Bai Jiaojiao said, "I should thank myself and the people who helped me through the hardships so that I am where I am today, not you."

Even though everyone advocates hard work and perseverance now, after hearing Bai Jiaojiao's words, I don't know who started clapping.

"Well said! Should she thank you for making her suffer?"

Ding's mother said, "You are all college graduates, how can you be so unable to distinguish right from wrong? She was never our biological daughter, and the hardships she endured were what she deserved to suffer!"

"You're right, so I don't resent you now, but since I'm someone else's daughter, why are you coming to find me again?"

Looking at Bai Jiaojiao, Ding's mother couldn't help but feel annoyed that she had spoken to her like that in front of everyone.

He said to her, "Your father and I have raised you for so many years, yet our own daughter is suffering in the countryside. Now that you've grown up, shouldn't you repay us for raising you?"

"So you feel like you've been taken advantage of," Bai Jiaojiao sneered.

"Jiaojiao, Mom doesn't want things to get this ugly. Come with me, we can talk about it at home."

Bai Jiaojiao's disheartening behavior led Ding's mother to mistakenly believe it was a concession, and she reached out her hand, wanting to leave the center of the crowd.

She is a person who values ​​her dignity and doesn't like being watched like this.

Shen Heng stood between the two of them, looking down at Ding's mother: "You all go back and settle the accounts. How much money did she spend on you over the years? We will return every penny to you."

Bai Jiaojiao looked up at Shen Heng and said, "Brother Heng, why should we pay it back? Our Bai family raised Ding Shifang with just as much effort as they put into me. It wasn't my responsibility that we were switched at birth." Bai Jiaojiao looked at Ding's mother and said, "If you feel you've suffered a loss, go to that hospital and find the person who switched us!"

Back then, Mr. Ding wasn't the factory manager of this cannery. He was sent to Hushan Town for a period of time. Because the job was so stable, Mr. Ding thought he would stay in that small town forever, so he moved his whole family there.

While Ding's mother was hospitalized, she kept complaining about the inadequate conditions at the hospital in that small, run-down town. She had just given birth and woken up when she heard someone say that a woman had died in childbirth, which she found very unlucky, so she quickly took her baby home.

The hospital was in complete chaos at the time, and it was unclear at what point the error occurred that led to the two baby girls being switched. But no matter whose fault it was, it couldn't possibly be the fault of the two children.

Bai Jiaojiao recalled her miserable life in her previous life. She wished she had never been switched at birth and could have been born and raised in Shili Village peacefully. Even if life was full of hardships, at least she would have been safe.

After Bai Jiaojiao finished speaking, Shen Heng pushed through the crowd and said, "Make way, everyone."

He didn't want to waste time arguing with this middle-aged woman. In Shen Heng's opinion, people who think they're so great just because they have a little money should be slapped in the face with a wad of cash to shut them up.

Do they think raising a daughter is like raising a kitten or puppy, which you can kick aside when you're angry and then suddenly like again, and call home that piece of meat?

Shen Heng's expression was icy as he and Bai Jiaojiao squeezed out of the crowd.

"Auntie, I hope you won't bother Jiaojiao anymore. We'll tell the gatekeeper not to let you into our school!" Xu Yue said to Ding's mother, then turned to the still-dispersing crowd and said, "Everyone, please disperse. What's there to see? They've already snatched all the food from the cafeteria!"

After Xu Yue and Shu Manling left, Ding's mother, feeling awkward, clutched her bag and left with a flushed face.

In the cafeteria, Bai Jiaojiao specially saved seats for the two of them and waved to them: "Here!"

The two walked over, and Xu Yue smiled and said, "Why are you eating with us again today?"

The two of them used to be very sensible; once things calmed down, they wouldn't bother the young couple.

Bai Jiaojiao said, "Thanks to you today, Xu Yue. Please sit down. Heng-ge has gone to get food. Let's eat together today."

Xu Yue and Shu Manling sat down, and Shu Manling said, "I've only heard you mention it before, but you said it so casually. Why didn't you mention that your adoptive parents have such difficult personalities?"

“Shu Manling, you’ll understand if you think about it. You’ve raised someone for over ten years and then just kick them out like that. Can a normal person do something like that?” Xu Yue said.

"That's true. Back in the village, we were reluctant to slaughter a chicken, and we'd have to nag about it. How much more so for a child?"

Bai Jiaojiao said, "You don't need to be angry for me. If it were a few years ago, I might have really been moved and wanted to ask her to come home, but my mindset is different now. I've come to terms with it."

Rather than saying I've come to terms with it, it's more accurate to say I'm afraid and disheartened.

If she hadn't wanted to go home in her past life, Ding Shifang wouldn't have put her and Shen Heng to their deaths. For Bai Jiaojiao, returning to the Ding family was the root of everything.

As for Ding's parents, they must have known something about Ding Shifang's actions later on, but they did not stop her. It was simply because they saw that she had no future and no use for them in her previous life, so they had no hope for her.

Shen Heng brought back the food. He and Bai Jiaojiao usually ate two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes at the cafeteria. Today, Bai Jiaojiao said she wanted to treat two classmates to a meal, so he filled a lunchbox with braised pork and another lunchbox with shredded radish and meatballs.

With outsiders present, Shen Heng didn't perform his special skill of dipping steamed buns in vegetable soup. Bai Jiaojiao even asked him, "Are you full?"

"I'm full. If I'm still hungry, I'll find something else to eat later."

"We still have classes this afternoon, so let's go back to the dorm to rest first. See you this afternoon, Jiaojiao."

Xu Yue pulled Shu Manling away. This was the first time she had eaten with Shen Heng. On the way, she whispered, "Shen Heng has such a huge appetite. Did you see how many steamed buns he ate in one meal? Luckily, they have a family fortune, or they would starve to death."

Shu Manling laughed and said, "That tall head of his wasn't built by drinking cold water. Back when I was in the village, young men that big had quite large appetites."

"Really? My younger brother didn't eat this much when he was growing up."

"But Shen Heng does eat more than the average young man. Oh well, we don't have to feed him, so why worry about it?"

"I'm just a little surprised. How did Jiao Jiao fall for Shen Heng in the first place? Although he seems like a really nice person and treats Jiao Jiao very well, if it were me, I would have run away the first time I saw him. How could I have had any further opportunities to get to know him?"

Shu Manling laughed and said, "How can we outsiders explain this kind of thing? I guess even they themselves can't explain it."

"What does 'can't explain' mean?"

"You'll understand when you grow up."

Xu Yue pursed her lips: "You're treating me like a child again. I'm twenty years old now!"

"You look like a child in my eyes."