“I see he’s here to ask for wages like a miner!”

“……”

Gu Qingwei’s fingers froze stiffly on the piano keys.

A terrible guess arose in her mind, and she turned her head inch by inch towards the source of the voice.

“Who are you looking for…?” Amidst a gasp, someone finally asked.

Sheng Danyan, hands on his hips, scanned the living room.

The unnamed food, the exquisitely decorated furniture, the stylishly dressed young men and women.

It was even better than the lives on TV.

As others had said, the Gu family was rich.

He let out a cackle, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: “Of course I’m looking for my daughter, to see if that bastard is unwilling to let my daughter grow up!”

“Auntie Zhao…” Gu Qingwei had already stood up from the piano stool and slipped behind Auntie Zhao, grabbing her and saying quickly, “You go quickly, call my dad, tell him that person is here!”

She didn’t wait a moment, making arrangements in the blink of an eye, but her voice still trembled with fear.

Auntie Zhao sighed inwardly and patted her hand to reassure her.

Poor thing, changing fathers was like changing fates.

Her husband worked in a mine in the countryside, and she heard that Sheng Danyan, from the nearby Sweet Date Village, was notoriously lazy and ferocious, beating his wife and children every now and then to vent his anger.

How did Sheng Weixia manage to be so well-brought up!

Auntie Zhao kept an eye on the living room while dialing Gu Desheng’s number.

But the more anxious she was, the more the phone wouldn’t connect. She tried several times, but it was always busy.

In the front hall, Gu Qingwei, as the hostess, could no longer avoid the situation and stepped forward to respond: “Who are you looking for?”

Sheng Danyan snorted and scanned her up and down: “Whoever Gu Desheng raised as his daughter, that’s who I’m looking for.”

“Auntie Zhao, please ask my sister to come down.” Gu Qingwei called out, her voice trembling.

Auntie Zhao responded, put down the phone, and lowered her head to go upstairs in full view of everyone.

What did she mean, to stall for time?

Wouldn’t calling the one upstairs down just cause more trouble?

Sheng Danyan suddenly raised his voice, staring at her and shouting: “You unfilial daughter! Gu Desheng raised you to be disdainful of the poor and fond of the rich, don’t you recognize your own father?”

Everyone present was stunned!

Gu Qingwei clenched her hands tightly and gritted her teeth as she looked at the stranger whose features bore a resemblance to her own.

The air conditioning was on in the upstairs meeting room. Sheng Weixia was wrapped in a thin blanket, her eyes closed, a book lying beside her, revealing a corner of the bookmark.

Nothing was more comfortable than a nap after a mugwort bath.

“She’s still sleeping.” Auntie Zhao muttered as she pushed her, “Miss Xia, wake up quickly! That Sheng, the Sheng family, is here for you!”

“Miss Xia…” Auntie Zhao suddenly stopped, her words cut short by Sheng Weixia’s cold gaze as she opened her eyes, making her retreat a step back.

Sheng Weixia was very displeased to be woken up and didn’t bother to hide her sharp edge: “What’s the matter?”

“The Sheng family is here for you.” Auntie Zhao said respectfully as she stepped back, “They’re downstairs.”

She was just about to find him to take care of the change of address.

But Sheng Danyan, the kind of person who would even cheat his wife out of money for her hospital stay, wouldn’t come here unless there was some benefit to be gained, right?

Sheng Weixia raised her eyes: “He wouldn’t come for me.”

It was simple, he thought she had no money.

Auntie Zhao opened her mouth, her little thoughts transparent under such a sharp gaze, and she said honestly: “He said whoever Gu Boss raised as his daughter, that’s who he’s looking for.”

“Then he’s looking for Gu Qingwei.” Sheng Weixia yawned lazily.

Auntie Zhao was speechless: “Then are you going down?”

Unconsciously, she used a respectful tone.

If it were the previous life, she would have seemed to stand her ground, but in reality, she wouldn’t have dared to go downstairs to face a confrontation, but now…

Sheng Weixia revealed a faint smile that made people dazed: “I didn’t want to watch the show, but since someone insists on inviting me, I’ll make an appearance.”

Sheng Weixia changed her clothes and went downstairs. Before she reached the bottom, she could already hear Sheng Danyan’s voice.

“Not speaking, are you mute? Is this the kind of upbringing Gu Boss taught you?”

“You don’t even want your own father, you’re disdainful of the poor and fond of the rich! I tell you, even if you look down on me, you’re still my seed!”

Gu Qingwei’s tears rolled down like pearls, but she still stood tall with a stiff spine: “What evidence do you have to say I’m your daughter? Show me the evidence!”

The classmates surrounding her all chimed in: “That’s right, talk is cheap, how can you just barge into someone’s house and claim a daughter?!”

Sheng Danyan roared: “I just know! My daughter, who I raised for eighteen years, says she’s surnamed Gu so she’s surnamed Gu? I can’t just get nothing in return, can I?! The one surnamed Gu? Come out and speak! I’m not afraid of losing face, even if you take me to court, I’m not afraid! Let the judge decide, I raised her, shouldn’t I get my daughter back?”

Gu Qingwei choked on her breath: “You…”

“Gu Qingwei, you call the police!” A voice, slightly hoarse and cold, came from the direction of the stairs.

Sheng Weixia was leaning against the handrail, looking down with a flat expression.

Gu Qingwei turned her head to see her, her expression contorting for a moment.

Damn it, her party was ruined!

She had glanced around earlier, and Yu Xue Ling was gone at some point.

Sheng Weixia must be very happy to see this scene, right?!

Sheng Danyan saw her and rolled up his sleeves, taking a step forward: “What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Call the police, call the police for what? Zhaodi, I raised you for eighteen years, you climb the ladder and forget your father?!”

Across the long expanse of time, she heard her hated nickname again, Zhaodi.

Sheng Weixia stood high above him, looking down with a faint smile: “Are you short of money?”

This loud and aggressive manner was all too familiar.

Whenever he was short of money, he would come up with some seemingly noble reason to start blustering, emptying the money from Xiao Cui’s purse for buying groceries.

It was obvious that Sheng Danyan’s lips moved, his voice lowering a few degrees: “What’s it to you? I’m here to reason with you! Shouldn’t Gu Boss return his daughter to me?”

He pointed at Gu Qingwei: “This is clearly my seed, even the judge would rule in my favor!”

Gu Qingwei’s face turned pale instantly.

Humiliation, embarrassment.

“Even if she’s your child, if you want her back, can you support her?” Sheng Weixia smiled lightly, “She’s going to study in England soon, tuition, living expenses, plane tickets, do you have the money?”

Some people, emboldened by the presence of someone to control the situation, became bolder:

“That’s so nice of you to say, why didn’t you switch her back then?”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t happen to be here to ask for money, would you? That’s too shameless, you don’t even thank Gu’s family for their kindness, and you still want to make a scene!”

Sheng Danyan roared: “That’s my family business! I don’t believe this world doesn’t value human relationships anymore!”

“Actually, the Gu family doesn’t owe you anything.” Sheng Weixia’s cold voice pierced through the roar, saying slowly, “Gu Qingwei is an adult, she can decide for herself whether to return to the Sheng family, you just want some money, don’t you?”

Gu Qingwei’s flushed eyes suddenly looked up at Sheng Weixia—

She actually didn’t take advantage of the situation to kick her while she was down.

Sheng Danyan finally ripped off his mask: “What? Shouldn’t I? I raised Gu Boss’s daughter for eighteen years, he doesn’t give me money so I’ll take my daughter back! I can still get a dowry when I marry her off! And you, did I raise you for free?!”

Amidst the uproar, two tall men, who were there at some point, were standing at the entrance of the living room, taking in everything that was happening inside.

“Well, the biological one has a little bit of brains.” Yu Mingda watched the chaotic scene in the living room with amusement, turning to Yu Shi, “But she’s still a little green.”

Yu Shi’s gaze didn’t leave Sheng Weixia, who was exuding an air of aloofness. This appearance overlapped with a certain arrogant little girl in his memory.

Yu Mingda’s eyes flashed with interest, and he said confidently: “She looks like she’s got her head on straight, I bet she’ll take advantage of the fact that there are no adults at home and pay off this guy, after all, it’s embarrassing.”

Yu Shi suddenly remembered what Sheng Weixia said calmly in the car that day, about having the ability to support herself. His eyes were filled with that slender figure, but with an imposing aura, and he said slowly: “Not necessarily.”

Someone who takes control of their own destiny wouldn’t condone such despicable behavior.

“Why not? I’m also betting she’ll fight with Gu Boss’s adopted daughter, but she probably won’t win.” Yu Mingda observed Gu Qingwei’s expression, he was all too familiar with this kind of purposeful forbearance.

—She was one of his kind.

Yu Shi looked at her confident gaze, his thin lips lightly uttered: “She won’t.” In her eyes, these things were beneath her.

Yu Mingda suddenly felt like taking a gamble: “If you say so, then let’s make a bet, there has to be a prize! If you lose, add my coking coal to the sample delivery for Haigan, if I lose… I’ll do something for you, anyway, I won’t let you lose, what do you say?”

“Okay.” Yu Shi agreed, his eyes fixed on Sheng Weixia as she took two steps down the stairs.

She said calmly: “I don’t owe you anything either.”

Before Sheng Danyan could go completely crazy, Sheng Weixia held up a finger: “I was feeding pigs at three, cooking at five, doing laundry and cooking at six, working in the fields at eight, all these years, the wine you drank, the cigarettes you smoked, all had my hard-earned money in them, not to mention my school expenses, my tuition fees were earned by me picking up scraps and fishing during summer vacation, my textbooks were earned by me copying notes for my classmates, in the cold winter I hunted sparrows to make you snacks, all these years, I haven’t spent a penny of yours.”

The onlookers buzzed loudly, their gazes towards Sheng Weixia filled with a touch of sympathy and pity.

She smiled self-deprecatingly: “What you’re regretting is that you can’t get a dowry, right?”

“You…” Sheng Danyan stammered, speechless.

Sheng Weixia smiled coldly: “That money… you can dream on!”