Chapter 90: She Is the True Miss of the Jiang Family! She Is Jiang Rou! (2)  

Feeling nervous under their gazes, Zhou Xiaohua quickly covered her mouth with her small hands.  

Her large, black eyes—round and shiny like grapes—darted about anxiously.  

But…

“Hic—”

Another one.

Covering her mouth didn’t help.

A small stream of air rushed from her stomach to her throat and then burst out.

It was the first time Zhou Xiaohua had experienced such a situation, and she found herself being stared at by three people around her.

The little girl’s cheeks instantly turned bright red.

She became even more nervous.

But the more nervous she was, the stronger the hiccups became.

“Hic—”

“Hic—”

“Hic—”

Wuwuwu!

One after another.

Zhou Xiaohua panicked. Her eyes turned red as if she was about to cry.

Jiang Rou, seeing this, quickly picked up Zhou Xiaohua and held her in her arms, gently soothing her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Xiaohua, don’t be scared. Hiccups happen when you drink soda. It’s completely normal.”

“Just now… I almost thought Xiaohua was speaking. How could such an adorable little one suddenly make a sound?”

“Xiaohua, it’s alright… Let’s take a deep breath, and the hiccups will stop.”

As Jiang Rou spoke softly, she reached out and patted Zhou Xiaohua’s chest, helping her regulate her breathing.

After a while, Zhou Xiaohua slowly relaxed.

However, her stomach still felt bloated, and small bursts of air continued to rise from within.

She tilted her head back, her big, watery eyes looking pitifully at Jiang Rou.

It was as if she was asking:

【Really? Will the hiccups really stop?】

At that moment—

“Hic—”

A loud hiccup sounded from the side.

Both Zhou Xiaohua and Jiang Rou turned their heads at the same time.

Their bright, curious eyes landed on Zhou Xiaochuan, who had just covered his mouth with his hand.

It was real~

“Xiaohua, look, even your brother is hiccupping. Drinking soda makes everyone hiccup, so you don’t need to worry.”

Under the gaze of Zhou Xiaohua and Jiang Rou…

Zhou Xiaochuan’s face instantly turned bright red.

When it came to hiccups, the more nervous one got, the more likely they were to continue.

So—

“Hic!”

“Hic!”

Zhou Xiaochuan kept hiccupping non-stop, looking exactly like Zhou Xiaohua had just moments ago.

It was so amusing that no one could help but chuckle.

With this little episode behind them, the four of them finished their meal and took a short break before finally stepping out of the State-Owned Restaurant.

As they walked outside—

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed down the street, accompanied by a commotion not far away.

The noise drew the attention of many people nearby, who poked their heads out to see what was happening, eager to watch the excitement unfold.

Even the restaurant’s staff joined in—one of them hastily removed their apron and stepped outside with great interest, loudly asking:

“What’s going on? What happened this time? Trouble every other day—can’t we have even one peaceful day?”

A passerby responded,

“That’s what I’m saying! Lately, it’s been chaos every day—no peace at all.”

“What else could it be? It’s that whole ‘Down to the Countryside’ policy stirring up trouble again. Those people keep rounding up folks, checking household registrations, and sending young people off to the countryside.”

“I heard even the high school students have been sent away… Of course, not everyone is happy about it. Some even tried to escape halfway through. The Inspection Team has been dispatched to capture them…”

Though no one had confirmed the exact situation yet, the crowd was already discussing it in vivid detail, as if they had seen everything with their own eyes.

Jiang Rou, who had initially intended to leave, unknowingly slowed her steps.

She gazed into the distance.

And as fate would have it—

At that very moment, she spotted a figure dashing toward them in a panic.

A few steps behind him, several Inspection Team officers in blue uniforms were in hot pursuit.

Jiang Rou furrowed her brows slightly.

She thought that this person trying to escape was simply too foolish.  

Typically, when someone fled, they would run into narrow alleys, weaving through twists and turns to make their way to safety. Who in their right mind would dash straight onto the busiest main street? Wasn’t that just walking into a trap?  

Jiang Rou shook her head helplessly and was just about to turn around.  

But at that moment, her expression froze.  

She watched as a woman came rushing toward her in a panic, terror written all over her face.  

A memory that did not belong to her suddenly surfaced in her mind.  

The person she had just thought of as foolish was—Lin Xiu’er.  

Or, to be more precise, her current name should be Jiang Xiu’er.  

(For the sake of clarity, she would still be referred to as Lin Xiu’er in the following.)  

Lin Xiu’er, the real heiress of the Jiang family, was the woman originally engaged to Zhou Chongshan.  

She was also the one who had knocked Jiang Rou unconscious and sent her to the ship bound for the island.  

When Jiang Rou had opened her eyes, she had already been inside the cabin, so she had never actually seen Lin Xiu’er with her own eyes.  

All her memories of that event came from the original owner of this body.  

Back then, Jiang Rou had already understood that the tides of the times were unstoppable, more terrifying than any storm on that island.  

Lin Xiu’er, who had been so determined to stay in the city, might not have met a good end.  

Since Jiang Rou had been on the island, even though she knew that the real heiress had harbored ill intentions, she had never thought of taking revenge.  

Each person had their own life to live.  

Who would have thought that fate would play such a bizarre trick?  

The two women, who had once switched lives, were now meeting again at this moment—when Lin Xiu’er was at her most desperate and wretched.  

It was as if Jiang Rou was witnessing karma unfold.  

Heaven truly had eyes.  

Jiang Rou stared at the commotion not far away, momentarily lost in thought.  

“Wife?”  

Beside her, Zhou Chongshan noticed that Jiang Rou had stood still for a long time and called out to her.  

Jiang Rou withdrew her gaze from Lin Xiu’er and shook her head.

“Nothing’s wrong. Let’s go.”  

Jiang Rou had already decided that her fate and Lin Xiu’er’s would completely diverge from this moment on. For the rest of their lives, they would likely never cross paths again.  

However—  

Lin Xiu’er, who had been fleeing in a panic, was caught by the patrol officers just a few meters away from Jiang Rou.  

She screamed in rage, struggling fiercely, unwilling to accept the reality before her.  

Lin Xiu’er had endured twenty years of hardship in the countryside. She had only been in the city for a few months, and her good days had barely lasted a handful of them.  

She had worked so hard to get rid of that eyesore of a fake heiress and was finally about to enjoy the privileges of being an only daughter.  

But then—  

Everything changed.  

Her highly educated parents were dismissed from their jobs, her family suffered a devastating downfall, and even the house assigned to them by their workplace was about to be reclaimed.  

With no monthly income, they were burning through their savings just to survive.  

And now, even she was about to be dragged down!  

They were sending her back to the countryside—forcing her to feed pigs and sheep!  

Lin Xiu’er’s dream of being a noble lady was completely shattered.  

The village she was about to be sent to wasn’t even as good as the one she had originally come from.  

“No! Don’t take me! Don’t take me! I won’t go! I won’t go to that godforsaken place!”  

Lin Xiu’er shrieked in fury.  

Just when she had fallen into the depths of despair—  

She saw a familiar figure. A face she could never forget for the rest of her life.  

Jiang Rou!  

It was her again!  

Hadn’t Jiang Rou been sent to the island?

Hadn’t she been forced to marry that crippled old man?  

Why was she in the city?  

Why was she walking out of a state-owned restaurant?  

Why did she still look as elegant and radiant as before?  

Why… why… why…  

Why was she the one in such a miserable state?!  

A storm of rage and disbelief roared inside Lin Xiu’er’s heart.  

Then, in a flash of inspiration—  

She had it!  

“Comrades! Officers! You’ve got the wrong person! It’s not me! It’s her! She’s the real Jiang family’s daughter! She’s Jiang Rou! She’s the one who should be sent to the countryside! You’ve arrested the wrong person!”

Lin Xiu’er used all the strength in her body, desperately struggling to free one arm.  

Then, with that freed hand, she pointed straight at Jiang Rou, her eyes filled with sinister calculation.