"Lanlan, what’s wrong with you?" He Qing asked with concern, noticing her unusual expression.
"How old is Ou Lianlian roughly?" Xia Lan asked again.
"About the same age as Xia Chuyi... Oh, speaking of which, it’s quite a coincidence, I’ve actually seen her records. She shares the same birth year, month, and day as Xia Chuyi."
"One cultural performance, Ou Lianlian gave a speech, praising her great mother and saying that she was premature and that Mrs. Ou suffered a lot to raise her."
The same year, month, and day!
Xia Lan’s heart was a storm of shock and awe.
Maybe, just maybe, it really was such a coincidence!
Xia Lan started to think rapidly about how she could use this information.
Soon, she calmed down and said to He Qing, "Brother Qing, I need to go back to He Mountain to fetch something. It’s very important to me; I have to get it."
"Then, after I’ve got it, we’ll go find Ou Lianlian together!"
A few days later, at the Provincial City troops, after learning that Ou Lianlian had returned from the Southwest and retired back to Capital City, He Qing managed to obtain Ou Lianlian’s contact information only after pleading with former comrades and offering bribes.
Xia Lan excitedly held the phone number, dialing it.
"Hello, may I speak with Miss Ou Lianlian? I know a secret about you; you are not the biological child of the Ou Family!"
There was silence for two seconds on the other end, followed by a slightly raised female voice: "Are you insane? Who in the compound doesn’t know I’m not the biological child of the Ou Family?"
"Which of my rivals are you? Are you deliberately calling to mock me? Yes, you’re right, Huo Shiqian didn’t fancy me! He even tattled to my parents, getting me grounded!"
"So what? Do you think he’ll like you? Let me tell you, he likes that vulgar country bumpkin girl from Ling County! If you’re so capable, go and show off to her!"
With that, she hung up the phone with a beep.
Xia Lan was shocked, her complexion turned particularly ugly.
"Your so-called leverage is this? Is this what you’ve been hiding and not letting me know about?" He Qing’s face looked even worse.
"Ou Lianlian was never the biological daughter of the Ou Family! She was adopted, everyone in the troops knows that!"
Xia Lan trembled: But she didn’t know!
"Then why did she say that in her speech?"
He Qing was so angry he trembled. "Miss Ou was adopted by the Ou Family, and everyone familiar with the Beijing Ou Family knows!"
He too had learned it while inquiring about the situation.
"The original child of the Ou Family was stolen by human traffickers. The Ou Family failed to retrieve her, so they adopted Ou Lianlian, who was about the same age as their child, from the human traffickers."
"This has never been a secret to anyone in the Ou Family."
"But the Ou Family members are particularly fond of Ou Lianlian. Whether she’s biological or not, she herself doesn’t mention it, and who else would dare to?"
"Her speech was nothing more than praising Mrs. Ou for the hard work of raising her, not giving birth to her!"
"I’m so angry!" He Qing slapped her twice and pushed her to the ground, "You’ve completely wasted this phone call!"
Then, he walked away from the spot.
More than the physical pain, Xia Lan’s heart was filled with terror: Xia Chuyi might really be the child of a powerful family!
She would never allow Xia Chuyi the chance to rise to greatness!
She held onto her chest where the small swaddle with the Ou character was placed. She would definitely not let Xia Chuyi get her hands on this.
Xia Chuyi, you little wretch, you will forever, ever, have no chance to know your biological parents!
You’ll always be the daughter of that disgusting woman, Mother Xia!
Crazed jealousy filled Xia Lan’s eyes.
Far away in Ling County, Xia Chuyi sneezed for no reason.
Strange, the weather had clearly improved, so why was she sneezing?