Chapter 11: The Girl Thief

Later in life, she grew accustomed and numb to her circumstances, she even grew up. But the memory of being bitten by a mouse never left her; thus, she was afraid of them. However, she was now a woman of thirty-three, not the child of three. Even if she was terrified, she was no longer capable of curling up and screaming for help.

She opened her eyes; the room was bright though no light was on. She turned her head and noticed that the noise coming from the room was not caused by a mouse but by a person.

Was someone stealing from them?

But that seemed impossible. Their place was one of the poorest in the village. And in the current times, it was unlikely for a thief to blatantly rob someone's house. Even if there was a thief, they would steal from the wealthy, not from them.

Then again, there were her clothes, her new clothes that her father had just bought for her. She hadn't worn them many times. Even though she was small, she was still raised by Tang Zhinian with a lot of affection. Thus, at a young age, she had developed a sense of elegance. She saved this dress for the New Year as it was slightly oversized. Tang Zhinian planned on letting her wear it the following New Year.

Why was this thief, amongst all things, interested in stealing her clothes?

She sat up and indeed, there was a person squatting by the wardrobe. This person had shoulder-length hair held back with a clip. It was a woman, a female thief.

No, she corrected herself, smirking. This was her mother.

She was taking her clothes for Wei Jiani, wasn't she? Wei Jiani was just a year younger than her, but taller. The oversized clothes would fit Wei Jiani just fine.

In her previous life too, it was the same. Her clothes, the expensive and pretty ones that she loved, were all taken by Sang Zhilan for Wei Jiani. Don't ask why Sang Zhilan was better to someone else's child than her own. It wasn't the way others thought. Most people didn't know, but Tang Yuxin knew. She knew exactly why because Wei Jiani wasn't someone else's daughter; she was Sang Zhilan's biological child. When Wei Jiani was just a few months old, Sang Zhilan took off to work outside, and she didn't return for nearly a year. When she did return, Tang Yuxin was close to two. In that year, Sang Zhilan wasn't working outside as she claimed, but staying with Wei Jiani's father, Wei Tian, to have a baby.

They all thought she didn't know, but she, being a doctor, couldn't ignore the striking resemblance between Wei Jiani and Sang Zhilan. Hence, the first thing she did upon starting work was to run a DNA test using samples of their hair. The result was as she expected, Wei Jiani and Sang Zhilan were indeed mother and daughter.

Sang Zhilan deceived her, tricked her father, and fooled everyone. The birth of her biological daughter crowned her with lifelong scheming, while her father was crowned with the metaphorical green hat of deception.

In her last life, all her motherly affection disappeared. The remaining bit was slapped away when she learnt that Zhang Yong'an, her husband, was being seduced by Wei Jiani. Even knowing that, Sang Zhilan didn't protest but instead seemed to see it as a rightful act. Was it because Zhang Yong'an had a job at a publicly listed company and made hundreds of thousands a year, or because he lived in a house bought with the money she had saved painstakingly?