Everyone Thought The Fake Heiress Had Her Reasons Ch. 6
Ming Jiao found the System’s question rather strange. [Indeed, the Ming family doesn’t owe me money. If I don’t play the debt collector, everyone will be more at ease.]
The System remained astonished. [But don’t you quite like the protagonist?]
Ming Jiao pondered for a moment. [I do like her very much and would love to be friends with her, but some wounds cannot be healed.]
She suddenly let out a heavy sigh, her tone quickly turning light and casual again. [She saved me, so I can’t repay kindness with enmity. Not being a nuisance is my way of consideration.]
The System couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. Human emotions were indeed subtle and complex—rescuing someone you dislike, yet keeping your distance from someone you admire.
Ming Jiao said, [Look at it this way—the world is vast, and it’s the perfect time for us to explore it.]
After chatting idly with the System for a while, her thoughts quickly returned to the matter at hand.
She scrolled through her phone’s contact list, first jotting down the people she interacted with most frequently on paper. After finishing the list, her expression turned rather peculiar.
How to put it? These were all people she had frequent dealings with, but the more interactions, the deeper the offenses. In a way, this was both a list of suspects and a list of victims.
However…
Ming Jiao’s gaze lingered on one particular number for a long time. The owner of this number had very little suspicion—she was Tang Xiaoyu’s former uncle-in-law, or to be precise, the original host’s former uncle-in-law.
Tang Xiaoyu’s adoptive parents had passed away early but left behind a considerable inheritance. While it certainly couldn’t compare to the Ming family’s wealth, it was enough to ensure she grew up without financial worries.
Wealth tempts the heart—many relatives had designs on this inheritance and sought to adopt her, but they were all thwarted by Aunt later.
Aunt was a principled person. Aside from Tang Xiaoyu’s tuition fees, she barely touched the money, saving it for her university education when she grew up.
But the former uncle-in-law was a scoundrel—fond of drinking, ambitious but incompetent. He tried his hand at investments and lost a large sum of money, later even stealing Aunt’s bankbook and squandering all the money left by Tang Xiaoyu’s adoptive parents.
It could be said that most of the hardships Tang Xiaoyu faced growing up were because of this man. This was also the primary reason Aunt divorced him. In the middle and later stages, he would collude with the original host to do something even more despicable.
A cold glint flickered in Ming Jiao’s eyes. This was still the early stages of the plot, far from this character’s appearance. Had they already connected this early?
She glanced at the number on her phone again, directly blocked it, and resolved that if this guy ever showed up in front of her, she would make sure he experienced some “tough love.”
Setting aside the insignificant but annoying pests, Ming Jiao continued compiling the list based on the original host’s memories.
As the list grew longer, even the System couldn’t hold back. [Host, I know you used to be a vicious antagonist, but this is way too long, isn’t it?]
Ming Jiao sighed helplessly. [Be content—this is already the streamlined version.]
The original host was someone who loved socializing and excitement, the type who was inept but eager to play. However, since she was beautiful and came from a good family, many people were willing to indulge her or had no choice but to do so. Among them were many whose family backgrounds, while slightly inferior to hers, still held considerable wealth and influence.
If any of them thought that since the original host had been driven out of the Ming family, the Mings wouldn’t care about her life or death, it wasn’t impossible for them to hire assassins for revenge.
However, upon careful reflection, the Ming family should actually be on this list as well. They are also living, breathing people with thoughts and emotions—they can’t be judged solely based on shallow impressions from the book.
The original owner had no blood relation to them, and the eighteen years of past affection couldn’t withstand her repeated troublemaking. Still, judging by their personalities, their suspicion level was much lower.
Ming Jiao thought from a purely rational perspective for a while but ultimately didn’t write the Ming family’s names on the list. Some things were fine to think about privately, but actually doing so would be too heartless.
Yet, her refusal to seek help from anyone that night must have come across to Tang Xiaoyu as distrust and suspicion toward the Ming family. Tang Xiaoyu’s impression of her had surely worsened.
At this thought, Ming Jiao suddenly felt a wave of dejection.
She sat in silence for a moment, then set down her pen and decided to go out for a walk.
Ming Jiao could move around freely now, though she couldn’t walk very far without feeling exhausted. As for the pain from her wound, it had completely vanished by the second day. If not for the lingering scar, it would have felt like an unreal dream.
It was strange—such a deep wound had quickly healed under Tang Xiaoyu and the System’s treatment, leaving only a fine line. Yet, that very line stubbornly refused to close completely.
The System explained that it was because the killer had infused the blade with abnormal energy containing a dark substance that continuously tried to corrode her body. So, even if she had been promptly taken to a hospital, she would eventually have succumbed to the erosion of this dark substance.
As for ordinary injuries, even if a person were cut in half, the System could heal them.
But there was no need to worry—she would fully recover in at most half a month.
Hearing this from the System, Ming Jiao naturally wasn’t concerned. She just felt that although the killer had been arrogant and dismissive, he wasn’t some fool blinded by overconfidence. On the contrary, he was cautious—using supernatural abilities against an ordinary person like her was truly going all out, like a lion using full force to catch a rabbit.
·
Ming Jiao stepped outside. The roses in the yard were in full bloom—the entrance was entirely fenced with red roses, while the small gate to the back garden was adorned with white ones. A sea of flowers in a single color always held a unique beauty.
And the interweaving of pure red and white was exceptionally brilliant and captivating.
Occasionally, a breeze would drift by, carrying the floral scent, which was incredibly soothing.
After walking a loop, Ming Jiao suddenly turned to look at a first-floor window. These past few days, both she and Tang Xiaoyu had moved into guest rooms on the first floor—for convenience and so Tang Xiaoyu could quickly assist if anything happened.
Ming Jiao’s eyes sparkled, her radiant face breaking into a breathtaking smile, though it carried a hint of the mischievousness of a child trying to provoke something they adore.
·
Tang Xiaoyu had just closed her laptop and reopened the half-finished hardcover book when the window was tapped with a muffled thud.
Instinctively looking up and seeing Ming Jiao, her deep, calm eyes showed no ripple of emotion. “What is it?”
Ming Jiao beamed like a bright sunflower. “You’ve been cooped up in there for so long—come out and get some fresh air.”
Tang Xiaoyu pressed her rosy lips together slightly, about to say she didn’t feel stifled, when Ming Jiao added, “Even if you don’t feel stifled, staying indoors too long isn’t good for anyone. You’ll grow moldy. Come out for a walk.”
Feeling that even if she ignored her, the other could still come up with eight or ten persuasive reasons, Tang Xiaoyu thought for a moment, set the book aside, and stood up to leave the room.
However, when she stepped into the flower-filled courtyard, she didn’t see Ming Jiao right away.
Glancing around, she finally spotted her crouched beside a dense thicket of roses, holding a small pair of scissors and carefully snipping off a fully bloomed red rose.
Ming Jiao quickly noticed Tang Xiaoyu, her smile growing even brighter, her dark eyes sparkling like stars. She promptly handed the flower to Tang Xiaoyu. “For you.”
Tang Xiaoyu lowered her long, delicate lashes, glancing at the flower and then at her. “Why?”
Ming Jiao gave a lazy smile. “Do I really need a reason for something like this?”
Deliberately drawing out her words, she soon added, “Just think of it as me trying to win your favor. After all, my life is in your hands.”
Her tone was light and teasing, but her eyes held a sincerity that wasn’t at all unpleasant.
Tang Xiaoyu fell silent for a moment, then, for reasons she couldn’t explain, accepted the flower. “Have you thought of any suspicious candidates?”
Ming Jiao chuckled. “I’ve thought of quite a few. Several are particularly suspicious. I want to find an opportunity to meet them and test their reactions in person.”
But such an opportunity wasn’t likely to fall from the sky, and it couldn’t be delayed for too long. The employer was surely keeping a close watch on her situation. If they found out she was still alive and prepared themselves mentally, even a professional interrogator or expert might not detect anything unusual, let alone someone like her who wasn’t one.
As Ming Jiao pondered this, her phone, tucked in her jacket pocket, began to ring. Snapping back to reality, she quickly pulled it out. The moment she saw the caller ID, her expression turned subtle.
It seemed the opportunity had truly been delivered to her doorstep.
The caller was Aunt Ming—Ming Lang. Yes, the “Ming family” referred to her adoptive mother, Ming Wan, and the family behind her. After her adoptive parents divorced, all three daughters took their mother’s surname. In the original storyline, she had been the second eldest.
Ming Jiao mused that, after everything returned to its rightful place, she should be called Tang Jiao, and Tang Xiaoyu should be called Ming Yu. It didn’t sound bad, either.
The current situation in the Ming family wasn’t complicated. Her adoptive mother, Ming Wan, was the eldest of three siblings, with an uncle ranked second. However, after getting married, the uncle had settled abroad and played no significant role in the original story, so he could be temporarily ignored. The focus was on the aunt.
If the original host was the number one villainous female supporting character in this world, then the aunt was the only one who dared claim the second spot.
In the early stages, it wasn’t too bad—she merely favored the original host after Tang Xiaoyu returned to the Ming family, fanning the flames and stirring up trouble with a few provocative remarks. But later, she joined forces with the original host to target Tang Xiaoyu, racing down the path of lawless villains.
Was she so hostile toward Tang Xiaoyu because Tang Xiaoyu hadn’t grown up with the family, making her feel closer to the original host, who was not related by blood?
Perhaps that was part of the reason, but more importantly, it was because she resented and envied her own sister. It was a mentality of, “My sister is outstanding and praised by everyone. I can’t surpass her, so I envy her, dislike her, and can’t stand to see her succeed.While reading the book, Ming Jiao had sighed in emotion, thinking that the Ming family might have a hereditary curse of sisterly discord, since the original host didn’t get along well with her older and younger sisters either.
Returning to Aunt’s targeting of Tang Xiaoyu, her dislike for Tang Xiaoyu essentially boils down to “hating the house along with the crow.” Because her adoptive mother believed that the accidental baby swap back then had caused Tang Xiaoyu to suffer greatly outside, she felt particularly guilty and concerned about her. Thus, Aunt deliberately targeted Tang Xiaoyu to provoke her.
Her general mindset was: “Isn’t she the daughter you care about the most? Well, I’m going to target her just to make you unhappy.”
Not only did she aim to deal with Tang Xiaoyu herself, but she also dragged along the adoptive daughter she had once genuinely doted on, doubling the adoptive mother’s pain.
Therefore, it’s hard to say how much of her feelings toward the original owner were genuine and how much were merely exploitation.
But for Ming Jiao, truly caring for someone should never mean leading them further astray until they both fall into the abyss together.
Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu
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