Auntie Qian, seeing her daughter standing there in a daze, immediately stepped in front of her. “What’s the point of asking about this now? It must have been a mistake by those doctors and nurses who delivered the babies back then. Since the children were misidentified, just swap them back now.”
“Raising a child isn’t playing house!”
Bai Mom finally couldn’t take it anymore and jumped up. But Bai Dad immediately stopped her.
He slammed his hand on the table, producing a dull thumping sound.
“This matter must be clarified today.”
Bai Dad was no less shocked than Bai Mom. Who would have thought something like this had happened when his wife gave birth? If his youngest daughter hadn’t discovered it and brought the boy back, they would have gone to their graves without ever knowing. The daughter they had raised for twenty years wasn’t their biological child. Their own son had been swapped by someone else.
“If this isn’t made clear, don’t blame me for being rude.”
Auntie Qian said, “That’s just how it is. No matter how much you argue, the fact remains that the doctors who delivered the babies made a mistake. Our family is a victim too. If we had bad intentions and deliberately swapped the children, why would we have raised Baowei so well?”
That was truly shameless. Just like her daughter.
Bai Lan glared at Auntie Qian, utterly furious. But twenty years had passed, and finding evidence of what really happened in that delivery room would be very difficult. Still, everyone present knew in their hearts that the Qian mother and daughter were responsible.
The two of them must have known the truth. Otherwise, why had they never brought Fang Baowei back all these years? Anyone who had seen Fang Baowei couldn’t deny his blood relation to the Bai family.
—
Bai Lan’s two maternal uncles spoke up at this point.
“No matter how you mother and daughter try to weasel out of this, the He family will pursue it to the very end.” Bai Lan’s maternal grandmother was very satisfied with the reactions of her sons and son-in-law. She looked at Factory Director Fang, who had been silent since entering. “Comrade Fang, you’re a victim in this too. What do you have to say?”
The fact that he had insisted on bringing Qian Chunyun to the courtyard to confront them, even after learning the truth, told Bai Grandma that he wasn’t a simple man.
Fang Liye looked around the room and sighed. “Although Chunyun won’t admit it, and my mother-in-law is deflecting, none of us are fools. We all know the truth of the matter. So what we need to do now is resolve this properly.”
He hadn’t made this trip in person just to argue back and forth. When something like this came to light, it needed to be cut through quickly to minimize the fallout. Of course, the most advantageous outcome for him would be to cover the whole thing up. But back in Haicheng, he had already seen that Bai Lan was not one to compromise. So he had ruled out that option entirely.
—
“No. What are you all talking about?”
Ever since Bai Lan had shown up with her group, Bai Ping had been in a daze. It was as if she heard what was being said, but also didn’t hear it. What were these people talking about? Saying she wasn’t a Bai? Saying she was the Qian family’s granddaughter? The daughter of this Factory Director Fang?
How was that possible!
She was Bai Ping! If she weren’t a Bai daughter, how could she have lived in the Bai family for twenty years? And in her dream, none of this had happened. In that dream, she had married the useless Qiu Chengcai and lived a miserable, pathetic life. From beginning to end, she had nothing to do with the Qian family.
So why was the Qian family suddenly her maternal relatives?
Thinking this, Bai Ping looked at Bai Lan, who was wearing a smug expression.
That was it. Bai Lan. This was all Bai Lan’s doing. She must have known that Bai Ping was getting her marriage certificate with Song Guoping. Jealous that she was marrying into a factory director’s family, she had deliberately set this trap.
With this thought, Bai Ping suddenly let out a roar and charged at Bai Lan.
Bai Lan watched the frantic Bai Ping with a cold sneer. This time, she wouldn’t let her get married under the Bai family name. The Qian family was so despicable, the Fang family so complicated. That kind of family was the perfect fit for a selfish person like Bai Ping.
Before Bai Ping’s hand could come down, Bai Lan kicked her. Bai Ping fell to the ground, rolled twice, and landed right at Qian Chunyun’s feet.
Qian Chunyun, who had been in a daze, was jolted awake by Bai Ping’s collision. She grabbed Bai Ping and roared, “What are you doing? What are you doing hitting my daughter? I knew it, you little wretch—you must have bullied our Pingping since she was little…”
Hearing this, Bai Lan felt utterly disgusted.
But Qian Chunyun’s fierce display of motherly love was not reciprocated by Bai Ping. Bai Ping shoved Qian Chunyun away and shouted, “I’m not your daughter. I’m not!”
Then Bai Ping cried out to Bai Mom, “Mom…”
But Bai Mom turned her head away, refusing to look at her. This child—the child she had cherished since birth. Now she was told this was not her biological child. And her biological mother had swapped away her own son. Such despicable behavior made Bai Mom unable to treat Bai Ping the same way ever again.
Qian Chunyun, stung by Bai Ping’s repeated cries of “Mom,” screamed, “I am your mother! I am your real mother!”
“No! No!”
Bai Lan watched the two women roaring at each other, stunned. She tugged on Xu Jianbei’s sleeve and remarked, “They really are mother and daughter, aren’t they?”
Xu Jianbei: They really do look like mother and daughter.
However, while the mother and daughter were yelling at each other, the others in the main room didn’t have time to indulge their tantrum.
The Song family, who had been silent since arriving, finally spoke up.
Factory Director Song said, “We understand the situation now. So, the marriage between our Guoping and Bai Ping can be called off directly.”
What their family wanted in marrying Bai Ping was the Bai family’s clean and respectable background, not Bai Ping herself as a person. Now that Bai Ping wasn’t a Bai, and her mother and grandmother were suspected of swapping children, Bai Ping’s background was no longer clean. Someone like her wasn’t qualified to marry into their Song family. Marrying her might even bring trouble upon them.
With that thought, the marriage certificate his son had gotten with Bai Ping today was a huge mistake.
Seeing how realistic Factory Director Song was, Bai Lan sneered inwardly. Sure enough, calling him and having his family come over to watch the drama was yielding exactly this result.
Bai Ping loved trying to latch onto higher-status families so much. She had finally managed to cling to the Song family, and now it was gone. She was probably going to lose her mind.
Bai Ping was indeed about to lose her mind.
Hearing Factory Director Song’s words, the happiness she had felt earlier that day when getting her marriage certificate completely shattered.
“No, I won’t agree.”
No one paid any attention to Bai Ping’s refusal. The three members of the Song family all stood up, clearly indicating that they were done and ready to leave.
At this point, Factory Director Fang spoke again. “No one wanted things to turn out like this. Factory Director Song, how about we sit down and discuss this properly?”
Bai Ping was, after all, his biological daughter. Although he had no emotional attachment to her, Factory Director Fang still wanted her to have a good home. And the Song family’s social standing was a good match for his own.
“If you’re worried about Chunyun’s situation, I’ll make sure she takes care of it.”
For the sake of the family, Qian Chunyun needed to show some awareness.
Auntie Qian caught the implied meaning in Factory Director Fang’s words and immediately jumped up. “Liye, what are you trying to do? Let me tell you, what happened back then—”
Factory Director Fang said coldly, “None of what happened back then matters anymore. Right now, you and Chunyun must come clean about the child swapping.”
Auntie Qian trembled with rage at Factory Director Fang’s ruthlessness.
“Mom, don’t talk to Liye like that.”
Before Auntie Qian could even really get started, Qian Chunyun jumped in to stop her mother.
Auntie Qian was so furious she nearly fell over backward. She suddenly felt that maybe she had made a mistake back then. She shouldn’t have gotten Fang Liye drunk and let her daughter have her way with him after her daughter had set her sights on him.
At that time, Fang Liye hadn’t divorced his first wife yet. It was only after being with her daughter that he had hurried back and gotten a divorce.
She still remembered how smug and proud her daughter had looked back then.
Fang Liye—that much older man—had pounded his chest and promised to treat her daughter well for life. And look at him now. He was about to destroy Chunyun.
“That’s enough. If you’re unwilling to confess, then get out. We’re taking this matter directly to the police station to file a report.”
Bai Dad slammed his hand on the table, settling the matter. He immediately stood up and prepared to leave.
Fang Liye quickly stopped him. “Comrade Bai, wait. Let’s discuss this first. We need to minimize the impact on the children.”
Hearing this, Bai Dad looked at Bai Ping, whom he had raised for twenty years, then at his own son, whom he had never raised for a single day. In the end, he nodded.
But no matter how much they compromised, they would not let off the people who had committed such evil deeds back then.
Auntie Qian was hostile to everyone but still stubbornly refused to compromise.
However, Uncle Qian, who had been silently sitting in the corner—an old man who had never been very noticeable in the courtyard—finally spoke up.
“The truth is that my wife was the one who did it back then. Chunyun only found out later. Of course, I found out later too. My wife was the one who swapped the children.”
These words sealed the matter completely. Auntie Qian’s expression turned ugly. Qian Chunyun, on the other hand, looked relieved.
But Bai Ping was about to go mad. She immediately started hitting Qian Chunyun with her fists. “Why did you ruin my life? Why?”
Qian Chunyun dodged frantically. Seeing the hatred in Bai Ping’s eyes, she suddenly felt a chill in her heart.
Even though she hadn’t raised this child, all these years she had secretly had her parents looking after her from behind the scenes. And she had come forward to reveal the secret only for the sake of her daughter’s wedding.
So why, in the end, did her daughter hate her so much?
Qian Chunyun looked up at Fang Liye—the man she had relied on for half her life. But the man averted his eyes slightly and no longer looked at her.
And Fang Baowei, this son of hers—his gaze toward her also carried a trace of anger.
Qian Chunyun screamed inside that she had done nothing wrong! How could she have done anything wrong?
That’s right. It was all her mother’s fault.
“This is all your fault. Why did you secretly swap the children? Why? I didn’t ask you to swap them. I didn’t ask you to!”
One second, Bai Ping, the daughter, was hitting Qian Chunyun, her mother. The next second, Qian Chunyun, the daughter, turned around and started hitting Auntie Qian, her own mother.
It was truly ironic.
Was hitting your own mother hereditary or something?
Bai Lan simply leaned back in her chair and watched the show.
Auntie Qian was completely stunned by her daughter’s assault.
“I was just afraid you wouldn’t have a son and would be bullied by that burden Fang Baoguo!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at Fang Liye. The name Fang Baoguo was clearly that of his eldest son.
Fang Liye was so angry at Auntie Qian’s words that he laughed in spite of himself.
Everyone knew perfectly well what had really happened back then.
Qian Chunyun had gotten him drunk in order to marry him. And he hadn’t liked his arranged-marriage wife at home anyway. So he had gone along with it. Over the years, he hadn’t treated Qian Chunyun badly, nor had he treated the Qian family badly.
So how was the child swapping now being blamed on him? It wasn’t as if he didn’t have a son. He wasn’t desperate for one.
Fang Liye was so furious at Auntie Qian’s words that he wanted to leave. But this time, Factory Director Song stopped him.
The two factory directors each had their own calculations.
Bai Dad, however, didn’t want to listen to any more of the Qian mother and daughter’s excuses. He stood up and went out to call the police.
Bai Lan looked at the crowd of neighbors gathered under her family’s eaves and felt like laughing.
The Qian family, the Song family, and the Fang family all wanted to hush this up. But with these nosy neighbors around, the whole of Beicheng would know about the Qian family’s misdeeds before the day was half over.
Auntie Qian, who had been so stubborn just moments ago, saw her old neighbors at the door and her temples throbbed.
It was over…
It was over…
Factory Director Fang saw Bai Dad leave and stopped bothering with the Qian mother and daughter. He stood up and said, “Since you don’t want to solve this problem, and the Bai family is now pursuing the matter, I can’t protect you anymore. After your case is settled, we’re getting a divorce. Baowei, do you want to come back to Haicheng with me?”
Fang Baowei looked conflicted. He honestly didn’t know what to do.
Bai Lan’s maternal grandmother spoke up at this point. “We still need to properly arrange things for this child.”
Hearing this, Bai Lan immediately leaned close to her grandmother’s ear. “Grandma, we can’t let Bai Ping continue to use the Bai family name.”
It wasn’t that Bai Lan wanted to destroy her completely. But Bai Ping was too selfish. Someone like her was bound to cause big trouble eventually. The kind that might even affect future generations. So it was best to cut ties with her as soon as possible.
Bai Grandma nodded. She felt the same way. She was indeed very angry about what had happened today, but perhaps because she had never liked Bai Ping to begin with, when the truth came out, it felt somehow expected.
The only question was what to do with her grandson Fang Baowei.
Fang Baowei said, “Dad, I’d like to stay here for a few days.”
Seeing this, Factory Director Fang didn’t force him. He knew this son of his—he was truly a good kid. Even if he wasn’t his biological son, he would still treat him as such. He had raised him for twenty years; those feelings wouldn’t just disappear.
As for Bai Ping, he shook his head. She still needed to be settled somehow. What a headache.
In the end, Factory Director Fang left with the Song family of three. What they discussed, Bai Lan didn’t know for the time being.
Because the police arrived very quickly. Soon, all three members of the Qian family were taken away. What would happen next in the investigation, and what punishment the Qian family would face, would depend on the evidence the police found.
“You… since you’ve already gotten a marriage certificate with Song Guoping, go to the Song family.”
After watching the Qian family being taken away, Bai Dad said this to Bai Ping in a quiet voice.
“Dad…”
Bai Dad immediately waved his hand. “I don’t know how to face you. Don’t worry. Even if the Song family isn’t happy with you, they won’t do anything.”
Besides, Fang Liye had left with the Song family. Fang Liye wasn’t a good man, but Bai Dad had known him when they were young and knew that he had his own way of doing things. Knowing that Bai Ping was his biological daughter, he would naturally arrange things for her.
Bai Ping stood up, dazed. She still couldn’t believe she wasn’t a Bai daughter.
But staying here wouldn’t do her any good.
Through the open door, she could see the neighbors pointing at her. After this incident, her reputation was completely ruined. From now on, she would have to live with the label of being swapped at birth.
Thinking this, she shook her head. She stood up and prepared to go find Fang Liye. He was a factory director too—she was a factory director’s daughter. Unfortunately, with such a bad reputation, she had no idea what the future held.
Before leaving, Bai Ping still remembered to glare at Bai Lan. She wouldn’t forget that Bai Lan had done this to her.
Bai Lan wasn’t afraid of Bai Ping at all. She glared right back.
Hmph, from what she knew of Factory Director Fang, at most he would exchange some favors with the Song family to make them accept Bai Ping.
But being forced to swallow such a fly—how could the Song family possibly treat her well?
If the Song family treated her badly and Bai Ping refused to divorce, all that awaited her was a miserable life.
Bai Lan was very much looking forward to that future.
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