The slap left a trace of blood at the corner of Shi Qingqing's mouth.
She remained expressionless. *Go ahead and hit me. The harder you hit me now, the harder you'll fall later.*
"Stop!"
Seeing Wang Meifang raise her hand to strike Shi Qingqing again, an anxious voice rang out.
From the crowd, a peasant dressed in plain, worn-out clothes hurried over.
"What are you doing? Director Shi, you're a factory leader, yet you hit a child in broad daylight. Don't you think that's inappropriate?"
Shi Jingye glanced at the man, his expression darkening. "Qiao Weiguo, we're disciplining this child for the Qiao family's own good. Otherwise, once this girl returns to the Qiao family, she'll give you endless headaches."
Mother Qiao also hurried forward, pulling Qiao Qingqing behind her.
She nodded and bowed repeatedly to Wang Meifang, apologizing.
Disgust flashed across Wang Meifang's face. "You mute wretch swapped my child! It's already generous of me not to settle scores with you, and yet you have the nerve to show your face in front of me?"
"I think you've got it backward," Shi Qingqing said, looking at her indifferently. "Wasn't it you who swapped the babies back then? Because your daughter had a heart condition, you were terrified that Shi Jingye—who was desperate for a son—would abandon you if he found out you'd given birth to a defective daughter. So you swapped your own flesh and blood with someone else's."
Midway through Shi Qingqing's words, Wang Meifang's expression changed drastically.
She reached out to cover Shi Qingqing's mouth, but Shi Qingqing used Mother Qiao's body as a shield, making sure Wang Meifang couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.
When she finished speaking, Shi Qingqing turned her head to look at Qiao Weiguo. "If you don't believe me, go to the office and ask the doctor who delivered babies back then. Didn't she deliver a baby with congenital heart disease? You Qiao family members haven't spared any effort or money treating Qiao Lanlan's condition, have you?"
At this, Qiao Weiguo wore a look of utter shock.
Shi Jingye's face turned ashen. "Shi Qingqing, shut your mouth!"
"Why should I shut my mouth? What relation are you to me?" Shi Qingqing immediately retorted.
"I fed you, I clothed you, I sent you to school..." Shi Jingye angrily ticked off all the sacrifices he had made to raise his daughter.
Shi Qingqing laughed coldly and cut him off. "And in return, I washed the clothes, cooked the meals, did the housework, served you tea and water, washed your underwear, and acted as your punching bag whenever you were in a bad mood! Besides, I haven't taken a single cent from you since I started high school. I figured out how to earn every last penny of my tuition and miscellaneous fees myself."
"You—what kind of nonsense are you spouting!" Shi Jingye grew so furious that he instinctively looked around for a stick, only to realize under Shi Qingqing's sarcastic gaze that they were at a hospital, not at home.
Taking the opportunity, Wang Meifang tried to steer the conversation elsewhere. "Would you die if you didn't brag, you stinking girl? What girl doesn't wash clothes, cook, and do chores at home? Besides, how old were you when you were in high school? Where on earth would you earn money? Saying things like that—your conscience must have been eaten by dogs!"
The onlookers nodded in agreement, and even the Qiao couple did not believe Shi Qingqing's claims.
Mother Qiao tugged at her biological daughter's sleeve, signaling her to stop being so stubborn.
Qiao Weiguo also spoke in a low voice, "I'll get to the bottom of the baby-swapping matter. Since you've made up your mind not to stay with the Shi family anymore... come back with us. But you shouldn't show such disrespect to your... adoptive father. He raised you, after all!"
Shi Qingqing calmly pulled her sleeve away. Ignoring Mother Qiao's sorrowful gaze, she looked at Qiao Weiguo and said, "Whether I'm lying or not, just go and ask the neighbors around the Shi family's home."
Meeting her deep, penetrating eyes, Qiao Weiguo couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
"Dad, Mom, what are you all gathering here for?"
A weak voice broke the tense atmosphere.
Instantly, everyone's attention shifted to Qiao Lanlan, who had just regained consciousness.
—That's right, at this point in time, Qiao Lanlan had not yet changed her surname.
Because the Lu Family, with three generations of military service, would only recognize a daughter of the Qiao family.
In her past life, she had refused to change her surname because she couldn't bear to leave the Shi family.
As for Qiao Lanlan, she chose not to change her surname so she could successfully marry into the Lu Family.
Yet the Qiao family had been deeply moved, believing they hadn't raised this daughter in vain, and had continued to treat Qiao Lanlan like family ever since.
Under the secret care of both herself and the Qiao family, Qiao Lanlan's days in the cattle shed hadn't been all that difficult.
One could even say she lived better there than she did later in the Zhou family.
"Dad, Mom, I'm very grateful that you came to see me."
At that moment, Qiao Lanlan suddenly wore a troubled expression as she looked at the Qiao couple. "But after all, I am a child of the Shi family. From now on, let's keep our interactions to a minimum. I don't want to give my biological parents any wrong ideas..."
The Qiao couple, who had rushed forward eagerly to dote on Qiao Lanlan, froze in their tracks.
They seemed unable to understand why the person who had wept bitterly just yesterday, declaring she would never leave the Qiao family, was today publicly stating she wanted to keep her distance from them.
Shi Qingqing felt the same confusion.
Yet she kept her composure, choosing to watch and wait for developments.
The next moment, Qiao Lanlan dropped to her knees before the stunned Qiao couple.
"Uncle Qiao, Auntie Qiao, thank you for raising me over these past eighteen years. Although my biological parents have provided your biological daughter with a far more affluent and superior environment, and have sacrificed a great deal for her...
"In my eyes, you still showed me immense grace. However, a misplaced life must eventually return to its proper track. If I stubbornly cling to the Qiao family, it will only hurt my biological parents, and it will hurt your biological daughter even more.
"Therefore, starting today, I am Shi Lanlan, a daughter of the Shi family. Please forgive me for being unable to fulfill my promise to serve as a filial daughter to Uncle Qiao and Auntie Qiao."
With that, Qiao Lanlan pressed her forehead firmly against the ground three times, making loud thudding sounds.
"Little sister!"
"Lanlan!"
Before Shi Qingqing could recover from her shock, she was knocked aside by several burly men who suddenly charged forward. Slender and frail, Shi Qingqing could never withstand that kind of impact, and she was bound to take a nasty fall...
Yet a large hand shot out, grabbing her arm and sparing her from that fate.
Instinctively, Shi Qingqing murmured a "thank you," but received no response.
Out of curiosity, she glanced back.
As it turned out, the man was looking down at her as well.
Their eyes met—hers calm, his calm with a lingering trace of shock.
Shi Qingqing felt a flicker of surprise: *It's him?*
Right then, Shi Qingqing heard the Qiao brothers demanding, "Lanlan, did she force you?"
"Don't worry, Lanlan. She stole your job using underhanded methods—someone with such rotten character doesn't deserve to be our sister!"
"That's right, our only sister is you, Lanlan."
"Lanlan, even if she threatened you, you shouldn't distance yourself from Fourth Brother just for some insignificant person. I will never agree to you cutting ties with us."
Shi Qingqing rolled her eyes. *"A bunch of idiots."*
The Qiao brothers paid no attention to her small gesture, nor could they hear her words.
Yet the tall man standing nearby saw and heard it all crystal clear.
The man was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, when suddenly, the conversation between the young woman and the Qiao family shifted to involve him.
"Uncle Qiao, Auntie Qiao, since I am no longer a daughter of the Qiao family, the person marrying Lu Heng shouldn't be me either."
Qiao Lanlan looked toward her biological parents, excitement and elation dancing in her eyes.
In this lifetime, astronomical wealth was finally falling into her lap!
"Dad, Mom, I want to marry into the Zhou family!"