[Thinking about it this way, this was the first time Chu Xueqi had taken something that belonged to Chu Xinyue.]
Qin Zhao's expression changed slightly as he secretly glanced at Chu Xinyue.
Qin Zhao and Chu Xinyue were classmates in China. The summer camp where the incident occurred happened to be in the country where Chu Xueqi was receiving medical treatment.
Although Qin Zhao was only about ten years old at the time, he was already engaged to Chu Xinyue due to an agreement between their grandmothers. Naturally, he was supposed to meet the Chu family members.
That was the first time Qin Zhao saw Chu Xueqi, who lived in a hospital room but was as exquisite as a little princess.
[Because it was the first time Chu Xueqi had seen such a handsome boy like Qin Zhao, and she heard he was her sister's fiancé, someone who exclusively belonged to her sister. So she threw a tantrum, insisting on staying with Qin Zhao.]
[Jealousy truly changes people! Even though she had already received her parents' perfect love and all their attention compared to Chu Xinyue, she still wanted to snatch what belonged to Chu Xinyue. Because Chu Xueqi felt that if Chu Xinyue didn't exist, those things would have been hers in the first place.]
Qin Zhao's breath caught as he listened.
No, Xueqi wasn't that kind of person, she wasn't...
At that time, Chu Xueqi was indeed crying and making a fuss in the hospital room. He only thought that the sick little girl was pitiful and hoped someone would play with her. Moreover, looking at that face identical to Chu Xinyue's, Qin Zhao felt sympathy.
But now that Ji Fei put it this way... Chu Xueqi had her parents' perfect love and all their attention... What did Chu Xinyue have at that time?
She had him... her fiancé.
Thinking about this, Qin Zhao felt as if he had been hit over the head, his mind buzzing.
[The activity was originally meant for Qin Zhao and Chu Xinyue to attend together. But because the hospitalized Chu Xueqi made such a fuss, wanting to go play with Qin Zhao herself and not allowing her sister to go, and since it wasn't possible to join the activity at the last minute anyway, the Chu parents eventually made Chu Xinyue give up her participation. They had Chu Xueqi, who had the same face, replace her and asked Qin Zhao to take care of her.]
Qin Zhao's expression darkened. At the time, he thought it wasn't a big deal and didn't consider Chu Xinyue's feelings. He immediately agreed to the Chu parents' request to take care of Chu Xueqi.
He took it for granted that Chu Xinyue would definitely let her sister go, and that she should let her.
He couldn't even remember what expression Chu Xinyue had at that time.
The Qin family had heard that the older sister had voluntarily given her sick younger sister the chance to go play. They had even praised the sisters' close relationship.
Who would have thought it was the result of the parents' forceful demand and the younger sister pushing out the older sister?
If that's the case, when Qin Zhao got into trouble, shouldn't it have been Chu Xueqi by his side? How did the one who saved him become Chu Xinyue?
Qin Zhao couldn't figure it out.
He still remembered that their campsite was in a dense forest. The staff led them through the forest, teaching them about plants and some wilderness survival skills.
But he was very mischievous at the time and took Chu Xueqi off on their own.
As a result, he accidentally fell down a steep slope and was seriously injured. He only remembered Chu Xueqi crying loudly at the top of the slope.
In his hazy state, when he was about to die from blood loss, he saw Chu Xueqi again.
Chu Xueqi found him crying, forcibly carrying him out of the ravine on her back before they encountered the rescue team.
It was clearly Chu Xueqi who saved his life.
[I guess the Chu parents were quite helpless too. Qin Zhao couldn't really take care of others. It would have been fine with Chu Xinyue who was healthy - jumping around wouldn't have been a problem. But with Chu Xueqi, forget it. After Qin Zhao got into trouble, Chu Xueqi ran back crying and fainted due to her weak constitution. The Chu parents, who were waiting outside, rushed her to the hospital in a panic. They had no idea Qin Zhao was in trouble.]
Qin Zhao's pupils constricted.
[The Chu couple was originally waiting outside the campsite with Chu Xinyue, but after receiving their younger daughter, they completely forgot that their older daughter hadn't gotten in the car yet and left directly. Chu Xinyue was left behind at the campsite.]
[Qin Zhao was lucky. In this world, apart from the Qin family, probably only Chu Xinyue remembered him wholeheartedly. Seeing that her sister had come out, she knew Qin Zhao must have come out too, so she went in to look for him. At that time, the activity hadn't ended yet, and no one knew Qin Zhao was in trouble. If it wasn't for Chu Xinyue going back in, by the time people realized something was wrong, Qin Zhao might have already died from blood loss...]
Qin Zhao felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart.
Even the eavesdropping Qin family members felt a chill of fear in retrospect. Their gazes all secretly swept over to Chu Xinyue nearby with gratitude.
This made the guests chatting with them start to speculate whether the third young master's marriage arrangement was really going to change.
Ji Fei was thoroughly enjoying the drama unfolding before her eyes, eagerly continuing to watch.
[When the rescue team learned that Qin Zhao was missing, they took action immediately. Originally, Chu Xinyue wasn't supposed to participate, but she secretly followed along. It was because she recognized some items that belonged to Qin Zhao that she discovered the unconscious Qin Zhao in the ravine and carried him out on her back. Shocked, frightened, and exhausted beyond her limits, Chu Xinyue immediately developed a high fever and was sent to the hospital along with him.]
Now all the Qin family members were filled with questions.
So why... did it become Chu Xueqi?
[A little girl who went through so much forgot this experience after her fever broke. Qin Zhao thought the person he saw was Chu Xueqi, and when he woke up, the first person he asked about was Chu Xueqi. The Chu family had a spark of inspiration, and the lie began. In the end, even Chu Xinyue believed it was her sister who saved him and fell ill again from exhaustion, thinking her own fever was just from being scared. As for the camp staff, they just thought the little girl who had fainted had recovered and came back worried about her friend. Everything fit together seamlessly, leaving no room for doubt. It's just... too damn melodramatic, isn't it?]
Qin Zhao's body had already stiffened. Ji Fei's words sounded so real that all of his memories seemed on the verge of collapse.
But he didn't want to believe that so many years of his life had been based on a lie. Why did the Chu parents have to do this?! At that time, their relationship wasn't as strained as it is now.
The Qin family members were also puzzled. Their family values probably would never allow them to understand the behavior of the Chu parents.
Ji Fei cursed in her mind for a while before finally saying:
[So it turns out they wanted to switch the engagement partners even back then. It wasn't just because of their younger daughter's childish and selfish desire to take things, but because they thought Chu Xinyue was healthy and could handle marrying anyone, while Chu Xueqi was in poor health and naturally needed to marry into a good family that wouldn't mistreat her, could support her medical needs, and wouldn't look down on her.]
The Qin family members suddenly understood. After all, among the children of wealthy and prominent families, those who didn't prioritize family alliances in marriages were extremely rare, like their family.
The Chu family only had two daughters, destined for business marriages.
Back then, the Chu grandmother had pestered the Qin grandmother for several years before finally securing the engagement.
Originally, their family didn't have the habit of arranging early engagements.
[When they heard that the engagement partner Grandmother Chu had arranged for Chu Xinyue was Qin Zhao, they were extremely dissatisfied. They felt that the grandmother was biased, only thinking about the older granddaughter and not the younger one. Grandmother Chu immediately retorted: "Anyway, you only think about the younger one and not the older one. If I don't consider the older one's future while I'm still alive, when will you irresponsible parents ever think about her?"]
[Oh, Grandmother, well said!]
The Qin family members sighed inwardly. The Qin grandmother had passed away long ago. The Chu family had always wanted to change partners, but were always suppressed by Grandmother Chu. Naturally, they wouldn't break the agreement either, until Grandmother Chu passed away recently, and the Chu family's intentions became increasingly obvious. As for their Qin Zhao...
The Qin family members secretly glanced at Qin Zhao, seeing his face had turned black as ink, not knowing if he believed it or not.
After all, Qin Zhao was as stubborn as a mule.
Indeed, Qin Zhao still didn't want to believe it.
What did all of Ji Fei's speculation amount to?
Was there any evidence? Did whatever Ji Fei say become the truth? She certainly had a vivid imagination.
The truth that Chu Xueqi saved him was clearly more reasonable and logical.
Qin Zhao glared fiercely at Ji Fei, inexplicably angry to the point where he wanted to lose control and yell at her.
But suddenly, Qin Xian blocked his line of sight.
Qin Zhao looked at Qin Xian, feeling both wronged and angry.
Qin Xian frowned slightly, really not wanting to deal with his stupid brother, but when he heard Ji Fei's inner thoughts earlier, he indeed discovered a piece of evidence that wasn't quite evidence.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Xian took advantage of the surrounding noise and said in a low voice, "When you were ten years old, you were quite a bit bigger than Qin Xi is now, right?"
Qin Zhao looked at his second brother, perplexed by the sudden change of topic.
Qin Xian's gaze deepened, "There probably weren't many girls who could carry you on their back."
A healthy Chu Xinyue.
A frail Chu Xueqi.
Who could have possibly carried him out of the ravine on their back?
The color drained from Qin Zhao's face inch by inch.
Perhaps it was human potential, the miracle of life, or maybe...
The faces of Chu Xinyue and Chu Xueqi kept flashing through Qin Zhao's mind.
Chu Xinyue's hand was broken by a falling cabinet, and she was sweating profusely, yet she didn't make a sound.
Chu Xueqi twisted her ankle slightly and her eyes were swollen from crying.
When Chu Xinyue was moving lab equipment, a male classmate offered to help, but she refused. Her thin figure managed to carry it all.
When Chu Xueqi had to carry a child while acting, she could only endure for three seconds. Afterward, she would call him to complain about how tired she was, asking him to use his connections to change her role.
...
The banquet was drawing to a close amidst the gossip.
Someone invited the Chu family to leave together to discuss business matters. Mr. Chu smiled and said, "We have an appointment with the Qin family today, so we really don't have time."
Hearing this, everyone wished they could stay and join in the excitement, to see how this engagement would turn out.
But since the families wanted to talk privately, it wouldn't be right to insist on staying.
Those preparing to leave were reluctant to go.
But just then, someone burst into the reception room.
"Chu Xinyue, Chu Xinyue! I heard you're breaking off your engagement! Well, I'm here to propose to your family today. I'll marry you, after all, you're already mine! I'll take responsibility for you!"
Chu Xinyue and Qin Zhao both looked up to see the man who had harassed Chu Xinyue in the bathroom earlier. He was now drunk and making another appearance.
