001 Return home

The Zhu's, the most prominent family in Jiangcheng, have recently been the talk of the town.

Zhu Xiangxiang was hospitalized following a car accident and needed a blood transfusion, but there was no matching blood type in the Zhu family.

Madam Lin Qing, Zhu's wife, hired a private detective to investigate. As it turned out, sixteen years ago, before the Zhus had made their fortune, Lin Qing gave birth at a small town clinic. There, a nurse swapped her newborn child with another, altering the fates of two children.

Zhu Xiangxiang became the pampered daughter of a wealthy family, while the real heiress was left to roam the countryside.

Life was imitating art, and spectators expressed marvel at Zhu Xiangxiang's good fortune while expressing pity for the unfortunate real heiress.

Today is the day that the real heiress pays a visit.

Jiangcheng is full of gawkers. If the true heiress has been living in the countryside, it will be hard for her to ascend to the ranks of high society.

As for Zhu Xiangxiang, she is hailed as the first lady of Jiangcheng, and countless young talents admire her. She is disdainful and proud, belittling everyone. Many of Jiangcheng's high-society ladies are jealous of her. Now that the supposed phoenix was actually hatched in a chicken coop, they won't miss the opportunity to mock her.

So, under the publicity of these gossipy ladies, the matter of Zhu's real and fake heir has become a heated topic, even the entertainment section has given it extensive coverage.

A sports car was parked beside the flower bed opposite the Qu's villa. Inside sat three fashionable young women. The woman in the driver's seat, with wavy hair and blazing red lips, removed her sunglasses with one hand and was playing with a DSLR camera in her other hand. With a smirk, she said, "Zhu Xiangxiang must be very restless now."

"Of course, she used to swagger around because she thought she was the heiress of the Zhu family. Now she must be praying that the Zhu family won't kick her out." Li Jiaojiao said cheerfully at the misfortune.

The girl in the passenger seat frowned and said, "But I heard that the real heiress of the Zhu family grew up in a Nunnery. She is ignorant and uneducated. Can she defeat Zhu Xiangxiang, who is so cunning?"

Li Jiaojiao shot her a glance, "Don't we have ourselves? If the price is right, anything can be done. As long as we can make Zhu Xiangxiang suffer, I will spare no effort."

The man she had pursued for a year was swept away by Zhu Xiangxiang with a mere snap of her fingers. Of all people, Li Jiaojiao hated her the most.

Zhao Qin glanced at the rearview mirror: "Here she comes."

In the blink of an eye, a black sedan stopped at the entrance of the villa, the driver got out and opened the back door.

Zhao Qin raised her DSLR. The car was parked diagonally from the entrance, so she could only photograph a side silhouette.

A tall and thin figure emerged from the car, dressed in brown robes that fluttered in the wind, emphasizing her slender and elegant figure.

The young girl was dressed as a nun, her face unseen. She held herself upright, walked at a measured pace, like a summer's breeze, her mere silhouette gave an impression of cool tranquility.

Zhao Qin clicked a few shots, and by the time she looked up, the girl had already disappeared into the entrance. She stared at the slender figure in her camera, deep in thought.

Sun Qingqing murmured, "Oh my gosh, she really is a nun..."

Li Jiaojiao rubbed her hands excitedly, "The show has begun. It's a pity we can't go into the Zhu's residence, otherwise the live broadcast would undoubtedly be interesting."

——

In the Zhu's living room, all the relatives of the Zhu family have gathered to meet the real heiress.

Madam Zhu sat in the main seat, Zhu Wentao and Lin Qing were next to her, followed by her niece Zhu Wenjie and her daughter Zhou Yong. Zhu Xiangxiang was sitting next to Lin Qing.

Zhou Yong surreptitiously examined Zhu Xiangxiang. She saw the young girl wearing a tailored silver-embroidered white woolen sweater, a camel-colored suspenders long skirt, her long hair loose over her shoulders. She had a refined appearance, her hands crossed over her stomach, genteel and dignified, elegant in every aspect, displaying all the characteristics of the first lady of the house.

Even at this moment, there was no hint of panic or anxiety on her face, as if the person about to arrive was not a rival for her position but a casual visitor.

Zhou Yong secretly scoffed. When the real heiress arrives, I wonder if you will still be able to keep your composure.

The butler Uncle Wen entered the room: "The young lady has arrived."

In an instant, all eyes in the room fell on the entrance.

Although they had heard rumors that the real heiress had been raised in a temple, everyone felt a strange sensation when they saw a girl in monk's clothing coming in.

Seeing her biological daughter, Lin Qing showed no excitement. Instead, she frowned.

The old lady smiled and beckoned, "Granny's eyes are not good. I can't see clearly. Come closer."

The girl approached, and the old lady took her hand, examining her closely and approvingly, "What a beautiful girl. What's your name?"

"Ming Jing." Her voice was sweet and serene.

"Good girl, sorry for the past sufferings. From now on, you are a part of this family. If anyone dares to bully you, tell granny, I won't let them get off easily." Everyone felt a sense of intimidation as she finished speaking and scanned the room.

As the matriarch of the Zhu family, Madam Zhu commanded great respect. When she spoke, people listened. Since the real heiress had won the old lady's favor, her future life would not be too tough.

"Xiangxiang." The old lady began.

Zhu Xiangxiang, who had been silent all along, then stood up. With a gentle and composed smile on her face, she walked over.

Lin Qing watched Zhu Xiangxiang with worry.

"Regardless of true or false, you and Ming Jing are both daughters of the Zhu family. I will not favor one over the other. From now on, I'll leave Ming Jing in your care. As the elder sister, you must take good care of her, understand?"

Zhu Xiangxiang's voice was soft, "I understand, granny."Turning her head, she took Ming Jing's hand and said gently, "Ming Jing, I am Xiangxiang. You can call me sister or by my name. I'm here to introduce you to our relatives."

Her demeanor was natural, not overly rigid, nor overly affectionate, giving others a sense of warm comfort.

Ming Jing followed her in greeting the relatives one by one. They compliment them and handed over a red packet, a gift of introduction for the child.

When it was Zhu Wenjie's turn, she stuffed over a thick red packet and laughed warmly, "I've always thought that Xiangxiang doesn't look like her sister-in-law. Now seeing Ming Jing, I understand why they are indeed mother and daughter, literally carved from the same mold."

Lin Qing's already gloomy face turned as dark as pot bottom, glaring fiercely at Zhu Wenjie.

If she could make Lin Qing upset, Zhu Wenjie would be happy.

She had deliberately made those comments to provoke Lin Qing. The fact was, Ming Jing didn't look like Zhu Wenjie at all. If not for the DNA identification result, she would have thought the private detectives were fooling people.

"Cousin, you grew up in a nunnery, was it boring? Oh and by the way cousin, have you gone to school? How many characters do you recognize?" Asked Zhou Bao, with an innocent look on her face.

Not to mention that Lin Qing's face had gone dark enough to be dripping wet, even Madam's face didn't look good, she glared at Zhou Bao, "Ying, Ying."

Zhu Xiangxiang was about to step in to smooth things over when Ming Jing, who had been silent and calm, spoke up. She twirled a Buddhist bead in her hand, and each bead was round and shiny, reflecting the marks of time, creating a mysterious harmony on her fair fingers.

"Thanks to the loving teachings of my Master, she taught me to learn characters from a young age. Although I have no grand talents, I am not without a sense of literacy. As for school, life in the nunnery is austere and filled with daily cultivation, thus there is no opportunity to attend school."

Her choice of words was elegant and refined-doesn't sound like she hasn't been to school at all.

With a fair skin as pure as snow, brows like distant mountains, her nose as delicate as jade, and lips touched with crimson, she was very thin due to a hard life in the nunnery. However, that added to the intensity of the affection she elicited.

Yet, the most striking part of her was her pair of eyes. They were calm as still water, displaying an aura similar to the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva who looks upon all beings with mercy, rescuing mortals from the sea of suffering.

For a moment, Zhou Bao almost knelt down to venerate her.

"What a pity, my beautiful niece has suffered so much from a young age. Unlike Xiangxiang, who has attended the best aristocratic schools since she was a child, wearing branded clothes, learning both piano and dancing. If there hadn't been a mix-up, she would now be the first lady of Jiangzhou."

Zhu Wenjie's every word and sentence were designed to provoke, hoping to instigate a fight between the two.

Zhu Xiangxiang smiled and said, "Auntie, there's no use discussing what's already happened. I will do my best to make it up to Ming Jing from now on."

When it was Lin Qing's turn, she took off the jade bracelet she had worn for many years and put it on Ming Jing's wrist, bluntly saying, "From now on, listen to your sister. This is your home."

Ming Jing's wrist was very thin, and the jade bracelet was not a good fit. It was prone to fall off with a slight movement. It's unclear whether Lin Qing did this intentionally or not.

Running her fingers over the warm and cool jade bracelet, Ming Jing lowered her eyes and uttered, "Thank you, Mother."

Lin Qing choked a bit, "Can't you call me Mom?" It's not like we're in a patriarchal society, she's being so formal with me.

Zhu Wentao waved his hand, "The child just came back, don't be so hard on her."

He didn't have high expectations for this daughter before, but was pleasantly surprised when he met her. She was more beautiful than anyone in the Zhu family, her temperament was neither arrogant nor impatient. With proper grooming, she wouldn't be inferior to Xiangxiang.

"Oh yes, you also have a younger brother, Shaodan. He is a year younger than us, very playful, and hardly stays at home. I'll introduce him to you when he comes back."

At the end of the introductions, the relatives said their goodbyes and left one after another.

Lin Qing looked at Ming Jing's religious attire and frowned in disgust, "How unlucky! Xiangxiang, give her one of your outfits to change into. I'll take her shopping for clothes tomorrow. What is she wearing? Also, take off that nun's veil. If she's bald, she can wear a wig."

Without saying much, Ming Jing followed Zhu Xiangxiang upstairs.

"You are her biological mother. She just came back, and you can't even say a nice word. You might scare her away again." Granny Zhu scolded.

"Mom, look at her clothes. I just can't bear to lose face like this."

"Could the child choose this for herself? Knowing that her life was tough, you should have prepared her clothes in advance and picked her up yourself. You have no right to despise her without having spent even a day raising her. It's your attitude that will make our family a laughing stock."

Rendered speechless by the scolding, Lin Qing couldn't utter a word.

Granny Zhu huffed, "Besides, even in these clothes, she wasn't any less than Xiangxiang, who you raised personally. She's your own daughter, so you better put some heart into this." With those words, she returned to her room leaning on her cane.

Upstairs, after changing her clothes in the wardrobe room, Ming Jing stood by the french windows. When Zhu Xiangxiang, who had been lost in thought, turned her head, her pupils contracted unconsciously.

The emotion passed from her eyes in an instant and she walked over nonchalantly, "You're taller than me, so the skirt is a bit short, but you look pretty in it."

That was true, Ming Jing was tall and slim, just like a supermodel. A perfect clothes hanger.

Ming Jing folded her religious attire neatly and placed her nun's veil on it. As Zhu Xiangxiang looked at her round, bald head, it occurred to her for the first time that a bald head could also look so good.

Ming Jing's room was at the end of the second floor. It didn't have the floor-to-ceiling patio, wardrobe room, or bathroom like Zhu Xiangxiang's room. It was a guest room that had been temporarily modified with its own bathroom, sterile like a hotel room. It was equipped with some items for a girls' daily life, even five different types of sanitary napkins, indicating that the person who prepared these items was quite detail-oriented.

"I live next door, let me know if you need anything. Rest for now, we have a family dinner at seven." After saying this, Zhu Xiangxiang left.

Ming Jing had nothing with her when she came, so there wasn't much to tidy up.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, meditating silently and chanting her mantras. "Monks do not speak false words. Everything happens for a reason, I earnestly beg for Buddha's forgiveness," murmured Ming Jing quietly.