Chapter 5

Thanks to that, Liu Qingqing managed to make it through the winter.

Before long, we were in our final year of high school.

My time grew tighter by the day.

I spent the whole year in the dorm, keeping to myself and leaving Jiang Hui alone.

It wasn’t until she called me before the college entrance exams that I remembered I still had a mother in name.

“I’ve raised you until you’re eighteen. Whether you get into college or not is none of my business now. I’m not paying your tuition.”

I couldn’t help laughing.

“You say that as if you’ve ever paid my tuition before.”

Jiang Hui gritted her teeth.

“You ungrateful brat! If it weren’t for me, you’d have starved and frozen to death years ago!”

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be living with a wealthy family right now.”

“What are you talking about?”

I hung up at once and let her wonder.

Sure enough, Jiang Hui couldn’t stand it. She called me more than a dozen times in a row.

Then came a flood of messages.

“Do you know something?”

“Liu Qingqing, I’m your birth mother! Stop spouting nonsense!”

“You were born low, and you’ll die low. Accept your lot in life!”

I ignored her and kept packing for the exam the next day.

Over the next three days, I did my best.

As soon as the exam was over, I found a job that came with room and board.

The results were released before long.

I ranked first in the school and second in the whole city.

Qingbei University’s admissions team came to the school right away.

My homeroom teacher rushed to tell me—and even came to my part-time job to pick me up.

The school had also invited Jiang Hui.

In front of all those school officials, she had to pretend to be a good mother, even if she didn’t want to.

“Yes, yes. She’s been clever since she was little. I’ve never had to worry about her.”

“There’s no need to give her a reward. It’ll only make her conceited.”

The principal looked at me proudly and offered some reassurance.

“One of the school board members heard about your outstanding results and wants to come in person to present your award.”

8

Jiang Hui’s smile froze.

She’d worked at the school for years. She knew the board member the principal meant was my birth father, Zhou Guangyao.

I was eighteen now, and I looked more and more like my birth mother.

If he saw me, he’d realize something was wrong.

“No, that’s all right. Doing well is what a student should do. We have something to take care of, so I’ll take her home.”

She grabbed my coat and tried to drag me outside.

The homeroom teacher and principal couldn’t stop her.

But I planted my feet and didn’t budge.

I peeled her fingers off me one by one.

“I still need tuition and living expenses for college.”

“You little brat! Are you asking for a beating?”

Jiang Hui raised her other hand, ready to slap me.

“Stop!”

Zhou Guangyao stepped in through the doorway.

His eyes settled on my face—a perfect match for Ye Zhenyan’s.

“What’s your name?”

“Liu Qingqing.”

The principal sensed the tension and hurried to smooth things over.

“Mr. Zhou, I think Liu Qingqing’s features do look a little like yours.”

Zhou Guangyao stared at me without saying a word.

Jiang Hui was terrified. She cut in quickly.

“It’s just a coincidence. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be going.”

“Wait.”

Zhou Guangyao looked at Jiang Hui as if something had just come back to him.

“Have we met somewhere before?”

“No, no! We’ve never met!”

“This is Jiang Hui. She works in our cafeteria, and she’s Liu Qingqing’s mother,” my homeroom teacher explained eagerly.

Zhou Guangyao frowned as he thought it over. Then he remembered what had happened years ago.

He’d seen Jiang Hui many times.

She’d been like a shadow, always appearing somewhere in his life—from the day his child was born, through kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school.

A suspicion took shape in his mind.

He stepped toward me and asked, “May I take a vial of your blood?”

This was the moment I’d been waiting for.

“Of course.”

Jiang Hui’s face went white.

She understood that Zhou Guangyao had begun to suspect the truth about my identity.

The blood sample was for a DNA test.

“No! I won’t allow it!”

She screamed and tried to drag me away.

“I’m her birth mother! What are you people doing?!”

“It’s just a simple test. Why are you so nervous? Unless you have something to hide?”

Zhou Guangyao’s bodyguards immediately restrained Jiang Hui.

Everything that followed went smoothly.

My blood, Liu Qingqing’s, Ye Zhenyan’s, and Zhou Guangyao’s.

All four samples were sent to the hospital for testing.