Xu Zhenhua also revealed some details about what happened back then. The reason Feng Xiangjun went to that small town was entirely because of her younger brother, Feng Donghui.
The Feng family was once a prominent family in Yanjing, second only to the four great families. That's why the Xu family and the Feng family formed a marriage alliance, hoping for mutual benefit. However, just a few years after Feng Xiangjun married into the family, the Feng family was embroiled in a major corruption case. Moreover, Feng Xiangjun's father made a series of poor decisions, resulting in the loss of two major projects. If it weren't for Old Master Xu's foresight in withdrawing in time, the Xu family might have suffered the same fate.
Since then, the Feng family has been relegated to the fringes of the circle. Feng Donghui has been scrambling to build connections, hoping to revive the Feng family, but he lacks real ability and his efforts have only made him a laughing stock in the industry.
Feng Xiangjun, once a pampered young lady, became a fallen star, growing increasingly sensitive and insecure until her second pregnancy. However, when she was seven months pregnant, she received a call from Feng Donghui, who said he was drowning in gambling debts and begged his sister for help.
The town where Feng Donghui is hiding is the same town where Xu Mengyao went to high school, Linhe Town.
Feng Xiangjun was inherently proud and intolerant of any blemishes on her reputation, which resulted in her family repeatedly hindering her. To conceal the matter, she decided to handle it personally and lock her younger brother up for discipline. She believed that once everything was resolved, even if the Xu family found out, they wouldn't say anything.
So she left home under the pretext of feeling bored and wanting to clear her head. Xu Zhenhua naturally disagreed, but she had a history of depression and he was afraid that she would get emotionally agitated and harm her health, so he could only send more people to protect her.
Traveling far away with a big belly is exhausting, no matter how carefully you take care of her. When Feng Xiangjun saw Feng Donghui, her anger had reached a breaking point. After paying off her debt, she ordered her men to seize Feng Donghui without saying a word. As a result, Feng Donghui accidentally bumped into Feng Xiangjun while struggling, causing her to go into premature labor!
The baby was in critical condition, but thankfully they were taken to the hospital in time and both mother and daughter are safe.
Xu Zhenhua and his parents rushed over. Grandpa Xu lamented that his granddaughter had such a troublesome mother who almost lost her life, so he specially brought a jade gourd for his granddaughter to keep her safe.
The company couldn't be left unattended. They were somewhat angry at the time, but after confirming that Feng Xiangjun and the child were safe, they left only Li Xiulan and the maid to watch over them while Xu Zhenhua and Old Master Xu returned to Beijing. Before leaving, Xu Zhenhua gave Feng Donghui a severe beating, which made Feng Donghui cry and apologize at Feng Xiangjun's bedside, promising never to do it again.
Because the baby was premature and couldn't be moved around easily, especially since Linhe Town was so far from Yanjing, they didn't take the baby with them. There were seven or eight servants left behind, and no one thought there would be any problems. However, when the baby's condition stabilized and they came out of the nursery, the jade gourd was gone.
The hospital searched for several days, but there were no security cameras at the time, and no one could find any suspects. In the end, the matter was dropped. Everyone thought that some nurse had taken it out of greed, but who knew that it would appear in the Wang family's house.
We don't know how the Wang family managed to switch children, but the fact that the jade gourd appeared in their possession means they are definitely not innocent.
Xu Zifan was adept at conspiracy theories, and after listening to Xu Zhenhua's account, his first suspect was Feng Donghui. Feng Donghui had first been captured and threatened with imprisonment by his sister, and then severely beaten by his brother-in-law, forced to admit his mistakes and apologize. How could he not harbor resentment? At least judging from Feng Xiangjun's personality, her brother was very likely a petty and narrow-minded person. Moreover, it would be far easier for Feng Donghui to take action than for the Wang family.
Xu Zifan found Tiger, a local bigwig in Linhe Town, and gave him a large sum of money to investigate the matter. Small towns don't have private detectives, and it's inconvenient for private detectives from other places to go there. Local bigwigs have no scruples and can easily do whatever they want. Even if they want to ask questions, it's easier for them than for others.
Xu Zifan didn't hide these things from Xu Mengyao. He would take Xu Mengyao with him almost everything he did, letting her see how he handled things, what methods he used to solve problems, what channels he used to contact the people he wanted to contact, how he negotiated, how he paid for the transactions, and so on.
Xu Mengyao found everything novel and worked hard to learn, gradually putting her unhappiness aside.
She now leads a fulfilling life. Every day at school, she studies diligently, and after school, she learns about the company and investigates the truth of what happened back then with Xu Zifan. After get off work, she goes out for delicious food with her brother, and at home, she learns about clothing, skincare, and social etiquette from Xiao Qing. On weekends, she meets up with her brother and friends. She has no time for idle thoughts or melancholy.
Most importantly, she discovered that Wang Yalin wanted to cause trouble every day, but she was too busy to pay attention to it. Her father and brother were also busy, her grandmother didn't care, and only her mother helped Wang Yalin. As a result, Wang Yalin didn't affect her at all.
Wang Yalin was like a mountain that had once weighed on her, but now she found that the mountain had disappeared without a trace, and it was even possible that she had become the mountain weighing on Wang Yalin.
She suddenly understood what her brother meant when he said that perspective determines mindset. Now, her brother was her source of confidence. She wasn't afraid of Wang Yalin, so she was naturally fearless. Her biggest wish now was to become her own support and, in the future, her brother's support as well.
Days passed, and Xu Mengyao faced another monthly exam. Thanks to her hard work and Xu Zifan's efficient tutoring, her grades improved significantly, rising from last in her class to fifteenth and twentieth in the grade.
Wang Yalin has been trying every possible way to change her situation lately, but she's actually putting less effort into her studies. She's fallen from second in the grade to twenty-third, and sixteenth in her class. She's right behind Xu Mengyao, who is firmly behind her.
Wang Yalin's heart sank from the moment she received her report card. When she got home, she found only Feng there.
Xiangjun and the maid asked in confusion, "Mom, did Grandma go out?"
Feng Xiangjun's face turned extremely pale. "Your brother asked the driver to pick up your grandmother and take her out for dinner."
Wang Yalin's eyes widened in surprise. "He didn't pick you up?" Realizing she'd misspoke, she smiled and sat down next to Feng Xiangjun, saying, "Mom, I've learned how to pan-fry steak and make pasta. How about we have a candlelight dinner at home tonight? You can try it and see how well I did!"
Feng Xiangjun smiled, "You're so sensible. By the way, what place did you get this time? Were you first?"
She thought that since Wang Yalin had come in second last time, and had been so well-behaved and hardworking lately, she would definitely come in first. But when Wang Yalin heard this, her face fell, and she pitifully admitted her mistake, "Mom, my stomach hurt during the exam this time, so I didn't perform well and my results weren't good."
Feng Xiangjun was a little disappointed, but she didn't care too much. "It's just a monthly exam. Try harder next time. What rank did you get?"
"I got... sixteenth in my class, twenty-third in the grade." Wang Yalin lowered her head, somewhat regretful. She shouldn't have neglected her grades; she wasn't Xu's favored daughter anymore, she should have demonstrated her excellence.
Feng Xiangjun felt a little uneasy thinking about Xu Zifan taking the old lady out to dinner. "How many points did Mengyao get on the exam?"
Wang Yalin paused, then smiled as if she were happy and said, "Mengyao is amazing. She ranked fifteenth in her class and twentieth in the grade this time."
"What?" Feng Xiangjun was shocked. First, she couldn't believe that someone could go from last place to the top fifteen in just one month. Xu Mengyao was a student who transferred from a small town to the elite class of Yanjing International School. The difference was like heaven and earth. It would be good enough if she didn't rank last in the whole grade. How could she improve so quickly? Second, she couldn't believe that Xu Mengyao did better than Wang Yalin. Although she did only slightly better, it was still unbelievable to her.
Feng Xiangjun frowned and asked, "Are you sure? These questions aren't difficult?"
Wang Yalin shook her head. "The questions were still very difficult, so our class's grades were among the top in the whole grade. The teacher said that we had widened the gap with the regular classes."
Looking at Feng Xiangjun's expression, she tentatively smiled and said, "I was also shocked when the teacher read out the grades. I didn't expect Mengyao to be so smart. Maybe my brother found her a tutor. He previously donated books from the gymnasium and library to our school and even provided afternoon tea for our senior students and teachers. He cares a lot about Mengyao's studies and probably wants her to get good grades."
The fleeting look of melancholy on Wang Yalin's face revealed her envy of Xu Mengyao, who used to be her brother. And even then, her brother had never been so attentive to her.
Seeing this, Feng Xiangjun naturally felt sorry for her. She wanted to scold her for not studying hard, but thinking about what Xu Mengyao had been through recently, she couldn't bring herself to say it. However, Xu Zifan's donation of things to the school gave her a reason for Xu Mengyao's good grades.
Her face was extremely ugly, and she said through gritted teeth, "What a disgrace! No wonder you did so well on the test. This is something only your brother would do. What will people think of us if word gets out that the Xu family bought the test questions?!"
Wang Yalin was secretly pleased, but outwardly surprised, "Mom, what are you saying? My brother isn't that kind of person."
"Of course not your brother! He was corrupted by Xu Mengyao! People from the countryside are just like that. What good can the Wang family raise? He's just pretending to be well-behaved!"
For a moment, Wang Yalin felt extremely uncomfortable. Feng Xiangjun was cursing her real family members. Although she didn't like it either, she felt as if the words had also insulted her.
Feng Xiangjun called Xu Zifan but no one answered, and when she called Xu Zhenhua, he hung up on her. She was so angry that she trembled all over, smashed a cup, and went upstairs to her room, slamming the door shut with an echo!
Wang Yalin looked dejected under the maid's gaze, only laughing silently after returning to her room. She was bound to get scolded, and Feng Xiangjun even suspected Xu Zifan of helping Xu Mengyao cheat—perfect. Even if Xu Mengyao was later proven innocent, it wouldn't matter to her; she had just refuted Feng Xiangjun, saying it was impossible.
Furthermore, she strongly suspected that Xu Mengyao had cheated; she didn't believe that Xu Mengyao was so smart and could improve so quickly.
Feng Xiangjun was so angry she didn't eat, and Wang Yalin, wanting to maintain her image as a caring daughter, also "had no appetite" and was starving. Meanwhile, Xu Zifan and the others were celebrating at Royal Palace, ordering a huge feast to celebrate Xu Mengyao's progress in various aspects. Xu Zhenhua and Li Xiulan, having spent a lot of time with Xu Mengyao, naturally knew how hard she worked and how much she had improved. Both were very friendly and grew increasingly fond of Xu Mengyao.
Xu Zifan also posted photos of Xu Mengyao's report card, a table full of delicious food, and a group photo of the four of them on his WeChat Moments.
Xu Zhenhua frowned and advised, "Don't keep arguing with your mother. We went out without her, and you still posted about it on social media. Isn't that just hurting her feelings?"
Xu Zifan shrugged indifferently, "She's the one who's angry with me, and I also have something to say to you guys today."