On the plane, Wen Ci slept exceptionally well. Huo Jingyuan had prepared an eye mask for her, and after boarding, she leaned against the window and slept until the flight attendant woke her.
Most of the passengers had already disembarked.
Wen Ci left the airport and took a taxi. The fare to the military family compound in Beijing was eight yuan, which made her click her tongue. In the past, she would never have been willing to spend that much.
Eight yuan—that was a month’s worth of food expenses for a single-income family.
The taxi driver asked, “Is your husband in the military?”
Wen Ci nodded politely. “Yes.”
“In that case, I’ll only charge you seven yuan. Soldiers protect our country, and as a military family member, you deserve to enjoy some benefits.”
“Ah?”
Wen Ci blinked in surprise.
Do military family members already get benefits these days?!
“Is this a standard policy?”
In the 1980s, taxi licensing was extremely strict, requiring multiple layers of approval from higher authorities. Both family background and driving skills were essential, and many soldiers who had driven in the military turned to driving taxis after retiring.
“No,” the driver shook his head and explained, “My son is also a soldier—he’s stationed in the Northeast. Military life is tough and exhausting.”
Wen Ci nodded in understanding.
…
Two hours later, the taxi arrived at the Beijing military compound.
As soon as Wen Ci got out of the car, she ran into Su Guilan and Jiang Ye. The two were walking arm in arm, chatting and laughing, looking every bit like a real mother and daughter.
Jiang Ye, sharp-eyed, greeted her first: “Sister.”
Wen Ci acted as if she hadn’t heard.
Jiang Ye pulled Su Guilan over to Wen Ci and asked with a smile, “Sister, where have you just returned from?”
Wen Ci remained silent.
She didn’t even bother to acknowledge Jiang Ye.
Su Guilan frowned. “Your sister is asking you a question.”
Hearing this, Wen Ci turned her gaze to Su Guilan and let out a light laugh. She shrugged helplessly. “When did you give birth to two daughters?”
Her words left Su Guilan speechless.
She knew Wen Ci was upset that she still acknowledged Jiang Ye.
But what happened back then—Jiang Ye was just an infant in swaddling clothes. She knew nothing about being swapped; she was an innocent victim too.
Wen Ci’s tone was distant and cold: “Is there anything else?”
“Come home for dinner tonight.”
“I don’t want to.”
Jiang Ye slowly lowered her head and asked self-reproachfully, “Sister, are you refusing to come home because of me? I can go back to my brother’s place.”
Her seemingly considerate words painted her as the understanding one.
“Ah Ci, can you not be like this…”
“Like what?” Wen Ci lowered her eyelids slightly and enunciated each word clearly: “Weren’t you the one who made me take her place in the marriage? I am your biological daughter, but what have you done?”
Jiang Ye said, “But aren’t you very satisfied with Huo Jingyuan?”
“Hmph!”
Initially, the Jiang family had only thought Huo Jingyuan was an ordinary soldier in the Northwest. Even though he had connections with the old commander, those ties didn’t hold much weight after the old man’s death.
It was Wen Ci who admitted she was satisfied.
She was just lucky.
Wen Ci took a deep breath, slowly exhaling the discomfort in her heart, and said bluntly, “Since we’ve already spoken this frankly, I hope to cut ties with the Jiang family. Let’s act as if we never knew each other—no need to greet each other if we meet.”
Before Su Guilan could react, Jiang Ye covered her mouth, pretending to be concerned while actually stirring the pot: “Sister, how… how can you be so heartless as to say something like that?”
“Ah Ci, you…”
Wen Ci felt she had to vent her grievances and continued, “Do you know what my life was like when I was five? At five, no one cooked for me. I had to climb onto the stove to make my own meals. The neighbor lady took pity on me and sometimes helped me out.”
“And there’s more.” Wen Ci’s eyes reddened, her mind flooded with childhood memories. Her early years had been truly hard; she had even considered jumping into a river to end it all.
“She knew about the switched-at-birth fact since middle school, but she kept hiding it, giving money to her biological parents every month.
They used the money to eat at restaurants in town, while I was at home gnawing on tree bark!”
In the 1960s and 70s, every household needed ration tickets to buy anything. The Wen parents, whenever they had money, would take Wen Yaozu out to eat.
She survived by growing snake gourds.
Snake gourds grew fast but had little taste or nutritional value.
Wen Ci spent her entire adolescence growing up eating snake gourds. Only the young Wen Yaozu in the family felt sorry for her, secretly hiding bits of meat for her behind their parents’ backs to satisfy her cravings.
Jiang Ye retorted: “No, that’s not true, I didn’t know.”
“Your biological parents kept an account book! It clearly records the amounts you gave them and the savings you accumulated!”
Panic flashed across Jiang Ye’s face. She had just returned to the Jiang family and enjoyed being the young mistress for a few days. Her pupils dilated, red-rimmed, as she shook her head in confusion:
“That’s not true, that’s not it… I was threatened too.”
“Threatened?” Wen Ci sneered, her gaze as sharp and cold as ice: “Threatened to expose your fake heiress status if you didn’t pay up.”
“No…”
Jiang Ye’s mind was a tangled mess. She was afraid of saying the wrong thing in her panic, making it impossible to return to the Jiang family. She glanced sideways at the onlookers surrounding them.
Jiang’s father, being a military district official, was constantly watched by many. As long as a crowd gathered, Jiang’s mother would feel intimidated and leave.
Hearing her daughter’s grievances, Su Guilan’s tears fell instantly. She hammered her own chest in remorse. She knew her daughter had suffered greatly in the countryside,
but she didn’t know the suffering had been this severe.
The Wen family had intentionally neglected her, denied her food.
“A-Ci…”
Wen Ci felt nothing looking at the tears on her face. Noticing the crowd of onlookers growing, she said indifferently, “I’m leaving now. I wouldn’t want to affect your husband’s military career.”
The nephew of Huo Jingyuan’s childhood friend still relied on Minister Jiang.
Severing ties was one thing, but she had to remember favors owed.
…
On the way home, Wen Ci felt much more unburdened.
She had spoken harsh words and didn’t care how Jiang’s mother felt. In the end, her own well-being was most important.
In the courtyard, Wen Yaozu was practicing kicking a shuttlecock. His chubby body struggled; after just a few kicks, he seemed a bit disoriented.
As soon as Wen Ci reached the gate, Wen Yaozu’s voice rang out, “Sis, you’re finally back! I missed you guys.”
Wen Yaozu ran to the gate. Seeing only his sister had returned, he asked, puzzled, “Sis, how come you’re alone? Where’s Brother-in-Law?”
Wen Ci looked at the shuttlecock in his hand: “What’s this for?”
“Training agility.”
Wen Yaozu blinked at her, rubbed his hands together, and asked, “Where’s my brother-in-law? Didn’t he come back with you?”
“He didn’t come back. I asked him to stay in Hangzhou a few more days to keep the elders company.”
“Oh.” Wen Yaozu wasn’t too disappointed, but then he noticed his sister only carried a bag. His eyes widened: “Sis, you didn’t bring the computer back?”
“No.”
“But I told all my school friends I was going to learn computers, become the first elementary school student in our county to touch a computer.”
Wen Ci was speechless.
Wait.
Wen Ci tilted her head, full of confusion: “How did you contact your school friends?”
Wen Yaozu was an elementary school student. Usually, he wasn’t allowed to take the bus back to the county on his own. She had just spoken to Wen Yaozu yesterday.
“By phone.”
“Your school has a landline?”
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