“Nonsense! You will always be the daughter of the An family!” Mrs. An said with a serious expression, giving An Tongtong a reassuring pat on the hand. She spent a long time patiently comforting her. “You never asked to be switched at birth. It wasn’t something you could control, so how is it your fault? It’s just fate.”
Mrs. An had poured a lot of effort into raising this daughter, molding her according to her own preferences. Compared to the cold and distant Ye Shaohua, An Tongtong was indeed much more likable.
Thinking of this, Mrs. An felt a pang of guilt. When An Tongtong was young, both she and Mr. An had been busy with work and hadn’t spent much time with her or Tingjun.
“The Go club called to ask why Tongtong hasn’t arrived yet,” Uncle Yao said, still feeling awkward after the earlier incident. He wasn’t sure how to face the An family or Ye Shaohua, especially since Ye Shaohua had already left. He offered some encouraging words to An Tongtong, “Do your best. You’ll definitely represent the country and bring glory to us.”
His tone, however, was much more perfunctory than usual.
“Thank you, Uncle. Thank you, Mom,” An Tongtong replied, feeling deeply moved.
Mrs. An smiled. Such talent in Go—this was what she expected from her daughter.
An Tongtong got into the car heading to the competition and opened her phone to reply to a message from a friend. After a while, the friend responded:
—“So, that person stayed at the An house last night? I heard Old Master An is planning a big banquet for her. She’s really making a move on you right after coming back, huh? Honestly, she seems so shortsighted, rushing back like this. Everyone can see her ulterior motives. After all, she was raised in an ordinary family—she’s just not cut out for high society. Bring her out sometime and let her see what real class looks like.”
An Tongtong took a deep breath after reading the message. At least her friends were still on her side.
But then again, even without her status as an An family member, she had already made a name for herself in the Go world.
Unlike Ye Shaohua, who would have nothing left without the An family.
Over the next two weeks, Ye Shaohua spent time touring the city with Grandma Ye. After sending Grandma Ye off, the detective Mr. An had hired to follow Ye Shaohua reported that he kept losing track of her. If it had happened once or twice, it could have been a coincidence, but it happened every single time. Initially, the detective hadn’t paid much attention to this half-returned daughter of the An family, but now he couldn’t afford to be careless.
He was one of the top detectives in China, having even helped the police track down underworld bosses without being detected. Yet now, he was being outmaneuvered by a young girl. It was then that he realized Ye Shaohua was no ordinary person.
He immediately packed up, handed over the photos of Ye Shaohua and her grandmother to Mr. An, and declared that he would no longer continue the surveillance.
Mr. An took the photos from his assistant. The Ye Shaohua in the pictures seemed like a completely different person from the one he knew. Her gentle smile bore a striking resemblance to Mrs. An in her youth.
Back then, Mrs. An had been the top socialite in the capital. If the switch at birth had never happened, Ye Shaohua would surely have been as outstanding as her mother.
Meanwhile, at the National Research Institute.
“Third Brother, I just saw the computer restart its algorithm. Did the genius come back? Where are they? Usually, it’s Brother Yan who contacts the genius. I need to soak up some of that genius aura!” A young man with a buzzcut rushed out of the lab.
Mo Yuncheng was leaning against the wall, a cigarette in hand. His demeanor was a mix of elegance and danger, making him seem both noble and mysterious.
Hearing this, he tilted his chin toward a direction.
The buzzcut boy followed his gaze and was momentarily stunned. The person who had developed such a groundbreaking algorithm was not only a woman but also so young?
“Senior Mo, I’ll take my leave now,” Ye Shaohua said after finishing her instructions. She approached Mo Yuncheng, the project leader, to say goodbye. Upon learning that Mo Yuncheng was a junior at Jingda University, she naturally addressed him as “Senior Mo.”
“Let me walk you out…” Mo Yuncheng started, but before he could finish, someone called for him.
By the time he turned back, Ye Shaohua was already gone.
“Third Young Master, I knew I’d find you here,” a well-dressed young man greeted Mo Yuncheng politely. Before he could finish his sentence, Mo Yuncheng stubbed out his cigarette and hurried after Ye Shaohua.
“Mayor Shen, would you like to rest for a bit?” the buzzcut boy asked the young man softly.
The young man, deep in thought, glanced in the direction Mo Yuncheng had gone and quickly left. “No, I need to catch up with him.”
After the young man left, the lab members gathered around the buzzcut boy, curious.
Someone familiar with the social scene asked, “Was that Deputy Mayor Shen? The youngest mayor in the capital? I heard his grandfather was a founding general, and his grandfather was a top executive. He practically walks sideways in the capital. Why was he so respectful to Senior Mo? Who exactly is Senior Mo? Why is he in our small lab? And why haven’t we heard of him in the circles?”
Usually, someone who could command such respect from Deputy Mayor Shen wouldn’t be an unknown researcher.
The buzzcut boy smiled faintly. “Oh, reporters don’t want to die, so who would dare write about him? As for the circles, the ones he moves in—Deputy Mayor Shen can’t even get into them. Does that explain it?”
In the capital, social circles were also divided into hierarchies.
Meanwhile, Mo Yuncheng, unaware that he was being discussed, had caught up with Ye Shaohua and escorted her to the bar street in the capital.
The car stopped outside a bar called “Nightfall.”
“Thank you, Senior Mo,” Ye Shaohua said as she stepped into the bar, which seemed somewhat out of place for her.
Mo Yuncheng, still in the car, frowned slightly. He wanted to say something but realized he had no right to. He could only watch as she walked in.
At the same time, he received a file about her on his phone.
Ye Shaohua had been invited to this bar by An Tongtong, under the pretense of introducing her to their social circle. Mr. and Mrs. An thought it was very considerate of An Tongtong and even instructed Ye Shaohua to get along well with everyone.
By the time Ye Shaohua arrived, almost everyone was already there.
This group consisted of wealthy or influential second-generation heirs, but it was clear that Yan Xu was the center of attention.
“Is this the one?” a girl next to An Tongtong asked in Japanese. “She ordered a soft drink at a bar?”
“That bottle of 1988 red wine she just pushed aside is worth 200,000 yuan. Does she even know what she’s doing?” a man added, also in Japanese.
Everyone knew she was the daughter who had been brought back halfway. The An family hadn’t even bothered to change her surname.
At first glance, she really didn’t seem cut out for high society.
They assumed Ye Shaohua, coming from an ordinary family, would at best understand English. Unlike them, who had been trained from a young age and could speak two or three foreign languages fluently, they were sure she wouldn’t understand them.
Especially since Ye Shaohua showed no reaction to their comments, they grew even bolder.
An Tingjun was also there, sitting to the side, making no effort to help Ye Shaohua out of the awkward situation.
The others chatted lively in foreign languages, leaving Ye Shaohua sitting alone like an outsider.
“Enough,” Yan Xu finally said, seeing her sitting quietly in the corner. Her calm demeanor was a far cry from the gold-digger image others had painted of her. Her T-shirt probably cost no more than 100 yuan.
Yan Xu glanced at the group, his tone serious. “If you go back three generations, weren’t all of us like this?”
This comment wasn’t made in Mandarin either.
Most of the group respected Yan Xu, so they didn’t push further. Seeing Ye Shaohua lower her head, they assumed she had realized the gap between herself and their circle and stopped teasing her.
They moved on to playing Truth or Dare.
An Tongtong, meanwhile, clung to Yan Xu’s arm. “Little sister, everyone was just complimenting how pretty you are. It’s no big deal, right, Yan Xu?”
Yan Xu subtly pulled his arm away. His good upbringing made it hard to detect any discomfort. “Let’s keep playing. I’m going to the restroom for a smoke.”
“What’s up with Yan Xu?” someone whispered after he left with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
Only An Tongtong’s expression turned pale for some reason.
“It’s nothing,” An Tongtong forced a smile.
An Tingjun, seeing Yan Xu leave, frowned and followed him.
“Ah Xu,” An Tingjun caught up to Yan Xu in the hallway outside the restroom. “You and my sister have been engaged since childhood. It was decided by our grandfathers. After the whole thing with my so-called biological sister came out, you postponed the engagement.”
An Tingjun looked at Yan Xu. “Ah Xu, you’re not thinking of switching the engagement back, are you?”
Yan Xu lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. He looked at An Tingjun with a profound gaze. “When our grandfathers arranged the engagement, wasn’t it supposed to be with Miss Ye?”
“That’s different!” An Tingjun quickly retorted. “You saw it yourself just now. She sat there like a fool, not understanding a word we said. She knows nothing about social etiquette, let alone the intricacies of business dealings. How could someone like her be the matriarch of the Yan family? She’d only bring shame to us at formal events. She doesn’t belong in our circle. But my sister is different. She understands you. You’ve said before that she always knows what you’re thinking. She’s the one who’s truly meant for you.”
An Tingjun’s last sentence made it clear—what was it about An Tongtong that made everyone like her so much?
Ah, today’s update is late again.