Chapter 25: The Fake Daughter Breaks Down Upon Learning Her True Identity

Lin Xuefei was utterly devastated.

Today was her 17th birthday.

She had spent the day happily celebrating.

But by nightfall, she was hit with a cruel truth.

She wasn’t her parents’ biological daughter.

She was actually from the rundown apartment blocks in the northern part of the city.

She had believed herself to be the cherished young miss of the prestigious Lin family, a family of renowned doctors, envied by countless people.

But overnight, she had become the daughter of some poor, dilapidated household.

The disparity was too much for her to accept.

“I don’t believe it! Dad, Mom, you’re joking, right? Aren’t you?!”

Lin Xuefei’s eyes were red, her whole body trembling.

Seeing how agitated she was, Lin Zhengmin tried to calm her:

“Xuefei, this is the truth now. You need to accept it.
But don’t worry, listen to us first…”

“No, let me speak first…”

Lin Xuefei’s eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at them, red-eyed:

“Dad, Mom, if I’m not your real daughter, will you still love me?”

“Of course!”

Lin Zhengmin and Wu Ya said in unison.

If Xuefei hadn’t hit that girl, they wouldn’t have even acknowledged that ugly brat.

To them, the daughter they had raised for over ten years was far more important.

Hearing their answer, Lin Xuefei breathed a sigh of relief.

She couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into sobs.

“Dad, Mom, after I found out the truth about my birth, I was so scared you wouldn’t want me anymore.
I don’t want to leave you, I really don’t… wuwuwu…”

“Oh, my precious girl, don’t cry.”

Wu Ya pulled her into a hug, comforting her:

“How could we not want you? You’re our beloved daughter. We’d never let you go.”

Lin Zhengmin chimed in beside them, “That’s right, Xuefei. You don’t need to worry.
You’re a daughter of the Lin family. No one can drive you away.”

“Really?” Lin Xuefei sniffled, hesitating a little.

“Then what about that Lin Xiaodou you mentioned? Won’t she be mad?”

Wu Ya sneered, “What right does she have to be mad? We’re being nice just letting her come back.
If she dares to step on your toes, I’ll kick her out immediately!”

“Xuefei, I wasn’t finished earlier,” Lin Zhengmin continued.

He went on to explain their plan to have Lin Xiaodou take the blame.

After hearing everything, the confusion and pain in Lin Xuefei’s eyes vanished.

Her eyes sparkled, and she looked deeply moved:

“Dad, Mom, you’re really too good to me. I feel so lucky.”

Wu Ya fondly patted her hair and said with a smile:

“You silly girl, you’re our daughter. Who else would we treat well if not you?”

Lin Xuefei pouted, clearly unhappy.

“But that Lin Xiaodou is still your real daughter…”

Lin Zhengmin replied, “In our eyes, you’re our real daughter.”

Wu Ya added, “Exactly. You’re so obedient and sensible. That girl can’t even compare to a single strand of your hair.”

Hearing her parents say this, Lin Xuefei smiled in satisfaction.

She leaned into her mother’s arms, eyes full of smug pride.

Hmph, so what if they were related by blood? She was still the one her parents adored.

That worthless girl from a broken-down building wasn’t even worthy to carry her shoes.

Since she was going to take the fall for her, she’d put up with her for a few days.

Once she had no more value… she’d make sure that girl knew her place.

[Lin Xiaodou: Play with me? We’ll see who plays who.]

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The next morning.

Lin Xiaodou woke up from her sleep and, after freshening up, went to the living room.

Lin Xuefei was smiling and chatting with their parents.

Upon hearing footsteps, she turned to look.

The moment her eyes landed on the scar on Lin Xiaodou’s face, a flash of surprise flickered across them.

Lin Zhengmin took the initiative to introduce them: “Xuefei, this is Xiaodou.”

“Mhm, I know, Dad.”

Lin Xuefei curved her lips into a radiant smile:

“Sister, hello. I’m Lin Xuefei.
Come eat breakfast! The food’s gone cold. We’ve been waiting for you!”

Heh, so this Lin Xiaodou looked this hideous.

And their parents hadn’t told her last night!

If she had known this girl looked like a ghost, she wouldn’t have wasted her tears pretending to cry.

Setting aside everything else—just based on looks alone—Mom and Dad would definitely choose her.

“Mm.” Lin Xiaodou replied coolly.

Having read plenty of fake heiress stories, she’d seen every cliché imaginable.

The fake heiress would usually call herself “little sister.”

On the surface, it looked like she was showing respect to the real daughter. But in truth, it was all to shirk responsibility.

If the fake heiress made a mistake, she’d say, “She’s your younger sister, she’s still young.”

And then you’d be expected to forgive her, to let it go.

Or when the family needed both daughters to contribute, it’d be, “You’re the older sister, you should set an example.”

Which meant you had to make sacrifices without a single complaint.

In the original plot of this novel, the protagonist was forced into a corner like that again and again, until she finally broke and did something irrational—leading to her tragic death.

But Lin Xiaodou was different.

She didn’t care about those so-called titles, and she definitely wouldn’t be guilt-tripped into anything.

As for the fake heiress’s veiled jab about her waking up late and being lazy, she couldn’t care less.

She wasn’t here to get along. She came to stir things up.

Let them think whatever they wanted.

The breakfast spread on the table was quite impressive.

Steaming hot millet porridge, fragrant scallion omelets, tender white soup dumplings—it all looked delicious.

Lin Xiaodou sat down and immediately started eating without greeting anyone.

Lin Zhengmin frowned with displeasure.

A flash of schadenfreude passed through Lin Xuefei’s eyes.

Mom hated people who broke the rules.

Looks like she wouldn’t even have to lift a finger—this idiot woman was digging her own grave.

Sure enough—

Wu Ya scolded sharply:

“What kind of behavior is that? We’re all sitting here alive and well, and you don’t even say hello?”

“Oh. Hello,” Lin Xiaodou replied flatly, then went back to eating her dumplings.

And she had to admit—these dumplings were really good.

Thin-skinned, packed with filling, and bursting with juicy, savory broth the moment you bit in—absolutely amazing!

This was the first time Lin Xiaodou had ever eaten dumplings this delicious.

Back in the modern world, breakfast places always cut corners.

Some even used substandard meat scraps for the filling—she never dared eat too much.

In no time at all, she’d polished off all ten dumplings in the steamer basket.

Seeing her eat like a starving ghost reincarnated, Wu Ya looked even more disgusted.

“Eating like that, you’re an embarrassment!”

Lin Xuefei covered her mouth with a giggle and gently chided,
“Mom, don’t be like that. Sis grew up poor, probably hasn’t had anything nice before.”

Lin Xiaodou paused mid-spoonful of porridge.

She raised her head and gave Lin Xuefei a smile:

“Little sister, you’re mistaken.

That ‘too poor’ household was your home, not mine.”

Lin Xuefei’s smile froze. Her eyes turned red in an instant.

Wu Ya slammed the table in anger.

“Lin Xiaodou! How dare you bully your sister? Get out of this house right now!”

“Alright, enough from both of you.”
Lin Zhengmin stepped in to ease the tension. He turned to his wife and said,

“Once breakfast is done, you should take Xiaodou out shopping. See what she needs.”

Wu Ya’s eyes widened, “I won’t—”

“Mom, don’t be rash…”
Lin Xuefei subtly signaled her with a glance.

Only then did Wu Ya remember what her husband had said the night before.

They still needed to sweeten up this ugly girl—she had to take the blame for Xuefei.

Fine. She’d just endure her for a few more days.

…

As breakfast was wrapping up, Lin Zhengmin casually brought something up.

“Xiaodou, I plan to visit your family today. Is there anything you’d like me to say to your father?”

Lin Xiaodou raised an eyebrow. “No need. In fact, I don’t think you should go at all.”

Lin Zhengmin: “Why not?”

Lin Xiaodou gave him a gentle smile.

She glanced at the smug-faced Lin Xuefei and said slowly:

“Because Lin Xuefei’s biological father… is in prison.”

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[By Yue Yue]:
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