Shi Yujia's father, Qiao Xinyue's maternal grandfather, was a very ruthless and stubborn man. In fact, Shi Yujia's personality was very similar to her father's; their stubbornness was exactly the same.
When she was young, Shi Yujia insisted on marrying a man against her family's wishes. In a fit of rage, her father eloped with the man behind his parents' and relatives' backs and disappeared without a trace.
Her father was furious at the time and declared that he would sever all ties with Shi Yujia, stating that he would treat her as if she had never been born.
And her father kept his word. More than twenty years later, when Shi Yujia returned, he still forbade anyone to visit her.
Shi Yujia gave a bitter smile and accused, "He's my own father! He said he wouldn't care about me, but he just abandoned me. In this blazing sun, Qingping's face was flushed red, she was practically getting heatstroke! But do you know what he said?"
"He said he only has one daughter, her name is Shi Yuling. He'd never even heard of Shi Yujia..."
Shi Yujia would never forget the expression on the face of the security guard when he relayed those words to her—a mixture of pity and disdain, as if he thought she was some crazy old woman.
The reason Shi Yujia hated her father so much was related to the man she had eloped with.
If Shi Yujia had lived a good life after eloping, her resentment towards the Shi family might not have been so great. But unfortunately, her life after eloping was far from good; it was downright difficult.
That man's surname was Zhou, his name was Zhou Quan, and he was also Zhou Qingping's biological father. He was a handsome and talented man; otherwise, Shi Yujia wouldn't have chosen him and eloped with him.
After eloping, the two returned to Zhou Quan's hometown, a dilapidated and backward small county town. It was then that Shi Yujia learned Zhou Quan's family was not well-off; he had three older sisters, and as the only son in his family, he was also the youngest child born to an elderly relative. This meant that when Shi Yujia arrived at his home,
she was practically facing four "mothers-in-law." Fortunately, Shi Yujia wasn't one to suffer in silence, and initially, the Zhou family, mindful of her status as a wealthy heiress and seeing potential in her, were quite tolerant of her. So, for the first time, Shi Yujia's life was quite comfortable.
However, as time went on, things gradually changed, especially after Zhou Quan's business failed.
Zhou Quan was a very talented man; otherwise, Shi Yujia wouldn't have chosen him in the first place.
Shi Yujia placed high hopes on her husband, hoping that his fortunes would change, that he would succeed in his business, and that she could return to her family home with her head held high.
She hoped that then she could prove to her father that she had made the right choice in choosing a man, and that her father had been wrong.
Unfortunately, Zhou Quan was clearly not the hero she had dreamed of who could bring her home in glory. Zhou Quan was indeed talented and capable, but he was weak-willed and unable to handle things. After suffering one defeat, he was severely discouraged and never recovered.
Shi Yujia tried to persuade him to regroup and start over, but Zhou Quan didn't appreciate her good intentions. Instead, he harbored resentment and complained about her.
"...I know you look down on me now, think I'm useless!"
"Oh, right, do you regret not listening to your parents and eloping with me?"
"I told you back then, don't be so stubborn, talk to your dad properly, apologize to him. You're his daughter, do you think he'd really abandon you? But you wouldn't listen to me, you insisted I elope with you!"
Zhou Quan even started blaming Shi Yujia for making him elope with her. In his opinion, if they hadn't eloped, Shi Yujia would still be the eldest daughter of the Shi family, and they wouldn't have to suffer like this. With the Shi family's care, they could definitely live a comfortable life.
He wanted to take Shi Yujia back to City A, to let her return to the Shi family and apologize to her father.
"How can a father and daughter hold a grudge overnight? You just need to go back and apologize to your father, do you think he'll really abandon you?" Zhou Quan fantasized. "Then, you'll still be the eldest daughter of the Shi family, and I'll still be the eldest son-in-law of the Shi family. Isn't that great?"
Unfortunately, Shi Yujia was a very stubborn and proud person. She couldn't accept going back in disgrace. If she really went back like that, it would be like telling everyone that she was wrong, which was simply trampling on her dignity.
Shi Yujia couldn't tolerate this.
So, Shi Yujia refused Zhou Quan's request. However, because of this, Zhou Quan's attitude towards her changed drastically. He started to find fault with Shi Yujia in everything, and would verbally abuse her for the slightest thing. Since
Zhou Quan treated her this way, the other members of the Zhou family naturally didn't treat Shi Yujia any better.
Shi Yujia couldn't really remember what those days were like anymore; she only remembered that they were very hard.
As the eldest daughter of the Shi family, she had never experienced hardship since birth. However, after arriving at the Zhou family, she had to do everything herself. She not only had to learn housework but also deal with her mother-in-law and the criticism of her three older sisters. Most importantly, the Zhou family was poor.
Her husband, Zhou Quan, remained indifferent to everything she endured, even hoping she would suffer more so he could persuade her to return to the Shi family.
However, Shi Yujia's stubbornness surprised everyone. She endured the hardships of the Zhou family and even started her own business.
Shi Yujia was actually quite clever, and like her father, she had a knack for business. She started by selling toys at a stall outside a primary school, and later rented a shop. Just as her life was improving, her shop was vandalized. The vandals
were Zhou Quan's creditors; Zhou Quan had become addicted to gambling.
Before Zhou Qingping, Shi Yujia had been pregnant, but because Zhou Quan was addicted to gambling, she miscarried.
After the miscarriage, Shi Yujia suffered a huge blow. For the first time, she thought about returning to City A, to the Shi family, to apologize to her parents. However, in the end, Shi Yujia didn't go back.
She knew that going back like this would only make her a laughingstock.
Hearing this, Xu Gui had only one thought: Aunt Qiao Xinyue, this Shi Yujia, is truly stubborn! Even in this state, she still refuses to come back and bow her head to her parents.
Xu Gui imagined what it would be like if he were in that situation…
He would definitely have rushed back immediately. Oh, no, he wouldn't have encountered this situation in the first place. Running away to live a hard life, or staying at home as a pampered young lady—everyone knows which choice to make.
The viewers in the live stream also had many feelings about Shi Yujia's experience:
[What does this example show? It shows that being love-struck is a bad thing!] [ If you're love-struck, be prepared for hardship.]
[Many people aren't love-struck, it's just that some men pretend perfectly before marriage, only to reveal their true colors afterward, making them incredibly difficult to guard against.]
[There's no need to generalize; love-struck is indeed undesirable, but compared to those who are love-struck, the most despicable are the men themselves. They're incompetent, causing their women to suffer. Pah!]
[Actually, even those who are love-struck can have a good life if they meet the right person. It's just that this Aunt Shi wasn't so lucky.]
[You said it yourself, it's all "what if." What is "what if"? It's a hypothetical, a gamble. You're betting your future on a man. If you don't suffer, who will?]
[Uh, actually, it depends on what kind of love-struck person you are. Look at Miss Tang, she's quite the love-struck one. I heard the other day that Lin Xu and her father have been kicked out of the Tang family. It's so satisfying!]
[Miss Tang is indeed love-struck, but on top of that, she's also a mama's girl, a daddy's girl, and a daughter's girl. If we're talking about winners in life, it has to be Miss Tang.]
[Everyone's being too absolute. There are reliable husbands in this world, but there are also unreliable parents. Nothing is absolute.]
The live stream was buzzing with discussion.
In the Qiao family's music room, Qiao Xinyue, her eyes brimming with tears, looked at Shi Yujia and asked in a hoarse voice, "What do all these things you're talking about have to do with my mother? You've suffered so much; it's not my mother's fault at all!"
Shi Yujia sighed, "Yes, all the suffering I've endured is my own fault, it's what I deserve. It has nothing to do with your mother. I'm just jealous of your mother, jealous of her good fortune and luck..."
Compared to her bitterness and misery, Qiao Xinyue's mother, Shi Yuling, had a smooth and successful life.
Always following her parents' arrangements, she was always the young lady of the Shi family. Later, she married into the equally wealthy Qiao family, where she was doted on by her husband and had tolerant in-laws. Her life was smooth and harmonious.
"When I met her later, we were clearly twin sisters, but I looked older than her mother..." Speaking of Qiao Xinyue's mother, Shi Yujia's tone carried a hint of inexplicable jealousy, but upon closer examination, it seemed to also contain affection.
Shi Yujia sighed, "After I returned to City A, she's the only one still willing to acknowledge me as a member of the Shi family..."
Shi Yujia had actually been back in City A for quite some time; she returned ten years ago, when Zhou Qingping was nine years old. Zhou Qingping's father, Zhou Quan, died in a car accident shortly after Zhou Qingping's birth.
For the first nine years of Zhou Qingping's life, Shi Yujia raised her alone, and the mother and daughter lived in poverty. When Zhou Qingping was nine, she fell seriously ill and needed surgery.
If she had a choice, Shi Yujia wouldn't want to return to City A, because returning would seem to prove how much of a failure she had been in her life. However, she had no choice but to return because she couldn't afford to treat her daughter's illness.
"But when I arrived at the Shi family home with the child, I didn't even go inside the complex. I waited at the gate until your grandfather came out, but he looked at me holding Qingping with utter indifference..."
Shi's father looked at her coldly and said, "I only have one daughter, her name is Shi Yuling!"
At that moment, Shi Yujia felt incredibly ashamed. Holding her child, she practically fled from the Shi family's complex. At that moment, she regretted coming here to humiliate herself.
It was at this moment that Shi Yuling found Shi Yujia.
When she saw her, Shi Yujia was somewhat dazed. The reason was simple: Shi Yuling looked incredibly young. They were twin sisters, born of the same mother, and had looked exactly alike since childhood. To outsiders, it was impossible to tell them apart.
But now, they looked completely different.
Shi Yuling still looked young and beautiful, with a noble air. Even though she was married and had children, she still looked like a young woman in her late teens. But looking at herself, standing next to her, they seemed like people from two different generations.
At that moment, Shi Yujia felt a strong pang of jealousy towards her sister.
"You killed my mother because of jealousy?" Qiao Xinyue questioned.
Shi Yujia was somewhat agitated. She said, "How many times do I have to say it? I didn't kill your mother. Your mother died in a car accident!"
At this moment, she looked nothing like Qiao's mother. Qiao's mother was gentle and quiet, but Shi Yuling, as the older sister, was obviously more assertive and fierce. At this moment, her brows and eyes were full of agitation and anger.
Hearing her answer, Qiao Xinyue said, "I don't believe it!"
Shi Yujia sneered and said, "Whether you believe it or not, that's the truth... Besides, your mother is my sister. No matter how heartless I am, I wouldn't harm her. Not to mention, when I was abandoned by everyone and no one was willing to help me, it was your mother who helped me."
At that time, she returned to City A because her daughter, Zhou Qingping, was sick and needed a lot of money for surgery. So she endured the embarrassment and wanted to come back to apologize to Shi's father. Unfortunately, Shi's father ignored her, and her mother, Shi's mother, was a woman who obeyed her husband and didn't dare to help her at all.
At that time, it was her younger sister, Shi Yuling, who found her and helped her.
Shi Yuling found a hospital and doctor for Zhou Qingping, paid for Zhou Qingping's surgery, and also arranged housing and a job for her older sister, Shi Yujia, and gave her a sum of money—she was incredibly thoughtful.
However, out of consideration for their father, she didn't tell anyone about her relationship with Shi Yuling, and Shi Yuling didn't tell anyone around her either, so many people were still unaware of Shi Yujia's existence.
Shi Yujia said, "I admit, I'm very jealous of your mother, jealous that she's doing better than me, but I never thought of harming her..."
Qiao Xinyue was bewildered: "If it wasn't you who harmed her, then how exactly did my mother die?"
Shi Yujia closed her eyes and said, "It really was an accident." An accident that no one had expected.
Five years ago, she and Shi Yuling made plans to go on a trip. Instead of having anyone pick them up, they planned their own journey, taking a bus on a spontaneous trip. Shi Yuling was gentle and obedient, perhaps because everything in her life had been arranged by her parents; deep down, she possessed a romantic yearning for freedom.
So, Shi Yuling was very much looking forward to this trip. However, neither of them expected that this trip would end in tragedy.
"Our tour bus encountered a mudslide on the mountain, and many people died on board..." Thinking of that horrific accident, Shi Yujia couldn't help but close her eyes again. Her closed eyes trembled violently, and she whispered, "Your mother held me when the accident happened."
So, she lived, but Shi Yuling died.
And when Shi Yujia woke up, she had become "Shi Yuling."
"At that time," Shi Yujia began, "I was carrying your mother's bag, which contained her identification. And since I look exactly like her, they mistook me for your mother."
When she woke up, her parents were already there. Her mother hugged her and cried, "Lingling, thank goodness you're alright! You scared us to death…"
Shi Yujia gave a self-deprecating smile, touching her right eyebrow, and said, "Isn't it a coincidence? I used to have a mole here, the biggest difference between you and your mother. But during that mudslide, a rock cut me here, and it just so happened to break that mole."
By sheer coincidence, she injured that mole; it was as if even fate wanted her to take her sister Shi Yuling's place.
Actually, there were some differences between her and Shi Yuling. Because of the hardships she endured in the Zhou family, she was thinner than Shi Yuling. But who could blame her for that accident? Everyone found a reason for her thinness.
So, naturally, Shi Yujia became "Shi Yuling."
They were twin sisters and knew each other very well. Under her deliberate disguise, no one noticed anything amiss. As for her daughter, Qiao Xinyue, Qiao Xinyue was studying at the time, while she was recuperating in the hospital for more than half a year, so the two did not spend much time together.
After she fully recovered, Qiao Xinyue was preparing to go abroad again. Later, after Qiao Xinyue went abroad, she spent most of the year overseas, so the two of them didn't really spend much time together. Even if Qiao Xinyue sensed something was wrong, she wouldn't think much of it.
But when Qiao Xinyue heard this, she finally couldn't hold back anymore. Her eyes reddened as she questioned, "My mother saved you and treated you like a sister, but you want to take her place? Don't you feel guilty?"
Shi Yujia smiled and said frankly, "Everyone looks out for themselves. Your mother is dead, but I'm still alive. Of course, I have to think about myself!"
Qiao Xinyue looked at her in disbelief.
Fu Xia frowned, her sharp eyes rebuking, "It's one thing to take over Aunt Shi's identity, but to want to take your own biological daughter as your goddaughter? Aren't you being a bit too greedy?"
Shi Yujia replied, "You said it yourself, Qingping is my biological daughter, how can I watch her suffer?"
She sighed, "I had already thought it through. Xinyue is abroad, rarely coming back, and even plans to find work overseas. I can easily use the excuse of feeling lonely to take Qingping as my goddaughter... I don't care about the Qiao family's wealth, as long as Qingping can live with me and have a slightly easier life, that's enough."
She had considered everything, except for Xu Gui's existence.
"When I heard you question me, Miss Xu, about whether I was Xin Yue's biological mother, I knew you were truly capable." She smiled at Xu Gui and sighed, "I fooled my parents, my sister's husband, and even her daughter, but ultimately, I couldn't fool fate."
"Perhaps it really was fate that allowed you to witness this, Miss Xu."
Without Xu Gui, perhaps she really would have succeeded.
Xu Gui: Ah, is it because I'm too capable?
"It's not fate, it's that you're too greedy!" Fu Xia said incisively, "You greedily became Aunt Yuling, you've already succeeded, but you're still greedily wanting your own daughter to live a good life with you. If you hadn't done this, maybe I wouldn't have suspected anything was wrong."
Fu Xia sneered, "You say you don't want the Qiao family's wealth, but do you really not? If you really don't want it, you could just give Zhou Qingping enough money. With money, Zhou Qingping could live a life hundreds of times better than before..."
When her name was mentioned, Zhou Qingping couldn't help but raise her head, and then awkwardly lowered it again.
"But you didn't do that. Instead, you wanted to take Zhou Qingping as your goddaughter and have her act all cute and charming in front of Uncle Qiao!" Fu Xia sneered. "Your actions are completely inconsistent with your words!" "
Everything you're doing now is clearly making your daughter, Zhou Qingping, gradually replace Yueyue's position in this family!"
She questioned Shi Yujia: "Can you swear that you didn't want your daughter to replace Yueyue?"
"..."
[Wow, Fu Xia's words perfectly expressed my thoughts. I wanted to say this before: Shi Yujia's words and actions are completely different. If she really didn't want anything in return, why would she take her own daughter as a goddaughter? Does she think everyone is a fool?]
[Ah, is that so? I didn't think that much about it. I really thought what Shi Yujia said was true.]
[When it comes to something, you shouldn't look at what others say or do, but at the final result. And the result now is: Qiao Xinyue is rejected by her "parents," and Zhou Qingping has moved in. Is this what you call not wanting anything in return?] [
If Shi Yuling knew after her death that the sister she risked her life to protect not only took her identity but also tried to replace her daughter with her child, she'd probably crawl out of her coffin.]
[I have to say, Aunt Shi Yuling was really pitiful... Is this what they mean by good people not getting rewarded?]
[I feel that Shi Yujia is very twisted. When she mentions her sister, she seems to be both jealous and hateful, yet she also seems to love her very much. Anyway, she gives people a very complicated feeling.]
[It's not surprising. People are multifaceted. Shi Yujia is completely both jealous and loving towards her sister.]
*
"...If Aunt Shi knew that she saved you, but you treated her daughter like this, she would definitely regret saving you!" Fu Xia said softly.
Upon hearing this, Shi Yujia reacted strongly, shrieking, "I never begged her to save me! She wanted to save me herself! Did she think I'd be grateful just because she saved me?"
"She's dreaming! I won't be grateful to her,"
Shi Yujia scoffed. "If she hadn't saved me, how could her daughter have suffered all this? So, everything her daughter is going through is her own doing!"
Qiao Xinyue's tears were already streaming down her face; she had only one thought in her mind.
"My mother, my mother, where did you bury my mother?" she asked painfully.
Shi Yujia snapped out of her daze, took a breath, and said, "On a mountain. Your mother said she liked looking at mountains and water, so I had her buried there. I think she would like it there!"
Hearing this, Qiao Xinyue stared blankly.
"How could you do this? Yuling is your own sister!" Mr. Qiao, seemingly finally processing the truth, glared at Shi Yujia with uncontrollable rage. "How could you be so cruel?"
"Yuling, my Yuling..." Mr. Qiao wept, tears streaming down his face. He cried, "I knew it! Some of your preferences and habits had changed, but I didn't think much of it."
He suddenly regretted it, blaming himself, "Why didn't I think more? If I had thought more, maybe I would have realized your mistake sooner, and you wouldn't have pretended to be Yuling for so long!"
Seeing Mr. Qiao's anguish, the comments section was filled with sympathy:
[So, if we're talking about pitiful people, Qiao Xinyue's father is the most pitiful. He only now realizes his beloved wife is already dead, and the person he's been living with for the past five years isn't his wife at all. Anyone would be devastated!]
[Mr. Qiao must have sensed something was wrong before, but he didn't think much of it. After all, who would expect the wife sleeping next to them to be someone else?]
[Actually, I'm very curious, did Mr. Qiao and Shi Yujia have a relationship these past few years?] If so, then this brother-in-law and sister... ugh, this is truly immoral literature!
[Suddenly feeling a bit disgusted...]
...
But upon hearing Mr. Qiao's words, Shi Yujia suddenly burst into laughter, as if she had heard some incredibly funny joke.
Amidst the bewildered gazes of the others, she looked at Mr. Qiao with disdain and contempt, saying, "Qiao Yiheng, what are you pretending to be so affectionate for? If you were truly devoted to my sister, wouldn't you realize I'm not her?"
She scoffed, "Given the current situation, you shouldn't be acting!"
Mr. Qiao's expression changed.