PWE – Chapter 110 The Truth from Thirty Years Ago

Those words made Fang Ma’s heart skip a beat. Her face went pale, and she no longer dared to speak casually.

Doctor Qiao stared at Fang Ma for a couple of moments. Suddenly her eyes lit up. She stood and asked,
“Comrade, may I ask—are you called Fang Guozhen?”

Fang Ma’s full name was indeed Fang Guozhen.

Fang Guozhen’s breathing grew tight. She desperately wanted to say she wasn’t.

But Zhu Jianbin, standing beside her, said,
“Doctor Qiao, this is the nanny in my household. She really is called Fang Guozhen. How do you know her?”

Doctor Qiao said,
“So it really is Fang Guozhen. Comrade Zhu, Fang Guozhen was also in the hospital back then. She gave birth on the same day as your wife. Coincidentally, her child was also delivered by me. Her baby was born two hours earlier than yours—slightly older.”

Hearing this, both Zhu Jianbin and Mao Wanxiu widened their eyes in disbelief.

Mao Wanxiu said,
“Fang Ma gave birth before? But she told us she’d never been married and had never had a child. How… how could she have given birth on the same day as me?”

“Doctor, you must have mistaken me for someone else,” Fang Ma hurriedly retorted. “Although my name really is Fang Guozhen, I’ve never given birth. I’ve never even been married—how could I have a child?”

Her heart was pounding in terror, as if it were about to leap out of her chest.

“I haven’t mistaken you,” Doctor Qiao said calmly. “You look exactly like Fang Guozhen did back then, and you really are named Fang Guozhen. How could I be wrong? Besides, your daughter left a deep impression on me. It’s rare to see a newborn with a large birthmark on the sole of the foot. Such a big birthmark—and it was a distinctive triangular shape. I even discussed it with many doctors and nurses at the time. They all found it unusual, saying it was rare for a baby’s birthmark to be triangular.”

Doctor Qiao’s tone was steady, but her words drained the color from both Zhu Jianbin’s and Mao Wanxiu’s faces.

Mao Wanxiu suddenly glared at Fang Ma.
“Your child had a triangular birthmark on the sole of her foot? Zhu Qiaoyu also has one in the exact same place. So that means Zhu Qiaoyu…”

“Madam! What are you trying to say?” Fang Ma broke out in a cold sweat, her voice urgent but unsteady from panic. “Are you saying the eldest miss is my child? Th-this… how could that be? Madam, don’t talk nonsense. The eldest miss is your child—your biological child!”

Zhu Jianbin stared at Fang Ma for a few moments. Suddenly, realization dawned on him. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed,
“No wonder you’ve always doted on Zhu Qiaoyu since she was little. No wonder you always took her side whenever something happened. Clearly my second daughter is much better, and I used to wonder why you liked that unpleasant Zhu Qiaoyu so much. So that’s how it is. Fang Ma, you’re really something—truly something!”

No one there was stupid. With a little thought, they all understood what had happened.

Zhu Jianbin glanced at Fang Ma again and continued,
“Now that I look at it, you and Zhu Qiaoyu really do resemble each other. You both have single eyelids, while my wife, my second daughter, and I all have double eyelids! And your face shapes—you both have square faces, very coarse features! How did I never notice this before? I can’t believe I’m only realizing it now!”

He spoke with deep regret. The thought that he had raised a nanny’s daughter for thirty years made him furious beyond measure.

Fang Ma waved her hands frantically.
“That’s not how it is! It’s not like that! Sir, the eldest miss isn’t my child—she’s yours! She looks so much like you, she—”

“Looks like me? In what way does she look like me? She’s so ugly—what part of her resembles me?” Zhu Jianbin roared, his tone both furious and icy. “For the sake of your own daughter, you really dare to lie through your teeth! Doctor Qiao, take another look—do I look anything like that Zhu Qiaoyu?!”

Doctor Qiao glanced at the photo of Zhu Qiaoyu again, then shook her head solemnly.
“No, they don’t resemble each other at all. Mr. Zhu and the woman in this photograph look nothing alike.”

She more or less understood what had happened.

She never expected to encounter such a filthy affair—this Zhu family nanny had actually switched her own child with the Zhu family’s child, turning her own daughter into the Zhu family’s eldest miss.

How shameless!

Fang Ma shook her head, still wanting to argue, when Xiao Wange’s voice came from the doorway at just the right moment:
“Old comrade, I told you earlier that the evil deeds you committed would be exposed. You didn’t believe me then. Now… you believe me, don’t you?”

At the sound of Xiao Wange’s voice, everyone turned toward the door.

When they saw her, Fang Ma frowned. The fear in her heart magnified uncontrollably, and her body swayed unsteadily.

“And you are?” Zhu Jianbin frowned slightly, looking at Xiao Wange with some confusion.

He was displeased by the sudden intrusion, but judging from her words, it seemed she had long known about Fang Ma’s misdeeds. He wanted to know who she was—and what exactly she knew.

Xiao Wange led Zhaozhao into the living room.

She looked at Zhu Jianbin and Mao Wanxiu and smiled faintly.
“My apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Zhu, for coming in without your permission. But I felt I had to come in at this moment, because there are some things I need to tell you.”

In fact, she had knocked on the gate earlier, but the people inside clearly hadn’t heard. She and Zhaozhao waited outside for several minutes without anyone coming to open the door.

But she had to come in now. Fang Guozhen’s vicious true colors had to be torn off completely.

Hearing this, Zhu Jianbin and Mao Wanxiu exchanged a look. Mao Wanxiu stepped forward a few paces and asked anxiously,
“May I ask what you wish to tell us? From what you said just now, it sounds like you know what Fang Ma has done. Then do you know where my eldest daughter is now?”

Xiao Wange looked at her and said,
“Mrs. Zhu, I can’t go into the specific details of your eldest daughter’s situation, because some things are matters of heavenly secrets, and such secrets cannot be divulged—you should understand that. But I can tell you one thing: your eldest daughter is living very well now. She’s living a very happy life. And the bond between you has not been severed. I believe that one day, sooner or later, you will meet again.”

Hearing this, both Zhu Jianbin and Mao Wanxiu felt a measure of comfort. As long as their eldest daughter was doing well and hadn’t suffered, that was enough. If she were suffering now, their hearts as parents would be broken.

“However,” Xiao Wange continued, “when your eldest daughter was young, she drifted from place to place and suffered a great deal. She was sold again and again. Her childhood was extremely miserable.”

She glanced at the Zhu couple and told them this truthfully. After all, they were her biological parents. As such, they had the right to know—had the right to know the vile, cruel things Fang Ma had done.

“Sold?” Mao Wanxiu gasped, clutching Xiao Wange’s arm. “Comrade, what do you mean by that? You’re saying my daughter was sold? Sold again and again? Th-this… how could my daughter have been sold?”

Xiao Wange said,
“You’ll have to ask your household nanny about that.”

Everyone turned to look at Fang Ma.

Fang Ma’s face was deathly pale. She stammered,
“Th-this… how can you ask me? I don’t know anything. Madam, the eldest miss is your biological daughter. You must believe that.”

Mao Wanxiu: “……”

She might usually be gentle, but she wasn’t easy to fool.

Her expression darkened as she stared at Fang Ma.
“At a time like this, you still refuse to admit Zhu Qiaoyu’s true identity! Fang Guozhen, do you really take me for a fool? Do you really think you can just lie to me as you please?!”

“Madam, I’m not—” Fang Ma tried to argue.

Xiao Wange let out a cold laugh, her gaze dark and chilling as she fixed it on Fang Ma, enunciating each word clearly:
“Thirty years ago, after you switched your own child with the Zhu family’s child, you sold the Zhu family’s baby. You got over a hundred yuan for her, didn’t you? Back then, a hundred yuan was a fortune. You lived extravagantly for several months on that money—eating well, drinking well. Those days were extremely carefree, weren’t they?”

“Y-you… what nonsense are you talking about?!” Fang Guozhen’s voice trembled as she retorted unsteadily. “I never switched any babies, and I never sold anyone’s child! You young girl, don’t talk nonsense and frame me!”

“Frame you?” Xiao Wange said coldly. “Which word I said framed you? Fang Guozhen, did you think no one would ever know what you did? Did you think you could escape the law for your entire life? Unfortunately for you, heaven is clear-eyed. Heavenly justice will never side with the wicked!”

Her voice was icy, each word like a heavy hammer smashing down on Fang Guozhen’s heart.

Mao Wanxiu, listening to Xiao Wange, was on the verge of losing her mind.

She suddenly rushed up to Fang Guozhen and shoved her hard.
“How could you be so cruel? How could you be this cruel?! It wasn’t enough that you switched my child—you even sold my child for money! Fang Guozhen, how can there be such an evil woman in this world?! Are you a venomous snake in human form?!”

Mao Wanxiu was consumed by rage and hatred—so much so that she felt like grabbing a knife and killing Fang Guozhen on the spot.

Fang Guozhen shook her head violently.
“Madam, I didn’t! I didn’t switch your child, and I didn’t sell her! Don’t listen to their nonsense—they’re all lying!”

“Enough!” Zhu Jianbin stood up, glaring viciously at Fang Guozhen. “I will report this to the police! You switched my child and sold my child—you’ve broken the law, and it’s a very serious crime! Fang Guozhen, I want you to pay a terrible price. I want you to spend the rest of your life in prison!”

At these words, Fang Guozhen’s legs began to tremble violently, and she almost dropped to her knees.

Spending that week in the police station earlier had nearly cost her her life.

When she got out, she had sworn—sworn never to enter a place like that again.

Yet less than a day after getting out, they wanted to send her back in? How could that be? How could that possibly be?!

Just as Fang Guozhen was about to speak, Xiao Wange turned to Zhu Jianbin and said,
“The police recently uncovered a human trafficking ring. The ringleader of that ring is the very person who bought your child from Fang Guozhen back then. He should be confessing everything soon. Once he implicates Fang Guozhen, even if you don’t report it, the police will come to arrest her anyway.”

Hearing this, Fang Guozhen could no longer hold herself up. Her knees buckled, and with a loud thud, she collapsed to the ground.

She desperately wanted to say Xiao Wange was lying—but she knew everything Xiao Wange said was true.

Xiao Wange had just described the events of thirty years ago in detail—even the exact amount she’d sold the child for.

That could only mean one thing: this girl truly had real abilities.

And words spoken by someone with real abilities were almost certainly the truth.

It seemed the police really were coming for her. It seemed she truly would spend the rest of her life behind bars.

But if she went to prison, what would happen to Qiaoyu? Who would take care of her in the future?

“I wish she’d be arrested this very moment!” Zhu Jianbin shouted, seething. “That venomous woman! She’s despicable beyond words! She switched my child, turned her ugly daughter into my own, and made me raise her for thirty years! And to clean up after that child’s messes, I abused my authority more than once! Now my abuse of power has been exposed, and I’ve been demoted several ranks!

“If that had been my own biological child, I might have endured it. But she wasn’t my child! I was punished for someone else’s child! For someone else’s child, I abandoned my moral principles and my professional ethics! Do you know how much hatred is in my heart right now? Do you know how badly I want to kill this venomous woman?!”

Zhu Jianbin truly hated her to the core. Not only had his biological daughter been sold, but he had also raised someone else’s daughter for decades—and even abused his power for her, leading to his current demotion.

That hatred surged like a tide, threatening to drown him entirely. His chest was filled with raging fury.

Xiao Wange sighed inwardly.

She could understand Zhu Jianbin’s hatred. If her own child had been treated this way, if she herself had been punished because of someone else’s child, she would probably be even angrier than Zhu Jianbin.

But anger was useless now. No matter how angry one became, time could not be turned back.

If time could be reversed, these things might still be remedied. Unfortunately, there was no time machine in this world.

“Then go report it,” Xiao Wange said quietly to Zhu Jianbin. “Let the police come and take her away as soon as possible.”

Zhu Jianbin nodded.
“I’ll go right now! I want this vile woman locked up today!”

With that, he strode out of the living room.

Seeing him go to report the crime, Fang Ma sprang up and tried to stop him.
“Sir, please don’t! Don’t report it—please don’t report it!”

But Xiao Wange blocked her path, fixing her with a cold, sharp gaze.
“You committed evil deeds. Shouldn’t you face the law’s punishment? What Comrade Zhu said just now was right—your crime is extremely serious. You’ll probably spend the rest of your life in prison!”

Fang Guozhen: “……”

Her already panicked heart seemed to grow even more chaotic.

She frowned, suddenly staring at Xiao Wange.
“It’s all because of you! You did this to me! Why did you harm me? Why did you harm me?!”

Xiao Wange raised an eyebrow, utterly speechless.
“I harmed you? Fang Guozhen, what nonsense are you talking about? You committed crimes out of your own vicious intent—how can you say I harmed you?!”