Chapter 82: You’ve Got Food Stuck in Your Teeth (Transition Chapter)

After waiting in line and getting her meal, Lu Fangyuan carried her tray and found a place to sit.

There were other guests seated at the neighboring tables as well.

The moment she took a bite of the food, her eyes lit up with delight and excitement.

She had already made up her mind: no matter how the food tasted, she was going to praise it.

After all, the reason they were treated to such a feast was because the orphanage placed great importance on guests like them.

Even if someone complained that the food wasn’t good, she could simply say, “Everyone has different tastes. I happen to like this.”

Besides, were they really just here to eat?

No, what they were enjoying was the orphanage’s gratitude and goodwill toward its donors.

But to her surprise, the food was actually amazing!

(っ≧▽≦)っ~

She was in love!

As the pampered heiress of the Lu Family, Lu Fangyuan had grown up eating the finest delicacies. If even she thought this food was delicious, then it had to be exceptional.

However, the moment she realized this might be the only time she’d get to eat such a meal, her mood began to sink and sink and sink.

【If I turned evil right now, would it be too late?】

【If I were a true villain, I’d shamelessly poach the chef from the True Young Miss’s orphanage!】

【And while I’m at it, I’d kidnap the True Young Miss too, make her feed me by hand every day!】

【What a shame! Ugh, my damn good morals! ┑(￣Д ￣)┍】

【On second thought, forget it. Even if the Lu Family didn’t hate me for it, the kids at the orphanage would lose the good life they have now.】

【I’ve been observing them. These kids, despite their different personalities, all seem genuinely relaxed and happy.】

【Their clothes are clean, even their fingernails are spotless.】

【They look healthy, full of energy, and there’s no scheming or backstabbing among them.】

【It’s obvious the True Young Miss is doing a great job managing this place.】

【She put her heart into caring for these children, and in return, they’re willing to open up and show their lively, cheerful sides.】

【If she weren’t a good person, if she opened this orphanage just for the fame, she wouldn’t bother putting in this much effort.】

【She could’ve easily hired a professional manager and used the Lu Family’s money to go out and enjoy life. Wouldn’t that be easier?】

【Sigh, why is she so amazing?】

【Unlike me. I grew up in the Lu Family with all the advantages, yet I still rely on their support just to get a foot in the entertainment industry.】

【Ugh, I’m such trash!】

【No, to ease the pain and sorrow in my heart, I’ve made a decision…】

【I’m going to eat another bowl of rice, with tears if I must!】

【More veggies, more meat, more soup, more fruit!】

【My agent’s not here, my assistant’s not here, I can go wild, hahaha! ︿(￣︶￣)︿】

“Ms. Deng, this tofu soup was made by Master Zhao. I think it’s quite good. Would you like to try some?”

Lost in her own dramatic inner monologue, Lu Fangyuan was startled by the sudden voice beside her. She looked up quickly and saw the woman sitting across from her.

【Aaaah, she brought me soup!】

【No one else here got this treatment, just me!】

【Hahaha, I knew I was special. I’ve already caught her attention!】

【Ah, this amazing me! Even with makeup and a different look, I still can’t hide how lovable I am!】

【Sigh, what a burden it is to be so adored!】

“Yes, thank you.” While her heart screamed with excitement, Lu Fangyuan maintained a calm and friendly demeanor, even adding a touch of cool elegance.

After those light words, she gave Lu Qingqiang a reserved smile.

“Um… you’ve got something stuck in your teeth,” said Lu Qingqiang.

“(w(?Д?)w!” Lu Fangyuan froze.

【What? I’ve got food in my teeth? No way! I didn’t even eat chives!】

【My teeth are all natural. I haven’t done any whitening or veneers. How could something get stuck?】

【Aaaah, my image! I’m going to lose it!】

【What do I do? Should I pull out a mirror and ask her for floss so I can elegantly pick my teeth right here?】

【Will she think I’m gross?】

【I’m dying inside (;′??Д??`)!】

“Oops, my mistake,” Lu Qingqiang said.

“(⊙o⊙)…” Lu Fangyuan, who had just been debating whether to flee the scene in shame, blinked.

【Wait, what’s going on?】

【Is the True Young Miss nearsighted or something?】

【Actually, I know an eye specialist. Maybe I can arrange for them to come to the orphanage and do a free clinic?】

【Yes, that’s a great idea!】

【Ahaha, I really am just a humble little genius!】

“Sorry,” Lu Qingqiang said. For some reason, she had a sudden impulse to tease her.

But she hadn’t expected Lu Fangyuan’s first reaction to be neither annoyance nor suspicion.

Instead, she wanted to help.

A wave of guilt hit her. Maybe that joke wasn’t such a good idea after all.

e=(′o｀*))) sigh.

“It’s fine. This soup is really good. I like it a lot,” Lu Fangyuan quickly said.

“By the way, Ms. Deng, it’s kind of funny—we actually have something in common.”

“Oh? Really?” Lu Fangyuan looked up, her big eyes full of curiosity.

“My adoptive mother’s surname was also Deng.”

“Is that so? That really is a coincidence. And your adoptive mother…?” Lu Fangyuan asked gently.

“She passed away.”

“I grew up in the countryside.”

“My adoptive parents were honest, hardworking farmers. Ordinary people, really. Even a bit stingy.”

“Because our family wasn’t well off, my adoptive mother developed some health issues after giving birth.”

“Her health was poor, and she often needed medicine.”

“Plus, I needed money for school. And farming isn’t cheap—you have to buy fertilizer, pesticides, cement poles, seeds, and so on.”

“Our family really didn’t have much, so they saved every penny.”

“In the village, that’s just how life was. From a young age, I helped out in the fields and did all sorts of chores.”

“Once a month, they’d buy a bit of pork, stir-fry it, and heat up some steamed buns to eat with it.”

“That was the happiest time of the month for me.”

“After I started school, I realized how well-off some people were.”

“They had pocket money, pretty backpacks, wore name-brand clothes from TV ads, and could buy whatever snacks they liked. Their parents picked them up after school.”

“Sometimes, during breaks, their families would bring them food and snacks.”

“Some of their shoes cost hundreds, even thousands.”

“My shoes cost 25 yuan, and that was only because my old pair got soaked in the rain. My adoptive mother specially bought me new ones.”

“Back then, I used to dream that one day, my parents would show up at the school gate with a big bag of snacks.”

“And the security guard would call out on the loudspeaker, ‘Lu Qingqiang, Lu Qingqiang, come to the gate. Your family brought you something.’ That would’ve been amazing.”

“But it never happened.”

“My adoptive parents were too busy.”

“There was always work in the fields. From spring fertilizing to thinning flowers, hand-pollination, watering, spraying pesticides, bagging fruit, planting vegetables and corn, thinning fruit again… it never ended.”

“They were overwhelmed.”

“My adoptive father wore the same shirt for ten years and was still wearing it.”

“My adoptive mother had good features. If she had time to dress up, she’d be a beauty.”

“But the endless farm work and the pressure of life left her no time to rest, let alone make herself look nice.”

“The calluses on her hands, the wrinkles on her face, those were all carved by life.”

“All these years, she never owned a gold bracelet, never wore clothes that cost over a thousand yuan.”

“I understood, and I respected them for it.”

“I wrote down my wishes and thoughts in my diary.”

“One time, while cleaning, they accidentally found it.”

“The next day, they set aside half a day, put on the clothes they only wore for New Year’s, and went to the supermarket.”

“They bought a bunch of snacks they normally couldn’t bear to spend money on and brought them to my school during class.”

“On the third day, I started getting pocket money.”

“On the fourth day, which was a weekend, they took me to buy a pair of 200-yuan shoes and a few hundred-yuan outfit. They even asked me carefully, ‘Is this okay?’”

“Because they had already spent money on fertilizer, they couldn’t afford anything more expensive for now.”

“And back then… I was over the moon. Just completely overjoyed.”

“But it wasn’t until I overheard their conversation one night that I realized the money they spent on me was nearly equivalent to our entire monthly living expenses.”

“From that moment on, I came to understand something important.”

“My adoptive parents, they really were poor and limited in what they could do. But they always did their utmost to love me.”

“They made time to attend every parent-teacher meeting.”

“At the end of every semester, they found ways to encourage me.”

“Every New Year, they prepared new clothes for me, even if they didn’t get any for themselves.”

“When I was little and sick, they carried me through the night to the hospital.”

“Our house was sweltering in the summer with no air conditioning. After I fell asleep, my adoptive mother would quietly fan me and keep the mosquitoes away.”

“When I got into fights with others, they always stood up for me in front of outsiders.”

“When relatives came over and compared me to others, they would push back—soft in tone but firm in stance.”

“In our village, many girls stopped going to school and got married young.”

“But my adoptive parents insisted on putting me through school.”

“They even gritted their teeth and bought an apartment in the county under my name.”

“They said, ‘You’re a girl. Even if you’ll marry someday, having a home of your own gives you confidence.’”

“They paid the mortgage themselves and told me not to worry about it.”

“People in the village mocked them, saying, ‘Why not have another kid, maybe a boy next time?’”

“‘Why buy a house for a girl? Isn’t that a waste?’”

“‘Once a girl gets married, she belongs to someone else’s family.’”

“‘They’ve worked so hard all their lives, yet instead of enjoying it themselves, they poured everything into raising a girl. What for?’”

“But my adoptive parents’ love for me never wavered.”

“They gave everything they could to provide me with a better life.”

“Later, when my adoptive mother’s health declined and she needed surgery…”

“I told my adoptive father to sell the apartment and use the money for her treatment.”

“My adoptive mother cried. She apologized and said it was her fault, that her poor health was dragging me down.”

“But in truth, I was the one who had burdened them.”

“If I hadn’t been there, I can’t even imagine how much better their lives might have been.”

“The money they earned over the years could’ve paid for two trips around the world.”

“I once used my part-time job earnings to buy a leather belt for my adoptive father and a gold necklace for my adoptive mother.”

“They pretended to scold me for wasting money, but behind my back, they were grinning from ear to ear.”

“The next week, when I came home, I found the whole village praising me for being such a filial daughter.”

“But honestly, I’m not nearly as good as they say.”

“In all my years growing up, I hardly gave them any gifts.”

“Just one or two small things, yet they showed them off to everyone in the village like prized treasures.”

“Later, they both passed away.”

“That’s when I suddenly realized… my world had collapsed.”

“I never got the chance to repay them. I never truly got to be filial. I never gave them the life they deserved.”

“And then… they were gone.”

As she spoke, Lu Qingqiang’s eyes turned red.

She wasn’t the original host of this body. She hadn’t lived through those experiences herself.

But just now, in that fleeting moment, those memories had flashed through her mind like a film reel.

The sense of immersion was overwhelming.

So overwhelming that her heart was full of emotion and sorrow.

She hadn’t planned to talk about any of this with Lu Fangyuan.

But somehow, it just… spilled out.

“Lu—Director Lu, your adoptive parents were truly, truly wonderful people.” Lu Fangyuan, her face streaked with tears, sniffled as she handed Lu Qingqiang a tissue.

【Sob sob, so my birth parents were such kind and loving people.】

【If the True Young Miss can speak of them this way, does that mean she never resented her adoptive parents or the life she lived?】

【Waaah, I never even got to meet my birth parents. I… I miss them so much ┭┮﹏┭┮】

【But maybe it’s better that they never knew their daughter had been switched at birth before they passed.】

【After all, the villagers said the True Young Miss stayed by their side till the very end.】

【She also handled all their funeral arrangements herself.】

【Over the years, the True Young Miss has been incredibly mature. She worked hard around the house and was always there for them.】

【She really was a wonderful daughter. So much better than me.】

【Unlike me, who grew up pampered in the Lu Family, getting whatever I wanted.】

【Though my adoptive father was busy, he still made time to come home, eat with us, teach me life lessons, and shower me with fatherly love.】

【My adoptive mother was gentle and kind. She raised me with her own hands, protecting me like a precious gem. Even my brother shared his good things with me.】

【I never suffered. I’ve always been enjoying the warmth and care of the Lu Family.】

【Compared to her, my life has been so easy and blessed.】

【But now, everything’s finally right! The True Young Miss has found her real parents. From now on, she’ll have people to love and spoil her too!】

【She took such good care of my parents, and now I’ve returned hers to her. It’s a fair trade~】

“Yes, they were very, very good to me.”

After speaking, Lu Qingqiang took the tissue from Lu Fangyuan and wiped her tears, then said apologetically, “Sorry, Ms. Deng. I lost my composure.”

“It’s okay. If you hadn’t told me, I never would’ve known you had such a hard life… and were so deeply loved at the same time.” Lu Fangyuan smiled.

“Yeah, I was very lucky,” Lu Qingqiang murmured.

Then the two of them lowered their heads and quietly continued eating.

Lu Qingqiang began communicating with the system in her mind.

“Xiao Yi, was that your doing just now?”

“Host, Xiao Yi didn’t do anything bad. Xiao Yi just saw that Lu Fangyuan happened to be here, so I thought it was a good chance for you to truly understand her.”

“Those memories were indeed triggered by Xiao Yi, but they were all real. Nothing was made up.”

“Host, did you see? These are real people in the real world. This is who they truly are.”

“So stop worrying about how they differ from their counterparts in the story.”

“From now on, host, don’t overthink it. Just focus on completing your missions~”

“…Alright,” Lu Qingqiang replied.

???????

Reminder: The following content is unrelated to the main story and can be skipped.

Ahhh, I hadn’t originally planned to write so much about the relationship between the real and fake heiresses, but once I started… I couldn’t stop. (Sometimes it feels like my keyboard has a mind of its own ┭┮﹏┭┮)

Well, since we’re here, might as well wrap it up properly.

After all, the original setup was that even though the real and fake heiresses were switched at birth, both sets of parents loved their daughters deeply.

Everyone’s values are sound and reasonable.

(ps: Lu Fangyuan grew up surrounded by love. She never experienced hardship, so she remained innocent and kind, with a touch of silly charm. Her values are solid. She might seem a little naive, but she’s not actually foolish.

She was a pampered heiress all her life. Then one day, she got a call saying she wasn’t the Lu Family’s biological daughter, but the child of a rural family who had been switched at birth. At first, the emotional whiplash hit her hard. She felt conflicted, angry, confused, and lost.

But thanks to her good upbringing and character, she quickly grounded herself in reality. She began investigating the truth of the matter, and once she understood it, she decisively went to Peach Blossom Village to learn about the life she might have led.

She even met the True Young Miss in person. Though the True Young Miss didn’t recognize her, she once saved her.

After observing the adoptive parents’ behavior, Lu Fangyuan finally made up her mind to treat the Lu Family as relatives and return them to the True Young Miss.

She believed that was the kindest outcome for both of them.

Of course, she also used this as a strategic retreat, paving a small path for her future career. She’ll continue in the entertainment industry, backed by the Lu Family.

This way, she won’t be swallowed up by the chaos of the industry, and she can rely on her own talents to earn a living.)

Alright, enough rambling. That’s about it~

From here on, the story will focus more on running the orphanage, the children’s growth, and daily life with the family~

Don’t find me annoying, okay? ( *￣▽￣)((≧︶≦*)

— Translator’s Notes —

– Why buy a house for a girl? Isn’t that a waste?: In some traditional Chinese rural areas, sons are favored over daughters, and investing money or property in a daughter is seen as less worthwhile since, after marriage, she is considered part of her husband’s family.