An Tongtong was growing impatient when An Tingjun’s words suddenly caught her off guard.
What did he mean by that?
Mrs. Ye, feeling somewhat uneasy, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and murmured, “Since Shaohua returned to the An family to enjoy a life of luxury, she hasn’t been back here. She dragged her suitcase away two months ago and hasn’t returned since.”
As she spoke, her confidence seemed to return.
However, An Tingjun’s imposing presence made it difficult for Mrs. Ye to look him in the eye.
“Returned to the An family?” An Tingjun repeated the words slowly, his gaze fixed on Mrs. Ye. “Do you know that in the past four months, she has only stayed at the An residence for one night? Do you know where she’s been living these past two months?”
An Tingjun’s breathing grew heavy, his chest rising and falling as he struggled to suppress his anger.
He thought of the An family’s home. The best room on the second floor still belonged to An Tongtong. Ye Shaohua’s room was a temporary guest room, barely furnished, with only a few items moved in by the old master.
He had assumed that the Ye family would be similar, that neither family would make significant changes to their original households.
But… he never expected that Ye Shaohua didn’t even have a proper place to stay at the Ye family home!
No wonder she had such a cold expression whenever she mentioned the Ye family.
“Grandfather must have arranged a place for Shaohua,” An Tongtong sighed softly. “You know how much he dotes on her.”
This time, however, An Tingjun ignored her. He simply said, “Let’s go back.”
He didn’t tell An Tongtong that their grandfather wasn’t the type to do such a thing.
If he had known that Ye Shaohua didn’t even have a room at the Ye family home, he would have brought her back to the An residence immediately.
But—
An Tingjun wasn’t sure if Ye Shaohua, given her personality, would even agree to stay there.
He needed to return to the An family and ask the old master.
An Tongtong didn’t want to stay any longer either, so the two of them left together.
As they passed by the neighbors, An Tongtong noticed the strange looks they were giving her. There was no trace of the admiration she had expected. This made her extremely uncomfortable, and she silently vowed never to return to such an uncivilized place again.
Yan Xu could see that the Ye family’s actions were inappropriate, but since this was a matter between the An and Ye families, he had no standing to intervene.
When An Tingjun and An Tongtong returned to the An family, they found Ye Shaohua sitting beside the old master as the family doctor reviewed his health report.
“Old Master, your heart is now ten times younger than before. Have you noticed that you haven’t been feeling any chest tightness recently?” The doctor looked surprised as he examined the results.
Hearing this, the old master was momentarily stunned. “Now that you mention it, I have been feeling much more energetic lately. How strange…”
“People tend to feel better when good things happen. Tongtong has secured a spot in the Datong Cup competition, so it’s only natural that the old master is in high spirits,” Uncle Yao, standing nearby, chuckled. He glanced at Ye Shaohua but, still feeling awkward from their previous encounter, he didn’t know how to approach his niece and kept his distance.
“I think it’s the medicine Shaohua gave me,” the old master suddenly said, recalling the medicine Ye Shaohua had provided.
The others in the room dismissed this as a joke, but the family doctor gave Ye Shaohua a deep, thoughtful look before packing up his tools. “Old Master, that’s all for today. I need to head back.”
“So soon?” Mr. An was surprised. “Won’t you stay for dinner? It’s Tongtong’s celebration…”
“No need,” the doctor declined directly. “The military district has called me back. It seems that several big names from the international medical community have arrived, and I need to see what’s going on.”
Hearing that it involved the military and international affairs, Mr. An didn’t dare to press further.
“Dad, what do you think he meant? I’ve also heard rumors that something big is happening,” Mr. An mused.
The old master sat on the sofa, his brow furrowed in concern. There had been no news about this, and the secrecy surrounding it was unusually tight.
“We’ll look into it tomorrow,” Mr. An said with a smile, then turned to Ye Shaohua. “Shaohua, I heard today that you’ve been admitted to the national laboratory. Entering the lab as a freshman is quite an achievement. You’ve brought great honor to the An family.”
The An family was a business-oriented clan, and they had never before produced such an outstanding academic.
According to an old friend, Ye Shaohua was now considered a nationally protected figure. If she made a significant breakthrough in her research, her name could go down in history.
Such prestige was something money couldn’t buy.
Hearing this, the old master’s face lit up with pride, and he couldn’t stop boasting about “our Shaohua.”
An Tongtong, watching this, dug her fingers into the sofa.
“Tomorrow, you’ll be competing against the R-country team,” Uncle Yao said, pointing to a large Qinghua vase displayed in the hall. “This is a gift I bought for you at an auction. It’s an antique from the Song dynasty, to celebrate your qualification for the Datong Cup.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” An Tongtong said, her eyes lighting up with delight. She could tell at a glance that the vase was incredibly valuable, standing as tall as a person.
Mrs. An also took out a piece of jade. “Tongtong, I have a gift for you too.”
An Tingjun recognized the jade bracelet as a family heirloom. He didn’t want to watch this scene unfold, so he turned to the old master. “Grandfather, could we go upstairs? There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
He was, of course, referring to the matter of the Ye family changing the rooms.
What could be so important that it needed to be discussed upstairs?
Although the old master had been somewhat dissatisfied with his grandson recently, he still followed him to the study.
Mrs. An went to the kitchen to fetch the soup she had personally prepared, while Mr. An and Uncle Yao headed to the study to discuss company matters.
The large hall was now empty, save for Ye Shaohua and An Tongtong.
An Tongtong glared at Ye Shaohua, her eyes filled with resentment. She could sense that her brother’s heart was gradually leaning toward Ye Shaohua.
She hated it. She hated that Ye Shaohua, after being gone for eighteen years, had returned.
She was afraid that one day, everything she had would be taken away by Ye Shaohua.
Tomorrow was the first match, and everyone was rooting for her. Uncle Yao had even gone to great lengths to buy the Qinghua vase.
But only An Tongtong knew that she was destined to lose.
Her opponent was from R-country, and she couldn’t understand a word of their language.
Her mind-reading ability was useless against them.
“Do you know where I went today?” An Tongtong reached into her pocket for a recorder but couldn’t find it, so she switched on her phone’s recording app instead. “I went to your parents’ house. They’ve turned your bedroom into my bedroom and a piano room.”
“And this,” An Tongtong walked over to the Qinghua vase, which now belonged to her, and showed Ye Shaohua the jade bracelet on her wrist. “Do you recognize this? It’s the Yao family heirloom. Mom gave it to me today. Do you know what that means? Are you jealous? Do you feel like all of this should have been yours?”
As she finished speaking, An Tongtong pressed the record button on her phone.
Ye Shaohua finally looked up from her phone. Unlike the original host, she felt no jealousy. Her goal was simply to complete her tasks and earn points.
She had observed that as the difficulty of her tasks increased, the time she spent in each world became shorter. Therefore, she had to focus entirely on her mission without any distractions.
“Yes, I’m jealous,” Ye Shaohua said, thinking of the original host. She casually glanced at An Tongtong, playing along with her intentions. “Jealous that my adoptive parents only like you, and that my biological parents like you too. But now, I don’t feel anything anymore.”
This was also why, in the original host’s wishes, only the old master was mentioned, not the rest of the An family or the Ye family.
An Tongtong pressed the stop button on her phone, then leaned against the Qinghua vase with a smirk. “You’re finished, Ye Shaohua.”
Ye Shaohua stood by, watching as An Tongtong deliberately leaned back, making no move to help her. Her expression was calm and indifferent.
An Tongtong had expected Ye Shaohua to rush to her aid, but she didn’t budge.
This wasn’t part of the plan! Fear flashed in An Tongtong’s eyes.
Crash—
The sound echoed through the An residence, and for a moment, everything fell silent.
Mrs. An, who had been carrying a bowl of soup, dropped it to the floor. The scalding liquid splashed onto her feet, but she didn’t seem to notice as she rushed to An Tongtong’s side. “Tongtong! Tongtong, what happened?!”
The injuries were far worse than An Tongtong had anticipated. She had only intended to fake a minor injury to her hand, enough to avoid the competition and frame Ye Shaohua.
But with Ye Shaohua refusing to intervene, An Tongtong had fallen onto the shattered porcelain pieces, resulting in severe injuries that could leave permanent scars.
Trembling, An Tongtong held up her bloodied hand. “Shaohua, why…? Even if you’re jealous of me… Mom, Mom, my hand… it hurts so much…”