Chapter 152: The Real and Fake Daughters Who Were Switched at Birth – 11…

“You grew up with her, and you’re basically President Xie’s daughter too, so how come—”

“Stop.”

Yuan Yu leaned against the wall, itching to just turn around and walk away, but after thinking it over, she couldn’t swallow the anger.

“I stayed at that school for three years. How come the principal never let me be in charge for even two days?”

“So what if my mom’s a housekeeper? She doesn’t steal or rob—she earns her living with her own hands. What does that have to do with you? Who are you to stand there acting all high and mighty, judging people like you’re someone important?”

With that, Yuan Yu turned and left. She wasn’t in the mood, so she didn’t go back to the private theater.

Back in her room, she lay on the soft bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Suddenly, she sat up.

No way. She had to tell her sister. She couldn’t let someone like that fool her sister into thinking they were friends.

Just as Yuan Yu sat up, she saw Xie Qianjin standing at the door.

“Why’d you come back to your room? Too noisy out there?”

Having grown up together, there wasn’t much distance between them. Seeing her sister come in, Yuan Yu simply flopped back down, rolled over, and lay on her stomach. She tilted her head up to look at her sister and muttered:

“Jiejie, that friend of yours has a bad heart. She said my mom’s just a housekeeper, and that since I’ve lived here for so long, Uncle should treat me like a daughter or something.”

Xie Qianjin frowned slightly at that.

She got along well with Yuan Huan and never thought there was anything wrong with being a housekeeper.

As for that last comment, she didn’t really care. It wasn’t like anyone had seriously treated Yuan Yu as a daughter, but in practice, whatever she had, Yuan Yu had too.

“She’s not my friend. I didn’t invite her. She insisted on tagging along.”

Xie Qianjin sat down at the edge of the bed and handed Yuan Yu a delicate little box, lowering her voice.

“Yuyu, happy birthday.”

“Wow, you got me a gift too, Jiejie?”

At that moment, Yuan Yu dropped all her usual poise. Like a little monkey, she sprang up, tore open the box, and lit up with joy when she saw the bracelet inside.

She set the box aside and threw her arms around Xie Qianjin’s neck.

“Hehe, you’re the best, Jiejie~”

Xie Qianjin wrinkled her nose and pushed her away with mild distaste.

“I only invited two close friends. That girl came with one of them. I don’t even know her that well.”

“Oh, then I feel better. The way she talks is just awful.”

Barefoot, Yuan Yu padded over to the nightstand, pulled open a drawer, and took out another box.

“Jiejie, here’s the birthday gift I got for you.”

“Hm?”

Xie Qianjin opened the box and found a pair of adorable gloves inside. They looked oddly familiar.

“You’ve been knitting these for almost a year, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I just couldn’t get them right.”

If it were for herself, Yuan Yu would’ve ignored the mistakes and kept going—it didn’t matter. But Xie Qianjin had a bit of a perfectionist streak. Every time Yuan Yu spotted a mistake, she’d start over. She’d bought the yarn last summer, and only now, right before this year’s summer break, had she finally finished.

“Thank you. I really like them.”

After the guests left, the housekeepers began tidying up, and Xie Hui took his two daughters to the mall.

He figured they’d worked hard for their high school entrance exams, so it was a good time to buy them a few things and have a nice meal out.

During dinner, Xie Hui looked at his two lovely daughters sitting across from him and asked:

“Wanna go on a trip? If you don’t take the chance now, you might have to wait until after high school graduation.”

Xie Qianjin didn’t seem too interested. Yuan Yu glanced at her sister, and thinking it wouldn’t be much fun going alone, shook her head.

“Uncle, I think staying home sounds great. I can use the summer break to practice my dancing.”

Xie Hui was just asking—he didn’t plan on forcing them.

“Alright then.”

On the way home, Xie Hui spotted a bubble tea shop that was still open. He bought a cup for each of them, and at the corner where someone was selling flowers, he picked up two bouquets.

Xie Qianjin took hers and, eyeing her dad, asked instinctively:

“Why’d you suddenly buy us this?”

Xie Hui didn’t really know how to answer. He’d just seen the flowers and felt like getting them for the girls.

In his mind, most girls liked flowers, and those bouquets were indeed beautifully wrapped.

“Just felt like getting you something. Be good to you girls now, so that someday you won’t be swayed by some guy just because he gives you a bouquet.”

Xie Hui didn’t shy away from the topic of early romance. He trusted the two girls he’d raised with his own hands wouldn’t do anything inappropriate at the wrong time.

After he spoke, Xie Qianjin and Yuan Yu exchanged a glance—they both found it unlikely.

“Dad, it’s just a twenty-yuan bouquet.”

Yuan Yu didn’t say anything, but her expression said it all.

As if they’d be swayed by a measly bouquet. Flowers are easy to get.

“Good, as long as you’re not that easy to win over. Let’s go, it’s getting late. Time to head home.”

Xie Hui believed in raising daughters with abundance—both materially and emotionally—within his means.

If he gave them enough materially, they wouldn’t be moved by a simple gift. He needed to be more attentive to them.

If he gave them enough love, they wouldn’t be touched just by hearing “I love you.”

Originally, Xie Hui had planned to make Yuan Yu his goddaughter. But after thinking it over, he decided against it.

First, he didn’t want Qianjin comparing this life’s Yuan Yu to the one from his past life. Second, in their social circle, the term “goddaughter” often carried complicated implications.

This way was better. Her calling him “Uncle” worked just fine.

Yuan Yu was a bit naïve, but not stupid. She was easily content, and that was the real reason Qianjin had been able to let go of her resentment and treat her like a true little sister.

Though they weren’t in the same class in high school, it didn’t affect their bond.

Both girls studied hard. Even during their monthly breaks, most of their time was spent doing practice problems.

Xie Hui once asked them why. Qianjin said she wanted to be better, to stand higher, and that meant working harder.

Yuan Yu’s answer? “Jiejie’s doing problems and won’t play with me, so I have to do them too.”

Three years passed, and when their college acceptance letters arrived, it proved their hard work hadn’t been in vain.

They’d applied to the same university. Yuan Yu still loved classical dance, while Xie Qianjin chose business management.

Xie Hui thought it was great that his daughters had their own interests. Worst case, he’d just have to work a few more years. After talking with Qianjin and confirming she truly loved it, he felt at ease.

At university, many people described them like this: Xie Qianjin was a dazzling red rose—beautiful and untouchable.

Yuan Yu was a pure white lily—gentle and sweet.

Lately, Yuan Yu had been a little annoyed. A guy kept pestering her, and she’d even mentioned it during calls with her sister and uncle.

“He’s so annoying. Yu Xiang always acts like he’s doing me a favor by liking me.”

“I’m begging him—please stop liking me. I’m not good enough for him, okay? He’s even making me late for class!”

As her sister ranted, Xie Qianjin, who had been doing practice problems with her headphones on, paused mid-sentence.

“You mean that guy from the Chinese department… Yu Xiang?”

“Yeah, how’d you know, Jiejie?”

Only then did Yuan Yu realize that Yu Xiang wasn’t just chasing after her—he’d also been hovering around her sister.

One day, after hanging up a call with his daughter, Xie Hui leaned back in his chair, seemingly deep in thought. In truth, he was calling out to the system in his mind.

“You’ve been keeping something from me, haven’t you?”

The system appeared quickly and responded:

“Host, you once said that unless something poses a potential threat to your mission target, I don’t need to inform you.”

“Well, I’m asking now. Spill it.”

There really weren’t many people that strange in real life. Based on what his daughter had said, it was hard not to suspect that guy was part of the plot.

“Sigh, Host, you know most of our missions are set in those old-school dramatic worlds…”

Those extreme, melodramatic settings made it easier for life to veer off course.

“Yu Xiang was originally the fiancé assigned to Yuyu by the Entruster. Then he fell in love with Xie Qianjin instead and kept wavering between the two sisters, torn and conflicted…”

“A heart-wrenching love triangle. The Main God was in tears when he read it, Host. What do you think?”

The plot was a fixed framework, but the characters within it—if they had enough strength—could still break free from it.

Take that original Entruster, for example—his love for his daughter broke through the chains that once bound him.

After seeing too many phony, loveless marriages in his social circle, he decided not to arrange a marriage for his daughter. He planned to let her choose her own partner when she grew up, and as her father, he’d just help vet the guy.

When he later discovered that his daughter had been switched at birth, he didn’t hesitate to send Yuan Yu abroad.

He truly was reluctant to part with her, but he also understood clearly that her very existence was like a thorn lodged in the heart of his biological daughter.

“What do I think? I’d give him two hard slaps across the face.”

Xie Hui sneered coldly, the corners of his lips curling. What kind of nonsense was that—torn between two women? A philandering scumbag like that? He wouldn’t even let someone like Yu Xiang carry his daughter’s shoes—his hands were too filthy.

Thankfully, from the tone of the phone calls he’d received from both daughters, Xie Hui could tell neither of them had the slightest bit of affection for Yu Xiang. In fact, they seemed a little disgusted.

Especially Yuan Yu—when she heard that Yu Xiang was also looking for her sister, she started cursing during the call with Xie Hui. Said he was like a toad lusting after a swan.

Thinking of this, Xie Hui called his secretary into the office and asked him to prepare a gift.

He was simply curious—what kind of education had President Yu given his son? He wanted to pay a personal visit and find out.