Wei Jinning admired her figure, sighing repeatedly.
“What a pity… I spent ten years earning that Best Actress trophy, and I lost it before I even had a chance to enjoy it.”
“And the house I finally saved enough for the down payment on—I didn’t even get to live in it before it was gone.”
“It’s such a waste… such a shame.”
“Thankfully, I’m an orphan with no parents. Otherwise, if they had to bury their own child, how heartbreaking would that be?”
As her thoughts spiraled, Wei Jinning was suddenly jolted by a loud commotion outside.
“This girl really knows how to cause trouble. I just gave her a few light smacks—how’d she end up fainting?”
“Hospital bills cost money! That money would’ve been better spent on my son. Watch me teach her a lesson—she’s a damn money waster, deserves a beating,” grumbled Wei Dachuan, picking at his teeth leisurely with a toothpick.
Following behind him was Li Xiaohua, hunched over with her eyes locked on Wei Chenglong. She trailed behind him step by step, muttering, “Eat slower, don’t choke.”
Wei Chenglong, covered in layers of fat, held bubble tea in one hand and a fried chicken drumstick in the other, munching as he waddled forward.
He trailed behind his parents, nodding and mumbling in agreement with Wei Dachuan’s complaints, his mouth too full to speak clearly.
The three of them had been held at the police station overnight after Wei Jinning lost consciousness. Only this morning, once she woke up and was found to be okay, were they released—with a stern lecture, of course.
The once-quiet hospital instantly became noisy and chaotic with their arrival.
“This is a hospital. Please keep your voices down so as not to disturb the rest and treatment of other patients,” a young nurse reminded them gently.
But Wei Dachuan didn’t take it seriously. Instead, he raised his voice even more and shouted, “What’s it to you? You’re just a lowly nurse. Who are you to meddle in our business? We’ll talk however we like—what can you do about it?”
As he spoke, he even pointed his finger at the nurse, his arrogance reaching its peak.
The young nurse turned red with anger. She had never dealt with such unreasonable family members before.
“You’re unbelievable!” she snapped in frustration.
“Hmph! That’s just who I am—what are you going to do about it? I bet this whole hospital just likes to pick on people. Can’t even talk now? Snobs, all of you!” Wei Dachuan became more agitated, his voice growing louder and more obnoxious.
Then, with a disgusting display, he spat something he had picked from his teeth onto the floor.
“Ptooey!”
The sharp sound of his spit hitting the ground seemed to freeze the air around them.
Just then, a male doctor who had been watching quietly could no longer bear the scene. He stepped forward and sternly addressed Wei Dachuan:
“Sir, please mind your language and behavior.”
Seeing someone stand up for the nurse, Wei Dachuan toned down his attitude slightly, though he still tried to justify himself.
“Doctor, this isn’t my fault. I was just anxious to visit my daughter. She was the one stopping us, telling us not to talk.”
He quickly removed the toothpick from his mouth as he finished speaking.
“Alright, go check on your daughter,” the doctor said with a tired look.
“And everyone else, please disperse,” he added, glancing at the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion, shaking his head inwardly.
Faced with such unreasonable people, there was really no point in getting entangled with them—it was far wiser to get away as soon as possible.
“Fine, fine, fine. If she hadn’t desperately tried to stop us, would we have arrived this late?” Wei Dachuan muttered as he stepped forward, grumbling nonstop.
From her hospital bed, Wei Jinning immediately recognized the voices outside the door—the trio from the Wei family had arrived.
By now, she had fully understood the truth about her identity: she was originally the beloved daughter of the prestigious Huo family in Jing City, but at birth, she had been snatched away by the scheming Li Xiaohua and secretly taken.
Her top priority now was figuring out how to free herself from this family’s grasp.
As her gaze drifted around the room, she spotted Officer Wang Wei bustling around the bedside.
After some thought, she realized that only her acting skills from her past life could help her now.
Sure enough, the moment the Wei family trio stepped into the room, Wei Jinning’s eyes instantly welled up with tears, spilling over like a breached dam. Her pitiful expression could melt even the hardest heart.
“There, there, don’t cry anymore—crying too much isn’t good for your eyes,” Wang Wei tried to comfort her, but she was clearly at a loss. Matters involving family disputes were tricky—even as an officer, she could only offer verbal warnings at most.
“Officer, where are you? We’re here to take Ningning home. The child’s just throwing a tantrum,” Wei Dachuan said with a big smile plastered across his face.
“That’s right, Officer. My daughter’s been disobedient since she was little. Only her father can handle her. The moment I try to discipline her, she throws a fit. I don’t even dare speak up anymore,” Li Xiaohua chimed in, deliberately trying to make Wei Jinning look bad.
Hearing the voices of Wei Dachuan and his wife, Wei Jinning began her performance in earnest, feigning deep sorrow.
She held back her tears, gently wiped the corners of her eyes, then looked at Wang Wei with eyes full of trust and whispered softly,
“Auntie Wang… could you please ask them to leave first? I’m scared.”
Wang Wei, seeing her so pitiful and fragile, felt her heart ache. She gently patted Wei Jinning on the shoulder and reassured her,
“Okay. I’ll take care of it.”
She then turned around and said coldly to Wei Dachuan and Li Xiaohua,
“Please step outside. Jinning isn’t feeling well.”
“This… this… Didn’t the doctor say there’s nothing wrong with her? What do you mean ‘not feeling well’? Is this going to cost more money?” Wei Dachuan frowned, already calculating in his mind.
All he could think about was getting Wei Jinning discharged as soon as possible and married off to Li Weiguo’s family, so he could collect the remaining half of the bride price.
“You won’t need to pay a cent—I will. Now, please leave.” Wang Wei’s tone was firm and unwavering.
“Alright, alright, alright—we’ll go out now. We’ll come back to see Ningning later.”
Hearing that it wouldn’t cost him any money, Wei Dachuan left the room without hesitation, even closing the door behind him as he went.
He thought to himself: There are actually people this dumb in the world, willing to pay money for someone else.
As soon as Wei Dachuan was gone, Wei Jinning could no longer hold back her grief—tears gushed from her eyes like a broken dam.
She whispered softly,
“Aunt Wang, I suspect I’m not really the Wei family’s biological daughter.”
Her voice was heavy with sorrow and despair.
Wang Wei was shocked by this and hurried to comfort her:
“Jinning, don’t overthink. Some parents might favor boys a little, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Come now, wipe away your tears—you’ll make yourself sick from crying.”
As she spoke, Wang Wei pulled a few tissues from the box and gently wiped the tear tracks from Jinning’s cheeks.
But Wei Jinning shook her head and choked out:
“Aunt Wang, you don’t know. When I was little, my mother used to curse at me, calling me a ‘bastard child.’ She said she never should’ve stolen me and brought me home, that I was a burden—a money-losing wretch.”
“I swear I’m not lying. I heard those things with my own ears. I was too young to understand what they meant at the time.”
She bit her lip hard, trying to keep herself from crying out loud.
Finally, she raised her head and looked at Wang Wei with pleading eyes:
“Could you take me to do a DNA test? If it turns out I really am their daughter, then I’ll accept it as my fate. But if not… maybe it would be a relief for everyone.”
At that moment, Wei Jinning looked completely drained of life, her face full of hopelessness, making it impossible not to feel heartache for her.
“Alright, Auntie Wang will take you. I believe you,” Wang Wei said gently.
“I’ll go tell them you need to stay in the hospital for a couple more days for observation—get them to leave first.”
She sighed to herself, fully aware that Jinning was probably just imagining things.
How could parents who obviously favored sons so strongly go out of their way to steal back a baby girl?
Still, looking at Jinning’s worn, heartbroken face, she couldn’t bring herself to deny the girl’s request outright.
Sigh… this poor child.
“You should all head home now. Jinning still needs a couple more days of observation in the hospital,” Wang Wei said, her eyes slightly red.
“No way, we can’t just leave like this!” Wei Dachuan quickly objected.
“What if this—er, no, what if Ningning is left here alone? How could her mother and I be at ease?”
In truth, he didn’t care one bit about Jinning’s life or death. But if nobody stayed to keep an eye on her, and the brat tried to run off during the chaos, she might be impossible to find later.
And on top of that, Li Weiguo kept pressuring him to return the bride price.
He’d already pocketed the first half—there was no way he was giving it back.
No matter what, this girl had to marry into that family.
Thinking this, Wei Dachuan casually pointed to Li Xiaohua beside him and suggested:
“Why don’t we just leave her mom here to look after her?”
“No need. I’ll personally make sure she’s sent back to you,” Wang Wei replied coldly, clearly seeing through his plan.
In her heart, she even hoped that Jinning wasn’t really their child.
“You officers really do serve the people!” Wei Dachuan said with a wide smile, his already small eyes narrowing into slits.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Wei. We’ll make sure your daughter returns home safely. Just wait patiently for a couple of days,” Wang Wei replied flatly, her tone perfunctory.
Wei Dachuan nodded repeatedly, thanking her profusely.
At that moment, Wang Wei suddenly turned to Li Xiaohua and said softly,
“Ma’am, your hair’s a little messy. Let me help you tidy it up.”
“Ah—no need, really. I’m from the countryside, always busy all day. Who has time to care about looks?” Li Xiaohua waved her hands quickly, her eyes flickering with nervousness.
But Wang Wei ignored the refusal and gently reached out to touch her hair.
With quick, light movements, she smoothed a few strands.
“Ow, ow, ow…” Li Xiaohua couldn’t help crying out, pain showing clearly on her face.
“Sorry, ma’am. I might’ve used a bit too much force—feeling better now?” Wang Wei looked at her with an apologetic smile.
“N-no problem, I’m just a little sensitive to pain…” Li Xiaohua stammered, gently rubbing the spot where Wang Wei had touched her.
“Alright, alright! Stop dawdling and catch up!”
Wei Dachuan called over his shoulder, his face showing a trace of annoyance.
His gaze swept across the area, finally landing on Li Xiaohua, who was still talking to the female officer.
Seeing this, a wave of impatience surged in him, and he couldn’t help but raise his voice:
“Hurry up! We don’t have all day!”
“Yeah!” Wei Chenglong chimed in.
“I’m still hungry! If we keep standing around like this, I’ll starve!”
He seemed to still be savoring the fried chicken from earlier, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.
Hearing their impatient voices, Li Xiaohua quickly responded:
“Coming, coming!”
She jogged forward to catch up with them.
Along the way, Wei Chenglong excitedly started listing off foods:
“Mom, you gotta make ribs when we get home. I’m wasting away here! I need to eat something good. Oh, and buy a roast duck! That fried chicken was so good—I haven’t had enough yet…”
His eyes sparkled as he went on and on, completely immersed in his food fantasy.
Li Xiaohua smiled dotingly at her son and replied gently:
“Alright, alright, we’ll get everything. When we get home, you can have a few drinks with your dad too.”
In her heart, she thought: As long as my son’s happy, what’s a little running around for me?
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