002
The original Lu Tian, fearing repercussions from the Yu family, chose to stay in a five-star hotel. The security was excellent, making it difficult for them to cause trouble. Lu Tian woke early, immediately deciding to call her maternal grandmother.
The Tian family’s preference for sons had a long history, which might explain why Tian Lao Tai (Grandma Tian) had switched her eldest daughter to the Gu family for a better life. After giving birth to her eldest daughter, she had four sons, living a proud life, and even more so after her eldest son moved to the city. She often asked Tian Jing for money to support her youngest son, who was thirty and unmarried.
To escape the Tian family, Tian Jing rarely used the phone number she had registered, and Tian Lao Tai had no idea where she lived. Besides the regular pension, they had little contact.
Lu Tian used the hotel phone to call Tian Lao Tai, revealing her identity. Tian Lao Tai’s tone was exceptionally gentle.
“Grandma, I found your biological daughter. I’ll send you the address, go find her, and don’t bother my mother anymore.”
“What?” After the switch, Tian Lao Tai had no idea where the Gu family lived, and she had long given up hope of finding her biological daughter. However, hearing Lu Tian’s words, her interest was immediately piqued.
“Grandma, save the address. Whether you go to see her or not is up to you.”
Lu Tian hung up and unplugged the phone, preparing to get ready for breakfast.
The original Lu Tian had a similar appearance but better complexion and physique. A simple dress perfectly accentuated her figure. Lu Tian, in her previous life, had cultivated excellent makeup skills to improve her appearance. A quick touch-up enhanced the already beautiful face, and her long hair needed only a casual comb. She grabbed her room key, phone, and wallet and headed to the elevator.
Two men in suits were already waiting. Lu Tian walked over calmly, habitually checking the stock market on her phone.
“Ahem…”
Lu Tian remained focused on her phone. The man on her left coughed again. She glanced up, surprised. His face seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place where she had seen him. Without dwelling on it, she returned to her phone. The elevator arrived with a “ding,” but the two men remained still. She stepped in, pressing the button for the ground floor.
The man next to the coughing one entered next. Lu Tian glanced at him unconsciously, almost feeling a heart attack coming on!
“Hi…” Lu Tian greeted weakly and timidly.
The man looked her over, his cold gaze radiating an aura of coldness. His handsome face was impassive. After a brief glance, he gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
The coughing man also entered, pressing B1.
Lu Tian touched her nose, standing behind them. They were both over six feet tall, their presence like two mountains. Considering the original Lu Tian’s actions, she felt incredibly nervous.
“Ahem, Miss Lu, hello. I’m Mr. Meng’s assistant, Song Ci. You can call me Xiao Song.” Song Ci turned around and handed her a business card.
Lu Tian accepted it, showing no outward emotion, her composure unwavering. “Thank you.”
There was little to say. Song Ci remained silent. The elevator quickly reached the ground floor. As the doors opened, Song Ci stepped aside, forcing Lu Tian, who could have easily exited from the side, to walk through the middle.
“Uh, goodbye.” Lu Tian softly said goodbye to the man.
Meng Jingdong didn’t look at her, his dark eyes still impassive. Song Ci, however, bid a warmer farewell.
Lu Tian quickly left, recovering her composure in the restaurant. Meng Jingdong was truly intimidating! However, she did feel guilty…
The encounter with Meng Jingdong didn’t affect Lu Tian’s appetite. She took two slices of toast, spread strawberry jam, and ate slowly. She peeled a hard-boiled egg, ate half an ear of corn, and finished with a small bowl of congee. It was a healthy and light breakfast, a habit she’d developed since childhood to live longer.
After breakfast, Lu Tian went to a nearby mall and bought two new outfits, just in case.
Back at the hotel, Lu Tian decided to return to school. Both the protagonist and the antagonist were still college students. The original Lu Tian had just turned twenty-one and was a junior.
On her way back to school, Lu Tian finally answered Yu Ningxuan’s call. The protagonist’s voice was still soft.
“Lu Tian, what do you mean? Ruining my life once wasn’t enough, right?” Yu Ningxuan cried, her fiancé, Han Yifan, equally indignant, watching her phone.
“You helped Zou Yi hide his affair and now you’re saying my grandmother is your grandmother. You’re happy to ruin my engagement, aren’t you?”
Lu Tian listened quietly, the accusations essentially the same: she shouldn’t have revealed the truth in front of everyone.
“But it’s the truth. If you don’t believe me, get a DNA test.” The original Lu Tian had bribed a maid in the Gu family to steal hair samples from Grandma Gu and Tian Jing for the test; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been such a huge uproar.
“How do I know where your DNA test results came from? Lu Tian, I never did anything to you. Why do you have it out for me?” Yu Ningxuan vaguely remembered hearing that she and her mother didn’t look alike.
Lu Tian shrugged, “Believe what you want. I’m busy and can’t talk more. Goodbye.”
She hung up, completely ignoring Yu Ningxuan’s rage.
Having already broken ties, Lu Tian didn’t bother with pleasantries. She wanted to resolve this quickly and enjoy her second chance at life.
She didn’t have many classes as a junior. When Lu Tian returned to the dorm, her roommates were there, along with a girl from the dorm next door. Seeing her stylish appearance, they asked if she’d been on a date.
“I heard Yu Ningxuan got engaged today. Did Lu Tian go to her engagement party? Did she ask you to be a bridesmaid?”
Lu Tian, Yu Ningxuan, and their cousin were all in the same university, and had been classmates in high school; their relationship was well-known to their roommates.
“Huh, I heard Yu Ningxuan’s family is very rich. Getting engaged while still in school—is she pregnant?” The girl from next door was eager for gossip.
The other three looked at Lu Tian, waiting for the inside scoop. Lu Tian put away her bag, removed her makeup, and tidied up, selectively answering the questions. “I don’t know. You know Yu Ningxuan and I are feuding. Why would she invite me?”
Jiang Feifei, Lu Tian’s roommate, stuck out her tongue, “I forgot! How long ago was that? You two were fighting like sworn enemies!”
“When men are involved, even sisters will fall out!” The girl from next door was eager for more details, jumping to a conclusion.
Lu Tian disliked her and gave her a blank stare. “That man was my cousin. Is there a problem?”
The girl from next door was embarrassed and quickly found an excuse to leave. The other three roommates were more cautious. He Lianchen, the dorm head, smoothed things over. “Lu Tian, is something wrong?”
The original Lu Tian had good relations with her roommates, and they seemed friendly now. Lu Tian opened the bag of snacks she had brought back and smiled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to exclude you guys. I bought snacks; come eat!”
The three girls relaxed and contributed their own snacks, sitting together for a chat and discussing their favorite idols, creating a harmonious atmosphere.
Lu Tian rarely ate potato chips, but she was happily munching away, surprising He Lianchen. “Lu Tian, don’t you care about your figure?”
“Why not? I’ll exercise after I’m done.”
“Okay, a good figure allows for such indulgences.” He Lianchen said…
He Lianchen, envious, commented that she wasn’t fat, but her chest was flat.
“Lu Tian, are you going to Professor Lu’s lecture this afternoon?”
Lu Tian didn’t remember this professor, and planned to go home in the afternoon, so she politely declined Jiang Feifei’s invitation.
Jiang Feifei expressed regret, “Professor Lu is such a handsome older man! There are photos of him on campus forums taken secretly by students. He’s so elegant, the handsomest older man I’ve ever seen.”
Lu Tian twitched her mouth. The protagonist and the long-legged male lead were in a “Lolita and older man” romance.
“Let me see the photos of this older man!”
Jiang Feifei showed her the photos on the forum. He was indeed an older man, with some gray hair at the temples, but a nice face shape, with a few wrinkles, making him a handsome older man. However, he wasn’t the long-legged man from the protagonist’s romance.
“I heard Professor Lu won’t be a visiting professor at our school anymore after this lecture.”
“Why?” The girls were all infatuated, even Lu Tian was curious, as she planned to attend his class if she had the chance.
Peng Yangyang, the quiet girl in the dorm with a baby face, raised her hand. “I heard Professor Lu has leukemia and needs chemotherapy, so he’s canceled all his visiting professor positions at other universities.”
“Ah, that’s such a shame…”
They chatted about Professor Lu for a while. Rumor had it that he was rich but had no children and lived alone. Countless girls had tried to marry him, but none had succeeded.
When the time came, the three girls went to the lecture. Lu Tian packed her things and prepared to go home.
Lu Tian’s school, the Zou family, the Gu family, and the Yu family were all in the same city, but in different districts. Even though Lu Tian and Yu Ningxuan had known each other for a long time, their parents had never met, and before the original Lu Tian discovered the truth, they were unaware of the baby switch.
Tian Jing knew she was coming home and waited for her. Her youngest son, Zou Fan, had a cold and stayed home from school. He was happy to see Lu Tian. Actually, her stepfather’s family treated the original Lu Tian well, but she felt like an outsider and had a miserable life.
“Sister! I missed you.” Zou Fan was sweet-tongued, handsome and cute for his age. His big eyes were full of joy at seeing his sister.
Lu Tian was an only child and had never had a brother, so she unconsciously liked Zou Fan.
“I just came back, okay?” While saying this, Lu Tian showed Zou Fan the gifts she had already ordered online for him.
“Sis, why didn’t you bring them back? I could have seen them sooner!”
Lu Tian glanced at him, stating simply, “They were heavy.”
Author’s Note:
Tomorrow’s update will be at 6 PM. This will be the tentative update time.