Outside a house in an alley in a slum.

"Damn it, that bitch is so strong!"

Zhuang Yaozu cursed as he left the small clinic. His left hand was wrapped in heavy gauze and hung around his neck. The pain from his broken ribs was excruciating, and one of his eyes was completely ruined. However, because he was poor and had no money, he could only get some simple treatment at the small clinic.

He endured the excruciating pain, hunched over, and roughly kicked open the door. The stench of the room made him frown. He turned around, his gaze turning menacing as he stared at Chen Baozhu: "Didn't I tell you to clean the room?"

Chen Baozhu rolled her eyes in disgust, swayed her fat body past Zhuang Yaozu, and swaggered in, covering her nose as she said, "No matter how much you clean this lousy room, it still stinks."

"Besides, that brat will give us the money in a couple of days, so let's just put up with it for a couple more days."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yaozu's ashen face softened slightly. He stepped inside and saw Yuan Zhiling, who was unconscious in a dog cage. His gaze suddenly sharpened.

"That bitch is really arrogant, she's just as bad as this man."

"He's almost dead and still won't give out his family's contact information. Luckily, I have a lot of connections, otherwise how would I know about this way to make money?"

Chen Baozhu glanced at Yuan Zhiling, a hint of infatuation in her eyes.

Yuan Zhiling was undoubtedly handsome. He was over forty years old, refined and cultured, with an excellent figure and not at all overweight.

Unlike her dead husband, who was over forty but looked like he was in his sixties or seventies, and was terribly weak in that area.

She always had to pretend to be excited to satisfy his ego.

She had just started to have some ideas when the old man would stop, leaving her scratching her head in frustration every time.

Chen Baozhu swallowed hard, wondering what it was like for city people to do that kind of thing.

Zhuang Yaozu was sitting in the chair when he accidentally aggravated his wound, causing him to gasp in pain.

Seeing Chen Baozhu staring at Yuan Zhiling with shining eyes, he sneered, "Damn, what? This woman wants to mess with a city guy?"

Chen Baozhu, whose thoughts had been exposed, was not without cunning. She smacked her lips and chuckled twice: "Yu Qiao is beautiful, and her father is very handsome too."

"I've never seen a man with such a good physique in the reed village."

"Tsk, wipe your drool." Zhuang Yaozu sneered, his liver-colored lips twitching. "Once you get the money and go abroad, I guarantee you'll still be able to play around with young foreigners."

Zhuang Yaozu walked over, touched his bandaged eyes, and, feeling angry, kicked the dog cage hard, spitting out, "What is this dog? A piece of trash, a boiled chicken."

Chen Baozhu took two steps forward and glanced at Yuan Zhiling inside: "You're right, Yaozu, you didn't give him too much medicine, did you? Don't kill Yuan Zhiling."

"I've been feeding her for so many years, how could I not know the dosage?" Zhuang Yaozu glared at Chen Baozhu, his thin face twisted and contorted, staring at Yuan Zhiling with resentment.

In the filthy dog ​​cage, Yuan Zhiling lay motionless, his clothes tattered, his black and yellow hair long enough to cover his eyes, his body filthy and emitting a foul stench.

Zhuang Yaozu was filled with rage, glaring fiercely at Yuan Zhiling and chuckling loudly.

"That little bitch beat me up like this, and she still wants her father to go back unscathed? She's dreaming!"

"As soon as I get the money, I'll blow this idiot's eyes out and cripple his arm..."

Chen Baozhu couldn't bear it: "Let's not go too far. If we spend all the money, we'll still have to ask that brat for it."

"I almost forgot." Zhuang Yaozu stared at Chen Baozhu with a sinister look in his cloudy eyes, his voice cracking like the strange noise of an old sewing machine: "What you said today, is it true?"

"What?" Chen Baozhu's mind didn't quite process it.

With a "smack," Chen Baozhu received a hard slap on the face from Zhuang Yaozu.

Chen Baozhu was stunned by the beating.

"You damned old hag! I asked you what the child looks like now and you said there were no photos or videos. Now you've produced them! Do you know how much money I've lost?! And you've ruined me like this!" Zhuang Yaozu cursed angrily.

Chen Baozhu's lips twitched, concealing her desire to pocket even more money, and she repeatedly defended herself: "Oh dear, I'm doing this for your own good! If it weren't for me today, who knows what that brat might have done?!"

"Are you telling the truth today?" Zhuang Yaozu stared intently at Chen Baozhu.

Chen Baozhu scratched her itchy face: "What do you mean, real or fake?"

"You have someone backing you?"

"Hahahaha, that was just to scare the girl to death, I don't have that ability." Chen Baozhu laughed awkwardly.

She learned all that from watching TV. How would a woman from a backward village know how to find those kinds of people?

Even if she could, she wouldn't have the money to hire someone to do it for her.

Zhuang Yaozu revealed an expression of "I knew it," and sneered disdainfully, "Well, you're quite good at pretending."

"Of course! My acting skills are second to none. If I hadn't been held back, I might have become a female actress!" Chen Baozhu laughed.

"Alright, alright, let's rest first."

Zhuang Yaozu kicked aside the stool blocking his way and climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor, making a clattering sound.

Then came a deafening snoring sound.

"What a pig," Chen Baozhu muttered to herself, then stared at Yuan Zhiling for a few more moments before reluctantly going upstairs.

Not long after, two snoring sounds came from downstairs.

With a creak, the wooden door was gently pushed open by a hand that gleamed with the luster of white jade.

Yu Qiao's deep phoenix eyes were icy cold as she slowly lifted her eyelashes, holding a candle in her hand, the flame shining on her tense little face.

She first looked at the second floor, then slowly moved down to the stairs, and then to the dilapidated dog cage.

The man inside was covered in muddy water, his face dirty and covered in stubble, but Yu Qiao recognized him at a glance. This man was the same one who had appeared in Reed Village half a year ago, Yuan Zhiling, her biological father.

Yu Qiao walked over expressionlessly, squatted down, looked at the lock on the dog cage, and broke the chain with just a slight pull.

The movements were light but extremely quick as they dragged Yuan Zhiling out of the dog cage.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on her fair forehead.

Yuan Zhiling is at least 1.85 meters tall. Although she has lost a lot of weight in the past six months, she still weighs about 140 kilograms.

No matter how strong Yu Qiao was, she weighed less than 80 pounds. Her petite body was thin and frail, and she carried Yuan Zhiling on her back.

Inside the cramped room, Yu Qiao picked up a candle, carefully carried Yuan Zhiling on her back, her back hunched, sweat beading on her forehead. She glanced coldly at the second floor and quickly left this place of trouble.

Meanwhile, in the two rooms in the attic, Zhuang Yaozu and Chen Baozhu were fast asleep.

Chen Baozhu dreamed that she was lying in a pile of money, with dozens of handsome young male models lined up for her to choose from.

He couldn't help but drool and smack his lips.

————

Yu Qiao, drenched in sweat, placed the barely alive Yuan Zhiling at the door of Jiang Zhujun's ward.

She was breathing heavily, her fair fingers brushing Yuan Zhiling's messy hair aside. This face gradually overlapped with the face deep in her memory.

"Sweetie, you're three years old now, you can't sleep with Mommy anymore, okay?"

"My sweetheart, you're four years old this year. This is your birthday present. Do you like it?" Yuan Zhiling led the four-year-old into a pink castle and said with a smile, "My sweetheart, you are my little princess."

"My sweet baby, you're turning five this year. We're going to have a big birthday celebration."

A riot broke out in the magnificent banquet hall. Five-year-old Zhuang Yaozu covered her mouth and nose in the toilet. She was desperate, struggling and screaming. Finally, she was knocked unconscious, stuffed into a suitcase and taken away.

What followed were countless painful memories for her.

Yu Qiao's eyes were dry, and a sharp crimson glint appeared in her eyes. She clenched her fists, making a cracking sound.

When she first entered the reed village, she fantasized that her parents would find her and take her away from that place.

But with each escape, beating, verbal abuse, and despair, the brain seemed to be traumatized, and those beautiful memories gradually became blurred.

She gradually became numb, and she asked herself countless times, why her?

She would repeatedly tell herself: My name is Yuan Jiang, my mother's name is Jiang Zhujun, and my father's name is Yuan Zhiling.

But later, she forgot who she was and where she came from.

Fortunately, she did not give up on saving herself.

She poisoned the wine, set fire to the reed village, and finally escaped.

Yu Qiao's cheeks were wet. She raised her hand to touch them and realized they were tears. She slowly closed her eyes, calmed herself down, and then lifted her eyelids to look into the ward.

She slowly stood up, wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, and her eyes turned cold and dark again.

She is no longer the innocent and beautiful Yuan Jiang of the past; now she is so despicable and wretched.

Yu Qiao turned around and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Yuan Jiang had died long ago in Reed Village.

At the moment she personally poisoned him and lost her temper.

Yu Qiao turned and left.

Lying on the ground, Yuan Zhiling's fingertips twitched slightly as he laboriously raised his hand and grabbed Yu Qiao's trouser leg.

Yuan Zhiling's eyes felt like they were glued shut, and she couldn't open them. She struggled to open them, and finally managed to open them a crack.

Having not seen the light for a long time, his eyes stung. He vaguely made out a familiar figure, his voice hoarse and raspy as he mumbled, "Yuan Jiang..."

“I am not Yuan Jiang,” Yu Qiao replied calmly, then quickly walked away without further hesitation.

"No, don't go, Yuan Jiang..." Yuan Zhiling was weak in all four limbs. She leaned against the ward door and tried her best to stand up, but she still fell to the ground.

Tears streamed down her dirty face, and her voice choked with sobs: "It's my fault for not protecting you and for making you suffer, Yuan Jiang. Forgive your father. It was my fault, my fault. Don't leave your father again."

No one responded to him.

Yuan Zhiling broke down in tears.

His noise woke Jiang Zhujun in the ward.

Jiang Zhujun's slender body trembled as she opened the door in disbelief. When she saw Yuan Zhiling lying on the ground in a disheveled state, tears instantly streamed down her face.

She rushed over and hugged Yuan Zhiling, crying, "You still know how to come back! You still know how to come back! Zhiling!"

"Zhujun, hurry, hurry and go after Jiang Jiang!" Yuan Zhiling cried out excitedly, tears streaming down her face, as she tightly gripped Jiang Zhujun's hand. "It's Jiang Jiang! Jiang Jiang rescued me! Hurry and go after her!"

"Jiang Jiang, my Jiang Jiang..." Jiang Zhujun was shocked, tears streaming down her face. She didn't care about Yuan Zhiling, and stood up shakily, chasing after him.

I rushed downstairs to the hospital and searched back and forth dozens of times, but I couldn't find him.

Overwhelmed with grief, Jiang Zhujun staggered back to the ward. Yuan Zhiling was still sitting at the door. She knelt down and hugged him: "Zhiling, is it really Jiang Jiang? Jiang Jiang is still alive?!"

"It really is Jiang Jiang, cough cough cough..." Yuan Zhiling coughed violently, his mouth filled with the smell of blood, and he spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

"I'm going to find a doctor." Jiang Zhujun suppressed her overwhelming joy at her lover's return and her daughter's survival, and repeatedly called for a caregiver.

Five or six doctors arrived one after another and took Yuan Zhiling away.

Jiang Zhujun clutched her chest, her mind reeling from the overwhelming joy. She kept murmuring, "My daughter is back. She's alive. She's alive..."

"Mom, what are you doing standing at the door?" Yuan Jiang walked over from the side and saw from afar that Jiang Zhujun's face was alternating between wild joy and sorrow. With a puzzled look, she helped Jiang Zhujun up and asked.

Jiang Zhujun was stunned for a moment, then looked at Yuan Jiang and pursed her lips without saying a word.

"Mom, I know I was wrong about what happened last time, so please don't be angry with me anymore." Yuan Jiang took a deep breath, suppressing her dissatisfaction, and reluctantly apologized: "Now Dad is also missing, so please don't be angry with me either."

"But what I said is the truth. It was Yu Qiao who hit me. I can't possibly be mistaken about those eyes..."

"Enough! Don't talk nonsense without evidence." Jiang Zhujun's temples throbbed.

Yuan Jiang was also filled with resentment. That bitch was so clever that she even destroyed the evidence from the dashcam. There was no surveillance camera on any of those roads.

There isn't a single clue right now.

She could only suffer in silence, but how could she possibly mistake those eyes! They belonged to Yu Qiao!

Yuan Jiang snorted indignantly and said dejectedly, "I understand, Mom."

Thinking of the Jiang family's wealth, Yuan Jiang suppressed her dissatisfaction, forced a smile, and shook Jiang Zhujun's arm as before, saying coquettishly, "Mom, please forgive me. We are family now, relying on each other for survival. Besides me, who else can accompany you in the future?"

It would be best if Yuan Zhiling disappeared without a trace, then the inheritance right would be hers.

Yuan Zhiling and Jiang Zhujun are both only children, and she is their only child now, an adopted daughter, so she also has inheritance rights.

Even if those old men and women from the Yuan and Jiang families no longer like her, that doesn't change the fact.

Yuan Jiang's lips curled upwards slightly.

Jiang Zhujun chuckled softly, pushed her away aloofly, and calmly said to her adopted daughter's calculating face, "Your father is back."

What! ?

Yuan Jiang stared in disbelief: "How is this possible!?"

Jiang Zhujun stared coldly at Yuan Jiang.

Yuan Jiang suddenly snapped out of her daze, swallowed hard, and explained in a panic, "Mom, what I mean is, Dad has been missing for so long, and it's so great that he's finally back!"

Jiang Zhujun's lips twitched slightly: "Really?"

“Of course…” Yuan Jiang’s eyes darted away.

"Then come with me to watch over your father when he wakes up."

————

Silver Bay Manor.

As soon as Yu Qiao entered the hall, she bumped into Qin Jin'er, who was about to leave.

"Qiaoqiao, where have you been so early?" Qin Jin'er asked curiously.