The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Reappearance

After realizing the severity of the situation, the Special Affairs Bureau immediately moved in to take control. Using the pretext of a safety hazard, they cleared everyone off the mountain and cordoned it off, setting up various energy barriers around Tiger Burial Cliff to prevent ordinary people from wandering in by mistake.

Because people had gone missing, despite knowing the chances of survival were slim, the Bureau utilized various instruments to monitor for life signs. Regrettably, no living persons were found, nor were any corpses.

“If only Tongtong were here. My heart is pounding like a drum; I have no idea what kind of thing is hidden behind all this,” one of Tao Yitong’s former colleagues sighed deeply.

“Alright, get back to work. There’s still a crowd of villagers gathered at the foot of the mountain. The longer this drags on, the more likely something will go wrong,” another colleague urged. It was better to work during the safest hours of midday than to risk the dangers of the night.

“By the way, did you hear? Tongtong is in a relationship.”

“What? Really! Who’s the guy? She’s at that age, it’s about time… Who told you? Is it reliable?”

“Zhou-zhou said so. Those two are close, it’s definitely legit!”

“If Zhou-zhou said it, then there’s no mistake! Do Old Li and the others know? Man, I have to tell them when we get back…”

The swirl of thoughts lasted only an instant.

Jiang Zitan noticed Tao Yitong dazing at her phone and was somewhat surprised. She caught a glimpse of the caller ID, and her delicate brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. Her feelings toward the Aunt were mediocre; no one likes a biased elder, especially one biased toward the person who swapped lives with them.

However, seeing Tao Yitong’s subtle expression and pensive state, Zitan’s curiosity grew. As far as she knew, the Aunt was decent to the three Tao sisters but particularly favored Tao Yitong. Their relationship had always been close, so why this reaction?

Jiang Zitan’s dark eyes flickered with thought. Just as she was about to probe, she heard Tao Yitong whisper to herself, “The opportunity might be coming,” before taking the call and stepping aside.

Tao Yitong moved away because she was worried her Aunt might start criticizing Jiang Zitan over the phone, which would be incredibly awkward. The original owner and the Aunt had badmouthed Jiang Zitan behind her back more than once. Tao Yitong did not want to make her already poor impression in Zitan’s heart even worse.

As for the “opportunity,” she remembered that in the book, shortly after the original owner was kicked out, her Aunt called to comfort her and provided a new chance to cause trouble: attending a banquet.

In wealthy family dramas, banquets are essential plot devices for conflict. This was a high-profile charity gala attended by many tycoons and socialites, including the Tao family. In the original plot, the Aunt brought her there to morally kidnap her older sister, Tao Wei. Since Tao Wei was the decision-maker of the family, Yitong’s return depended entirely on her. Jiang Zitan’s opinion was actually secondary.

However, Tao Wei refused, both for the sake of family stability and out of respect for Jiang Zitan’s wishes. Being shut out by her sister and mocked by social rivals at the party, the original owner felt humiliated and blamed everything on Jiang Zitan who wasn’t even at the banquet.

Jiang Zitan, if she knew, would likely feel that her native language was “speechless.”

While the plan failed, it brought a lot of gossip to the Tao family. People are gossipy by nature. Even if they didn’t truly sympathize with the original owner, they still remarked that the Tao family was heartless after all, the baby swap wasn’t the child’s fault.

Eighteen years of raising someone creates a bond; throwing her out so coldly felt thin-blooded. They also criticized Jiang Zitan for being too unforgiving. It was a classic case of people talking big when it wasn’t their own problem.

Tao Yitong wanted to go, not to kidnap her sister or annoy Zitan, but because her suspects would likely be there. It was the perfect chance to test their reactions.

The call connected. “Tongtong, I heard your sister kicked you out of the house.”

The Aunt’s voice came through. When the original owner was kicked out, the Aunt had been traveling in a remote area with poor signal. It took nearly a month for them to finally get in touch. But whether it was a month or a year, it didn’t hinder their ability to stir up trouble.

“Yeah,” Tao Yitong replied simply.

“It’s too much!” the Aunt said indignantly. “Just because she’s in charge now doesn’t mean she can be so heartless. And I’m a member of the Tao family; no one even notified me of such a major event.”

“Right,” Yitong agreed.

The Aunt sensed her reaction was a bit cold. “Tongtong, what’s wrong? Are you in a bad mood?”

Tao Yitong wanted to say “Yeah” again, but if she annoyed her Aunt and the call ended, the banquet plan would go up in smoke. She immediately shifted into character: “I’ve been kicked out of my home, how could I be in a good mood?”

The Aunt felt this was the proper response. Her tone turned sharp with “tough love”: “You’re too honest! If your sister tells you to move out, you move out? Why didn’t you make a scene with her? Or with your mother?”

A true professional at stirring the pot, Yitong thought. She scratched her cheek. “I… I wanted to, but I can’t even see them.”

Tao Wei was a workaholic rarely seen at home, and going to the company required an appointment not to mention Yitong was blacklisted. As for her adoptive mother, she was in a nursing home with strict visitor management; if her mother didn’t want to see her, she was out of luck.

The Aunt knew this and had a plan. “Listen, the Bai family is hosting a banquet in two days. Your sister will almost certainly attend. I’ll take you there to meet her. I refuse to believe that in public, in front of so many acquaintances, she could be heartless enough to refuse to let her sister come home, or ignore the opinion of an elder like me.”

Aunt, you’re really a pro! Tao Yitong thought, but she asked with feigned surprise: “But aren’t you out of town? You’re coming back so soon?”

“Traveling can wait. Your business is more important,” the Aunt said.

Tao Yitong felt a surge of “respect”: “Aunt, you’re working too hard!” Too hard to send me back into the fire.

They finalized the details the Aunt would pick her up in three days and the call ended.

Tao Yitong went back to Jiang Zitan. Zitan was standing by the flower field, her slender back straight and quiet. Noticing the call was over, she turned around, her obsidian-like eyes watching Yitong with a faint, unreadable scrutiny. “You seem to have new plans.”

“Sort of,” Tao Yitong said, suppressing a bit of excitement. “In three days, I want to attend a banquet. Many acquaintances will be there. Do you want to come with me?”

Jiang Zitan only had to change her clothes and wear her glasses, and no one would recognize her. Based on that, Yitong made the bold invitation.

Jiang Zitan knew that “acquaintances” meant the suspects. “You want to see their reactions at the banquet?”

Tao Yitong nodded expectantly.

Jiang Zitan considered it for a moment but said, “You go. I will protect you from the shadows.”

She had a more convenient identity to attend the banquet, and she could act more effectively from the dark. If she went as “Nightingale” with Tao Yitong, even with a disguise, it would attract too much attention.

Tao Yitong wasn’t disappointed because she knew this meant Jiang Zitan intended to appear at the banquet in her real identity. That was fine; although the original owner had memories of Zitan’s face, she wanted to see her in person to see the “vivid” version.

“Fair enough. The sun is getting high, let’s go inside,” Tao Yitong said as she headed back. She was already discussing the plan with the system. System, I only have one pair of eyes. I’ll rely on you to be my ears and eyes in all directions to help me track those suspicious people.

The system was thrilled to be useful again. Leave it to me, Host!

They didn’t notice Jiang Zitan’s gaze, which was deep and complex. Back in her room, Zitan realized she was still holding the flowers Yitong had given her. She had intended to set them on the table, but looking at the vibrant roses, she thought of the giver’s bright smile. She eventually found a vase with water to arrange them. The brilliant red cloud of flowers was striking, giving a sense of eternal passion.

Jiang Zitan dazed out for a while, her thoughts revolving around the giver. She hadn’t intentionally eavesdropped, but she sensed Yitong’s attitude toward her Aunt it wasn’t the reliance and trust everyone assumed.

As she came back to her senses, her phone lit up with a missed call and a WeChat voice message. It was from her sister, Tao Wei. The gist was that Wei had to go on a business trip, but there was a banquet in three days she couldn’t return for. She wanted Zitan to go in her stead, noting that their “younger sister” (Tao Yue) would be with her. If you run into Aunt, ignore whatever she says about letting Yitong come home.

Clearly, the older sister was monitoring the Aunt’s movements and had anticipated her play.

The Ominous Sound

That song of An Yu’s again. Her voice was beautiful Xiao Ran once said her ex-girlfriend was a natural-born singer but in this environment, the melody felt disturbingly eerie.

Jiang Zitan found the source of the sound: the very cabinet where she was about to grab an umbrella. Coincidence or…?

Her heart began to race; fear climbed into her mind. Jiang Zitan opened the cabinet. Inside… was the exact same phone they had returned at noon.

Vibrate…

The phone mysteriously initiated a video call. This time, the screen showed the girl with red, crying eyes from earlier. She was weeping tears of blood, staring at the screen: “Save me…”

Jiang Zitan recognized the background in the video immediately. It was her own Tao family living room!

Support