Volume One, Chapter 12: Agreeing to the Examination

“What?!” several people exclaimed in unison.

Qin Wenze quickly steadied the staggering Jiang Duoduo, lifting her into his arms to sit down, then turned to Yang Qianrou and asked sharply, “What have you done?”

Jiang Duoduo heard Qin Wenze’s voice saying in his mind:
“Again with this woman. Usually, her noise and fuss don’t bother me much, but now she dares to threaten my daughter? Perhaps it’s better to just pay her off and be done with this troublesome repayment. Honestly, I might have been better off staying underwater a little longer—maybe a decent person would have come by and saved me.”

Yang Qianrou was genuinely feeling wronged now.
She had intended to do something, but it was still in the planning stage, not even begun yet.
This child was simply talking nonsense!
Surely, that little wretch Jiang Cheng had taught her.
How infuriating!
She was always the one framing others, and now she had been dragged down by a mere child?

Yang Qianrou immediately protested to Qin Wenze, “Wenze, I didn’t do anything! It’s all this kid! She’s lying! I’m no murderer; how could I say such things? I think this child is just making wild accusations and falsely blaming me!”

Jiang Cheng could no longer hold back and shouted loudly, “Yang Qianrou! I know you and Qin Wenze are close. If you want me to leave, I’ll leave. If you want a divorce, I’ll sign the papers. I have endured your insults, but Duoduo is still young, and I told you she has nothing to do with the Qin family. So why are you bullying Duoduo?”

[Who?
Who is close to that loudmouth?
How come I don’t know about it?
Being around women drives me crazy; how could I be close to her?
What is Jiang Cheng thinking? The others in the Jiang family don’t seem crazy.
And what’s this about leaving and divorcing related to that Yang woman?
What else am I unaware of?
No, no, the important thing now is that loudmouth wants to harm my daughter!]

Jiang Duoduo reached up to rub her ears, almost forgetting to cry.
Uncle Gokoda was nagging in her mind again.
To stop Qin Wenze from nagging further, Jiang Duoduo loudly declared,
“She said it! She just knocked me down and said it!
That bad woman wants to pull out my hair and kill me and Mom, just like when she hit Mom with the big car before!”

Her soft fuzz was only on her head, much less than Tiger Mom’s thick fur.
Though it wasn’t much use, Jiang Duoduo cherished every strand and would never willingly damage them.
Yang Qianrou actually wanted to pull some out—how could that be allowed?

“Did you arrange that car accident?!”
“Did you drive to hit Jiang Cheng?!”
“When did this happen?!”
“Did you hire someone to crash into my sister, nearly killing her and causing a miscarriage?!”
Jiang Cheng, Qin Wenze, Madam Qin, and Jiang Rui all shouted in unison.

Jiang Rui’s words were the longest, so everyone clearly heard his last sentence.
Another wave of shock swept through the room.
“Brother! What are you saying?!”
“Jiang Cheng, my daughter-in-law, had a car accident and miscarried?!”
Jiang Rui’s face went pale.

Bad, his anger at Yang Qianrou made him speak too hastily. He had promised his sister not to tell the Qin family about this.
Yang Qianrou, however, looked pale and suddenly began doubting herself.
If Jiang Duoduo were just making things up, coached by Jiang Cheng to frame her, she wouldn’t know the truth about that car accident or about the hair-pulling.
Could it be… she had accidentally spoken the truth in a moment of carelessness?

Yang Qianrou, unaware that Jiang Duoduo could read minds, immediately suspected herself.
Jiang Duoduo, of course, would not explain anything to her.
The little girl was too clever.
She couldn’t say “shooting the bird that sticks its head out,” but she knew some things must be kept secret.
So she never mentioned how she heard those words.
Anyway, just say Yang Qianrou “said” it, right? She said it after knocking Duoduo down!
Jiang Duoduo was telling the truth.

Yang Qianrou panicked.
How could she admit it, especially with that annoying little girl overhearing?
If Brother Wenze heard this…
Yang Qianrou swallowed nervously, deciding to admit only part of it and try to divert the conversation:
“Brother Wenze, I really didn’t do it. I just…
You’re too trusting and always believe others. I was afraid you’d be deceived into raising someone else’s child, so I wanted to test first, to confirm if Duoduo is really your daughter.
As for the rest…
It has nothing to do with me.
I know nothing! You have to believe me!
If I were that kind of person, I wouldn’t have jumped into the river to save you in the first place, then saved Auntie later, ending up with aftereffects from the cold water that make me ache in cold weather.”

She knew Qin Wenze’s methods.
If she were held accountable, she wouldn’t escape unscathed.
So she had to struggle a little, while reminding him of the life-saving favor.

Qin Wenze frowned.
“Whether Duoduo is my daughter has nothing to do with you; you don’t need to worry about it.
And as for the car accident, don’t try to talk your way out—I will investigate it myself.
If it really involves you, even if you saved me and my mother, don’t think you can get away!”

Madam Qin, uninterested in his affairs with Yang Qianrou, looked at Jiang Cheng with concern and asked,
“Little Cheng, tell me honestly—are the car accident and miscarriage true?
How much pain have you suffered, and why haven’t you told us?”

Jiang Cheng had been pretending to be strong, but hearing Madam Qin’s words and seeing her pained expression, which held no blame, she suddenly burst into tears without explaining anything:
“I don’t want to talk about the past anymore. I just want to live well and raise Duoduo.
Madam Qin, Qin Wenze, I beg you—please do a paternity test with Duoduo.
If she’s not your child, then please don’t disturb our lives anymore.”

Neither Qin Wenze nor Madam Qin wanted to do the test.
But seeing Jiang Cheng’s tear-filled eyes, they finally nodded.
Fine, they would do it.
They both believed Duoduo was their child.
As for the accident and miscarriage…
Maybe it didn’t really happen? Or only parts of it were true.
After all, it’s hard to believe anyone would still refuse to tell the truth at this point.

Yang Qianrou saw that she had gotten away with it and that the Qin family agreed to the paternity test, so she immediately felt triumphant.
That life-saving favor really paid off.
See? She still held a high position in the Qin family.
Even if she accidentally let something slip—so what? That little brat thinks she can outsmart me!