shock.

Could this be true?

Though they wished it were, it seemed too unbelievable.

This older woman probably didn’t have much understanding of academics.

In the countryside, many women her age couldn’t even write their own names. They figured she must not know much about education.

Still, they were comforted by how well this woman treated Weiwei.

However, Bihua and Lin Wangsheng immediately burst into laughter.

They had raised Lin Bingwei—did they not know her capabilities?

“With your little brain? Thinking about university? At best, you might get into an agricultural college. I’ll admit, you do have some skill at growing radishes.”

Ye Bingyu laughed too. “Given the current situation in the country, even among legitimate high school graduates, the college acceptance rate is only in the single digits. How could someone who didn’t even finish third grade possibly pass the entrance exam? Aunt Li, do you even know what a third-grade education means? You never went to school, so you probably don’t understand, right?”

Li Yurong proudly responded, “Who says I didn’t go to school? I graduated from high school! Back then, I even got into a women’s university. If it weren’t for the war, if my father and brothers hadn’t died in battle, I’d be a university graduate now.”

She couldn’t let her daughter-in-law lose face. The Ye couple needed to know that their daughter had married into a good family.

As she spoke, she watched the expressions of Mr. Ye and Mrs. Ye closely.

Sure enough, after hearing her introduction, admiration and approval appeared in their eyes.

Ye Bingyu hadn’t expected that Li Yurong was a high school graduate. Her smile stiffened as she glanced at Lin Wangsheng and Bihua.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, it seemed to be true—otherwise, they would have already jumped in to mock her.

“Well… Aunt Li, what a pity,” Ye Bingyu forced out awkwardly.

Li Yurong scoffed, “Don’t think you’re all that just because you’ve learned some foreign knowledge. My family is doing just fine. My husband also finished high school, and my son, Tingyuan, will graduate from university next year. Weiwei is brilliant—a child prodigy. Even if she was held back and mistreated, she’ll still be able to pass the entrance exam.”

Hearing this, Ye Junsheng and Gu Siyun went from being worried to feeling reassured.

Though calling a third-grade student a future college graduate seemed like an exaggeration, it sounded like she had married into a good family—educated, military background, and even a martyr’s family.

Gu Siyun walked over to Li Yurong, taking her hand warmly. “Sister Li, my husband and I would like to visit your home. Would that be convenient?”

Li Yurong smiled and held her hand in return. “Of course, it’s convenient! My home is an old ancestral house. It may be a bit old, but it’s spacious enough for your whole family to stay over.”

Previously, Lin Wangsheng and Bihua had come up with all sorts of excuses to stop them from visiting the countryside. Now, they had no reason to refuse.

The two of them were panicking.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Gu Siyun said, “That must be the hotel staff. I’ll go cancel our tickets.”

“Ah!”

Staying in such a high-end suite meant excellent service.

The room had an in-built phone, so all they had to do was call the front desk for anything they needed.

Even booking and canceling tickets didn’t require them to handle it themselves—staff would take care of everything right at their door.

Gu Siyun canceled the tickets in front of everyone.

Originally, the four of them had driven here, just to meet the Lin couple and express their gratitude for taking care of their daughter all these years.

They hadn’t expected the Lin couple to insist on going out for work and even wanted to bring them along. Since their car wouldn’t fit everyone, Gu Siyun had planned to buy tickets and hire a driver to take the car back for them.

But now, that didn’t seem necessary anymore.

No matter how anxious Lin Wangsheng and Bihua were, they could only watch helplessly as she canceled the tickets.

The two of them exchanged panicked glances.

Li Yurong suggested, “How about we go now? Are you all free?”

Gu Siyun smiled. “That’s exactly what we were thinking. Junsheng, go find Xiaokang and the others—they should be at the department store next door.”

“Alright.”

Ye Junsheng left first but hesitated before stepping out, looking at Lin Bingwei as if he wanted to say something.

Gu Siyun said, “Let’s find them first. We can talk later—it’s getting late, and we still have to head to the countryside.”

In the end, Ye Junsheng said nothing and quickly walked out.

Gu Siyun withdrew her gaze and turned to Lin Wangsheng and Bihua, who were looking anxious and restless.

“As for taking your family to Haicheng, we might have to reconsider.”

Lin Wangsheng and Bihua panicked.

“We already agreed on this! How can we reconsider? We’ve already sold our chickens and ducks and entrusted our land to my brothers. If we suddenly don’t leave, what will we do?”

What did their predicament have to do with her? That wasn’t her problem to consider.

Ye Bingyu bit her lip and asked in a low voice, “Mom, do you believe that I’m not your biological daughter?”

Looking at the daughter she had raised for over ten years, Gu Siyun sighed. “Xiaoyu, I won’t just believe something based on a few words. But you’re curious too, aren’t you?”

Ye Bingyu bit her lip harder, staying silent, before finally nodding.

Gu Siyun continued, “Then you’ll come with us to seek the truth, right?”

Ye Bingyu, unwilling as she was, nodded again.

Seeing this, Gu Siyun smiled at her reassuringly before turning to Lin Bingwei.

Like Ye Junsheng, she hesitated as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know what. Before the truth was clear, she wasn’t sure how to address her.

After a moment of thought, she simply asked with concern, “Have you suffered a lot all these years?”

Suffer? Of course. The original host had suffered to death.

As for herself…

Lin Bingwei replied, “It’s all in the past. The only ones who treated me poorly were them. My husband’s family treats me very well.”

“So… your husband is a soldier?”

“Yes, he just returned to his unit a few days ago. If you had come earlier, you might have met him.”