When Tang Qingyun returned from his business trip, Wu Xiaowen told him about Xuanxuan’s condition. She said the doctor had warned that if things continued this way, the child could very well develop severe depression.

"That Mo family couple was so thoughtless about this. They shouldn’t have approached the child first and put Xuanxuan under so much pressure. Really, they’re just too simple-minded!"

Tang Qingyun frowned. Xuanxuan was his first child, the Tang family’s eldest granddaughter, and the only girl born into the family in three generations. She was cherished by everyone, and he himself had doted on her like the apple of his eye as she grew up. Even knowing she wasn’t his biological daughter, he still cared for her deeply. "We’ll do as the doctor says and try not to upset her from now on. I’ll talk to her tomorrow morning when she wakes up. She is our daughter. She always will be!"

"While you were away on your trip, Xuanxuan mentioned you dozens of times every day: ’Has Daddy gone to sleep? Daddy, don’t forget to eat! The river is flooding, so Daddy better not go near the bank...’ This child... she’s so thoughtful and warm! And so smart, outstanding, kind, and filial. She’s beautiful and adorable, too. My mom even says she’s just like I was as a child! If it weren’t for... it’s just so hard to accept that she’s not the daughter I gave birth to!"

With tears in her eyes, Wu Xiaowen took out the photos of "Mo Xiaoman" and handed them to Tang Qingyun, telling him this was their long-lost biological daughter.

Tang Qingyun looked at the photos, his shock beyond words. He almost immediately threw them away and roared, "This is impossible! How could my daughter, Tang Qingyun’s daughter, look like this! Liars! They’re liars!"

Wu Xiaowen was a sobbing mess. She was heartbroken, too, and didn’t have the courage to look at those photos for more than a second. She just choked out a retelling of what Liu Fengying had said.

Tang Qingyun leaned back on the sofa and shut his eyes. "I don’t believe it. I have to go see for myself! Maybe... maybe that’s not our daughter!"

"I’ve already checked with the hospital. Back then, Liu Fengying was the only one who went into the delivery room at the same time as me. All the wards were full, so you had to pull some strings to get the hospital to clear out a small room for us. It could only fit the two of us mothers and our babies! Liu Fengying and Xuanxuan look so much alike, and she could describe Xuanxuan’s birthmark, saying it was identical to her own. I asked Old Doctor Fang, and he also said... who else could we have switched babies with but her?"

"After comparing them, I can accept that Xuanxuan isn’t our biological child. I just suspect—what if she lost our baby? I don’t believe it’s the girl in these photos!"

Wu Xiaowen wiped her tears. "Qingyun, can you please be rational? You’ve spent time in the countryside before; how can you not understand the poverty and hardship there? If a child gets sick with boils and sores and there’s no money for treatment, that’s just how it is. Some children get high fevers that can even cause brain damage! Liu Fengying is an uneducated country woman. She’s not as complicated as you think. Besides, why would she lie to us?"

Tang Qingyun opened his eyes, his gaze filled with fury. "That stupid peasant woman! We raised Xuanxuan so well, how could they... With the child ruined like this, how can I bring her home? How am I supposed to explain this to Mom and Dad?"

Wu Xiaowen sighed. "Qingyun, Liu Fengying made it very clear: she loves that child, and that child is very attached to her. The two families don’t necessarily have to switch back."

"Xiao Wen, what are you trying to say?" Tang Qingyun looked at Wu Xiaowen. "I never said anything about switching. Xuanxuan is our beloved daughter, and we will continue to raise her. But we have to bring our biological child back. Otherwise, what will happen when Mom and Dad find out? A child of the Tang family’s blood cannot be left out in the world—that’s a family rule!"

Wu Xiaowen lowered her gaze and gently pressed her lips together. "If Mom and Dad find out the baby was switched at birth, and that she’s now disfigured, it’ll just be a repeat of the past: I’ll be the one to bear all of your mother’s blame again."

Tang Qingyun opened his mouth, but it ended in a long sigh. He got up, walked over to sit beside Wu Xiaowen, and pulled her into his arms. "How could it be just you? Haven’t I always been here? Xiao Xiao, we’re husband and wife. We share the good times and the bad."

He looked up at the silhouettes of the branches against the night sky outside the window and gave a bitter smile. "Don’t worry. No matter what Mom says, I’ll be there to shield you. It’s just like that year when I found out I was going to be a father. A strange strength surged through me, and I didn’t care about anything else. I had only one thought in my mind: to shelter you and our child from the wind and rain and protect you for a lifetime... Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, twelve years have passed. Xuanxuan is already eleven!"

Wu Xiaowen leaned against Tang Qingyun’s chest, a blush rising on her cheeks. Her heart felt sweet and content, but soon, a pang of bitterness surfaced—

Xuanxuan was eleven!

Yes, it was for the fruit of their love, their first child Tang Yaxuan, that they had this happy and fulfilling marriage.

Twelve years ago, Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen met at a friend’s party. It was a classic encounter between a handsome prince and a beautiful princess; you could say it was love at first sight. They fell deeply for each other.

But their love was not blessed. The one who opposed it most fiercely and completely was Tang Qingyun’s mother.

As the younger son, Tang Qingyun was very obedient to Mrs. Tang. At the time, she locked him at home for more than half a month, and he didn’t try to run away on his own. It was Wu Xiaowen who found a way to have someone deliver a message to him, telling him she was pregnant. Only then did Tang Qingyun defy Mrs. Tang, disregard everything, and marry Wu Xiaowen. Tang Qingyun followed Wu Xiaowen to G Province, where they stuck together through thick and thin, never leaving each other’s side.

Although Tang Qingyun had defied his mother and was ostensibly shunned by the Tang family, he was, after all, a son of the family.

Wu Xiaowen never gained her mother-in-law’s forgiveness or affection. Because she had gotten married due to pregnancy, the furious Mrs. Tang didn’t blame her own son. Instead, she sent a letter of more than ten pages to the Wu Family, the entire text accusing them of failing to raise their daughter properly and of being shameless. With sharp words and a venomous tone, she tore Wu Xiaowen to shreds. Wu Xiaowen cried for days and, not daring to show the letter to her own parents, burned it.

Even now, after she had given the Tang family two children, that vicious and arrogant mother-in-law still treated her as if she were nothing. Every time she made a long-distance call, she would only speak to Tang Qingyun and Tang Yaxuan, never even mentioning her.

Over the past twelve years, on the few occasions there were family gatherings, she could travel all the way to Beijing and still be shut out by Mrs. Tang. On the only two occasions she was allowed inside to take her proper seat at the main table, it was because her son, Tang Haocheng, had pleaded for her.

Wu Xiaowen couldn’t voice her resentment to others, and Tang Qingyun understood. But he also knew his own mother, so each time, he could only offer his wife a few words of comfort.

The couple cuddled on the sofa for a tender moment before returning to the topic of the children.

"Qingyun, have you thought about it? We adore Xuanxuan and can’t bear to part with her. But the Liu Fengying couple also raised that child with every bite of food and every spoonful of porridge, carrying her on their backs and in their arms. They can’t bear to part with that child either!"

Tang Qingyun sighed. "But Xiao Wen, it’s not as simple as us just giving birth to a child. She is of the Tang family bloodline! The moment she was born, she belonged to the Tang family, and the Tang family also belongs to her!"

Wu Xiaowen fell silent for a moment. Thinking of that ugly little monster, her heart filled with bitterness. "The children of the Tang family, even if not exceptionally graceful and dignified, are at the very least well-featured, elegant, and poised... But now, that child... she looks like *that*! Look at how beautiful and lovely Xuanxuan is, how she studies so hard to get ahead. Isn’t she outstanding enough? And yet, all she gets from your mother is a ’not bad.’ If that other child shows up, I’m afraid your mother will... Qingyun, we’ll have to return to Beijing eventually. If we bring that child with us and say she’s our biological daughter, how could we possibly show her in public? How could we, as a couple, have raised a child like that? We can’t bear the criticism and gossip! And your mother... she’ll push all the blame onto me! Before I went into labor, she sent people to help with the delivery and to take Xuanxuan away. We—we hid to keep our daughter, but who would have thought the babies would be switched... If your mother finds out about this, even if she doesn’t kill me, she’ll definitely, definitely..."

Wu Xiaowen covered her mouth and broke down into sobs. "Qingyun! I’m so scared! We’ll be torn apart! Our happy little family will fall to pieces... Without you, without Haocheng and Xuanxuan, how can I go on living..."

Tang Qingyun held the sobbing, gasping Wu Xiaowen, his heart heavy. "Xiao Xiao, don’t be sad. Let me think."

After calming his wife, Tang Qingyun locked himself in his study for the entire night. When he emerged the next day, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was covered in stubble. He agreed to Wu Xiaowen’s plan, leaving everything for her to handle. From then on, the couple no longer spoke casually of Mo Xiaoman.

In her previous life, Xiao Man’s fate was sealed at that moment.

They had thought they would each live out their lives separately and never acknowledge each other, but unexpectedly, Tang Haocheng had an accident and needed a blood and bone marrow donation from Xiao Man, his full-blooded sister.

By that time, the old couple in Beijing, Father Tang and Mrs. Tang, had already passed away. Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen had even less reason to acknowledge this daughter. They simply gave a large sum of money, thinking it would be enough for Mo Xiaoman to live a good life.

One could only say they had been leaders for too long, accustomed only to giving orders, with no idea how those orders were carried out by those below them.

Not a single cent of that money ever reached Xiao Man. They didn’t even know that Xiao Man had been kept in Beijing and put under house arrest by Tang Haocheng.

In this life, the couple still made the same decision, but as far as Xiao Man was concerned, it had nothing to do with her anymore.

Her first trip to Wancheng, where she ran into that family of three, was indeed a heavy blow. But after returning home, under the loving care of her Grandpa and Grandma, she quickly bounced back to full strength. ’I don’t need to envy or admire others. I have a home, too, and relatives who cherish me!’

’The fate of this life is in my own hands. All irrelevant people, stay away and don’t come near!’