Chapter 1: The Qiao Family Has a Fake Heiress

The June weather in Rao City was like a furnace. The scorching sun created layers of heat waves on the asphalt road, burning so intensely that there wasn't a single person in sight.

Qiao Nian dragged her packed luggage out of her room.

Before she even reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the chirping voice of Qiao Chen downstairs.

"Mom, Dad, are Qiao Nian's biological parents really coming to pick her up?"

Father Qiao asked her sternly, "Why do you care about that? Have you practiced the piano piece you need for later? Grandma’s friend is coming from Jing City; she’s a professor at the National Academy of Arts and a national-level piano master. You’d better perform well. If Grandma helps you pull some strings later, your admission to university in Jing City will be set."

"I'm already practicing."

Before Qiao Nian could descend, she heard Qiao Chen acting spoiled again.

"Dad, what do you think her biological parents look like?"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she muttered with feigned innocence and disdain, "They said they were coming the day before yesterday, and they’re only arriving today! Don't tell me they bought train tickets and spent two days and a night on a train coming from some mountain ditch to pick her up?"

Upstairs, Qiao Nian couldn't help but stop in her tracks, a trace of sarcasm flashing in her cold eyes.

Three months ago, she had accidentally discovered that her "good sister" Qiao Chen and her own boyfriend were having an affair behind her back, both of them cheating.

She was so furious that she exposed the matter, only to find out that she wasn't a Qiao family member at all; she was just a child the Qiao family had adopted from an orphanage.

The Qiao family hadn't adopted her out of kindness or a desire to do good.

Qiao Chen had been born with a rare blood disease. Aside from medication, she required blood transfusions every month.

The Qiao family ran their own company, which had successfully gone public last year; they were considered people of some standing in Rao City. If Qiao Chen’s illness had only required money, the Qiao family wouldn't have been troubled.

As luck would have it, besides being unlucky enough to be born with an illness, Qiao Chen also had a rare RH-negative blood type. This blood type was extremely uncommon; it was said that only one or two in every hundred thousand people inherited it.

Because it was so rare, hospitals called this type "Panda Blood."

It meant it was as precious as a giant panda.

The Qiao family had the money for treatment but couldn't guarantee the hospital would have enough Panda Blood for Qiao Chen every month. So, after much deliberation, they came up with a plan: adopt a child from an orphanage with a matching blood type to serve as a mobile blood bag for their daughter!

She was that free blood bag.

Since she was a child, Qiao Nian had been raised to be a "good sister"—giving her pretty clothes to her sister, letting her sister take every opportunity to win awards... If it hadn't been for the incident with Qiao Chen and Fu Ge being exposed, she would still be kept in the dark!

The only reason the Qiao family was willing to tell her these things now was that, after years of treatment, Qiao Chen had basically recovered. As long as she was careful, she no longer needed medication or transfusions.

She no longer had any utility value. Plus, Grandmother Qiao was furious that she had made a scene about Qiao Chen and Fu Ge at Qiao Chen’s birthday party. To protect Qiao Chen’s reputation and the Qiao family’s face, they simply "exposed" her as the fake daughter in front of everyone.

Father Qiao didn't want to dwell on Qiao Nian: "Say less."

Qiao Chen didn't buy it and pouted in protest: "It’s true. If they could afford plane tickets, why would they only be arriving now? They’re probably penniless!"

"Enough."

Father Qiao caught sight of Qiao Nian coming down the stairs and stopped her in a low voice.

The first thing that caught the eye was her wild, unrestrained face. She was wearing a light blue T-shirt tucked into a red-and-white striped shirt, with the hem casually tucked into denim shorts, revealing legs that were thin and fair.

Everyone in their family was fair-skinned, but Qiao Nian was even fairer than them.

Perhaps because her skin was so pale, Qiao Nian’s eyes always looked exceptionally dark. Whenever he saw her, Qiao Weimin always felt a sense of distance, as if there were a barrier between them.

It really was because she wasn't his own flesh and blood.

"Nian Nian, is your stuff packed?" After all, he had raised her for over a decade. Father Qiao pursed his lips, withdrew his gaze, and asked in a tone that was gentler than the rest of the Qiao family.

Qiao Nian came down carrying her light luggage and gave a hum.

Qiao Chen finally saw her and immediately wiped the gossiping look off her face, pretending to be nonchalant as she called out, "Sister."

"..." Qiao Nian couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge her, stepping directly past her.

Ignored by Qiao Nian, Qiao Chen pouted in dissatisfaction. Her long eyelashes drooped as if she had been wronged, and her fair face looked pale, as fragile as a white flower in the wind.

He Yujuan’s face darkened on the spot. She leaned on her cane and huffed, "Chen Chen is talking to you. Are you deaf?"

Qiao Chen immediately took her arm, looked up, shook her head weakly, and bit her lip to speak for her: "Grandma, forget it. Sister is in a bad mood, I don't mind."

With her saying that, He Yujuan looked at the girl walking past even more unfavorably. Everything about her was a flaw, and she said with disgust, "As expected, not a child of the Qiao family. After being taught for over ten years, she still can't get rid of the petty, small-minded nature in her bones!"

"Mom."

Qiao Weimin called out to her as if pleading, then walked up to Qiao Nian and hypocritically pulled out a card: "This is ten thousand yuan."

He sighed and shoved it into Qiao Nian’s hand: "Take it! When you get back to... your parents' house, be obedient. Keep this money to buy clothes. Later, when you're studying... it might come in handy."

He was always cautious. The Qiao family had just secured a government development project, and it was a critical time; Qiao Weimin didn't want any complications.

He had investigated the biological parents coming to pick up Qiao Nian. They seemed to be surnamed Jiang, their profession listed as teachers, from Luohe County.

Luohe was three hundred kilometers away from Rao City, and that area was a notoriously impoverished county. Every year, entrepreneurs donated money to Luohe County for poverty alleviation, and he had donated too. He didn't look into it further, automatically associating them with the struggling rural teachers often interviewed in the news.

Qiao Nian was already in her third year of high school. Once she returned to Luohe, it was almost impossible for her to get into a university, let alone attend a university in Jing City like Qiao Chen after finishing at Rao City No. 1 High School.

Her life was ruined!