DF Chapter 72
by VolareThis unexpected yet bizarre answer made Fu Minglang cover her face and laugh in anger.
She took a deep breath, “When did you find out?”
“About a year or two ago,” Sheng Jia said frankly.
Fu Minglang: “How did you find out?”
This time, Sheng Jia didn’t answer. She only said, “I can’t answer that question.”
The air grew heavy, and after Sheng Jia finished speaking, neither of them spoke. Fu Minglang stared at her, finally closing her eyes, trying to hide the irrepressible anger within.
Of course, this wasn’t anger directed at Sheng Jia.
Even though she had suspected it for a while, Fu Minglang still felt incredulous when she confirmed the truth.
Not because of Sheng Jia’s identity, but because of the sheer stupidity of the situation itself.
She couldn’t understand how Song Ningqiu, who was already in control of the entire Song Corporation and had bodyguards with her wherever she went, could have allowed such a child-switching accident to happen.
It was so stupid that Fu Minglang couldn’t believe it, didn’t dare to believe it.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Sheng Jia said, “You’re wondering why such a mistake could have happened with so many people around Auntie Song.”
“I used to want to know too, but for me, that’s not the most important thing right now.”
“Then what do you think is the most important thing?” Fu Minglang asked, scrutinizing her.
“My future,” Sheng Jia said slowly, “You may have guessed, I am intentionally getting close to Song Ji’an and the Song family.”
“You can’t expect a girl who has just learned about her background to be magnanimous enough to forgive the person who stole her identity. You should also know that I haven’t had a great life in the past, so it’s normal for me to want something in return, right?”
“What do you want?” Fu Minglang asked, meeting her gaze.
“I want power, wealth, status. I want a life that isn’t burdened by hardship. I want the freedom to do what I want with the resources to do it,” she looked up at the sky. The occasional snowflakes fell on her face and gently melted into water droplets. She blinked, “Actually, before I found out about this, I had these delusions. I wanted so many things, but they were so far away from me. I couldn’t even dream of becoming rich.”
“Then why didn’t you just explain all of this?” Fu Minglang asked, puzzled, “If you had said all of this earlier, wouldn’t what you wanted have been easily obtained?”
“Would it really have been easily obtained?” Sheng Jia smiled sarcastically, “When you face a stranger you don’t know, would you wholeheartedly believe that they would be good to you?”
“If you were me, in my position, knowing my biggest secret, would you go to recognize your relatives at the first opportunity and explain everything? Can you be sure that the child who was switched is kind? Can you be sure that the estranged mother wants to take you back? Can you be sure that if you were brought back to that unfamiliar family, you wouldn’t be in pain again?”
“Perhaps that would be the beginning of another kind of pain, right?” Sheng Jia’s eyes turned red, “Perhaps, I would be taken back, and I would have to watch my biological mother and the fake daughter who had stolen her for almost eighteen years perform their motherly love in front of me, while I would lose the only woman in the world who treated me as her closest relative, and enter an unfamiliar and unequal family.”
“I can’t help but hate,” she said bluntly, “And I can’t help but worry.”
Because she herself was someone who always had many concerns, someone who wanted to maximize everything she could get.
Her feelings were cautious, every step she took was the result of careful and meticulous calculation. She couldn’t tolerate failure, and she didn’t have the luxury of failing.
To avoid pain, the best way was to be fully prepared before striking.
“So, you chose to get close to Song Ji’an, to get close to Song Ningqiu. You want to see for yourself what kind of people they are.” Fu Minglang finished her unfinished words, “So, now that you’ve come this far, what have you seen?”
Whether it was Sheng Jia or Fu Minglang, they both knew that Song Ningqiu and Song Ji’an were very good people. Even if they found out about this, many of the situations Sheng Jia was worried about would most likely not happen.
Song Ningqiu would definitely do everything she could to treat Sheng Jia and Song Ji’an fairly.
But for Sheng Jia, it wasn’t enough. None of this was enough.
In her eyes as she looked at Fu Minglang, there was ambition and desire. What she wanted was favoritism, an all-out effort to make up for the past, the pursuit after more than ten years of repressed life, what she wanted was to seek justice for her childhood self.
It’s not uncommon for people to have jealousy and anger.
No one can ask a victim to be sympathetic and to understand the big picture.
This was Sheng Jia’s most genuine thought when she initially approached Song Ji’an and Song Ningqiu. She hated everything she saw. Even though she had a calm exterior, her heart was full of surging waves that seemed to swallow her.
“But now it’s different,” Sheng Jia said softly, “They have changed from the scattered images I only saw between the lines of magazines into real people standing in front of me, and they have even been involved in my joys and sorrows for almost this entire year.”
“So, I’ve decided to take a step back. I want to give all the decision-making power to Auntie Song.”
Fu Minglang frowned slightly, “How do you want to hand it over?”
Sheng Jia walked up to her in a few steps and suddenly knelt down, “I want to beg you not to tell anyone about this. After the college entrance exam, I will tell them myself.”
“I’ve already let Auntie Song get to know me, appreciate me, and I’ve gotten close to her. You’ve also helped me tell her about my past experiences. There are less than three months left, enough for these things to ferment in her heart.” Tears finally welled up in her eyes, “After she finds out about this, I will accept whatever choice she makes. I want to see what choice she will make.”
Fu Minglang’s eyes were filled with complex emotions. This was also the first time she realized that Sheng Jia, who was so tall, was actually just a small figure when she knelt in the snow, making people feel sorry for her.
Her eyes were full of courage and expectation. After growing up in such difficult circumstances, she was still willing to open her heart and gamble on what choice her biological mother would make.
She feared being hurt, but she still had to face the potential harm.
This was the only granddaughter of her old friend, yet she had suffered so many setbacks. But she was so smart, so resilient, overcoming everything on her own, and even able to plan and walk so far on her own to test her biological mother.
Even her academic performance and abilities were outstanding. What scheming and careful behavior, for people like them, all of this was a rare advantage.
No one could understand how excited and shocked she was when she completely confirmed the truth.
Sheng Jia was a more outstanding young person than they were in their youth. She was destined to create her own world.
She looked so much like Song Yumei when she was young. If Fu Minglang had only been kind to her face and personality before, then at this moment, she felt an unspeakable closeness to Sheng Jia.
When she came here, she had been excited and wanted to recognize her. Being strict was just to understand what Sheng Jia was going to do.
She never advocated repaying evil with good, and she would not have any thoughts of blaming Sheng Jia for having such great hatred for this matter.
But Sheng Jia didn’t have such great hatred. What was wrapped in hate was a little girl carefully trying to win favor, but she still had to feel guilty and uneasy about it.
Fu Minglang sighed silently and squatted down to hug Sheng Jia, “A daughter has gold under her knees, why are you kneeling?”
“I promise you,” she said slowly, “Do whatever you want to do.”
Sheng Jia leaned on her shoulder, calmly staring at the clear blue sky, and said in a hoarse voice, “Thank you.”
“No matter what choice Ningqiu makes, I will be your support.” Fu Minglang guaranteed, “Sheng Jia, go ahead and do it.”
The last sentence was almost a whisper.
Some snow fell on the old woman’s shoulders, reflecting on Sheng Jia’s face. She blinked her eyes extremely slowly, concealing the hint of apology in her eyes.
She hadn’t told Fu Minglang the truth.
Even for the biological mother she had admired for many years, she was unwilling to hand over the power of choice to the other party.
She raised her hand to cover Fu Minglang’s back and returned the hug.
Having been in contact with Fu Minglang for so long, she had a general understanding of her.
She had no children, most of her relatives had passed away, she was kind but had her own bottom line, she had helped many girls over the years and became their support, and more importantly, she was close to Song Yumei and was a lifelong friend. For Song Ningqiu, this was an elder she couldn’t refuse.
When she witnessed the mother-daughter relationship between Song Ningqiu and Song Ji’an, Sheng Jia had already figured out whether her status as a biological daughter would surpass Song Ji’an’s.
Just like if Song Ji’an returned to Sheng Huaiying’s side, she was also confident that Sheng Huaiying’s feelings for her would not surpass her own.
So she now chose a new backer.
———Fu Minglang.
What she was waiting for was just her words.
In the future, no matter whether Song Ningqiu was fair or not, Fu Minglang would keep a close eye on it. She would not let her old friend’s granddaughter suffer too much.
–
When Sheng Jia returned to the playground with her balloon, Song Ji’an had already brought Song Ningqiu to wait in the class’s area.
An hour passed quickly. A large number of scattered students reassembled on the playground. The colorful balloons in everyone’s hands almost covered half of the soccer field.
Song Ningqiu was sitting on a temporary seat arranged by the school, looking up and talking to Song Ji’an.
Sheng Jia didn’t go over immediately. She just stood quietly behind them for a long time, then touched her heart.
It seemed that after coming down from Ansdert Island, her obsession with her biological mother wasn’t so strong anymore.
Or rather, not from Ansdert Island, but after Sheng Huaiying reconciled with her, her obsession with her biological mother wasn’t so heavy anymore.
Even now, as she watched Song Ningqiu and Song Ji’an being so close, the sadness in her heart wasn’t enough to overwhelm her and make it difficult for her to breathe.
“Sheng Jia?” Song Ji’an saw her while looking around and waved to her across the crowd, “Come here!”
Sheng Jia came back to her senses and walked forward quickly. It wasn’t until she reached the two of them that she said with a faint smile, “Hello, Auntie Song.”
Song Ningqiu stuffed a bag of candy into her palm, “Sheng Jia, long time no see, have some candy.”
“This is what Mom brought back for us from Italy.” Song Ji’an approached with a smile, tore open the package and stuffed one into Sheng Jia’s mouth, “I used to like this flavor the most, you try it too.”
The candy had a light and sweet fragrance, completely different from the rumors Sheng Jia had read in books about Italians’ love of sugar. She bit down gently and it shattered, the filling flowing out, it was matcha flavored.
“Delicious,” Sheng Jia praised, “First time eating this kind of texture.”
Song Ningqiu waved her hand, “As long as you like it.”
“By the way, Mom, Grandma Fu also came, but I can’t find her now?” Song Ji’an reminded, “Do you want to meet her later?”
It was necessary to greet the elders, and Song Ningqiu nodded, “I’ll go find her after letting off the lights with you.”
As she spoke, she glanced at the school written on Sheng Jia’s balloon and asked like an elder, “Which major are you planning to take after entering Jinjing University?”
She didn’t doubt Sheng Jia’s wishes, but just smiled and asked about her future plans.
Sheng Jia was slightly stunned before answering, “It should be finance.”
“That’s very good,” Song Ningqiu nodded, not stingy with her praise. She teased, “With Little Sheng’s ability, in the future, our Song Corporation will probably have to go through Ji’an’s relationship to invite you to join.”
Lu Jing had already picked up the microphone on the stage again, and inspirational music resounded through the sky. The teacher at the front of the team, who was guiding everyone to release the balloons, was making gestures. When it was Sheng Jia’s turn, the music was at its climax, and the sound of the speakers was so loud that people could barely hear each other.
Song Ji’an leaned into Sheng Jia’s ear and said with a smile, “That’s right, in the future, inviting you to Song Corporation will have to go through my connections, right?”
“I call this mastering core competitiveness.”
The dreams of the young people poured into the sky with the rising balloons. Sheng Jia turned her head and glanced at Song Ji’an. Her eyes were full of lively joy and vitality.