Living room.
Chu Xiong was scrolling Douyin, cheerfully watching a beauty's livestream, and from time to time sending a few gifts like [Powering Love], [Master Certification], [Big Health Care], [Urge-Update Charm].....
At this moment, Tao Yan came in cursing under her breath.
"So noisy! What's with the ghostly wailing?" Having his fun interrupted, Chu Xiong snapped impatiently.
Seeing her husband, Tao Yan glanced toward the quiet woodshed, then lowered her voice, hurried close, and asked in a whisper.
"Head of the house, you guys didn't run into anything in Magic City this time, did you?"
"I feel like that wretched girl is a bit different. She not only dared hit me just now, she even said to my face that I'm not her biological mother."
"........"
Recalling the certainty in Chu Ling's words not long ago, a flutter of panic rose in Tao Yan's heart.
That look in her eyes... didn't seem like a baseless guess; it was more like she already knew the truth...
But that shouldn't be?! There's no way she could know!!!!
"What did you say???"
At first Chu Xiong didn't take it seriously at all.
But once he heard Tao Yan's guess clearly, he sprang up at once, a flash of terror in his eyes.
This was no joke!!!
Never mind that secretly swapping babies was itself a crime—if they were caught, they'd go to jail.
More importantly, once exposed, the Tang family would be the first not to let them off.
For people of that stature, crushing them would be as easy as crushing an ant; there would be plenty of ways to make them "accidentally" disappear......
"Impossible! That wretched girl can't possibly know—absolutely impossible!!!"
"We were so secretive back then! We even avoided contacting our biological daughter for eighteen years to reduce the chance of exposure."
"Apart from the two of us, there can't be a third person who knows! I'm ninety-five percent absolutely sure—absolutely impossible!!!"
"......"
With Chu Xiong's continual self-hypnosis, the panic in his heart gradually settled.
Beside him, Tao Yan frowned in silence.
She also felt the chance of exposure was low.
After all, the couple had indeed been careful all these years; there was no reason it would get exposed, right?
But whenever she recalled that sharp look in Chu Ling's eyes, Tao Yan wavered uneasily again.
"Head of the house! Do you think that wretched girl might have overheard our conversation?"
"Impossible! Whenever we talked about that matter... it was always deep in the night, or when that little brat wasn't home. There's no way she overheard."
Chu Xiong thought carefully for a moment, then still shook his head with conviction.
They were indeed smug and full of pride over their "swapping the princess with a civet cat" back then.
From time to time, they would even search for news about their biological daughter and discuss it with shared pride.
But to avoid mishaps, they had always been extremely careful each time; there was no way an outsider could know.
The more Chu Xiong thought about it, the more confident he became; he glanced at the slightly flustered Tao Yan and consoled her:
"Don't make a fuss! I think you're overthinking it—the wretched girl probably just said it offhand....."
"Otherwise, she would have run away long ago! How could she have stayed in this home for more than ten years? Is she asking to be abused?"
"Thinking about it carefully... it's not surprising she'd be suspicious!"
"That little brat's got stomach cancer; under the pressure of death, she'd be paranoid to begin with. And normal parents indeed wouldn't act like we did—having doubts is normal....."
"........"
After hearing Chu Xiong's analysis, Tao Yan felt it wasn't unreasonable and gradually calmed down.
Perhaps... she really had overthought it....
"Hmph! That little bastard almost scared me to death?!"
"She even dared hit me earlier?! Just wait till I beat her to death later!"
Having finally set her mind at ease, Tao Yan held her cheek, her expression ferocious.
Chu Xiong nodded beside her in agreement.
When the couple looked at each other, they both could see the excitement in the other's eyes.
For the past eighteen years, whenever they abused Chu Ling and engaged in that kind of low striking up against the high.... they would feel genuine comfort and satisfaction.
You have to understand....
She's the heiress of a hundred-billion conglomerate!!!!!
But now she can only be scolded and beaten at their whim like a dog!
Is there anything more secretly delightful in this world?!!
"......."
"Mm, that wretched girl really does deserve a beating! If you hadn't stopped me last night, I would've had a good time of it!"
"Hey, wasn't I afraid you'd really beat her to death? What about the old village chief... did you forget?"
At the mention of the village chief, that old undead goat, Chu Xiong finally frowned.
The old man's body is old but his heart isn't; at sixty he still wanted to take a young wife.
But what normal father would be willing to push his daughter into the fire pit?
So the old man set his sights on Chu Ling, proposing to "buy" her for a bride price of ten thousand...
"That wretched girl won't live long; if that's the case, we might as well trade her for some money."
"If the village chief torments her to death afterward, that's even less to worry about for us! We've wanted her dead anyway, haven't we?"
"Forget it—let's not lay hands on that wretched girl for now. She looks so sickly that if we really beat her to death, it would be troublesome, and we'd lose 10,000 yuan......"
"........"
In the face of Tao Yan's rambling, Chu Xiong only nodded silently, but a sinister glint flashed in his pupils.
He thought of how, at the hospital, when Chu Ling was walking in front of him, that swaying little butt, round and perky.
Before he knew it, that wretched girl had grown up....
I've raised her for so many years; rather than letting that old man have her cheap, she might as well offer her first night to me, to repay my nurturing grace......
At this thought, the corner of Chu Xiong's mouth unconsciously hooked into a strange arc.
Keep in mind, she's the heiress of a top family, and still a tender eighteen years old.....
Under normal circumstances, a girl born with a silver spoon like that would be destined for a bright future, enjoying the pursuit and flattery of countless promising young men, happy all her life.
An ugly old man like him wouldn't even have the qualification to see her, let alone beat or scold her.
But now.....
Such a heaven's favored daughter was about to be defiled and enjoyed by this rural man; just thinking about it was thrilling!!!
The arc at the corner of Chu Xiong's mouth grew wider and wider, his excitement boundless.
And that lewdly sinister expression fell into the eyes of Tao Yan beside him, making her look at him strangely.
"Head of the house, what's wrong with you?"
"Uh... oh, nothing! I was just thinking how smart you are, wife!"
Chu Xiong faked a few coughs, rolled his eyes, and hurried to change the subject.
"Eighteen years ago, it was your quick thinking—seizing the chance to swap the two babies—that gave us a chance to cross class lines."
"Of course... our daughter is extremely favored in the Tang family now! Once that little wretch Chu Ling dies, we can start trying to contact Xiao Rou and live a life of wine and luxury."
The words "proud and smug" were written all over Tao Yan's sharp, mean face at this moment, as if she already saw their biological daughter arriving to bring the couple to Magic City to enjoy a life of ease.
Two and a half minutes later, the two, getting more excited as they talked, walked out hand in hand, laughing, planning to go eat something nice for an early celebration.
Click!
After the couple had gone far and the house was completely empty.....
The woodshed door was gently pushed open, and Chu Ling tiptoed out.
Seeing no one around, she quickly went to the living room and slyly felt under the sofa to pull out an old tape recorder.
Then she quickly returned to the woodshed, sat on the room's only small bed, took a deep breath, and slowly pressed the [Play] button.......