Chapter 53
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It was Gu Yan Ran who was standing outside. Her expression was unclear as she was wearing a pair of sunglasses.
Tang Tang knitted her brows. She was displeased, “Why are you here?”
Gu Yan Ran acted like she didn’t mind Tang Tang’s attitude towards her. Instead, she gave Tang Tang a light smile like there was nothing wrong between them and said, “What’s wrong? Are you not inviting me in? Is this how you treat your guests?”
Tang Tang might have a good temperament but that did not mean she would let others bully her. After getting bullied last time, Tang Tang was already very angry so she didn’t have any intentions of inviting Gu Yan Ran in, “I’m sorry. You aren’t welcome in my home.”
“Oh.” Gu Yan Ran’s smile suddenly turned meaningful, “Are you sure this is your home?” She focused on the word “you.”
“What do you mean by that? If this is not my home, then could it be yours?”
“Don’t you know what I mean? Shouldn’t you be clear about whether or not you are the true owner of this house?”
Suddenly, Tang Tang’s heart skipped a beat and her pupils shrunk. Intuition told her that Gu Yan Ran must know something.
But … how could that be possible?
Seeing Tang Tang’s reaction, Gu Yan Ran smiled as she reached out to pull the door, “Are you still not planning to invite me in for a seat?”
Tang Tang subconsciously loosened her hand and the door was opened successfully.
Gu Yan Ran entered the flat and took a look around the surroundings. She saw Ji Xiao Zhuo and Wen Nuo at the coffee table while building a model. She headed towards them and crouched beside them before smiling, “Xiao Zhuo is building a model with a friend?”
Once Ji Xiao Zhuo discovered Gu Yan Ran had come, he greeted, “Auntie Yan Ran came to visit us?”
“That’s right, auntie came to visit and take a look at you.” Gu Yan Ran answered while stroking Ji Xiao Zhuo’s head. Ji Xiao Zhuo was very familiar with Gu Yan Ran so, naturally, he wouldn’t reject her.
Upon seeing this, Tang Tang’s expression became ugly. She didn’t understand what Gu Yan Ran came for today, but she felt a very strong sense of uneasiness in her heart.
Intuition told her that something would happen tonight and for her, it wasn’t something good.
Tang Tang forced down the uneasiness she felt and said, “What did you come for today? If you have something to say, just say it now.”
“There’s no rush. Ji Yan is not back yet. It’s not late to say it if we wait for Ji Yan to return.” Gu Yan Ran simply sat cross-legged beside the children and started to build the model with them. Her leisure manner was the total opposite of Tang Tang’s feelings.
Tang Tang pursed her lips. She knew Gu Yan Ran was doing this on purpose so she simply went back to the kitchen to make dinner. After all, what the eyes don’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve.
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Not long later, Ji Yan returned. When he entered, he heard noises coming from the kitchen. He guessed Tang Tang couldn’t stay idle and went to cook. Ji Yan smiled helplessly. Then, he went to the kitchen and saw a slim figure bustling around the stove. The kitchen was filled with a delicious fragrance.
“Didn’t I say that you shouldn’t busy yourself for the time being? Why didn’t you listen to me again?”
However Tang Tang didn’t hear him and carried on cooking. She didn’t even turn to look back.
Puzzled, Ji Yan touched her waist, “Tang Tang?”
“Ah!” Tang Tang was shocked from feeling something suddenly touching her waist. The knife she was holding almost fell. Luckily, Ji Yan reacted quickly and caught her hand. Otherwise it would’ve been dangerous.
Ji Yan frowned. After he put the knife down, he pulled her away from the stove and looked at her from head to toes, “What’s wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?”
Discovering that it was Ji Yan who returned, Tang Tang sighed in relief. Then she shook her head in response, “I’m fine. It’s just, ” Tang Tang pointed outside, “Gu Yan Ran is here.”
Ji Yan paused for a moment before turning his head to look outside. As expected, he saw Gu Yan Ran standing in the living room and smiling at him. Because she was sitting on the floor with the children, and the sofa obstructed the view, he didn’t notice her.
Ji Yan smoothed his lips and walked to Gu Yan Ran while pulling Tang Tang along with him. He asked bluntly, “What did you come here for?”
Ji Yan’s tone of voice was very dull. Even though he never treated Gu Yan Ran very familiarly, at least he didn’t treat her so estranged like now. Pain flashed across Gu Yan Ran’s eyes. She gripped her fist tightly to suppress the sadness she felt. She forced a smile and replied, “Brother Ji Yan, I think there’s a misunderstanding between us. I wanted to explain but you won’t accept my calls and won’t let me go to your unit so I can only come and find you here. Brother Ji Yan, can you listen to my explanation?”
There were no changes to Ji Yan’s expression and his voice remained dull, “There is no misunderstanding and there isn’t anything that needs explaining between us either. I believe your brother should have said everything that’s needed to you. Your brother’s meaning is also my meaning. You’re a smart person. You should know what you should do from now on.”
Gu Yan Ran’s eyes flashed and the slight smile on her face almost fell. She breathed deeply to remain undisturbed and said, “Brother Ji Yan, I didn’t want to hurt anyone. If you are happy, I definitely won’t disturb you but I can’t let you be lied to.”
Apart from the children, everyone else knew who she was talking about.
When Tang Tang was about to question Gu Yan Ran what she had lied to Ji Yan about, Ji Yan pulled on her hand and spoke first, “Gu Yan Ran, I can tell whether or not someone is lying to me. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Brother Ji Yan!” Gu Yan Ran didn’t expect him to treat her so coldly after he found out that she liked him. He clearly treated her very well in the past.
Why was he treating her like this?
Gu Yan Ran’s smile dropped as she could no longer maintain it. Gu Yan Ran couldn’t help but look coldly at Tang Tang. She must be the reason why Ji Yan was like this.
Originally, Tang Tang was already furious, and she now got glared at for some reason. Tang Tang wanted to copy Gu Yan Ran and glare back! How she wished she could glare her to death!
Seeing her not wanting to be outdone, Ji Yan wanted to smile. He pulled on her hand and said, “Alright now, go and take Xiao Zhuo and Wen Nuo to play in the bedroom.
Tang Tang understood that he didn’t want her and the children to get involved. She pursed her lips and glared at Gu Yan Ran before taking the children to the bedroom. But Tang Tang didn’t stay to play with them, she immediately went back to Ji Yan’s side.
Since the matter was something related to her, she had to face it directly even if it was something bad.
Ji Yan understood the insistence in her eyes and silently agreed for her to be present.
Gu Yan Ran got irritated and felt her heart stabbed as she saw them communicate wordlessly. Her anger took over and she directly opened her bag and took out a pile of data. Then, she arranged the material on the coffee table, “Brother Ji Yan, I know you won’t believe anything I say without proof. Take a look at these. You’ll understand my painstaking effort after looking at these. She is simply deceiving you!”
Tang Tang’s heart skipped a beat again. Her eyes stared at the pile of unknown data. She felt increasingly worried.
However, Ji Yan gave no reaction whatsoever. He also didn’t take a look at the data. He simply said, “Gu Yan Ran, your brother and I are good brothers and I have always seen you as a little sister. I hope you won’t do anything that oversteps this relationship and that includes slandering my wife. Otherwise, we can only be strangers.”
Ji Yan’s words made Gu Yan Ran feel extremely sad. The rim of her eyes reddened and she sounded like she was crying as she replied, “Brother Ji Yan, even if you don’t have feelings for me, you can’t doubt my sincere feelings for you. We’ve known each other for so many years, do you think I would harm you? I’m not slandering her. I have evidence and all of the evidence I found can prove that person beside you is not Tang Tang, she’s a fake!”
The final sentence was just like a bomb exploding in Tang Tang’s heart. Tang Tang went pale as she felt her whole body go weak. There was only one thought in her mind. It’s the end. She was discovered for being a fake.
While Ji Yan’s expression sank in response to Gu Yan Ran’s words, his eyes turned even colder. It was so cold that Gu Yan Ran shivered. Even though she was afraid, she gathered her courage and carried on, “Brother Ji Yan, she originally said she had lost her memories but her medical records in hospital show she had only suffered superficial wounds. She hasn’t injured her head so she wouldn’t have gotten amnesia. Also, people who have amnesia would act similarly to how they were before, even if there were a slight change. On the other hand, she has changed completely, and I think you have also noticed that. She is not similar to how she was previously. It’s like she’s a different person, right?”
Silently, Ji Yan didn’t respond and neither did Tang Tang.
“Truthfully, I thought she was just faking the amnesia so she can carry on obtaining something from you so I went to investigate her. But I ended up getting shocked instead. I discovered she wasn’t just lying about the memory loss, she’s a complete fake, impersonating Tang Tang!”
Gu Yan Ran spoke as she reached to open the pile of data and arranged under Ji Yan’s eyes, “Look, Brother Ji Yan, it clearly shows that Tang Tang doesn’t know how to make pastries before and she had never learnt it either, but she can make perfect pastries now. It doesn’t even make sense even if she used the excuse that she had just learnt it recently! Remember when we went to the villa last time and she made tea that was even better than Brother Zhuo Ji, the real Tang Tang had never learnt to make tea! Could amnesia increase a person’s skill set?”
Tang Tang’s hands trembled slightly. The weather was cold but there was a layer of sweat on her back. Tang Tang was extremely regretful that she never investigated those before. She had given reasons for others to be suspicious of her.
Noticing her unusual condition, Ji Yan’s eyes darkened as he reached out to hold her hand firmly in his hands.
At the moment, Tang Tang really wanted to look up at his eyes but she didn’t dare to because she was afraid she would see the suspicion in his eyes as well.
When Gu Yan Ran saw Ji Yan holding Tang Tang’s hands, she assumed Ji Yan still didn’t believe her. So she took her final card out, “Brother Ji Yan, if you still think what I said is not convincing enough, then I’ll give you a solid proof.” Gu Yan Ran took out a few pictures. They were pictures of the original Tang Tang.
There were pictures of the original Tang Tang drawing, writing, and eating. It was all pictures of the original Tang Tang’s daily life. She didn’t know where Gu Yan Ran was going with those.
“Do you see it clearly? All these pictures are from when Tang Tang was attending university. The person in the pictures did everything with her left hand because she’s left-handed!”
Tang Tang was shocked. She looked carefully at the pictures. As expected, the person in the pictures did everything with her left hand.
While she was right-handed.
“Tang Tang’s roommate mentioned Tang Tang’s right-hand doesn’t move as smoothly as her left. While you…” Gu Yan Ran pointed at Tang Tang, “are the opposite. You are right-handed. Even if someone loses their memories, they can’t forget their instincts. How do you explain that you woke up being right-handed and can no longer use your left?”
Tang Tang simply couldn’t explain. Her heart fell to the bottom of the pits. Originally, she thought no one would ever discover her secret. She didn’t expect she would get discovered in the end.
Gu Yan Ran turned to Ji Yan again, “You should believe me now, Brother Ji Yan. The person beside you is definitely not Tang Tang. She’s a fake. Her appearance must be from plastic surgery. I know this is very unimaginable and it’s hard for you to accept it. I also found it hard to accept it at first. But how else can we explain her abnormally?”
Gu Yan Ran paused before carrying on, “It’s actually very simple to prove if she’s a fake or not. You just need to get a DNA test done between her and Xiao Zhuo.”
Ah??? Tang Tang, who just fell to the bottom, bounced back up again. She froze.
So Gu Yan Ran wasn’t saying she had transmigrated but someone posing as the original?
It was just a false alarm!!!
It had to be said that Gu Yan Ran’s reasoning and analysing ability were both strong. But Tang Tang didn’t understand why she simply thought of her as an imposter and not transmigration after gathering so much evidence?
Truthfully, it was Tang Tang who didn’t fully understand this world. People in this period believed in science. Most people don’t believe in supernatural things and think they are nonsense so how would they come up with transmigration? It was already her limit to come up with an imposter replacing the original. It took quite a while for Gu Yan Ran to accept it herself.
While Tang Tang was still absorbed in her thoughts about the false alarm, Ji Yan finally said, “I am the person who is the clearest about whether or not she is my child’s biological mother. There is no need to do a DNA test because there is no such thing as an imposter. Life is not a drama. Imaginations shouldn’t go too excessive.”
“Brother Ji Yan! How can you still not believe me? I…” Ji Yan interrupted whatever Gu Yan Ran was going to say, “Gu Yan Ran if you don’t leave now, I will call your brother to pick you up.”
“No, please don’t!” Gu Yan Ran quickly stopped him. The thing she was the most afraid of was her brother knowing about this. If her brother knew, he would definitely tell their parents and then she wouldn’t even be able to take a step out of the house.
She spent a lot of effort to gather those evidence. She even asked a lot of people for favors to get them. Originally, she thought Ji Yan would believe her with those but who knew he would say her imagination was too excessive. Gu Yan Ran gave up on all hope this time. Tears fell from her eyes. She was broken-hearted and in despair but the person she wanted to care for her just looked at indifferently. There was even some disgust in his eyes as he looked at her.
How can the usually arrogant and proud Gu Yan Ran bear this? She didn’t want to embarrass herself further in front of Tang Tang so she grabbed her bag and headed for the exit. She did not have any of the confidence she entered with earlier.
The evidence Gu Yan Ran gathered was still lying on the coffee table.
Tang Tang looked down at her feet. Although it was just a false alarm, she still didn’t have the courage to look at Ji Yan. Neither did she have the courage to speak to him. Even though he said he didn’t believe Gu Yan Ran, the evidence still existed. He was clever, so how can he not be suspicious?
How should she answer if he wanted her to explain the points Gu Yan Ran pointed out?
Before Tang Tang could come up with a solution, Ji Yan spoke first, “Go and call the children out for dinner. They should be hungry.”
“Ah? Oh, ok.” Tang Tang pursed her lips. She didn’t know what he was thinking.
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Dinner went by normally. Ji Yan didn’t mention anything about before. By the time they bathed and prepared for bed, he still didn’t say anything. He was so calm that it was scary. Tang Tang became more nervous seeing his calmness. If the evidence Gu Yan Ran brought wasn’t lying on the desk, Tang Tang would have almost thought Gu Yan Ran did not come today.
Didn’t he have any suspicions? Why hasn’t he asked?
Tang Tang couldn’t help but started imagining things. Did he not ask anything because he didn’t have any suspicions or did he plan to investigate it himself before dealing with her? Or was he already suspicious and he was just simply thinking about how he should deal with her?
Tang Tang got frightened by her own thoughts. She had totally forgotten that she had planned to ask how Ji Yan felt about her.
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When Ji Xiao Zhuo held her hand and told Ji Yan they were sleeping in another room, Tang Tang, who originally thought it was a bad idea, suddenly agreed that it was a good suggestion.
Ji Yan squinted his eyes and stared at Ji Xiao Zhuo, “You want to sleep in another room with mummy?”
Ji Xiao Zhuo’s heart shivered but he still nodded courageously. He even gave the justification he thought up after racking his brains, “Daddy, mummy doesn’t sleep still. She would roll around and she keeps rolling to your side recently. This will disturb your sleep so it’s better if we move to a different room to sleep.”
It was obviously the little one’s possessiveness that came to play. It was probably already hard enough for him to come up with such a dignified excuse. Ji Yan humphed in his mind and replied, “Mummy hasn’t disturbed daddy’s sleep. Instead, daddy has been sleeping very well so there’s no need to move into another room.”
The excuse he spent so much effort to come up with was diffused so easily. Ji Xiao Zhuo scratched his head and mumbled, “I also rolled around in my sleep. I will disturb your sleep so it’s still better for us to sleep somewhere else.”
Ji Yan carried on attacking back ruthlessly, “Then wouldn’t it be fine if you slept in a different room by yourself? If it’s like this, you won’t disturb your mummy and me, then your mummy will be able to sleep well as well.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo was speechless.
After racking his brains, Ji Xiao Zhuo still couldn’t come up with a counterattack. He was aware he couldn’t win against his daddy, so he had to request help from Tang Tang, the other involved party who hid from the confrontation.