Seeing Old Madam Xie finally faint peacefully, Xie Jinghong finally felt relieved enough to withdraw the needles, disinfect them, and put them back in her pouch.
She sighed with heartfelt emotion in her heart:
The old lady's skin is so well-maintained, as soft and smooth as an eighteen-year-old girl's; the tactile feedback upon driving a needle in was simply fantastic.
Seeing Xie Jinghong calmly and effortlessly retracting the silver needles, the two people nearby were both dumbfounded.
Xie Yongcong asked with some uncertainty:
"Is that... all?"
Why did it look to him like she had fainted even harder than before?
Xie Jinghong chewed on the crushed sugar residue in her mouth, wearing a brazen, swaggering smile.
"Not at all. Her symptoms are rather peculiar, so you'd better let a doctor handle it."
Just at that moment, a doctor pushed a mobile hospital bed over.
Old Madam Xie was lifted onto the bed.
The doctor quickly performed a basic examination and said, "The elderly lady simply fainted from emotional agitation; there's nothing seriously wrong."
Xie Yongcong only felt that something was rather odd.
With his wife's severe condition, a few needles from this child had fixed her right up, yet when it came to the old lady merely fainting, why was she suddenly helpless?
However, this was not the time to dwell on that.
He gave the doctor a few instructions, then called his two daughters to go see Lu Wenyin.
When the few of them arrived at the ward, Lu Wenyin was staring blankly at the ceiling with a complex expression in her eyes.
"Wenyin, wife, wife..."
Xie Yongcong walked over, bent down, and called out several times before Lu Wenyin finally looked at him.
"What's wrong with me? Why am I here? You..."
Lu Wenyin looked at her husband with a somewhat bewildered gaze.
Xie Yongcong froze slightly.
"Wenyin, it's me. Don't you remember me? You..."
There was a hint of a choke in Xie Yongcong's voice, as if he were about to cry the next second.
Xie Jinghong stood far away at the doorway, lightly touching the tip of her nose.
No way!
What on earth had she encountered in just a few hours down the mountain?
An amnesiac mother, a vicious grandmother, a wavering father, and a fake daughter who had stolen her pampered life for twenty years.
Just when everyone thought Lu Wenyin had injured her head and lost her memory, she suddenly said sorrowfully: "Husband, why are your eyes so swollen?"
Hearing Lu Wenyin call him husband, Xie Yongcong burst into tears of relief.
She hadn't lost her memory; that was simply wonderful.
Before he could answer, Lu Wenyin asked again: "The child, the child, where is our daughter?"
Xie Yongcong turned around, just about to call Xie Jinghong, when he saw a white shadow fly over.
Xie Chenghuan threw her arms around Lu Wenyin on the hospital bed and cried:
"Mom, you're finally awake! I was almost scared to death. Mom, I can't live without you, Mom!"
"Don't be afraid, Mom is fine."
Lu Wenyin's voice was gentle as she raised a hand to wipe Xie Chenghuan's tears. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a blue figure standing at the door, and her movements paused.
When she saw Xie Jinghong's face clearly, her beautiful eyes welled up with tears.
Her lips parted, but she was too overwhelmed with emotion to speak.
Xie Yongcong noticed her gaze and immediately pulled Xie Jinghong over.
"Wenyin, this is the child you were talking about."
Xie Jinghong looked at her with a calm expression.
Seeing her like this, her features resembled the beauty on the bed even more.
"Mom, you've just woken up; you really mustn't get too excited."
Crouched in Lu Wenyin's arms, Xie Chenghuan grabbed the hand Lu Wenyin was extending toward Xie Jinghong, shifting her body upward until she was almost wedged right between the two of them.
Every movement was executed flawlessly, giving the impression that she was entirely considering Lu Wenyin's well-being.
"It's fine."
Lu Wenyin gave her a gentle look, withdrew her hand, and pulled Xie Jinghong a little closer to herself.
Xie Jinghong looked down at her wrist being held, her expression indifferent.
"Child, what is your name?"
"Jinghong."
The two short syllables sounded as pleasant as pearls dropping onto a jade plate, drawing a smile from Lu Wenyin.
"Yongcong, look, how much she looks like me."
Her words were addressed to Xie Yongcong, but her gaze never left Xie Jinghong.
"You've suffered these past years. Mom only just found out the truth. I'm sorry, child—I brought you into this world, yet I failed to take care of you."
Looking at Xie Jinghong's coarse hemp garments, Lu Wenyin's words were filled with remorse.
The corners of Xie Jinghong's mouth lifted slightly.
Feeling the motherly warmth transmitted through the wrist she was holding, she decided this mother of hers seemed pretty decent.
"Mom, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. It's me who monopolized the maternal love that rightfully belonged to her for all these years. Mom, from now on, don't worry about me—please just shower her with love and affection."
Xie Chenghuan wept a rain-pear-blossom stream of tears, speaking before Xie Jinghong could.
Lu Wenyin's attention was successfully captured by her.
"Child, these are matters for the adults. The two of you were still newborn babies back then; how could either of you be at fault?"
While comforting Xie Chenghuan, Lu Wenyin gripped Xie Jinghong's hand even tighter.
"According to what your grandmother said, you were born a little earlier than Jinghong back then, so from now on you are the older sister, and she is the younger sister."
"Mom, I..."
Hearing Lu Wenyin's words, Xie Chenghuan only cried harder, hugging her tightly as if she would lose her the next second.
Xie Jinghong watched with detachment, her grip on Lu Wenyin's hand loosening bit by bit.
"There, there, Chenghuan, stop crying."
Xie Yongcong comforted her, then asked Lu Wenyin with great anxiety: "By the way, wife, how on earth did you suddenly fall from upstairs?"
Hearing this, a flash of lingering fear crossed Lu Wenyin's eyes.
After placating both daughters separately, she said softly: "Would the two of you step outside for a little while, please? I have a few things to discuss with your father."
Xie Jinghong took in every nuance of her expression.
She had fallen from upstairs immediately upon learning her daughter had been switched, and just now that old woman had fainted on cue upon learning she was awake.
It seemed Lu Wenyin's injury was inseparable from that godforsaken old woman.
Without a word, she gave a slight nod and walked straight out.
As for Xie Chenghuan, she lingered, hugging Lu Wenyin and acting spoiled for quite a while longer before finally coming out.
The ward door closed.
Xie Jinghong leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, closing her eyes to rest and collect her thoughts.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her arm—Xie Chenghuan was pinching her arm hard.
"Don't think that just because Mom and Dad are treating you with courtesy right now, you can actually replace my position in this family. Let me tell you, I am the most pampered person in this house; Grandma, Mom, Dad, Aunt, and my brothers all love me the most. Even if you're the biological daughter, it changes nothing. An invisible bloodline can never compare to twenty years of us spending every waking and sleeping moment together."
Xie Jinghong looked at her with amusement.
So this pampered fake daughter had two completely different faces, did she?
Where was that tearful, delicate fragility now, replaced by this fierce and cold composure?
"So?"
Xie Jinghong calmly pried away Xie Chenghuan's hand, dusting off some invisible specks of dirt from her clothes.
Seeing her reaction, Xie Chenghuan's gaze turned even more vicious.
"So, you'd better behave yourself and not try to compete or fight with me over anything—and by anything, I mean *anything*! Otherwise, I'll make sure you go right back to wherever the hell you came from."
Xie Jinghong tilted her head and smiled.
"Didn't you just say inside that she shouldn't worry about you and should shower me with love instead?"
She asked purely to provoke her.
"Hmph! That's my mother, and she has been since the day I was born! I only told her to cherish you so she wouldn't carry a psychological burden, but whether you actually get her affection or not depends entirely on whether you have what it takes!"
Xie Chenghuan smiled triumphantly, as if everything was completely under her control.
"Wow."
Xie Jinghong let out a completely emotionless sigh.
This dismissive response instantly enraged Xie Chenghuan.
"What is that supposed to mean? You haven't even stepped through the Xie family door yet, and you already dare to look down on me?"
She grabbed Xie Jinghong's arms with both hands.
This sudden wild thing was going to share everything she currently possessed; she felt both terror and hatred, wishing she could sink her fingernails deep into the other girl's flesh.
The corners of Xie Jinghong's lips curved into an unruly, lazy smile.
This tiny bit of strength felt about the same as when her pet scratched her to relieve an itch.
When she raised her lowered hand again, a silver needle was pinched between two fingers.
"Would you also like to have a nice, sound sleep?"
Her amber-like eyes flashed with the excitement of a beast about to hunt for prey.
"You!"
The silver needle gleamed with a chilling light. Having witnessed Xie Jinghong's skill with those needles, Xie Chenghuan instantly froze.
"Chenghuan."
A deep, masculine voice suddenly echoed from the end of the corridor, followed closely by a tall, exceptionally handsome man walking over.
Hearing the voice, Xie Chenghuan didn't turn around, but instead gave Xie Jinghong a bizarre, creepy smile.
The next second...
Her eyes welled up with tears, she let out a cry of alarm, and threw herself backward.