Luo Yihai was furious with his niece, and at the same time, angry with himself. Why had I trusted her words so blindly, letting a young girl lead me by the nose? Every time she cried, my heart would soften.
Now look what happened, he fumed internally. Forget protecting her, I might not even be able to save myself. My indulgence ruined innocent lives, and now it’s all out in the open. It’s clear this was aimed at me—all because I didn’t investigate properly and just took her word for it! To me, it was just a few words, a couple of phone calls. But for those innocent people, it was their future, their destiny. Now, their desire for revenge has been ignited, and they’re determined to drag us all into the abyss to perish together. I can barely fend for myself; how could I possibly spare a thought for that menace?
He broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.
Without further hesitation, he stood up and walked out. My only chance for a turnaround is to confess everything now, he knew. Ignoring Zhang Xueyan’s pleas for help and her dissatisfaction, he turned into the adjacent office. He confessed everything he had done to help his niece over the years. The police officers handling the case quickly reported these matters up the chain.
After leaving the police station, Luo Yihai returned home to await the results. He felt an immense sense of relief. I’m incredibly lucky, he thought, that I only made a few calls and indirectly helped Zhang Xueyan suppress people, without doing anything truly substantial. But he knew in his heart that after this, his chances for further advancement were likely gone.
What he hadn’t expected was for the decision to come so quickly: he was demoted all the way to an ordinary clerk. This was worse than being fired, he realized with a sinking heart. And I can’t even resign now; that would just make people look down on me even more, think I’m irresponsible. He felt worse than if he’d swallowed a fly, and even his wife and children at home endured numerous cold stares.
Consequently, their relationship with his younger sister’s family hit rock bottom. His wife and children believed that if he hadn’t aided and abetted her, Zhang Xueyan wouldn’t have dared to secretly use such despicable means to harm others, causing them all to lose face. Meanwhile, his younger sister’s family felt he hadn’t genuinely tried to protect his niece, which ultimately ruined Zhang Xueyan’s career and life, indirectly making their entire family the neighborhood’s laughingstock.
When Luo Yijia, the eldest sister in the Luo Family, learned of this, she tried to mediate between the two families but ended up pleasing neither. Eventually, she washed her hands of the whole affair.
Due to the victims’ families’ relentless insistence, Zhang Xueyan was sentenced and sent to reeducation through labor. Because of his daughter’s actions, Zhang Weigang’s reputation as a father naturally suffered. He found himself walking on thin ice at work, and his family’s life plummeted from heaven to hell overnight.
When Yunyi returned to Hua’an Farm Reclamation, Ye Wenhui was the first to visit, eager to share her grievances. "Yunyi, you’re finally back! I swear, I wanted to check your gate ten times a day to see if you’d returned."
Ye Wenhui looked at Yunyi, her eyes suddenly welling with tears. She reached out and hugged her. "Sister, you’ve suffered so much."
As someone who’s taken over this body, I might not fully grasp how much the original Yunyi suffered, Yunyi mused. After all, once the original owner joined the Chu Family, she was practically raised in a honey pot. Aloud, she said, "I don’t remember much about my childhood. Perhaps there were hardships, but my adoptive parents treated me very well, so I never felt like I was suffering."
Actually, from what the Ye family members said, I’ve gathered that after Zhang Baosheng and his wife brought the original Yunyi to their old home, they just left her with the elderly Zhang couple. The old couple didn’t know she wasn’t their biological grandchild. Even if their lives weren’t easy, they genuinely cared for her and were never harsh. As for Fang Zhichun, perhaps out of guilt, she typically avoided the original Yunyi and would ignore her even if she saw her in the courtyard. So, the suffering was emotional neglect, not physical abuse.
Yunyi felt contempt for Fang Zhichun’s actions, but she held no particular affection for the Ye family members either. In the original Yunyi’s memories, her adoptive parents truly doted on her.



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