Rong Yan looked at her calmly, "So you’re saying that you’re not planning to send her back? Have you considered your biological daughter’s feelings? Have you thought about how her parents feel?"
Rong Xuefeng, "You... Can’t you be a little more forgiving? She hasn’t caused you any trouble..."
Rong Yan looked at her, "You’re wrong about that. She stole eighteen years of my life, and it was her parents who swapped us with malicious intent."
"While she was enjoying the love and affection of our parents, I started doing chores in her place when I was only five, sweeping, feeding chickens, cutting grass, taking care of my little brother. By seven, I was cooking and doing the laundry. When I wasn’t even tall enough to reach the stove, I had to stand on a stool to cook. The river water in the winter was bone-chilling, and I had to wash the family’s clothes."
"Even going to school was something I fought for. If it weren’t for my efforts, I wouldn’t have had the chance to attend high school, let alone elementary school. And all this should not have been my burden to bear."
The couple’s faces changed as they remembered their daughter when she was small... Since she was the only child at home, she was fed with formula milk from the start.
As for doing chores... They never let her lift a finger.
She grew up without ever doing laundry or cooking; even sweeping the floor... That was something they rarely let her do.
Rong Yan continued, "Do you know why they didn’t want me to take the college entrance exam? First, they didn’t want me to be too successful and discover my true origins. Second, they wanted to keep me trapped here, find some old man to marry me off to. That way, not only would they receive a substantial bride price, but they’d ruin my life in the process."
"My high school grades were the best in the whole school, but they wouldn’t let me take the college entrance exam, wouldn’t let me have a splendid life. Tell me, is that unrelated to the girl who stole my life?"
Wang Jinglin and Rong Xuefeng felt as if something was stuck in their throats, experiencing unbearable discomfort.
Rong Xuefeng, "...But Weiwei is innocent, too. She had just been born when they made the switch... What’s her fault?"
The thought of exchanging her daughter for another cut her like a knife.
The affection of eighteen years had surpassed the tie of blood.
"If that’s the case, so be it! I don’t think I can be part of such a family. There’s no need to do this DNA test." Rong Yan hadn’t planned on joining their family.
With their attitude today, it was even less possible.
"You are our biological daughter. Come with us! Let us make up for the eighteen years of debt," Wang Jinglin still wanted to acknowledge her as his daughter, after all, she was his own flesh and blood.
Bloodwise, she was his only kin, and he couldn’t possibly deny her.
"I have only one condition. If after confirming our blood relation, that girl in your family must leave. If you can’t do that, then there’s no need to talk about acknowledgment. After all, I’m over eighteen now, and already an adult."
After Rong Yan said this, she turned to look at Director Zheng, "Director Zheng, if I refuse to acknowledge them, it won’t affect Li Cuixia’s conviction, right?"
"Unless the family is willing to issue a letter of forgiveness, Li Cuixia’s conviction is unchanged."
Just then, a dismayed exclamation arose, "How can you do this? Although she did wrong, she raised you for eighteen years. Even if your schooling was through your own efforts, it was still them who gave you the opportunity. In the village, if they were a bit heartless, they could have made you quit school and get married long ago."
"They let you grow up without being sick or endangered, and now you want to sue her; you... are simply too heartless." For origınal chapters go to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
Director Zheng frowned slightly upon hearing her words.
"That’s not how it works, Li Cuixia’s crime is a fact."
Rong Xuefeng immediately said, "That Li Cuixia swapped my child, I am willing to forgive her and issue a letter of forgiveness."
Rong Yan’s lips curled in a particularly conspicuous sneer upon hearing these words.
"If I remember correctly, I am the victim, and I am the one who called the police. Her so-called grace in raising me stemmed from her personal agenda. Moreover, the chores and suffering I endured from childhood more than equalled what I consumed at their home. In fact, if we were to tally it up, the money I’ve brought in from scholarships to pay for their meals since elementary school would exceed the total sum.
"Furthermore, you want to clear a name for your adopted daughter by creating an unsullied family image, but I am unwilling. I will sue them as a victim."
Not everything can be forgiven.
If we really did that, what about the poor original person? She’d lost her life.
No one has the right to forgive on her behalf.
Disappointment flooded Rong Xuefeng’s face.
"You, you are too heartless."
"Don’t preach benevolence to others without understanding their suffering. And do you really think you are truly kind?" Rong Yan stared at her with a sneer, "You’ve ignored your own biological daughter; you don’t deserve to be called a mother."
"You came here without excitement, without concern, without empathy... You are only worried about how it might affect the one you raised. So, even if you turn out to be my biological parents, we don’t need to acknowledge each other; for eighteen years, I haven’t eaten a single grain of your rice, so there’s no need to provide for you in your old age."
Rong Xuefeng was both angry and distressed.
She just didn’t want to lose the child she had raised with her own hands... What was wrong with that?
Why couldn’t she keep both?
"We don’t need you to care for us in our old age..."
Indeed, a character molded in the countryside was just too harsh.
How could they expect such a ruthless person to care for them in their old age? It was unthinkable.
And with that, Rong Fengxue became even more determined to keep Weiwei by her side.
She had raised her by hand, and most importantly... their relationship as mother and daughter was excellent.
And at this moment, she was somewhat infuriated by the girl before her.
"Do you really not want to acknowledge us?"
"First of all, let me clarify, it is you who don’t want to acknowledge me. By not sending back the girl you raised, you’re showing you don’t want to acknowledge me, so don’t use any excuses."
Rong Yan didn’t want to talk to them any longer and turned to Director Zheng.
"Director Zheng, may I leave now?"
"Rong Yan, have you really thought it through? Why don’t you go back and think about it some more..."
Director Zheng felt pity for the young lady; she was about the same age as his daughter, but his daughter was much more fortunate.
Rong Yan nodded, "I’ve thought it through, that’s it! Some people are just born with shallow parental bonds."
Her resolute manner further enraged Rong Xuefeng.
"If that’s the case, then fine, have it your way."