"Don’t be scared, I won’t eat you up,"
Shi Yaoguang looked at Shi Yiqing, smiling in a way that seemed utterly harmless.
But Shi Yiqing dared not take her words at face value.
It was true that Shi Yaoguang wouldn’t literally "eat her up," but the things she had done were far worse than that.
If she had known that Shi Yaoguang held such significant leverage over her, she would never have provoked her.
But now it was too late to say such things.
With so many people gathered to watch the spectacle, Shi Yiqing was well aware that she could no longer hide the secrets of her birth.
However, she was not completely without an escape route.
She could put all the blame on Shi Yaoguang, claiming that everything was a deliberate setup by her.
After all, Shi Yaoguang had only released audio and not video.
The lack of video meant insufficient evidence, and there was still a chance she could turn the situation around.
"Oh, my dear sister, what are you thinking about?"
Shi Yaoguang deliberately used an exaggerated, singing tone, teasingly saying, "You’re not thinking about how to spin this all as a plot of mine, are you?"
That was indeed what Shi Yiqing was thinking, but could she admit it?
She absolutely could not.
She bit her lip and looked at Shi Yaoguang with an incredulous gaze, appearing as if she had been insulted, "How could you say such a thing? I’ve never thought that."
"Oh~" Shi Yaoguang nodded, "So you mean to say that you’d never try to clear yourself of blame?"
Shi Yiqing’s expression stiffened, "How could this be called clearing myself of blame?"
"I’ve never thought that way."
As she spoke, she bit her lip in aggrievement, "You’re the one who brought out this audio, who knows whose voice it is? What evidence do you have to prove that this is a recording from over a decade ago? And on what basis can you prove that this is left by my biological mother?"
As she said this, her eyes wary, she looked at Shi Yaoguang, "For all we know, you could have done this on purpose."
"Using such dubious audio to deceive people, don’t think we’ll be easily fooled!"
With a single sentence, Shi Yiqing had included "us" in her statement, evidently trying to get everyone on her side.
Unfortunately, not everyone is brainless.
Even if they were lumped into ’us,’ they still had brains.
"Shi Yiqing, you say you don’t want to make excuses, but isn’t this exactly what you’re doing right now?"
"Exactly, when you said before that Shi Yaoguang wasn’t the real Yaoguang, didn’t you also wave around some lab report from who-knows-where, blabbering that you knew something? What’s the point of saying all this now? It just makes us look down on you even more."
"If it was a mix-up at birth, that would be one thing, but your background... it’s clearly problematic. In such a situation, instead of repenting, you’re still trying to cover up the truth. Do you really think we’re all blind?"
As there were those who opposed her, there were also those fiercely loyal to her.
And so, some immediately stood up to defend her, "Qingqing, don’t be sad, I believe in you!"
"Qingqing, I also believe in you!"
Hearing these words, Shi Yaoguang couldn’t help but feel her eyes redden, "Thank you all, I... I’m so happy..."
As she spoke, tears began to flow, "I always knew there were good people in this world."
Watching them perform a tear-jerking public drama, Mu Tiantian sarcastically clicked her tongue, utterly destroying the sentimental atmosphere.
"You all are so pitiful, huh."
She said, followed by a sly chuckle, "If you ask me, you’re just looking for trouble where there isn’t any."
Shi Yiqing’s face looked terrible, and so did her supporters. The way they looked at Mu Tiantian, it seemed they could kill with their gaze alone.
Mu Tiantian shrugged her shoulders, "You don’t have to look at me like that, I didn’t say anything wrong."
"Of course you did!" one of Shi Yiqing’s supporters exclaimed, neck stiff, assertively speaking, "Qingqing could never be wrong. The ones who are wrong are all of you! If it weren’t for your relentless pressure, how could Qingqing have ended up ."
At those words, silence fell over the place for a moment.
Then, everyone’s faces suddenly lit up with realization.
Mu Tiantian clapped her hands in approval, "So, you’re not a complete idiot after all?"
Mu Tiantian curled her lips into a sneer. "Looks like you’re not beyond help after all. You know Shi Yiqing did something wrong but you still hold onto that bit of logic. For that alone, I am convinced by you!"
She walked over to the person, patted their shoulder, "Kid, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been brainwashed. I’m here for you, and I will definitely free you from the curse of Shi Yiqing’s brainwashing."
"Even if I can’t, Yaoguang is there! Let me tell you, there are still good lives to be lived in this world. You have to trust me, and must never give up, okay?"
Shi Yiqing watched as Mu Tiantian tried to convert her supporters right in front of her, her face growing even uglier, "Mu Tiantian, what do you mean by this?"
Mu Tiantian shrugged, "I mean what I said literally. Are you deaf and can’t hear what I’m saying? Or do you have Alzheimer’s, unable to understand the content of my words? If that’s the case, I don’t mind explaining it to you again, after all... caring for the disabled is important."
Watching her smile in such an infuriating way, if it weren’t for the sake of her own image, Shi Yiqing would have already rushed forward.
She truly, truly wanted to tear Mu Tiantian’s mouth apart!
Alas, this was not a place where she could do as she pleased.
"Mu Tiantian, you just wait!"
After dropping that threatening line, she turned toward Shi Yaoguang, "I don’t know how you got this recording, or why you are so intent on framing me, but I swear, I had no idea what kind of person my birth mother was."
"Even if there was something shady about the baby swap that year, it wasn’t my intention. I was just an infant at the time, I couldn’t decide anything!"
Having said her piece, Shi Yiqing looked at the onlookers, "I know, you all have been pampered and can’t understand my situation."
"As the saying goes, human emotions are not interconnected, I don’t expect you to understand me, but I do hope that you can give me a chance to defend myself, don’t just sentence me to death without hearing me out!"
Her words were firm and resolute.
The onlooking students, not so firm themselves, inevitably wavered.
Shi Yaoguang was pleased to see this.
Only those who have experienced hope can fully understand it.
The more people who support her now, the more desperate she will be when she finally falls from grace.
Shi Yiqing didn’t anticipate any of this. Looking at the people around her who expressed their willingness to support her, she revealed a genuinely happy smile.
At the same time, she secretly cast an arrogant and provocative glance at Shi Yaoguang.
Shi Yaoguang saw this and responded with a smile.
"It seems you have managed to avert this crisis, but that’s fine by me. I don’t want to make a scene at the Shi Family yet. Before you completely anger me, I hope that from now on you will think before you act and not be so impulsive."