Chapter 50: Pretending Not to Know Me?

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Pretending Not to Know Me?

On the way back to the Shen family home, Song Yao said to Xiao Li,

"Just you wait. That business at the hospital isn’t over. The quieter they are now, the bigger the trouble will be later."

Xiao Li tried to comfort her.

"Maybe Mrs. Shen has come around? The Shen Family is well-off. Mr. Shen can more than afford to support three people, so why does she have to make things so difficult for you?"

He sat in the front passenger seat, looking back at her with a hint of hope in his voice.

Song Yao scoffed.

"You weren’t there that day. If you had heard what she said and seen the look on her face, you wouldn’t be clinging to such fantasies. She’s not making a scene, but it isn’t because she’s had a change of heart—it’s because she knows making a scene is useless."

"Right now, Mr. Shen is protecting me. Even if his superiors send someone to investigate, it will just be classified as a family matter. At most, they’ll send someone to say a few pleasantries, but they won’t be able to touch a hair on my head. She and Shen Shuangshuang, however, would be the ones to lose face."

After listening the whole way, Xiao Li finally blurted out what he really thought.

"When women fight amongst themselves, it’s really exhausting."

If he had been skeptical before, thinking things might not be that serious,

then as the car approached the Shen family’s entrance and he saw a line of military vehicles parked out front, his heart skipped a beat. He had a vague feeling that something was about to happen.

"Miss," he said, his expression grave and his voice low.

"I think you might have been right."

A large sign stood by the Shen Family’s main gate, with a glamorous photo of Shen Shuangshuang posted on it.

Beneath the photo was a line of text: The Shen Family’s Eldest Miss’s Birthday Tea Party.

Red silk flowers and colorful ribbons were hung beside it.

The entrance to the Shen family home was bustling; all the arriving guests were people of extraordinary status.

They were followed by assistants or bodyguards, and in their conversations, they would occasionally mention the name of some big shot.

In addition to the military vehicles, there were also the latest models of sedans.

These cars were a rare sight on a normal day, but now they drove into the Shen Family Alleyway one after another.

Each guest was personally greeted and attended to.

These were hostesses specially hired by Yao Yuzhen, all dressed in matching white skirt suits with name tags pinned to their chests.

They checked identities against a guest list and guided guests to designated areas, ensuring the entire process ran smoothly.

There was only one goal: today, Shen Shuangshuang had to be the center of attention.

In front of all the socialites and madams of the Beijing Community, her status was to be cemented even further.

Just as Song Yao was about to enter, one of the hostesses she didn’t recognize stopped her with a smile.

"Excuse me, do you have an invitation?"

Song Yao turned to glance at Xiao Li, her eyes clearly saying,

’See? What did I tell you?’

Xiao Li was utterly exasperated. ’How can they pull the same trick twice?’

"This is Mr. Shen’s own daughter. What does she need an invitation for to come home? You should figure out who you’re talking to before you speak."

He took a step forward, staring directly at the hostess, his imposing presence immediately intimidating her.

Startled by him, the hostess shrank back and quickly apologized.

"Ah, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! No one told me... I really didn’t know..."

Just then, a sarcastic, mocking voice drifted over.

"Li Hanchen, you’ve gotten pretty bold, haven’t you? Started bullying common folk now?"

Song Yao looked up and saw a man in a suit walking toward them.

The smile on her face vanished instantly.

Xiao Li’s jaw tightened. "Ji Xianbei? You’ve got some nerve. How dare you set foot through this gate?"

He took a half step forward, positioning himself to shield Song Yao diagonally behind him.

The newcomer was none other than Ji Xianbei—the man who had previously posed as Mr. Shen’s special envoy, tricked Song Yao away from her village, and then tried to have her killed!

This was a man Song Yao had etched into her memory, one she would never forget even in her dreams.

"And why can’t I be here?"

Ji Xianbei’s lips twitched, but his eyes were fixed on Li Hanchen. "You, on the other hand, Li Hanchen—who the hell do you think you are? The Shen family’s young miss is having a birthday. Did you get an invitation, or did you just sneak in?"

After speaking, he raised a hand to adjust his tie, his gaze never leaving Li Hanchen’s face.

Song Yao took two steps forward, and Ji Xianbei’s gaze was immediately drawn to her.

"Comrade Ji Xianbei," she said with a small, bright-sounding laugh. "We know each other quite well. Have you really forgotten?"

A chill flashed in Ji Xianbei’s eyes as his mind churned.

’If I’d known, I would have taken care of her the moment I saw her that day. She wouldn’t have the chance to be standing here talking now!’

’And that reminds me of Ling Qinghan. If that bastard hadn’t interfered, this whole thing would have been sorted out long ago!’

"I don’t remember you."

He simply shook his head. "I’ve never seen you before."

He even furrowed his brow and asked pretentiously, "I heard Mr. Shen adopted a goddaughter. Is that you? Just got back?"

As soon as he said this, several pairs of ears perked up around them.

Anyone invited in by Yao Yuzhen was no simple character.

Everyone had already chewed over the gossip about the Shen Family’s real and fake heiresses time and time again.

Besides, the story of Song Yao and the mother-daughter pair of Yao Yuzhen getting into a physical fight at the hospital three days ago had already spread like wildfire.

Yao Yuzhen had tried desperately to cover it up, but too many people had seen it with their own eyes. The more she tried to hide it, the more the story leaked.

Now that Song Yao and Ji Xianbei were clashing with such palpable tension, the onlookers were just waiting for the show to begin.

In the blink of an eye, news of the commotion at the entrance reached the ears of Yao Yuzhen and Shen Shuangshuang.

They were standing under the eaves of the eastern wing, in front of a recently unboxed birthday cake.

"How did she get back so soon?!"

Shen Shuangshuang dug her nails into her palm, her right hand gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.

Yao Yuzhen narrowed her eyes. "Didn’t they say she was terribly weak and needed to rest for at least seven days?"

"That worthless bitch!"

Shen Shuangshuang seethed, "She deliberately got discharged today! She came straight for my birthday party just to humiliate me!"

She viciously plunged the cake knife into the frosting, dislodging several sugar pearls.

"What perfect timing."

Yao Yuzhen, however, actually seemed relieved. "This was my plan all along—to make everyone see with their own eyes today who the daughter properly raised in the Shen Family is."

"Ji Xianbei is here, and so is Ling Qinghan. They won’t speak out of turn. We can nail her down as nothing more than a country girl who lies, cheats, and schemes her way up the ladder!"

She raised a hand to signal a waiter to remove the cake, then beckoned the butler over and gave him a few quiet instructions.

Unflustered, Song Yao had already stepped through the courtyard gate.

She glanced around and noticed many people sneaking peeks in her direction.

"Comrade Ji Xianbei."

She began slowly, "You must be tired from all that acting. That’s not what you said the other night when you and Ling Qinghan cornered me at my door. I could barely breathe when you almost pushed me into a ditch, and now you’re pretending to have amnesia? How boring."

Ji Xianbei’s expression changed drastically. "You can be careless about what you eat, but not about what you say."

Before his words had even faded, Cheng Hai’s scoffing laugh rang out from the side.

"Well now, Ji Xianbei, you’re really something. Letting some country girl curse you to your face and not even daring to make a peep?"

Cheng Hai tilted his head back to chug a mouthful of beer, his gaze sweeping over them sideways with a sneer on his lips.

"She’s a genuine, born-and-bred country bumpkin, after all."

Ji Xianbei shot Song Yao a sidelong glance, his tone light. "I doubt she even knows how to spell ’manners.’ Her skin is thick enough to stop a cannonball."

A roar of laughter erupted.

They were all from the same social circle, playing the same game.

They looked down on Song Yao, this legitimate heiress who had appeared out of nowhere.

To put it bluntly, if Shen Shuangshuang was the one switched at birth all those years ago,

who was to say another Tom, Dick, or Harry wouldn’t show up, waving a birth certificate and making a fuss?