Chapter 01 

Adoption

“Big Sister, where are you taking me~?”

Three-and-a-half-year-old Qingqing toddled slowly behind Ruanruan. It was six o’clock in the morning, and not a single person was awake in the orphanage.

Yet the two children were fully dressed and heading toward the most secluded area of the grounds.

After walking for a while, Qingqing stopped and looked back at the orphanage building, hesitation written across her face.

“Big Sister, I want to go back. Director Mama said Uncle Shen is coming to take me home today~”

The girl walking ahead of her stopped as well.

Ruanruan took Qingqing’s hand. Looking at the innocent expression on the little girl’s face, a dark glint flashed through her eyes—one that did not belong to a child her age.

“Didn’t you say you lost your necklace? It’s in the woodshed up ahead. I’ll go with you to get it.”

Qingqing was still hesitant, but Ruanruan tugged her forward without giving her a choice.

“Hurry up. Isn’t that necklace the one your biological parents left you? Besides, Mr. Shen likes you so much. He’ll definitely wait for you.”

Little Qingqing was practically dragged along.

The woodshed was pitch black inside. The moment the door opened, dust flew everywhere, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open.

The musty smell made Qingqing wrinkle her nose uncomfortably. Turning to Ruanruan, she asked uncertainly,

“Big Sister, is my necklace really in here?”

This time, Ruanruan didn’t answer.

She suddenly raised her hand and shoved the unprepared Qingqing inside.

“Big Sister!”

The little girl landed hard on her bottom. Her round, starry eyes widened in disbelief as she stared blankly at the woodshed door slamming shut in front of her.

Scrambling to her feet, she called out through the door, her soft baby voice already trembling with tears.

“Big Sister, let me out! Uncle Shen is coming to take me home today!”

Outside, Ruanruan calmly slid the bolt into place.

Ignoring the frightened child crying inside, she turned around and walked away without looking back.

After she had gone quite a distance, she reached into her pocket.

There was something hard inside.

Taking it out, she saw a purple necklace.

Each gemstone had been exquisitely cut and polished, radiating a unique brilliance and color like a dazzling galaxy.

Even she could tell it was no ordinary item.

Ruanruan slipped it back into her pocket.

By the time she returned to the orphanage playground, the sun had fully risen.

Several volunteers were chatting in a corner.

“Qingqing is so lucky. The Shen family is wealthy and kind-hearted.”

“She’ll be Miss Shen from now on.”

“That’s right. Go call Qingqing over.”

Hearing their conversation, Ruanruan pressed her lips together.

Her gaze fixed on the well-dressed man standing beside the director, her eyes filled with eager longing.

This was Shen Yu, the richest man in A City.

In this lifetime, it would be her turn to become the Shen family’s eldest daughter.

After crying for a while in the woodshed, Qingqing shouted for help, but the place was far too remote.

No one passed by.

Eventually, her gaze landed on the only open window in the shed.

The window was old and broken, covered in spider webs, and positioned very high up.

Qingqing climbed onto a pile of firewood.

She fell countless times along the way, but finally managed to reach the window.

A large green-and-black spider sat on its web like a warrior defending its territory. Around it were the corpses of tiny insects.

The little girl sniffled continuously. Her eyes were red from crying.

One chubby, dirt-covered hand gripped the window frame while the other wiped at her tears, smearing soot across her face.

Perhaps her appearance was simply too pitiful.

The flower spider quietly moved aside, giving the little girl room to pass.

Through her tears, Qingqing hiccupped and stammered,

“Y-you’re a good sp-spider. Thank you…”

Climbing onto the windowsill, she looked down at the dizzying height below.

Her tears immediately stopped for a second.

Then she burst into even louder sobs.

Waaah! It’s so high!

Is it still too late to climb back down the woodpile instead?!

With spider webs on her head, smudges of black and white across her face, and big red eyes swollen from crying, she looked utterly miserable.

Staring toward the orphanage building in the distance, she pressed her lips together tightly.

Uncle Shen was coming to take her home today.

Director Mama had told her so yesterday.

Thinking of that, she wiped away her tears, covered her face, and jumped.

As expected, pain immediately flared through her hands and knees.

Once she could move again, Qingqing gritted her teeth and stood up.

The sun was already high in the sky.

Uncle Shen must have arrived by now.

She couldn’t waste any more time.

She had to hurry back.

The wounds on her fair little palms stood out vividly. Bright red blood trickled down her legs, several drops falling onto the ground.

Focused entirely on walking, Qingqing failed to notice something strange.

The grass beneath her feet grew greener.

Any blade touched by her blood seemed to have been fast-forwarded through time, growing rapidly before the naked eye.

After walking for a long time, a volunteer finally spotted her.

Dropping what she was carrying, the volunteer rushed over in shock.

“Oh my goodness! Qingqing, what happened to you?!”

Qingqing looked up.

Her eyes were swollen terribly red. Seeing a familiar face, her nose stung.

She wanted to cry.

But she held it in.

“Big Sister… where’s Uncle Shen? Is Uncle Shen waiting for me?”

The volunteer froze.

Looking into Qingqing’s red-rimmed eyes, she asked in disbelief,

“Qingqing, didn’t you say you didn’t want to go to the Shen family?”

At those words, Qingqing burst into tears.

She raised her tiny hand to wipe her face, smearing blood across her cheeks, making her look even more pitiful.

“I didn’t! I never said that!”

“But Ruanruan said you didn’t want to go. She said you hid yourself because you wanted to wait for your biological parents to come get you.”

Hearing this, Qingqing’s crying abruptly stopped.

She looked up at the volunteer with reddened eyes, shaking her head repeatedly.

“I didn’t… I didn’t…”

She had never said she didn’t want to go.

Pushing past the volunteer, Qingqing headed toward the director’s office.

“I want to tell Uncle Shen… I want to go…”

She had only taken two steps before she was suddenly lifted into the air.

The volunteer’s face was full of conflict.

Finally, she steeled herself and said,

“Qingqing, don’t go. Mr. Shen adopted Ruanruan. They already left.”

The little girl turned her head stiffly.

Her lips trembled.

Even her tears stopped falling.

She remembered nothing after that.

The last thing she recalled was the volunteer’s panicked voice.

“Ah! Qingqing!”

That evening.

Qingqing opened her eyes and instinctively reached up to rub them.

A strange sensation greeted her.

Looking down, she realized both hands had been wrapped up like rice dumplings in thick bandages.

The bedroom door opened.

A crowd of children squeezed inside, chattering noisily around her.

“All right, all right. Go play outside. Don’t disturb Qingqing while she rests.”

After the director spoke, the children obediently left.

The room returned to silence.

Closing the door behind her, the director walked over and sat beside the bed.

Her eyes were full of concern.

“Qingqing, what happened this morning? Where did you go? Last night you promised you’d behave and go to the Shen family. Why did you suddenly decide not to?”

The moment she heard that, tears once again poured down Qingqing’s cheeks.

Her baby-soft voice was hoarse.

“I never said I didn’t want to go!”

Feeling overwhelmed, she threw herself into the director’s arms and cried.

“It was Ruanruan! She locked me up! Director Mama, it was Ruanruan!”

Her emotions were so intense that she soaked a large patch of the director’s clothes with tears.

“She’s bad!”

The aggrieved little girl desperately wanted to explain everything she knew.

Unfortunately, she was only three years old, and her ability to express herself was limited.

The director only managed to catch a few keywords:

Morning.

Woodshed.

Locked door.

Big spider.

She patted Qingqing’s back while shock surged through her heart.

But Ruanruan was only three years old too.

How could a child that young do something like this?

And the plan itself was far too elaborate for a three-year-old.

Earlier that morning, Ruanruan had clearly said:

Qingqing had secretly told her she didn’t want to be adopted by the Shen family, so she had deliberately hidden herself today.

Faced with two children of the same age, the director found herself hesitating.

She didn’t know whom to believe.

Quietly listening until Qingqing finished crying, she wiped away the child’s tears with a tissue and said softly,

“Good girl, Qingqing. Don’t tell anyone else about this for now, okay? Let me investigate first.”

Qingqing lifted her tear-streaked little face.

Shock and hurt filled her eyes.

“Y-you don’t believe me!”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you. I know Qingqing is a good child who never lies.”

The director reached out to wipe her tears again.

But Qingqing turned her head away stubbornly.

Tears fell like broken strings of pearls as she choked out,

“You’re lying. You don’t believe Qingqing.”

The director shook her head.

“Ruanruan may be a little competitive, but she wouldn’t hurt anyone. I raised both of you. I need to investigate before making a decision.”

Hearing that, Qingqing became even angrier.

She suddenly pulled away from the director and burrowed back under her blanket, leaving only a round little back radiating indignation.

“You’re biased! You always take Ruanruan’s side!”

“Be careful of your injuries,” the director said helplessly.

Still fuming, Qingqing immediately clenched her injured hands into fists.

The pain made her face pale, but she still snapped back fiercely,

“I won’t be careful! Anyway, you only care about Ruanruan!”

“I—”

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

A volunteer entered.

“Director, someone called. They’d like to discuss adopting a child.”