Dating Myself - Chapter 27.1

The villa and Fusheng Garden were only a street apart. It was a three-minute bike ride and a five-minute drive. The driving time, including waiting for a red light, was even slower than cycling.

An Mu had just gotten out of the shower and was drying her hair when Wen Qiaoyun arrived. Even though there was a doorbell, Wen Qiaoyun pounded on the door so hard it echoed throughout the hallway like thunder. Jian Yixi, worried about the neighbors, rushed to open it.

The word “Mom” hadn’t even fully left her lips when Wen Qiaoyun pushed past her and walked into the living room, her face reflected on the shiny floor tiles. She immediately saw An Mu, who was holding a hair dryer. Wen Qiaoyun’s heels clicked on the floor as she walked toward An Mu.

There were only two pairs of slippers in the apartment. One for An Mu and a spare pair that Jian Yixi was wearing. Jian Yixi had thought her mother would just take her and leave, so she quickly took off her slippers and stood barefoot. She picked up the spare pair to give to her mother, who was already out of sight. She quickly caught up to Wen Qiaoyun and offered the slippers.

“Mom, please wear these.”

Wen Qiaoyun looked at her with disgust. “Look at you! Do you think she’s worthy of me wearing her slippers?!” She looked at Jian Yixi’s bare feet and got even angrier. If they weren’t in front of her enemy, she would have slapped her embarrassing daughter.

She held back her anger and turned to An Mu. The heels made her taller, but she was still not much taller than An Mu, who was wearing slippers.

An Mu put the hair dryer down, leaned against the TV cabinet, and casually dried her wet hair. The tea-brown hair looked darker when it was wet. Her newly washed, pale skin was like jade. Her amber eyes glanced at Jian Yixi’s face and then settled on Wen Qiaoyun.

“A pair of slippers that costs a few dollars isn’t worthy of you, but a donkey bag is? Is it because a fool is looking at another fool?”

Wen Qiaoyun looked at her Louis Vuitton bag and it took her a second to realize An Mu was calling her a turtle with a donkey bag. She was so angry she raised her hand to slap An Mu. “You uneducated brat! I’ll teach you a lesson for your mother today!”

An Mu didn’t move. She just stuck her face out. “Go ahead. Hit me hard. Don’t worry, my surveillance camera has a 20-megapixel lens. It’ll capture the color of your nail polish perfectly.”

The slap stopped mid-air. Wen Qiaoyun was so scared that she quickly looked around and saw a faint red dot in the corner. “You! Are you crazy?! Why do you have a camera in your own home?!”

“To keep people like you out.”

Since she had come in, Wen Qiaoyun hadn’t been able to say a single thing. She was so angry she was shaking. She wanted to hit her but couldn’t. The curse words were in her mouth, but she swallowed them. She was here to solve a problem, not to lose her temper. She would have plenty of chances to deal with this brat.

As a CEO, Wen Qiaoyun lowered her head, smoothed her hair, and then looked at An Mu with a fake smile. “You’re old enough. Let’s not play these childish games. Let’s talk business.”

An Mu watched her, drying her hair. Her half-closed eyes were deep. Her face was expressionless, which made it hard for Wen Qiaoyun to speak. But she took a deep breath and said, “Name your price.”

“Hehe… hahaha…”

An Mu suddenly burst out laughing. Jian Yixi was shocked. It was the first time she had seen An Mu laugh like that. An Mu wiped a tear from her eye and looked at Wen Qiaoyun like she was an idiot. No one knew how much pain and regret were hidden behind her smile.

This old trick again. Back then, Jian Yihu had tried to bribe her adoptive parents and failed. They had ended up dead. Then, Jian Yihu and her friends conspired to get rid of her. Now, they were trying to bribe her? What a joke.

An Mu’s laughter stopped as quickly as it started. Her face became blank as she watched Wen Qiaoyun’s face turn from green to white to green again. She then spoke slowly. “You want to make a deal with me? You should check if you have enough money in your pocket first.”

Wen Qiaoyun scoffed. “Who are you trying to fool? I’ve already looked into you. You’re just a loser who ran back to China after failing abroad. Anyone with a brain knows that people with money send their children abroad. You grew up in France and are a high school student. Why would you suddenly come back to China? The curriculum and difficulty are completely different. You have to start from scratch. You wouldn’t have come back if you could have stayed there. The fact that you’re here means you couldn’t stay. Your family is either bankrupt or in a lot of trouble. I think the trouble is so bad that your family couldn’t send you to a first-tier city like Beijing or Shanghai and had to send you to a third-tier city like Weicheng. Look at this small apartment you’re renting. If your family still had money, they wouldn’t have just thrown you into this place. At the very least, they would have hired a nanny for you. Since your family has fallen so low, don’t pretend to be a rich girl. Let’s talk. At least you’ll have some money for decent clothes.”

Wen Qiaoyun thought she was a good judge of character. An Mu was wearing pajamas, so she couldn’t tell anything, but she had seen her that night in the car. An Mu was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress. Wen Qiaoyun didn’t know the brand. It was probably from a cheap stall. The quality looked good, and the style was unique, so it was probably a cheap leftover from a foreign trade company. She can’t even afford a decent brand, and she’s trying to act rich?

Wen Qiaoyun glanced at the camera and walked to a blind spot. She opened her bag and took out two thick stacks of money. “This is 20,000 yuan. I’ll give you another 30,000 yuan after this is over. All you have to do is give me your Weibo account and not log into any social media. You don’t have to worry about anything else.”

An Mu smiled again, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You want to buy my account for 50,000 yuan?”

“Not buy. Just borrow for a little while. When this is over, the account is yours again.”

“And what will you do with my account?”

Wen Qiaoyun said patiently, “I’ll delete your posts and explain that it was all a misunderstanding.”

“Can you really explain that?”

“One account can’t. But with Qi Liran’s and the others’ accounts, it can be explained.”

An Mu knew what Wen Qiaoyun was trying to do. She wanted to use her account to clear Jian Yihu’s name, then bribe Qi Liran and the others to turn against her. The most important part was bribing Wu Shutao’s family. Wu Shutao could get a reduced sentence for testifying against Jian Yihu, but it wouldn’t be by much. It didn’t make sense for him to drag Jian Yihu down with him. It was better to take the money and lie in court. At least he would have some money to start a business when he was released. As for the screenshots, they weren’t enough. Chat records are not admissible in court. If Wu Shutao lied in court, Jian Yihu would be acquitted. Jian Yihu would get her name back, and An Mu would be the villain. Netizens wouldn’t care about the truth; they would just follow the crowd and say, “Wow, what a plot twist.”

Wen Qiaoyun’s plan was great, but her opponent was An Mu. An Mu threw the towel down. Water was dripping from her hair. She ran her fingers through it and pushed it back. The water droplets ran down her face, her neck, and into her clothes.

“Borrowing the account for a while for 50,000 yuan… that’s too little.”

“We can negotiate the price.”

An Mu put her arm around Jian Yixi’s shoulder and asked, “How much do you think is a good price?”

Jian Yixi was still holding the slippers, her head down. She didn’t look up until An Mu asked. Her face was pale, and her expression was dark. Wen Qiaoyun interrupted, “Xixi, tell her that money is not a problem.”

An Mu looked at Jian Yixi with a smile. She knew it was not a good idea to force Jian Yixi to choose, but she had to. Wen Qiaoyun was her birth mother, after all. But sometimes, you have to choose. This was the best way to make her grow up with as little pain as possible.

Jian Yixi had slept for a long time and cried before that. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Even though she wasn’t angry, her eyes showed a sense of sadness. Wen Qiaoyun didn’t care. She just wanted to solve the problem.

“I’m talking to you! Tell her!”

Jian Yixi smiled faintly. The smile was weak, but then her expression became firm. “Mom, you can’t be so shameless.”

“What did you say?” Wen Qiaoyun thought she had misheard. “Say that again.”

“I’ll say it again. You can’t be so shameless.”

Wen Qiaoyun’s face turned green. She held the money tightly. She was more composed than Jian Yihu. Even though she was furious, she held it in. “I can’t believe I found someone like you! An Mu! Stop talking! 100,000 yuan! Just for a month!”

An Mu heard what she wanted to hear. She gently rubbed Jian Yixi’s head, picked up her phone, and tapped on it. She turned the screen to Wen Qiaoyun. “200,000 yuan to borrow Jian Yihu’s Weibo for three days. How does that sound? A good deal, right?”

“You? 200,000 yuan?! Change out of your pajamas that cost 100 yuan for five first.”

An Mu stood calmly and shook her phone. “What’s wrong? Are you getting old? Look closely before you speak.”

It was a bit far away, so Wen Qiaoyun couldn’t see the screen. She scoffed and walked out of the camera’s blind spot. She was right in front of the phone. Wen Qiaoyun’s eyes widened. She held the money so tightly it was wrinkling.

What? How many digits is that?! Where’s the decimal point?! The phone screen showed a bank notification. The balance was so high it seemed fake. Wen Qiaoyun’s first instinct was to swipe the screen to see if An Mu had photoshopped it. It was a real bank notification. “This… this is impossible.”

Wen Qiaoyun still couldn’t believe it. “Who would be stupid enough to put so much money into a savings account? You could at least put it in a fixed deposit. You’d make a lot of money on interest alone!”

An Mu calmly put her phone away. “My parents are just used to a negative interest rate. They don’t care about the interest. And besides, they’re not interested in that little bit of money.”

Wen Qiaoyun’s face changed. What did she mean, “that little bit of money”? The company’s total assets weren’t even as much as An Mu’s bank account balance! The bank notification was a huge shock. Wen Qiaoyun felt like the 20,000 yuan in her hand was burning. She felt embarrassed. She wanted to throw the money and leave with some dignity, but she couldn’t. She put the money back in her bag.

There was no way they could talk anymore. She just had to go home. “Jian Yixi, let’s go home!”

Jian Yixi knew that if she went back, Wen Qiaoyun would take all her anger out on her. Jian Yixi lowered her head and refused. She didn’t want to go back, at least not for the next few days.

“Jian Yixi! Are you deaf?! Didn’t you hear me?!” Wen Qiaoyun walked to the door and saw that Jian Yixi wasn’t following. “Come here! Do you hear me?!”

Jian Yixi took a deep breath. She didn’t think she would ever talk back to an adult like this. “I’m not going back.”

Wen Qiaoyun’s eyes widened. “What did you say?!”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t want to go back. My fever just broke. I have to go for another IV tomorrow. An Mu can go with me. You can focus on my sister’s situation.”

Wen Qiaoyun clenched her teeth. “An Mu is the one who caused all this trouble for your sister! Why are you with her?! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”

“What about my sister? She took pictures of me and tried to frame me. She said all those terrible things about me online. Why don’t you say she’s doing it on purpose?”

“You’ve grown up, haven’t you?! How dare you talk back to me?! Why did I have you?! I should have never looked for you!”

No one who hasn’t experienced it can understand how much those words hurt. Jian Yixi’s face was pale. She smiled bitterly. She couldn’t tell if Wen Qiaoyun was being serious or just angry. It didn’t matter anymore. She had told her she had a fever several times, but Wen Qiaoyun hadn’t asked. Even her adoptive mother, who was miles away, could tell something was wrong with her voice. It was clear that her birth parents didn’t care about her.

If An Mu wasn’t there, she would have had to go back with Wen Qiaoyun. But with An Mu, she felt like she had a backbone. She could finally stop lying to herself and solve the problems on her own without worrying her adoptive parents.

“Mom, you’ve already had me. There’s no use regretting it now. But there’s still a chance if you regret finding me. I can go back to Shunyi or stay here. I’ll borrow money from my adoptive parents and pay you back for the tuition. You don’t have to worry about my school fees anymore.”

Going back to Shunyi was impossible. She got into a top-tier school, so it would be hard for her to go back. Finding another school would be difficult. Staying in Weicheng was the best option. Her adoptive parents weren’t rich, but they could afford the tuition for two years without selling everything they had. She could also get a summer job.

Jian Yixi was being serious. But in Wen Qiaoyun’s eyes, it was a pure provocation. “You! How dare you, Jian Yixi! You won’t be happy until you kill me, will you?! I’ll ask you one more time. Are you coming with me or not?!”

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to go back.”

The more polite and gentle Jian Yixi was, the angrier Wen Qiaoyun became. “Fine! I’ll call the police!” Wen Qiaoyun took out her phone and started to dial 110.

This sudden change of events made Jian Yixi panic. “Why are you calling the police?”

Wen Qiaoyun glared at An Mu and sneered, “I’ll accuse her of being a cult leader! Brainwashing you and inciting you to be rebellious and not go home!”

Jian Yixi was young and was completely stunned. She quickly tried to stop her, but An Mu grabbed her arm. “Let her call the police. I haven’t broken any laws, and this is my home. The police won’t do anything to me.”

That was true, but it would cause a huge scene. What would the neighbors think of An Mu? An Mu lived alone. If there were bad rumors about her, what would happen? An Mu might not care, but Jian Yixi did. Jian Yixi saw that Wen Qiaoyun had already dialed 110 and was talking to the dispatcher. She slowly pulled her arm away from An Mu.

She couldn’t look An Mu in the eye, afraid of seeing disappointment. But she didn’t want to explain, fearing An Mu’s stubborn personality would make her stay even more. An Mu had already done so much for her. She didn’t want to drag her into this mess. She would figure out this problem on her own. The Jian family didn’t want her, and she didn’t have to stay there. She would leave on her own terms and not involve anyone else.

“I… I think I should go back.”

“I told you, you don’t have to be afraid of the police. It’s okay. Even if they come, I’ll find a way for you to stay.”

“I… I know. I don’t not trust you. I just think… it’s my home after all. My mom wants me to go back so much that she’s willing to call the police. That means she… she still cares about me. The family is in a mess right now. I don’t want to cause more trouble.”

When she said that, An Mu let go of her arm. An Mu looked at Jian Yixi, who was still looking down. She couldn’t tell if Jian Yixi truly believed she had a place in the Jian family or if she just didn’t want to cause her any more trouble.

“Look up and talk to me.”

Jian Yixi’s small shoulders stiffened. Even though she didn’t want to look up, she didn’t want to go against An Mu’s wishes. She slowly raised her head. Her eyes were red. Even though she was trying to look normal, she couldn’t fool An Mu. An Mu understood her.

An Mu didn’t want to let her go. She didn’t want her to face the storm that was coming. But she knew that this was the best chance for her sixteen-year-old self to grow. A bird has to leave the nest. She couldn’t stop her from trying to fly. An Mu let go completely. Her eyes were full of emotion, but she smiled gently. “Alright. But remember, if anything happens, call me immediately.”

Jian Yixi was prepared for the worst. She was even ready to endure their curses without fighting back. She would wait until they were tired of yelling and then tell them she wanted to leave the Jian family. However, there was no storm. Only Wen Qiaoyun and Jian Xiangwei’s heartfelt act.

Wen Qiaoyun said, “Mom was wrong. I was too stressed and said some harsh things. You won’t hold it against me, right?”

Jian Xiangwei also said, “We’re all Jians. You and your sister are twins. You grew up in the same womb. Even if you have a little conflict, it’s not a big deal. Everything will be fine once we talk it out. How can sisters hold a grudge against each other?”

Wen Qiaoyun said, “Your sister is spoiled. She’s not sensible. She’s already admitted her mistake to us. It’s just that you’ve just come home, and we’re so happy to have you back. She’s a little jealous. You have to understand her.”

Jian Xiangwei added, “Yes. Think about it. If you were the one who went through so much to find your sister and she came home and took over your parents, how would you feel?”

Wen Qiaoyun and Jian Xiangwei said in unison, “You’re sisters. You have to understand each other.”

A little conflict? Is what Jian Yihu did a little conflict? What would be a big one? What she did to Qi Liran? Or would she hire a robber to attack me?

Even if Jian Yihu had done that, you would still say that family secrets should be kept. That it’s just a small conflict between sisters. Besides, shouldn’t Jian Yihu be the one to apologize? Do you have to do it for her?

Jian Yixi wanted to say all that, but she remembered her decision and kept her mouth shut. Some thoughts are hard to suppress once they appear. She didn’t care about anything now. She was tired of arguing. She just wanted to leave the Jian family.

Wen Qiaoyun had said what she wanted to say and changed the subject. “We’re a family. You can’t side with outsiders. You’ve seen that your sister is in the hospital. As her sister, even if you’re angry, you should help her get through this. She can slowly apologize to you later, right?”

Jian Xiangwei added, “Go post on Weibo. Say it was all a misunderstanding and that someone was stirring up trouble. You don’t have to say who.”

Wen Qiaoyun had already told Jian Xiangwei about An Mu. She was worried that An Mu’s family was powerful and they couldn’t afford to offend her. Jian Xiangwei didn’t think so.

Jian Xiangwei said, “You’re overthinking it. If her family was truly powerful, would she have to do this herself? They could have just hired a PR team to destroy Yuexin. She’s a nobody.”

Wen Qiaoyun said, “But she really has a lot of money in her bank account!”

Jian Xiangwei said, “Think about it. Why would she suddenly come back if her family wasn’t in trouble? That money might be the only money they had left before their company was seized. They probably told her to bring it with her. It’s likely their family’s last bit of money.”

If that was all the money An’s family had, they were not as rich as the Jian family. The Jian family’s company had a high market value, and they had more connections since they had been in China for a long time. They understood the situation. But to be safe, Jian Xiangwei called someone to investigate An Mu. However, Jian Yihu’s situation was urgent. They couldn’t wait for the results. They couldn’t let their daughter’s life be ruined.

Jian Xiangwei handed Jian Yixi her phone. “Post on Weibo.”

Jian Yixi instinctively pressed the phone and noticed the passcode was gone. She looked at Jian Xiangwei in surprise. Jian Xiangwei didn’t feel any shame. He even blamed her. “Why did you change your password? I had to find someone to crack it.”

Jian Yixi’s eyes widened. “How could you…” She closed her eyes and swallowed the rest of the words. It was a waste of time to argue. She just wanted to leave.

Wen Qiaoyun urged her, “Hurry up! Get on Weibo!”

At this moment, Jian Yixi was glad that An Mu had created the account for her and it was linked to An Mu’s phone number. Otherwise, they would have already posted on her behalf.

Jian Yixi held the phone and looked at her parents. “I can’t turn on An Mu. You can give up.”

Wen Qiaoyun’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?! You’d rather ruin our whole family than help us?!”

“I side with what’s right, not who’s family.”

“Say that again, you b*tch!” Jian Xiangwei slammed the table and roared. It was the first time she had heard him yell like that. After that, Jian Yixi couldn’t remember. She only remembered the yelling and the phone being thrown at her face.

She remembered them calling her adoptive parents and demanding they come to Weicheng immediately. She remembered begging them not to involve her adoptive parents, and Jian Xiangwei slapped her. Her ears were ringing. She couldn’t hear what they were saying anymore.

Shunyi was not close to Weicheng. The train schedule wasn’t frequent. Her adoptive parents didn’t care about the money. They rented a car to get to the city and then took a high-speed train. They traveled all night and arrived at Weicheng at around 8 or 9 AM. They took a taxi from the station and arrived at the Jian family’s house before 10 AM.

Jian Xiangwei had already gone to work, leaving Wen Qiaoyun to deal with them. Wen Qiaoyun told them the whole story, downplaying Jian Yihu’s actions and focusing on how miserable Jian Yihu was, how difficult the situation was for the Jian family, and how uncooperative Jian Yixi was. She made Jian Yixi sound like she was less than a human. Wen Qiaoyun had been yelling all night and hadn’t slept. She was annoyed. She looked down on her adoptive parents. She called Jian Yixi all sorts of names. After she was done, she sat on the couch with her legs crossed and said coldly, “Did you understand what I said? This is not just about Yueyue. It’s about Xixi’s future. I understand that you’re uneducated and couldn’t teach her well. But now that this has happened, we have to get through this. If you really care about Xixi, you’ll convince her to post on Weibo and clear her sister’s name.”

Her adoptive father, Yan Fu, sat with his head down. He took out a cigarette from his pocket but put it back, afraid of offending her. “Can we talk to Xixi alone?”

Wen Qiaoyun stood up impatiently. “I’m going to go put on some makeup. You can talk.”

Wen Qiaoyun went back to her room. The three of them sat in the living room in silence. Jian Yixi sat with her legs together, staring at her feet. She had dragged the people she wanted to protect into this. She felt so guilty. She had never hated herself so much. She was trying to calm down, but her adoptive mother broke the silence first.

“Haha… um… you called us this afternoon and said you missed us. And now here you are! Haha… It’s great… Your dad and I… no, your uncle and I missed you so much.”

Dad turned into Uncle? She didn’t like that title. That was her dad. She had called him that for a decade. Just because these new people appeared, she couldn’t call him Dad anymore?

Jian Yixi remembered An Mu. She remembered An Mu on the stage, unafraid of anyone, not even the principal. So what if they’re my birth parents? Who I call Mom and Dad is my choice! It was their mistake to lose me. Why should my adoptive parents pay for their mistakes?

Jian Yixi slowly clenched her fists. She was about to call her parents when her adoptive father said, “Come home with us.”

Jian Yixi was stunned. She looked up. Her eyes were so red she could barely see her adoptive parents’ faces. Before she could ask, her adoptive father said, “I can see they only care about their oldest daughter. Not you. I…”

His voice cracked. He wiped his face with his rough hands and continued, “I raised you. I never hit you or yelled at you. Why do you have to be hit and yelled at here? I brought you here to be happy. If you can’t be happy here, then we’ll go home. We can go back to eating our radishes and pickles. Are you willing?”

Her adoptive mother was shocked. She couldn’t hold back her tears. She quickly wiped them away and said, “Yes, yes, yes! It’s better to suffer a little than to be miserable here! If you’re willing, we’ll go home now.”

Willing! Of course, I’m willing! A million times willing!

Jian Yixi was about to say “yes” when the bedroom door opened. Wen Qiaoyun walked out with a cold expression. “What? You kidnapped my daughter thirteen years ago, and now you want to do it again?”

The three of them stood up. Her adoptive father said, “We didn’t kidnap her. I just see that you don’t care about her. Why keep her and spend money and be annoyed?”

Wen Qiaoyun sneered, “Spending money on my daughter is what I’m supposed to do. Whether I’m annoyed or not, that’s my family’s business. I asked you to come here to convince her to post on Weibo, not to cause trouble!”

Her adoptive father said, “I know my daughter. She’s not a disloyal person. She must have her reasons for not posting. I heard what you said. I won’t convince my daughter to go against her conscience.”

Wen Qiaoyun was so angry that her face turned green. She threw her hairbrush on the floor. “Your daughter, your daughter! How close you are! Is she your daughter?!”

Wen Qiaoyun walked to the sofa and said with a frown, “Here’s what we’re going to do. You fix this, and I’ll consider letting her go back to Shunyi for a few days.”

Jian Yixi bit her lip and looked at Wen Qiaoyun. “I don’t want to just stay for a few days. I want to…”

“Enough!” Wen Qiaoyun knew what she was going to say and interrupted her rudely. “You’re not embarrassed enough, are you?! You won’t be happy until everyone in Weicheng is talking about us, will you?!”

After two days of stress, Wen Qiaoyun was at her breaking point. She didn’t want to waste any more time. She sat on the sofa and threatened them, “I’m telling you this right now. Jian Yixi will post on Weibo whether she wants to or not! Otherwise, hmph!” Wen Qiaoyun glared at Jian Yixi. “Otherwise, I’ll send you to study in India, and you’ll never be able to come back!”

India! A lot of people were shocked by the bus incident in India. Even her adoptive parents, who didn’t use the internet, had heard about it. Her adoptive mother’s hand trembled. She looked at her adoptive father in a panic. Her adoptive father was calm. He took out a cigarette but didn’t light it. “That’s illegal. You can’t force a child to go to school.”

“How do you know I can’t? Have you heard of internet addiction centers? Do you think those kids want to go there? As long as I’m her guardian, she has to go wherever I send her!”

This was a direct threat! Jian Yixi closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. Her happiness from seeing her adoptive parents and her desire to leave the Jian family slowly faded. All that was left was exhaustion and the determination to hold on. She couldn’t let her adoptive parents worry anymore.

She pushed her adoptive parents out of the villa. Wen Qiaoyun cursed at them, but she didn’t follow them out for fear of being seen by others. Jian Yixi took them to a restaurant near the entrance and found a private room. She let her parents eat something warm.

“Dad, Mom, don’t listen to her. It’s not that easy to go abroad. You have to pass the entrance exam. She’s just trying to scare you.”

Her adoptive father was worried. “I don’t think it’s possible either, but… her attitude is so different from when she picked you up. I’m worried about you staying here. How about this? You come home with us now, and I’ll see about a school for you. Shunyi also has a private school.”

Jian Yixi shook her head. “What good would that do? My Hukou is in the Jian family. I need it for school and the college entrance exam.”

Her adoptive mother’s eyes were red. “What are we going to do?!”

Jian Yixi laughed. “Don’t worry. She’s just annoyed and said some angry things. Everything will be fine. She’ll just give me a hard time. When I go back to school tomorrow, I’ll be busy. And in my senior year, I’ll live at school, so I won’t see her much. When I go to college, I’ll be eighteen and won’t have to be afraid of anything.”

Her adoptive father asked tentatively, “So you’re… really not going to post on Weibo?”

“Absolutely not! An Mu helped me a lot. I can’t be ungrateful.” Jian Yixi smiled at her adoptive father. No matter how bitter she felt inside, she looked bright and unafraid. “You really don’t have to worry. An Mu is not simple. Her family is also very powerful. Didn’t you see how my parents were forced to back down? I won’t get hurt being friends with her. Don’t worry.”

They couldn’t truly not worry. But what else could they do? Jian Yixi wouldn’t go with them. Without her Hukou, she couldn’t go to school. They couldn’t ruin their daughter’s future. Jian Yixi convinced them to eat and told them not to answer any calls from Weicheng for the next few days, except… for An Mu’s number. Jian Yixi saved An Mu’s number on her adoptive mother’s phone and deleted her own.

“They can’t threaten me with anything else. Don’t be afraid. No matter what, I’m their daughter. A tiger wouldn’t eat its own cubs.”

The old couple had been traveling all night. They should have rested, but Jian Yixi was worried about them. She talked them into going back to the train station. The next high-speed train to Shunyi wasn’t until six. Jian Yixi found a small hotel near the station and rented a room for a few hours. She called An Mu and told her that her adoptive parents had come to visit. She would go for her IV after they left. She told her not to worry.

She took her parents to the train station. She looked at their tired and worried faces.