Chapter 3

"I don't want to believe it either, but that face, and the inadvertent expressions...they look too much like Nannan..." Zhou Granny recalled the year when her pregnant daughter, with a belly of seven months, came back to visit her because her father-in-law had something to attend to and her son-in-law could only go back early.

Her daughter, who had stayed here for over a month in the winter, slipped and fell in the yard with her eight-month belly, going into premature labor and giving birth to a pair of twins.

Because of rural superstitions that a woman in confinement could not stay at her natal family, the delivery and postpartum care were done at the neighboring maternity center, which was the Zhou family's old house. Granny Zhou was a widely known midwife, and after the family built a new house, they turned the old one into a maternity center.

Some pregnant women, afraid of soiling the bedding by giving birth at home, would be sent over early to deliver here, and then taken back home after.

On the day Granny's daughter gave birth, there was also a pregnant woman surnamed Gao from neighboring Anle Village who seemed to have also birthed a daughter.

With the daughter-in-law back at her natal family, it was just her and the eldest daughter-in-law busy with things. People in the countryside preferred sons over daughters, so even if a switch were to happen, it should have been to switch the son. Who could have imagined someone switching away a baby girl!

Granny Zhou could hardly imagine that if what the girl said was true, her daughter had doted on the enemy's child as her own daughter for a whole 18 years, while her own daughter whom she had carried for over 8 months had endured torment in another family. How devastating the blow would be!

And this had happened right under her nose. How could she still have the face to see her in-laws?

"Eldest son, go into the city tomorrow, don't tell your sister first, I'm afraid she can't take it. Talk to your brother-in-law clearly and have him come to get to the bottom of this. We'll take it from there," said Granny Zhou.

"Second son, don't idle either. Go to Anle Village tomorrow and ask carefully about the Gao family's affairs. This is no small matter, you have to find out everything clearly and see just how the child has lived in the Gao family over the years..." The fact that Granny Zhou could say this showed that she had actually already believed An ZhiXia's words.

It was really that face that looked so much like her daughter's when she was young. It was too credible.

She only hoped it wasn't true, but she really couldn't deceive herself. This was very likely the truth.

When one's heart is full of doubt, there are actually many traces to follow.

For example, when her daughter woke up and complained that she had not taken as much care with the baby girl as with the boy, with the swaddling not straight and the girl's legs curled up inside.

But she clearly remembered that she had swaddled both babies herself, and done it very carefully.

Or when she saw the baby's face was bigger than right after birth. At the time she had thought it was her own mistake.

After all, she had delivered two women in the same room. Her own daughter had also had a difficult labor. After the children were born, she had only taken a quick look before going to check on her daughter to make sure she was alright, then hurried to help the other woman deliver.

By the time she was done, she was exhausted. The eldest daughter-in-law was busy boiling water to clean up the postpartum filth, so she went out to wash off the blood on herself.

If the babies had really been switched, it must have happened during this time.

The more Granny Zhou thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt, resenting herself for not paying more attention back then and at least leaving someone in the room to watch.

"That's right, Granny, I suddenly remembered something," Zheng Hong said in astonishment as she looked at Zhou Granny. "I remember our second sister's baby girl had a red birthmark on her lower back when she was first born. Later when I looked, it was gone. I thought I had just been distracted at the time, so I never mentioned it. This..."

"What?" Granny Zhou looked at Zheng Hong reproachfully. "You should have spoken up then. What a sin!"

She knew in her heart, though, that even if it had been mentioned then, they might not have taken it to heart.

Just as she said, others all treasured sons as the apples of their eyes. Who could have imagined someone switching away a baby girl!

"I...I didn't expect something like this to happen either," Zheng Hong also felt guilty, thinking of how good the young aunt had been to the family all these years. If it were confirmed that a baby swap had happened right under her nose and that her sister had raised someone else's child while her own child endured torment since childhood in another family, she would resent herself to death.

Seeing his own wife's self-reproach and his mother's resentment, Zhou Dong also understood that the blame for this matter could not be placed entirely on his wife. They had all been home at the time, yet no one in the whole family had noticed anything either. So who were they to resent this person or that? The only ones to blame were themselves.

"Mother, now is not the time to worry about these things. You should hurry to find a way to see whether that girl really has a red birthmark on her lower back. Wouldn't that make everything clear?"

Everyone prayed in their hearts, hoping there was no such mark, that this was all a misunderstanding, that the younger sister had not raised someone else's child by mistake and let her own child suffer torment since a young age.

...

An ZhiXia was discussing with Zhou Zhi Zhi about borrowing a set of clothes from her to wear, so she could also wash herself up a bit.

She had climbed over the mountain to escape and struggled with the old man, so her clothes were tattered and torn from her scrambling up and tumbling down the mountainside. She had even slept with a stranger midway, so the clothes she had on now were barely decent.

And her hair was a tangled mess like a bird's nest, with her skin scraped raw in places by branches and rocks. She didn't even have the face to lie on someone else's clean bed in this state, for fear of soiling it.

Zhou Zhi Zhi of course also knew An ZhiXia had to get cleaned up before she could sleep. She readily agreed and even brought her to the bathroom to wash her hair.

But there were too many wounds on An ZhiXia's body. Most on her arms were scratches from branches when she ran down the mountain. There were also bruised patches all over from her falls. Just looking made one wince.

Whether or not she was her aunt's daughter, a girl with so many injuries tugged at one's heartstrings.

Zhou Zhi Zhi was a kind girl herself, so she brought water to help An ZhiXia wash the unhurt parts of her body clean.

An ZhiXia touched her dry, straw-like hair, much of which was matted into knots beyond combing even after washing.

"Sister, I saw scissors in your room just now. Could I borrow them for a bit?"

Zhou Zhi Zhi guessed An ZhiXia's intent. Seeing her hair so tangled it couldn't be combed smooth, she nodded. "Wait here, I'll fetch them."

When she brought the scissors back and saw An ZhiXia indicating she wanted to cut it very short, Zhou Zhi Zhi simply said, "It won't look good if you cut it that short. Why don't I trim it for you?"

"Thank you...sister," An ZhiXia hesitated for a moment over how to address her. She didn't know if she was older or younger than Zhou Zhi Zhi, but the other girl was slightly taller than her. In her malnourished state, she looked more childlike, so she settled for calling her "sister".