The Jiang Family: Sun Mei was taken away a few days later…
The incident of Sun Mei secretly swapping the children not only caused a huge stir in the village but also became widely known to the production brigade and even reached the ears of county officials. This was unsurprising given Jiang Yantang’s special status, which had already drawn attention from higher authorities.
If Sun Mei had deliberately swapped the Jiang family’s child, it would mean swapping the child of a soldier.
Jiang Leiyan, the second brother of Jiang Yantang from the Z Military District, was the first to hear this news. At first, he thought someone was playing a joke on him.
Jiang Yantang wasn’t his biological brother? He wasn’t the Jiang family’s child?
Years ago, the Jiang family’s child had been intentionally switched.
“Yes, that’s exactly what happened. Jiang Yantang bears a striking resemblance to the Xie family brothers in the village. One of the Xie family’s children even obtained a paternity test, and Sun Mei herself admitted that she intentionally swapped the identities back then.”
“There are numerous witnesses in the village, including several educated youths who saw it happen…”
Jiang Leiyan’s mind buzzed as he listened. On one side, they said Jiang Yantang resembled a certain family’s brothers, and on the other, many people testified that the child had been swapped. Sun Mei, the woman in question, even physically abused the stolen child when he was young.
The investigation confirmed that years ago, Sun Mei gave birth to a child in Xie Family Town, while Jiang Leiyan’s mother also returned to her ancestral home in Xie Family Town to recuperate and gave birth to their third son, Jiang Yantang.
The possibility of a switch was undeniable.
—But it was almost too unbelievable to accept.
Shortly after hanging up the phone, Jiang Leiyan’s father called, indicating that he too had learned about this matter.
For the Jiang family, this revelation was nothing short of an earthquake.
“You’re closest to that area. Go and see that child in person,” his father instructed over the phone.
Finally, he added, “For now, don’t let your mother know about this.”
Jiang Leiyan hung up, still dazed and confused. Could it really be that Jiang Yantang wasn’t his biological younger brother?
Since childhood, other uncles, aunts, and even his own mother had often remarked that Jiang Yantang didn’t quite resemble the rest of the Jiang family. He was always the most unique, different from his two brothers. But no one ever thought…
That he might truly not be a Jiang.
Jiang Yantang was their mother’s favorite and most cherished child. Their mother, Xie Yanzhi, was a woman with a refined and cultured upbringing. She came from a privileged background and, in modern terms, could be called a capitalist’s daughter. In her youth, she had dreams of studying abroad and loved all things foreign. However, after her family’s decline, she married the rigid and unromantic military officer Jiang Liming.
Xie Yanzhi often complained that Jiang Leiyan and his eldest brother resembled their father, Jiang Liming—rough and mischievous since childhood. Though they were smart, their energies were always spent on mischief rather than academics.
But the third brother, Jiang Yantang, was different. He met all their mother’s expectations—he loved reading, especially literature, learned foreign languages, and quoted romantic poetry. He would accompany her in arranging flowers, listening to records, and drinking coffee.
Jiang Leiyan could tolerate sitting with their mother for a coffee chat, but their elder brother couldn’t stand it at all. He would rather go outside for a fight than endure such “suffering.”
The two older brothers later joined the army following their grandfather’s orders for rigorous training, while their third brother chose to become an educated youth in the countryside.
Their mother, Xie Yanzhi, was distraught, calling Jiang Leiyan multiple times within a few months, urging him to persuade their younger brother to return home. She didn’t want him to suffer in the countryside.
But to Jiang Leiyan and their father, enduring hardship was part of being a Jiang. A bit of rural labour was nothing compared to the gruelling training they had endured in specialized camps. They had both survived without any special treatment from their mother, while their younger brother was coddled for merely going to the countryside.
In fact, their mother had just called yesterday, urging Jiang Leiyan to visit his brother and look after him.
“He’s your younger brother, and you need to take care of him. Check if he’s lost weight, and let me know if he’s missing anything. I’ll send it to him.”
“Try to find a way to bring him back. He belongs in a university, not suffering in the countryside.”
She even asked Jiang Leiyan to bring nutritional supplements to his brother. Jiang Leiyan had only agreed perfunctorily, fully intending to ignore her.
But now, with the news of the child swap, Jiang Leiyan realized he had no choice but to take leave and investigate. If Jiang Yantang wasn’t their biological brother, the one most devastated would undoubtedly be their mother, Xie Yanzhi, who had poured all her love into him.
Yet Jiang Leiyan couldn’t help but sneer. Maybe their mother didn’t actually like Jiang family children at all.
When Jiang Liming returned home that evening, he was visibly preoccupied. His wife, Xie Yanzhi, greeted him warmly and introduced their guest, Mo Xuanyi, a young teacher from the city who often visited. It was no secret that Mo Xuanyi hoped to become Jiang Yantang’s wife, though Xie Yanzhi hadn’t shown any interest in making her a daughter-in-law. For her beloved youngest son, Xie Yanzhi likely had even higher expectations.
But since the young woman came to visit, it wasn’t appropriate to send her away. They chatted and discussed the youngest son, finding plenty of common ground in their shared concern for the same man.
Not long after Jiang Liming returned home, Mo Xuanyi got up to leave. She didn’t need anyone to see her off and quietly closed the door behind her. She was already quite familiar with the military compound.
Jiang Liming heard the sound of her departure, and sure enough, just a few minutes later, his wife, Xie Yanzhi, came to talk to him.
“Old Jiang, when are you going to help bring Yantang back?”
“We never should have let him go to the countryside. Now look at this—he’s so far from home, and I asked our second son to check on him, but he’s so lazy he hasn’t even made a move.”
Jiang Liming raised an eyebrow. “The second son is busy.”
“Busy? Is he busier than his own brother is important?”
“Do you think the countryside is a good place? There’s nothing there, and he has to do farm work every day. His hands are meant for reading and writing, not for labour. It’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”
“And you, as his father, don’t even care about him. Back then, you should have asked your father for help… If he didn’t want to join the army, then so be it.”
Jiang Liming raised his eyebrows slightly and replied in a calm, hoarse voice, “It’s good for young people to experience some challenges.”
“Challenges?” Xie Yanzhi sneered. “Aren’t you worried about ruining our son?”
“I just heard from little Mo that some young male educated youths have gotten married to village girls in the countryside.”
“What if Yantang accidentally falls for a rural girl? What will you do then?”
Jiang Liming: “If he likes her, then he likes her.”
“Well, I won’t accept a rural daughter-in-law! What if she’s uneducated and not clean? I’ve heard that in some places, people don’t even bathe.” Ever since her youngest son went to the countryside, Xie Yanzhi had been constantly worried.
She worried about everything—his living conditions, his hardships, his meals and shelter.
Now she was even worried that he might be smitten by a village girl and bring her back home.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
Her outstanding son deserved an equally outstanding wife from the city.
“What’s the point of worrying so much?” Jiang Liming replied indifferently. Moreover… He glanced at Xie Yanzhi.
Moreover, there was now a much bigger problem.
The youngest son, Jiang Yantang, might not even be his child.
When Jiang Liming first heard this, he wasn’t sure what to feel—neither joy nor sorrow, but an overwhelming anger.
While he was two to three parts skeptical about the claim, he was seven to eight parts convinced that Jiang Yantang might indeed not be his son.
Occasionally, he had entertained similar thoughts in the past. His wife’s favouritism toward the youngest son had always been excessive. The family’s focus revolved around him, and while Yantang had always been respectful to him, their father-son relationship had remained distant.
He could easily scold and discipline the eldest and second sons, but he found it difficult to do so with the youngest. Even Xie Yanzhi had often remarked that Yantang didn’t seem like a Jiang, not just in terms of character but also in appearance.
If Yantang truly wasn’t his son, Jiang Liming didn’t know if his wife could handle the truth.
After all, he was her most beloved child.
And yet… his real youngest son was suffering in poverty in the countryside, having been deliberately switched at birth. The malicious intent behind this act was beyond belief.
Jiang Liming’s heart sank.
Meanwhile, Xie Yanzhi continued to chatter in his ear about their youngest son’s future marriage. “Aren’t you worried? You should quickly find a way to get him into a university. Otherwise, be careful—he might bring back a rural girl next year.”
“And she might only have an elementary school education,” she scoffed.
Jiang Liming replied, “That’s because they didn’t have the opportunity.”
“Hmph. Well, I won’t accept a daughter-in-law with only an elementary education.” Xie Yanzhi thrust her coffee cup into Jiang Liming’s hand and walked away.
Jiang Liming stood there, staring at the coffee cup in his hand.
He glanced at the information that had been sent over. The boy named Xie Mingtu had grown up under the abuse of his adoptive mother. Once a fair and delicate child, he had been tormented to the point of unrecognizability. It was only after his marriage that the villagers realized he was a remarkably handsome man.
He did indeed only have an elementary education and was married to a woman with the same level of schooling, named Su Xiaoman.
This was why he hadn’t told his wife yet. He wasn’t sure if she could accept such a truth.
The next day, Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu cleaned up their home and went to visit the Su family. As they left, many villagers pointed and whispered about them. However, instead of gossiping, the villagers were full of sympathy and concern.
“I can’t believe Sun Mei could do such a thing.”
“Xiaoman, is your husband going back to reunite with his biological family?”
“….”
Without saying much to the villagers, Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu arrived at the Su family’s home. As soon as they stepped inside, they were met with the sight of Liu Shufeng sporting two massive dark circles under her eyes.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
Xie Mingtu: “…”
Last night, the couple had slept soundly, but Su Xiaoman guessed that the Xie family hadn’t gotten any rest. She hadn’t expected her own mother, Liu Shufeng, to be so worried that she too had stayed up all night.
“Mom? What’s wrong with you…”
Liu Shufeng patted her shoulder. “It’s all because of you two. Your mom hasn’t slept well for two days now.”
Su Xiaoman: “Why?”
“The other day, you and your husband finally split from the Xie family…” Liu Shufeng had been overjoyed, spending the whole night thinking about their future in the village—where to build their new house and how many kids they might have. “Even the land where you build your new house, I have thought of several places.”
Su Xiaoman was speechless. “….”
Parents love their children and thus plan for their long-term future; the ancients didn’t lie about this. But her mother was thinking a bit *too* far ahead.
“And now, with this mess, everything’s changed,” Liu Shufeng sighed, having lost another night of sleep. She had initially thought the family division was the biggest issue, but now her son-in-law had turned out not to be a Xie family member at all but rather the child of another family.
Even the future she had envisioned the day before now seemed irrelevant.
All that planning went to waste.
Liu Shufeng turned her gaze to Xie Mingtu, who asked with concern, “Mom, which plot of land do you want to pick?”
Liu Shufeng hesitated. “That’s not the priority right now. You two should come inside and sit.”
She couldn’t help worrying that the couple might no longer want to stay in the countryside and would instead move to the city. After all, Xiaoman had always dreamed of living in the city, and with her son-in-law’s intelligence and skills, Liu Shufeng knew that farming in the countryside was a waste of his talents.
As she suspected, Sun Mei couldn’t possibly have given birth to such a clever child.
Now, Liu Shufeng felt an overwhelming maternal affection for Xie Mingtu. She couldn’t help it—every time she thought about his past, she was heartbroken. He had originally been a privileged young man, only to be taken by Sun Mei and denied the love and care of his biological parents.
Thinking back to Jiang Yantang, the biological son of the Jiang family, was even more painful. The more she dwelled on it, the worse she felt for Xie Mingtu.
“The whole village is talking about this. Two police cars even showed up at the village entrance today, with seven or eight officers asking the villagers questions,” Liu Shufeng said while fetching the sugar jar and kettle.
Both Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu nodded. It was they who had reported the matter to the police, leaving their statements at the station and submitting evidence—including the paternity test results and an old piece of clothing they had found while rummaging through a pile of forgotten items.
Su Xiaoman had deliberately searched for items Xie Mingtu might have used in the past, suspecting that, with Sun Mei’s greedy personality, she might have taken something valuable. Sure enough, she found a child’s garment. Though worn and shabby, Su Xiaoman, who was skilled at recognizing fabrics, immediately noticed it wasn’t something the Xie family could have afforded.
Examining it closely, she discovered embroidery hidden in a corner that read “Jiang Yantang.” The stitching was crude, and much of the thread had come undone. If she hadn’t already known the name, no one else could have deciphered it.
When Xie Mingtu saw the name, his face turned green.
If he hadn’t been switched, that would have been his name.
But just thinking about that name made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Su Xiaoman understood his discomfort. She kissed him several times to calm him down, knowing that he probably didn’t want to acknowledge the Jiang family because of this.
“Our village folks love a spectacle. They’re not afraid of the police either—after all, they haven’t done anything wrong. Everyone’s eager to talk, sharing this and that.”
“There were too many people watching yesterday when the family division happened. So many overheard the conversations. Oh, and did you know? Sun Mei even went to the educated youth station yesterday,” Liu Shufeng continued, bringing out sugar and hot water.
She felt that her son-in-law had suffered too much in the past and needed some sweetness to balance it out. From now on, this couple should be soaking in sugar water.
Su Xiaoman nodded. She and Xie Mingtu had heard about Sun Mei visiting Jiang Yantang. After learning what Sun Mei had said to him, even Su Xiaoman was left speechless.
Was it shamelessness? Or sheer stupidity?
It was astonishing that someone so thoughtless could have orchestrated such a life-altering scheme, leaving Xie Mingtu to suffer for over a decade.
As Su Xiaoman mulled this over, she grabbed the sugar jar from Liu Shufeng’s hands, added just a small spoonful to a cup, and handed it to Xie Mingtu.
She figured her husband had already had a hard enough time—no need to drown him in sugar.
“You! This child…” Liu Shufeng tapped her daughter’s head. “Why didn’t you add more?”
“We can still afford sugar, you know.”
“Mom, he doesn’t like sweet things. Don’t bully him,” Su Xiaoman replied.
“Really? Is that so? His dad and your brothers all love sweets…” Liu Shufeng started, only for Xie Mingtu to interject enthusiastically, “Mom, I love sweets too!”
Su Xiaoman turned and knocked him lightly on the head, teasing, “Do you know what you look like right now? Like a garlic clove desperately trying to fit into an orange.”
Liu Shufeng was puzzled. “What does that mean?”
Xie Mingtu: “…”
“Proving he’s not an outsider,” Su Xiaoman quipped.
Meanwhile, the county police were busy interviewing residents of Qiao Xin Village to gather information on Sun Mei’s child-swapping case. Typically, villagers would feel an inherent fear of uniformed officers.
But now, with so much explosive gossip circulating, they were more than eager to talk. They had so much bottled up that they couldn’t wait to share.
Swapping children! And not just any children—cadres’ children! On top of that, both boys had almost been pursued by the same girl! Even a novel wouldn’t dare write something this absurd!
The story was so sensational it could take three days and nights to tell.
Villagers began inviting the police into their homes, eager to share their thoughts. Whole families chimed in, bombarding the officers with their passionate accounts, leaving the police overwhelmed by their enthusiasm.
“That Sun Mei was no good from the start. She always treated Xie Mingtu terribly.”
“It’s no surprise she’d do something like this.”
“We all heard her admit it several times. Everyone can testify.”
Among the villagers, the most notable witness was Zhou Xiaohui, who had once been the third daughter-in-law of the Xie family. Now divorced, she lived with her two daughters. When the police questioned her, she detailed Sun Mei’s wrongdoings with remarkable precision, shedding tears as she spoke.
In the Xie household, the two lowest-ranking individuals had been Zhou Xiaohui and Xie Mingtu. No one knew better than her how Sun Mei had treated Xie Mingtu.
“She never treated him like her own son.”
“It was too cruel…”
…
This uneducated woman clung to the police officers, talking for an entire day. Her daughters, Chunjuan and Xiajuan, supplemented her story. The trio’s misery was so palpable that the officers, moved to indignation, decided to help Zhou Xiaohui apply for a women’s assistance program.
After the police left, Zhou Xiaohui wiped away her tears and looked at her daughters, realizing that their life could still go on.
She had once thought that as a divorced woman, stepping out of her house would mean being subjected to endless gossip, with rumours and slander threatening to crush her and her daughters. But now things were different. Right after her divorce, the scandal of Sun Mei swapping children had exploded.
Now, everyone’s focus was on the child-swapping case. As for whether she was divorced, who she divorced, or what kind of woman she was, few people cared to gossip about her anymore.
Whenever someone brought up her divorce from Xie Huadong, it was only mentioned briefly before the conversation shifted to the Xie family’s division, Jiang the educated youth, Sun Mei, the child-swapping case, and Sun Mei shouting at the educated youth station, “You mustn’t let him steal your identity…”
Moreover, the past entanglements between Su Xiaoman, Xie Mingtu, and Jiang Yantang were even more shocking and intriguing.
The villagers’ idle chatter over tea no longer revolved around her.
Now, with the police spending an entire day at her house and even mentioning providing her with women’s assistance, Zhou Xiaohui felt reassured.
After all, even the police had been to their home and promised her help.
With both witness testimony and physical evidence in hand, it wasn’t long before Sun Mei was taken away. Sun Mei, who had always acted like a tyrant at home, turned out to be nothing more than a paper tiger. By the second day of her arrest, she had already confessed in detail how she had swapped the children all those years ago.
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