Qin Manshu showed no emotion whatsoever. Compared to Dong Xiaoying's grievance and anger, she seemed to have reached the pinnacle of despair and then calmed down. She just looked at the woman in front of her.

Dong Xiaoying seemed surprised by Qin Manshu's rationality at this moment. Her indifference made Dong Xiaoying feel even more depressed. Dong Xiaoying questioned, "Qin Manshu, do you have a heart at all?"

Qin Manshu smiled and asked, "Are you crying because I didn't do what you said, or because you regret what you did back then?"

Dong Xiaoying did not speak.

Qin Manshu continued to ask, "The reason you're begging me now is simply because I'm still in the Qin family. As long as you keep it a secret, I'll be the eldest daughter of the Qin family. But if you're not careful, all the beautiful dreams you've had for so long will shatter into nothingness."

"you!"

"You won't regret it? How could you not regret it? You only regret not having a chance to control me when I was still young. You only regret that I wasn't close to you after I learned the truth. You only regret that you took such a risk, and that I, as your tool, didn't obediently follow your arrangements so that you could also get a share of the Qin family's profits." Qin Manshu laughed. "Since you are such a cold-blooded person, why pretend to be doing this for my own good? If you really cared about me, you wouldn't have ended up like this."

Dong Xiaoying said excitedly, "I did that so you could enjoy a wealthy life. Do you know how terrible poverty is? You've been living with the Qin family all this time. Have you ever experienced being penniless? Do you know that I didn't even have a proper postpartum period to give birth to you and raise you? I went back to work as soon as I could get up a little. Do you know that I've developed a lot of health problems because of you—"

Qin Manshu looked coldly at Dong Xiaoying and interrupted her directly: "Did I ask you to give birth to me? Someone like you doesn't deserve to be a mother. I never asked you to give birth to me. You didn't protect yourself and were deceived by a man. You mistakenly thought he was a rich man and wanted to give birth to me to hold him hostage. You never thought I was a girl. Since I'm a girl, you don't need to feel sorry for me. The man who deceived you didn't want you, so you came up with another plan to use me as a tool. If I hadn't found you first, you wouldn't have made yourself sound so wronged in front of me."

“Qin Manshu, it’s your own cold-bloodedness that’s how the Qin family raised you. I never thought of using you as a tool. You are my daughter. How could I, as your mother, want to harm you? I love you. Mom loves you…” Dong Xiaoying knelt down on Qin Manshu and pleaded, “I did all this for you. I did all this for you. You can’t do this to me. You can’t do this to me.”

Qin Manshu stood there without saying a word.

The woman raised her voice, grabbing Qin Manshu's clothes, "How could you be so cold-blooded, Qin Manshu? I gave birth to you, I gave you such a good life, I risked breaking the law to let you take the place of the original young lady! How could you be so vicious, showing no gratitude to the mother who gave you life and helped you? Where is your heart...?"

"You gave birth to me? That's all you did." Qin Manshu stood there coldly looking at the woman kneeling before her.

She thought of her past life.

Thinking back to what happened before she knew everything, the first time her birth mother came to her door, what this woman said, she had previously used the excuse of feeling unwell to visit Qin Manshu at the hospital, and probably figured out Qin Manshu's personality at that time, the first thing she said was a threat.

At that time, she had just graduated from university and did not have the abilities she has now. She was still studying at the hospital. She was surprised to be invited out and that this was what happened. She panicked, but her first reaction was to tell the Qin family about it.

She was so kind back then.

Stupid yet kind.

Before the woman could say anything more, Qin Manshu played the audio recording she had just made and played back what she had said. Looking at Dong Xiaoying, she said directly, "Don't try to threaten me with those words anymore. If you interfere with my affairs again, I'll just start over, but you'll probably end up in jail."

"You recorded it!" The woman tried to snatch the audio.

Qin Manshu let her take the phone, which wasn't the one she usually used; it was a temporary one, and the audio content had already been sent to her private email.

The woman cried her heart out in the room, saying she was wrong and that Qin Manshu was heartless. Qin Manshu closed the door and glanced at Dong Xiaoying before warning her again: "Don't cause any more trouble. I'm very busy. If I have to clean up other messes because of you, I might really get angry."

She left the club, and the club staff drove the car to the entrance and gave Qin Manshu the keys. She took the keys, got into the car, and returned to the Qin family home.

Many things flooded her mind: the Qin family, Old Madam Qin, the woman who swapped lives with her, Ji Shuli, Ye Yingying, and finally, she recalled Jiang Jianian.

Her emotions fluctuated, and the car couldn't help but speed up. Just when they almost had a car accident, Qin Manshu suddenly stepped on the gas pedal. Her forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and she was breathing heavily in fear. It was unclear whether it was because of the near-accident or because she was thinking about something.

*

Such a thing happened to the Qin family.

Ye Zhiwei wasn't idle either. She had already had someone check the information of the woman who was with Qin Manshu last time. It was true that there was nothing wrong with the two of them being together. If that woman was just a patient's family member crying in front of Qin Manshu, then there was indeed no problem. However, Qin Manshu's attitude, as well as Ye Zhiwei's sixth sense, told her that there must be something going on.

The woman's name is Dong Xiaoying, and she has a daughter named Dong Yanqing. The daughter is indeed receiving treatment at the same psychiatric hospital as Qin Manshu.

Moreover, it seems that he was sent to the hospital by Dong Xiaoying several years ago.

This is really strange. If she was crying so heartbrokenly because of her daughter, how could she send her daughter to the hospital for treatment when there was nothing wrong with her? Usually, people would only send their daughter to the hospital when the condition is really out of control.

Although Dong Xiaoying is a single mother and it's understandable that she would do such a thing, Ye Zhiwei still felt that something was off.

In the end, she only tentatively asked someone to collect hair samples from both of them to conduct a paternity test on Dong Xiaoying and her daughter Dong Yanqing.

Upon receiving the results, Ye Zhiwei felt both surprised and yet somehow it made sense, and it was this incident that gave her a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

She first carefully compared the photos of Dong Yanqing and Madam Qin. After hesitating for a few seconds, she made a bold guess: could this Dong Yanqing have some connection with the Qin family, which is why Qin Manshu's attitude towards Dong Xiaoying was so strange before?

What kind of relationship could that be? Is she an illegitimate child?

The hospital keeps Mrs. Qin's information strictly confidential, and Ye Zhiwei is unsure whether she should approach Mrs. Qin to verify her suspicions. Moreover, it seems that Mrs. Qin rarely engages in outdoor activities, and she has never appeared at any large-scale events.