The Sickly Fake Daughter, But a Beloved Darling of All - Chapter 53

Si Yu left.

She left after answering a phone call, not even having time to say a proper goodbye to Xu Chengjin, just quickly saying “See you later” before she was gone.

Xu Chengjin leaned against the bedside, staring blankly at her. Before she could even say a word, the other person had already left.

“She just left just like that?”

Xu Chengjin leaned against the bed, keeping quiet, digesting the moment for a long time before turning off the light and lying down. She looked at the scenery outside the window, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

Xu Jing arrived around four o’clock. Xu Chengjin had been in a state of half-sleep and quickly woke up when she heard the movement. Her words were still a bit muffled: “You’re here? What time is it now?”

“It’s past four, I slept in.” Xu Jing tucked the blanket around Xu Chengjin. She said in a low voice, “Sleep, I’ll watch over you here.”

Xu Chengjin squinted, turned over to face Xu Jing, her voice sounding a little stuffy: “You should go rest, I’m fine now.”

“You sound much clearer when you speak.” Xu Jing was pleasantly surprised. She curved her lips, “Once you’re a little better, I’ll take you out of the hospital. Your sister knows you don’t like staying in the hospital.”

Xu Chengjin also chuckled: “My sister understands me the best.”

“Oh, right.”

Xu Chengjin bit her lip. She thought for a long time about whether or not to ask this question, but no matter how she thought about it, she felt compelled to know, so she asked anyway: “What exactly happened to Si Yu?”

Xu Jing didn’t seem surprised by Xu Chengjin’s question. She said softly: “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I’ve heard a little from others. I’m not sure if it’s true.”

“Tell me.”

Xu Chengjin felt instinctively that something wasn’t right, but she forced herself to perk up: “I want to know no matter what.”

“Her mother died. It’s said she committed suicide on Si Yu’s birthday, right in front of her.” Xu Jing kept observing Xu Chengjin’s expression. Sure enough, when she said this, Xu Chengjin’s brows furrowed. She continued, “Her father also jumped off a building and died that day. With both parents gone all at once, some bad rumors started spreading, saying Si Yu was born to bring misfortune to her parents.”

“Wait.”

Xu Chengjin couldn’t help but interrupt Xu Jing. Her brows were tightly locked: “Si Yu’s parents weren’t exactly great people to begin with, right? How can their suicide be blamed on the child now? Did Si Yu force them?”

Xu Jing shook her head and sighed softly: “We don’t know the inside story. Si Yu experienced a lot when she was little; she was even called a jinx before. These voices only quieted down after she took power. But after this incident, people will definitely make a big deal out of it.”

“They’re all terrible people.” Xu Chengjin pursed her lips, clutching the quilt tightly, indignant, “How disgusting.”

Xu Jing couldn’t help but smile, looking at Xu Chengjin. She reached out and touched Xu Chengjin’s forehead. Seeing that her temperature was normal, she said: “Hurry up and sleep, it’s almost five o’clock.”

Xu Chengjin slightly relaxed her frown. She gave a soft “Mm”: “You sleep too.”

“I will, don’t worry about me first.”

Only after hearing Xu Jing say this did Xu Chengjin feel at ease enough to fall asleep. She didn’t notice that Xu Jing walked out of the ward immediately after she fell asleep… and didn’t return for a long time.

During the day, Xu Chengjin began to try walking. She slowly used a crutch to go to the bathroom alone. The air conditioning in the ward was always on, but she still broke out in a sweat. Luckily, she could now get out of bed; with slow practice, she should recover quickly.

She sat on the bed and picked up her phone. Jin Xi had sent her her class notes from this morning and said she couldn’t visit today because she had a part-time job in the afternoon.

Xu Chengjin: [Good luck! Take it easy on your first day of work.]

Jin Xi: [^.^ Don’t worry, I’ll definitely do my best!]

Xu Chengjin: [Kitty head pat JPG.]

Xu Chengjin: [I can go back in a couple of days. Don’t worry about me, and you don’t need to keep coming here.]

Jin Xi: [No way, I’m still worried about you. I won’t waste my time. Could you not mention this next time?]

Xu Chengjin: [Okay.]

She is always very respectful of others’ opinions when communicating. Now, too. Since Jin Xi wants to come, she shouldn’t dismiss her kind intention.

Just as Xu Chengjin finished replying to Jin Xi’s message, Wu Boran messaged her: [Are you feeling a little better today?]

Xu Chengjin: [Much better, thanks for asking!]

Wu Boran: [The school is going to have the autumn sports meet soon. You need to get well quickly. This is our first time participating as freshmen.]

Xu Chengjin curved her lips. She looked at Wu Boran’s message and typed directly: [How come I feel like you’ve become much gentler?]

It shouldn’t be her imagination, because after she sent this message, Wu Boran fell silent. She didn’t press her, and after about a minute, Wu Boran finally sent a message: [Yeah, only for you.]

When Xu Chengjin finally read the message clearly, it was her turn to be stunned. She let out an “Ah,” slowly narrowed her eyes: [I feel your favoritism.]

Xu Chengjin: [Kitty heart-hands JPG.]

Wu Boran: [Glad you know.]

Sure enough, still so tsundere.

Xu Chengjin scrolled through her contacts and found that the person who said they would message her hadn’t said a word yet, not even a “Good morning.” It was already past eleven in the afternoon. She pouted and messaged Si Yu, pressing the keys much harder: [Good afternoon.]

One minute… two minutes… ten minutes…

Si Yu hadn’t replied in ten minutes. Before, she was basically instant. Did she really run into something difficult to deal with?

Xu Chengjin felt a bit annoyed. She put her phone aside, and just as she was about to rest, the ward door was suddenly knocked. Her eyes instantly brightened, and she immediately said, “Please come in.”

But when she saw who walked in, her smile faded quite a bit. It was the person she had sent to investigate Jin Xi’s family history that day.

“Miss.”

The person walked to Xu Chengjin’s bedside and handed over the folder: “This is the information I’ve found during this time. Since some matters involve… the legal level, it took some time.”

“Legal?”

Xu Chengjin was a bit confused. She quickly opened the folder, pulled out the documents, and started reading. However, she quickly frowned: “Jin Xi isn’t biologically related?”

“That’s right, she was bought by her current adoptive mother from someone else.”

The adoptive mother’s surname is Chen, named Chen Fang.

The person lowered her voice: “It only cost a little money, and I found out that Chen Fang originally had a daughter, but sadly she died young. Not long after, she bought Jin Xi, saying it was to trade a life for a life.”

Chen Fang believed in feudal superstition and wanted to use Jin Xi’s life to trade for her daughter’s life, but unfortunately, she failed.

No wonder she treated Jin Xi so badly all these years.

“Can you find out who the seller that dealt with Chen Fang was?”

Xu Chengjin frowned. She let out a “hiss”: “There aren’t any clues at all?”

The person looked grave: “Truly none.”

“I see.”

Xu Chengjin looked at the documents in her hand. She looked up: “Do you have a backup copy?”

“Yes.”

“That’s fine then.” After receiving an affirmative answer, Xu Chengjin immediately ripped up the documents. She put the shreds into the folder and casually tossed it into the other person’s arms: “Take this and burn it. I don’t want these things to fall into a third person’s hands.”

“Understood.”

The person immediately took the folder. She lowered her head and curved her lips: “I will continue to investigate.”

Xu Chengjin lowered her eyes, her tone cool: “The money will be transferred to your card in a moment. Do a good job, and you won’t be without rewards. You can leave now.”

“Yes.”

The person had arrived in a hurry and left just as quickly. Xu Chengjin’s sleepiness completely vanished. She exhaled, recalling the things she had just seen, and wondered who had swapped her and Jin Xi. Could her biological mother be this Chen Fang?

But according to the known plot… that didn’t seem quite right either.

Then who could have swapped them without a trace and sold Jin Xi?

Was it a plot bug or was there something she hadn’t discovered?

While Xu Chengjin was pondering, the door was suddenly opened. She immediately looked up and saw that it was Xu Mu, who had come to bring her food: “Little treasure is awake?”

“Mom made you chicken soup today. Try and see how it tastes.”

Xu Mu pulled the small table over and started pouring chicken soup for Xu Chengjin: “Your sister told me you’re feeling much better, and I also asked the doctor, who said you could eat chicken. Eat as much as you can this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

Xu Chengjin put away the thoughts in her heart. She smelled the chicken soup and gave plenty of emotional feedback: “Wow, it smells so good.”

“It should be good then.” Xu Mu handed the spoon to Xu Chengjin. She instructed, “Be careful, it’s hot. Blow on it before you drink.”

“Mm!”

Xu Chengjin nodded. She took a sip, and the taste was indeed excellent; she really liked it.

Xu Mu sat by the side, watching Xu Chengjin drink the soup, her eyes full of love: “You scared your mom this time.”

Xu Chengjin turned her head to look: “I’ll take good care of my health—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the phone she had set aside suddenly chimed. Xu Chengjin subconsciously turned to look, picked up the phone, and saw a picture of Si Yu’s lunch: [Been busy all morning, almost passed out.]

Xu Chengjin’s eyes curved: [I’m also having soup, chicken soup my mom made.]

She realized something was off right after sending it. Just as she was about to recall it, Si Yu had already sent a message: [Get some good rest. I’m going to eat first.]

Xu Chengjin pursed her lips. She felt a bit helpless but didn’t know what to say, so she could only dryly reply: [Okay.]

Xu Mu, sitting next to her, saw this and said gently: “Who are you messaging?”

“A friend.”

Xu Chengjin put down her phone. After saying this, she felt something was wrong, so she turned to look. She saw Xu Mu staring intently at her, her eyes full of curiosity, and her tone became subtle:

“Is it Si Yu?”