Zhang Dehui and his wife came out of the house.

The two men turned pale, realizing that their daughter had overheard their entire conversation.

Xia Liuer burst into tears and collapsed into Zhang Dehui's arms.

That afternoon, neither Zhang Dehui nor Xia Liuer went to work.

Zhang Ruyi didn't go either; her eyes were red from crying, and her whole face was swollen.

Under Zhang Dehui's repeated urging, Xia Liuer finally took out the small quilt that had once wrapped Zhang Ruyi from the bottom of the trunk.

Su Ruyi recognized it at a glance as a quilted pattern with acanthus leaves.

She blurted out, "This blanket has foreign craftsmanship and patterns; it wasn't made by our own people!"

"Ah, foreign countries..."

Xia Liuer shuddered.

Zhang Dehui and Xia Liuer, a married couple, didn't dare to look Zhang Ruyi in the eye.

They handed the bag to Su Ruyi, and then, almost fleeing in panic, returned to their room.

Zhang Ruyi took the blanket, buried her face in it and smelled it; her emotions finally calmed down.

Su Ruyi carefully wrapped the blanket in her bundle: "I'll take the things back first and let your biological mother recognize you. But based on the information I've found, you must be their biological daughter, no doubt about it, because you and your biological mother look very, very alike."

Zhang Ruyi bit her lip tightly, not saying a word.

Su Ruyi added, "If everything goes well, I'll come to pick you up the day after tomorrow. You should prepare yourself. In particular, you need to be mentally prepared."

Zhang Ruyi raised her eyes: "Cadre Su, she's my own mother. Would she look down on me for being poor or unsophisticated? I've never left our village in my entire life..."

Su Ruyi smiled gently: "How could that be? She's too busy feeling sorry for you to even think about it."

These words caused Zhang Ruyi to burst into tears again.

Early the next morning, Su Ruyi left Zhangqiao Village in an oxcart.

She greeted Qi Yasheng, and then he led her to the Qi family compound.

Qi Yaqin was drinking tea in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Su Ruyi, she instinctively frowned: "What are you doing here?!"

Su Ruyi sighed, "I need to talk to you about something." Then, she looked around, "Where's Xia Tianxiu?"

Qi Yaqin was furious: "How many times have I told you? My daughter's name is Qiao Tianyue, Qiao Tianyue! She doesn't have the surname Xia! Her surname is Su. Did you come here specifically to cause me trouble?"

Su Ruyi said calmly, "I do have something to discuss with you. Is Qiao... Tianyue here?"

Seeing that Su Ruyi had changed her tune, Qi Yaqin snorted, "Her cousin took her to get new clothes made."

“Then she’s gone. It’s better that she’s not here for what I’m about to say.” With that, Su Ruyi untied the bundle she was carrying and took out the blanket from it.

Qi Yaqin scraped the teacup, glancing disdainfully at Su Ruyi out of the corner of her eye.

With just one glance at the bundle in her hand, Qi Yaqin froze, and the teacup in her hand crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

She didn't even notice the tea splashing onto her shoes and socks.

Immediately afterwards, she rushed forward, grabbed the blanket, and examined it carefully, turning it over and over in front of her.

After staring at it for a long time, the way he looked at Su Ruyi was as if he had seen a ghost: "This thing... this thing... where did you get it?"

Su Ruyi asked expressionlessly, "Do you know them?"

Qi Yaqin was already in tears: "Of course I recognize it! This is... this is a swaddle blanket that my mother passed down to me after my daughter was born... Where did you get this from?"

Su Ruyi sat down opposite her: "Since you're asking me this, you probably have some doubts in your heart, right?"

Qi Yaqin stared intently at her: "What do you mean? Where did you get this from?"

Su Ruyi sighed:

"More than 100 miles from Beijing, there is a village called Zhangqiao Village."

There was a family in the village, the man was named Zhang Dehui, and the woman was named Xia Liuer.

Fifteen years ago, they bought a baby girl from a woman.

It was intended for their only son to be married off in a marriage exchange.

The blanket that the baby girl was wrapped in at the time was this one.

After hearing this, not only was Qi Yaqin stunned, but even Qi Yasheng was dumbfounded.

Qi Yaqin was petrified for a full three minutes, then suddenly burst into laughter, "I knew it! I knew it!"

Qi Yasheng thought her sister had gone mad and quickly pressed her down: "Sister, what's wrong with you? What do you know?"

Qi Yaqin shoved him away, acting as if she were going crazy:

"I knew that little bitch surnamed Xia wasn't my daughter!"

Haha, she's not my daughter!

Very good!

How could my daughter hurt me so deeply?

I asked her about the swaddle blanket, and she said it was burned and thrown away when she was seven or eight years old.

I showed her various patterns, but the pattern she recognized was not this acanthus leaf pattern at all!

I always thought she was too young to remember things!

So, she was a fake!

After saying that, she grabbed Su Ruyi: "Take me there quickly, take me to find my biological daughter! Is she...is she doing well? Does she...does she look like me?"

At this moment, Qi Yaqin's vulnerability touched Su Ruyi.

Su Ruyi's expression softened: "She looks a lot like you, and she has a very good personality. It's just... when I found her, she was about to be married off to my brother in a replacement marriage."

"No!!!"

Qi Yaqin screamed, "Don't marry her off! A marriage exchange? What's a marriage exchange?!"

“The marriage exchange was to use her dowry to help her brother get a wife,” Su Ruyi said with a smile. “Luckily, I arrived early and stopped it.”

After she finished speaking, she recounted everything she had seen and heard during her trip to Zhangqiao Village.

Qi Yasheng frowned and said, "Dr. Su, the person you've been saying you're looking for, could it be... this Zhang Ruyi?"

Su Ruyi nodded and said, "You might not believe it, but this was something that Old Master Qi asked me to do in a dream."

Upon hearing this, both Qi Yaqin and Qi Yasheng gasped in shock: "My dad appeared to me in a dream?!"

In broad daylight, both of them felt the temperature drop suddenly.

Su Ruyi nodded and said, "Yes, the old man can't let go of his worries. Maybe he'll be able to see things clearly over there? With a fraudster in the house, he won't be at peace even in the afterlife!"

Qi Yaqin shuddered, and then immediately knelt down before Su Ruyi:

"Dr. Su... Dr. Su, thank you! Thank you so much!"

I was rude to you before, please forgive me!

You are the benefactor of my Qi family, you are the benefactor of me, Qi Yaqin!

He was also the benefactor of my poor, unfortunate Yue'er!

I will repay your immense kindness in this lifetime!

Qi Yasheng also bowed deeply to Su Ruyi: "My own illness, my teacher's illness, and my sister's biological daughter... Dr. Su, you are truly a great benefactor to my Qi family!"