"My name is... Jiang Mianmian."

Jiang Mianmian was stunned for a moment before uttering these words and turning back to tidy up the shelves.

Huo Junyu was somewhat surprised.

"Your surname is also Jiang?"

"What's wrong?" Jiang Mianmian asked, looking at him.

Huo Junyu shook his head slightly, his cold profile carrying a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

What a coincidence, she also has the surname Jiang.

However, my mother's surname was only Jiang for the first half of her life.

Because of this special reason, Huo Junyu couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.

Unlike her disheveled appearance that night, she now possessed a more serene and pure aura. Even a plain white shirt and jeans looked extraordinary on her.

Besides, she's so beautiful.

Huo Junyu's lips curled up slightly, without him even realizing it.

...

Jiang Mianmian told Huo Junyu that he should go back tonight to pack his things and move in the next day.

But by evening she began to regret it.

Seeing the surprised and astonished looks on Jiang Youcai, Su Aiqian, and Jiang Xiaowei's faces made her feel even more awkward.

Yes, why would she bring a man who took advantage of her misfortune and stole her innocence into her home? Isn't that like inviting a wolf into the house?

She swallowed her anger and kept it a secret from her family.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't have any unresolved issues.

But in these extraordinary times, perhaps only that man can ensure their family's safety...

Jiang Mianmian sat on the chair with her head down, fidgeting nervously with her hands, occasionally raising her eyes before quickly looking away.

"Mianmian, what were you thinking!" Su Aiqian was heartbroken. "You...you brought someone like that into our home?"

“I’ve seen that person a few times. He always has a gloomy face and never says a word! The way he looks at you is like he has knives in his eyes!” Jiang Youcai’s features were almost scrunched up. “My dear daughter, didn’t Daddy say he was taking you to live in another city? Why…”

"Dad, Mom," Jiang Mianmian said softly, "I know you mean well, but I caused this, so I have to clean up the mess myself."

“If I don’t give in, no matter where we run, the Gu family will never let us go! I don’t want you two to toil half your lives and end up with nothing, forced to wander and suffer…”

Before Jiang Mianmian could finish speaking, Su Aiqian was already crying her eyes out.

Jiang Youcai coughed and looked at his wife. He was also sad, but not as emotional as a woman.

He was even somewhat relieved that Jiang Mianmian was willing to do this... Although he had raised her for twenty years, she was not his own flesh and blood after all. He was still unwilling to give up the family fortune he had worked so hard for half his life for Jiang Mianmian.

But he felt deeply guilty about the decision Jiang Mianmian made.

He's useless; he can't protect his daughter, and now she has to use this method to ensure their family's safety.

"Dad, Mom, what are you doing!" Jiang Mianmian forced a smile. "I'm not marrying Huo Yu. I'm just letting him move into our house to shut Gu Zihan up!"

“But we were together every day!” Su Aiqian choked up. “If he were a good person, it would be fine… but I heard his past wasn’t exactly honorable! Mianmian, you can’t let him suffer!”

Don't worry, Mom!

"He came to our house, and since there were no other rooms to stay in, he slept on the living room floor!"

"this……"

"And another thing," Su Ai said, emphasizing each word, "don't expect me to give him a kind look!"

Jiang Mianmian's heart tightened, and she hugged her mother and gently patted her back.

"Mom, actually... that person has his good points too." She laughed through her tears, only saying the nice things, "Look at him, he's so big and burly, it makes me feel so safe at home! If you really can't stand him, just think of him as... just think of him as a door god I've invited, okay?"

"With him standing at the door, Gu Zihan didn't dare to cause trouble!"

Su Ai smiled through her tears, nodded at Jiang Mianmian's head, and sighed helplessly.

That night, everyone in the family went to sleep, but Su Aiqian was wide awake.

She sat down next to Jiang Mianmian and gently stroked her hair.

Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, yet in her mind it feels as if it just happened yesterday.

At that time, she and Jiang Youcai had been married for many years but had no children. She took a boat to Yangcheng to seek medical treatment. On the way back, she saw a man holding this little girl in the next seat.

The little girl was about one year old, with delicate and exquisite features that made her incredibly endearing.

Su Aiqian loves children, especially pretty and cute little girls like this. She can't take her eyes off them and wants to give her all the treats in her bag the whole way. The man next to her is very wary and takes the child to the deck. Su Aiqian relentlessly follows him, trying to get close to the man so she can spend more time with the child.

There were two more docks along the coast between Yangcheng and Jiangzhou, where large ships were moored. While waiting for the passengers to board, Su Aiqian finally took the exquisitely beautiful little girl from the hands of the impatient man.

The man said he was going to have a smoke and asked her to look after the child for him.

Jiang Youcai and Su Aiqian were overjoyed and didn't know how to spoil her. They ate all the snacks in their bag. At this moment, the little girl started to cry. Seeing that the boat hadn't left yet, they quickly took her off the boat to buy her some treats.

Around that time, the ship sailed away. Later, I heard that the ship had encountered a maritime disaster, and almost all the passengers perished at sea, with only a few survivors…

Thinking of these things, Su Ai's eyes welled up with tears.

She always felt that the fact that she and her husband were able to escape that shipwreck was a blessing brought by Jiang Mianmian.

It was God who sent this child to them.

Back then, out of selfishness and a bit of wishful thinking, they assumed the child's family had perished in the shipwreck and didn't tell anyone about the child's background.

They told everyone they met that this was their daughter, and they even named her Mianmian, which means continuous blessings and endless affection.

Soon after, they had their son, Jiang Xiaowei. Later, Jiang Youcai made a lot of money by setting up a stall and even took over a small supermarket, living a comfortable life.

Now they were even more convinced that all of this good luck was brought to them by Jiang Mianmian.

They treated Jiang Mianmian as their own daughter, even better than they treated Jiang Xiaowei.

As time went on, some gossipy neighbors started talking behind their backs, saying that Jiang Mianmian was so beautiful that she didn't look like anyone from their family at all, and that the couple were like pheasants, how could a pheasant raise a phoenix?

Su Ai shook her head and sighed.

She never argued with those neighbors, and this became a knot in her heart.

In the last two years, she has even started to worry: what if Jiang Mianmian has other family members? What if her family finds her...?

So what should she do?

Su Aiqian's heart trembled. She gently lay down next to her daughter, just like the countless sleepless nights she had spent caring for her when she was a child. She watched her quietly, smiling gently through her tears.