Chapter 9 After the soul swap, I switched back.

After a chaotic exchange, Si's mother finally realized that the ugly, lame boy in front of her was her son, whom she had cherished for over a decade.

Unable to face it, yet forced to accept the fact, she instructed Si Nan to quickly accompany her brother back for treatment. Si's mother then promptly called Si's father to tell him about it.

Si's father couldn't believe it.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Si stared intently at Mrs. Si, his voice forceful. "Are you sure that really is Xiao Qi?!"

“I’m sure! It’s my own son, how could I not recognize him?” Mrs. Si choked up.

"Then before, Xiao Qi—" The two sons were switched back and forth, and for a moment, Si's father didn't even know how to address them. After a pause, he said, "Then how come you didn't recognize that the child who lived with us for a month was Si Ding?"

Mrs. Si, enraged and embarrassed, retorted: "Did you recognize me?!"

Mr. Si choked, somewhat annoyed: "Forget it, I can't explain it to you. They want to go home now, right? I'll go back as soon as possible!"

He was even more unable to accept this than Si's mother. Si's mother's focus was only on the suffering her son had endured, but he, because he had been frequently seeking Si Qi's help via text message over company matters for the past month, knew how important Si Qi was to the Si family, and for a moment, he didn't even dare to proactively confirm this with Si Qi…

He said vaguely, "You should bring Si...you should bring him home too."

Just half an hour ago, the couple was overjoyed that their son had become the top scorer in the province, excitedly discussing how to throw a banquet. Half an hour later, they suddenly learned that their son was not the son they thought he was, but their biological son whom they had neglected and let down for so many years. Even though they were experienced and calm, they were still quite taken aback by this news.

Upon hearing this, Si's mother was about to agree, but she, who had always been impatient and arrogant when facing "Si Ding," suddenly remembered Si Qi's performance over the past month and how he had always pleased her and made her proud... Her expression changed one after another, and for a moment she didn't know how to face Si Qi or how to speak to him.

Mrs. Si's eyes flickered, avoiding looking at Mr. Si across from her, and she said vaguely, "He... he'll go back after his exams. I don't want to talk to him."

Mr. Si saw through Mrs. Si's true thoughts at a glance, and couldn't help but sigh. He rubbed his temples with his fingers, thoroughly annoyed by this troubling matter, and said, "Then let Si Nan go."

Mrs. Si immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay."

Si Nan, who was suddenly assigned a task by her mother: "…………" She didn't want to go either!

Si Nan protested, "Why?! I—"

Mrs. Si frowned: "Don't you like your brother the most? Why are you making excuses when I ask you to do something for him?"

Si Nan hurriedly explained, "I'm not, I, I am..."

Siding, who was watching from the side, leaned closer and asked, "What's wrong with Nannan?"

Si Nan: "…………"

Although she knew in her heart that the person in front of her was her familiar older brother, Si Nan felt really awkward being called "Nannan" by Si Ding with that face and that voice.

She lowered her head and said, "I don't know what to say, let the driver pick him up..."

So the matter was passed around from one family member to another, and finally it fell on the driver's shoulders.

After Si Qi left the examination room, he didn't see the figure who was skipping and jumping over and shouting "Brother, you're awesome!" within a few minutes, and he realized what was going on.

After Xiuxiu said that Si Ding had successfully revealed his identity to the Si family, Si Qi had a complete understanding of the situation.

He waited quietly for a while, but did not receive a message from Si's mother filled with angry scolding, nor did he receive any contact from Si's father or daughter. He couldn't help but chuckle softly.

This family is really interesting.

Xiuxiu: "Someone posted a video of Siding and Sinan hugging and crying on the campus network."

Just then, one of the students next to Si Qi exclaimed "Holy crap!" and turned his gaze sharply to Si Qi. At the same time, he patted the shoulders of the students around him, urging them to check the campus network.

Si Qi didn't care at all.

He never intended to hide his identity for life, otherwise he wouldn't have so casually displayed his own temperament and abilities in front of the Si family, and he wouldn't have been so lax in keeping an eye on Si Ding.

A month was roughly in line with Si Qi's expectations, and enough time for the seeds he planted to take root and sprout silently.

The fact that the Si family refused to contact him and instead sent their driver to pick him up proves this point.

Amidst the incredulous or whispering gazes of his classmates, Si Qianran boarded the flying car parked in front of him.

When he arrived, Si's mother and Si's daughter were gathered around Si Ding with concern, and the doctor was examining Si Ding.

Upon seeing Si Qi appear, Si's mother and Si's daughter watched him walk in with his usual elegant and light steps, their expressions complex.

Si Ding gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with boundless hatred, and said to him with a forced smile, "Brother, you're back."

Si Qi seemed not to hear, sitting casually on the opposite sofa. His legs were crossed, his hands resting casually on his knees, his posture relaxed.

The more Si's mother and Si's daughter adopted this attitude, the less they knew how to start a conversation. Their silence surprised Si Ding greatly. He couldn't understand why these two had no reaction after seeing Si Qi. Shouldn't they have jumped out immediately, pointed at Si Qi, and started cursing, or even physically assaulted him?

This was exactly the kind of thing they would naturally do when they disliked Si Qi in the past.

Si Ding's eyes darted around, and he let out a low cry of pain, which caught the attention of his mother and sister. They looked at Si Ding anxiously and asked in unison, "Brother/Baby, what's wrong?"

Siding looked pained, but still managed a reassuring smile, not wanting his mother and sister to worry. He forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, it just hurts a little."

His appearance was truly heartbreaking. Mother Si clutched her chest in anguish, looking at Si Ding's unshaven face, scarred face, dark circles around his eyes, and wounds all over his body. Her anger finally ignited, and she vented her fury on the culprit, Si Qi: "How could you be so vicious!"

Si Qi raised an eyebrow, amused, and asked, "What's wrong with me?"

Pointing to the wounds on Si Ding's body, Si's mother said, "These wounds—"

Si Qi raised his hand to interrupt: "I didn't touch him. You can ask your son and daughter who did this to him."

Si Ding: "..."

Si Nan: "!!!"

Si's mother stared blankly at Si Qi's indifferent attitude. In all her years, this was the first time she had ever seen such an expression on Si Qi's face. Whether it was Si Qi calling her "Mom" with dependence before the age of six, or Si Ding calling her "Mom" affectionately or playfully after the age of six, or Si Qi calling her name indifferently for the past month... she had never seen anything like this before.

Indifferent, cold, as if looking at a stranger, or even less than a stranger, someone he loathed...

Mother Si couldn't accept it and couldn't help but avoid Si Qi's gaze. Si Ding and Si Nan, perhaps out of guilt or for some other reason, also fell silent. Only Si Qi spoke slowly and casually, "They won't say, but I have a guess. Did Si Nan have someone beat them up?"

Hearing this, Si's mother, who had instinctively tried to avoid the question, stared at her daughter in astonishment. Si Nan's expression was evasive, as if she was about to cry, and she stammered, unsure of how to respond.

Si Qi continued, "Those scars on your face, were they made with a razor blade? Luckily I left early, otherwise I would have been the one with the slashed face."

Si's mother's voice was shrill: "Si Nan?!"

Si Nan's defenses crumbled, and she couldn't help but burst into tears, vehemently protesting, "No! I thought he was Si Ding, that's why I hit him!"

"Look at the injuries on his face and body, and the fractures. He must have been beaten several times. You hit him more than once, didn't you?" Si Qi added fuel to the fire, looking at Si Ding's humiliated expression, and said with a smile, "Let me see... Today is the joint exam. Before every exam, I always get beaten up so badly that I can't take the exam. Looks like this time will be the same?"

Hearing this, Si's mother dared not look at Si Qi's expression, dared not think about what kind of mood Si Qi was in when he said these words, and just kept twisting Si Nan's arm and pinching her flesh: "How could you treat your brother like this!"

Si Nan cried, "I don't know, I don't know! I thought he was Si Ding, so I had people beat him up like before. I didn't mean to hit my brother..."

"Then you can't—"

"But when I used to hit him, Mom, you didn't care! When he complained to you before, you always said it was nothing, so I felt free to hit him!" Si Nan shouted.

"Smack—"

Embarrassed and furious, Si's mother slapped Si's daughter across the face, gritting her teeth: "Shut up!!"

"Waaah..." Si Nan covered her face and cried. Not daring to talk back to her mother, she could only apologize to Si Ding: "Brother, I'm sorry... I really didn't know..."

Si Ding felt humiliated, but he forced himself not to express it. At this moment, both Si's mother and Si Nan were his allies, and they were the ones who could help him ensure his future status in the Si family. Of course, he would not settle scores with Si Nan at this time.

He said gently, "It's okay, I don't blame you."

Si Nan's eyes lit up, and she was about to speak when a sneer suddenly came from Si Qi's side.

Enraged by the mocking laughter, Si Nan yelled at Si Qi, "What are you laughing at? What right do you have to laugh at me?!"

“I laughed because I wanted to, so what? As for who’s the right to laugh—” Si Qi casually crossed his other leg and said to Si Nan with a half-smile, “I’m the one who’s your brother.”

"You're talking nonsense!!" Si Nan roared, "You're just a bastard born in the slums, an illegitimate child!! Even if you have my brother's body, my parents will never acknowledge you!!"

"Is that so?" Si Qi laughed even harder: "But when I came back a few years ago, Si Ding, who occupied my body and identity, wasn't he always treated as a member of the Si family by you?"

Si Nan was stunned by these words, "What did you say..."

Si Qi burst into laughter, this time amused by the expressions of the mother and son opposite him: "My body has been taken over by an outsider. I am clearly a child of the Si family, but everyone treats me as an illegitimate child, bullying and mocking me. For so many years, my father and mother have never cared, letting you humiliate me."

Looking at Si Nan, whose expression was growing increasingly terrified, Si Qi said sarcastically, "Now I'm finally back in my own body. Whether in body or soul, I am the eldest son of this family. Who would deny that?"

Si Nan finally understood what Si Qi meant from his explanation. She couldn't help but grab her hair, looking at her mother and brother in disbelief and even fear, asking them, "Is it true? He, he's really my brother? But...but...?!" So, what did the mother and son mean by their cryptic conversation at the school gate?

Si's mother turned her face away, avoiding eye contact and refusing to discuss the matter. Si Ding, however, had Si Nan's arm tightly gripped by her, her eyes questioning him. He could only indirectly remind her, "Nannan, I'm the one who's been with you for so many years."

Si Nan's heart sank as she finally understood the truth that her family had kept hidden all those years ago.

Feeling Si Qi's cold gaze behind her, she involuntarily recalled her actions over the years. Looking at Si Ding's apologetic expression, she tried to escape her own thoughts, thinking, "Yes, he's the brother I know." Although they weren't related by blood, and although he came from a lowly slum, he had been by her side for so many years. He was the person she loved and admired. How could she deny it just because she was in a different body?

As if convinced by those words, Si Nan tried to calm herself down. Looking at the boy behind her who was watching them, she wanted to get angry, but didn't know how.

It was like punching cotton; the sudden truth left her completely at a loss as to how to face this person.

He was her own brother, yet she had treated him like an illegitimate child, verbally abusing and beating him for so many years. The reason she hated and loathed him was never there in the first place; he was even the biggest victim in this family.

What should she do with this person?

Is it to stand up for the injuries on "brother"?

But the person who hurt "brother" the most over the past month was clearly herself.

Whether it was stealing his pills, publicly humiliating him, slashing his face with a knife, or sending people to drag him to the toilet and beat him up so he would miss his exam...

She did all of these things.

The reason she did all this was to deal with her own brother, with whom she had no grudge.

It's as if all the responsibility and mistakes were caused by her alone, while everyone else was the victim.

The more Si Nan thought about it, the more she felt devastated. She wanted to take her anger out on someone or apologize, but she didn't know who to turn to.

Seeing Si Nan looking pained but doing nothing, Si Ding felt frustrated and looked up at his mother, choking back tears, "Mom..."

Seeing Si Ding's helpless state, Si's mother was ultimately overcome by pity. She gritted her teeth and said to Si Qi, "Xiao Qi is the child I've raised for so many years. I've always groomed him to be my heir. Even if you've switched back to your original body, this family—"

"Shut up!" This was the scene that Si's father rushed home to find.

His wife and daughter surrounded Si Ding, showering him with care and affection. Si Qi, who already felt so indebted to his family, found himself on the opposite side of everyone, treated like an enemy by them.

The sight made Si's father's vision go black. He interrupted Si's mother's warning to Si Qi with an angry shout and strode over, saying, "What are you saying to your only son?!"

A note from the author:

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