At the airport, a girl with sunglasses and a mask, with headphones hanging around her neck, and long hair flowing down emerges from the arrival gate. She carries a small case, her long, pristine white legs drawing the gazes of others.
Bystanders take a few glances at her, thinking they've bumped into a celebrity.
The girl stops, adjusts her sunglasses.
"Miss." A middle-aged man in a suit stands in front of her, bowing slightly.
Tang Wan removes her glasses, casually pinning them on her collar. A mole under her peach blossom-like eyes enhances her striking beauty.
"Have both mom and dad returned?"
"Yes."
Upon hearing this, Tang Wan shows no particular joy or anxiety. It's as if the returned people are nearly strangers to her.
"Steward Chen, please take care of the remaining luggage."
"Understood, they will be delivered to your room later."
Tang Wan nods, says no more, and strides out of the airport. Steward Chen follows behind her, his respect for Tang Wan's composure showing even though he tries to keep his face expressionless.
In his shoes, if he were on holiday and learned that he was a child mistakenly taken by another family, he would surely be agitated and hurry to book a flight home. That is unless his real family can match the Tang's. However...
With this in mind, there's a hint of pity in Steward Chen's eyes looking at Tang Wan. This poor child probably has no clue what she's about to face.
Tang Wan naturally senses Steward Chen's gaze but she can't be bothered to react. In fact, she hasn't shown a shred of negative emotion such as worry or pain. She even continued her foreign trip nonchalantly, only deciding to book a flight back to the country after the Tang couple had returned.
At the airport entrance, someone has already opened the car door waiting for her to get in. Tang Wan steps into the car as per usual, put on her headphones, and the vehicle smoothly drives off towards the Tang residence.
Tang Wan looked out the window at the scenery, her mood steady. When she found out that she was not the biological child of the Tang couple, she was somewhat stumped. However, more than anything, she felt relieved.
It wasn't that she was mistreated by the Tang couple. On the contrary, they had never skimped on material provisions. The amount of money she could access each month was far more than her peers. But, her relationship with the Tang couple was limited just to that.
The purpose of the Tang couple having children seemed to be simply for lineage continuation and nurturing competent heirs. They had three children merely to ensure at least two potential successors. If the second child had been a boy, her existence would not have been necessary.
They did not invest much emotion in their children. Desired amenities were exchanged for appropriate scores. Upon reaching the right age, the children were sent to top-notch private aristocratic schools abroad, to expand their networks in a superior language environment.
Luckily, Tang Wan was a girl, and she could get what she wanted without much effort, but sadly, her parents never paid any attention to her, even her birthday gifts were arranged by the assistant.
As a child, she studied hard to gain her parents' attention just like her brothers, but she was never praised like them. She chose to rebel, but to them, this shift in her was not even worth considering a threat.
They would not change because of her changes.
Then she understood, she was not needed. Her only use was to marry someone suitable when she became an adult, to ensure the prosperity of the Tang family.
The return of the real heiress was a good thing. Thanks to her, Tang Wan's escape plan was advanced by a whole year. Although there were some deviations in the plan, but it didn't matter, flexibility was vital in life.
"Miss, we are here." Butler Chen opened the car door, only then did Tang Wan step out of the car.
"Your luggage will be brought to your room later."
"Mm-hmm." Tang Wan responded, stepping onto the staircase. The main entrance was wide open, Aunt Liu had been waiting there all along.
"Miss, both the Madam and the Mister are inside." Aunt Liu prepared Tang Wan's slippers.
"Mm-hmm, give me a cup of tea."
"Yes." After swapping her shoes, Tang Wan walked into the hall at a leisure leisurely pace.
In the living room, Mr. and Mrs. Tang were sitting on the main sofa, and a somewhat frail girl was sitting on the side sofa. She was bowing her head, her falling hair hiding her profile, making it difficult to discern her appearance.
At the moment, she was sobbing softly as if she had just suffered a great injustice. If it were an ordinary family, probably a crowd of people would be circling around her, comforting her emotions, wishing they could make up for everything that had been lacking in her life over the years.
Unfortunately, this was the Tang family. Mr. and Mrs. Tang showed no sign of being moved, allowing Meng Zhiyi to play her one-woman show.
After living in the Tang family for 17 years, her behavior had been influenced to some degree by Mr. and Mrs. Tang.
At this moment, Tang Wan lost interest in Meng Zhiyi because of her weak appearance. Even due to the fatigue from her journey, she felt slightly irritated by the barely audible sounds of weeping.
"Dad, Mum," Tang Wan retracted her gaze.
"Sit down," Tang Sheng spoke, and naturally, Tang Wan took a seat in accordance with his command. As soon as she sat down, Aunt Liu served her tea.
Tang Wan took a small sip and the aroma of the black tea spread in her mouth, soothing her mood somewhat.
"This is... my older sister, isn't it?" Meng Zhiyi realized no one was paying her any attention, so she ended her one-woman show. She was smart, placing herself in a subordinate position, looking pitiful. If it were anyone else, they would surely be moved to stand up for her.
It was a pity that her acting was too poor, and none of the three people present took up her cue.
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
Tang Wan found it amusing. As she put down her teacup, she raised an eyebrow at her.
Unlike Tang Wan's stunning beauty, Meng Zhiyi inherited Su Yao's features. While she was pretty, when the two were compared, it was clear who was superior.
The jealousy in Meng Zhiyi's eyes was all too conspicuous. Tang Wan tipped the corners of her lips up slightly, having a rough understanding of her temperament. It was nearly identical to the information she had, and she hoped that when Meng faced the two young masters of the Tang family, she would be a little smarter.
"Here are the documents about your biological parents," Tang Sheng slid the file across the table.
This is the Tang family, a place devoid of warmth and affection. What they care about is time, because time can bring them money, and affection can hardly answer to their basic needs.
Taking over the documents, Tang Wan's slender fingers gently flipped through. From the moment she walked in, Tang Wan exuded an aura of elegance. After all, she was raised in Tang's family. If Meng Zhiyi and she stood beside Tang Sheng, anyone wouldn't have a second thought; Tang Wan indeed was the real daughter of the Tang family.
She flipped through the documents, the first couple of pages were her parents' information. A quick glance confirmed what she had speculated earlier.
"No wonder they'd come knocking at such a time." She didn't voice out her thoughts, nonchalantly flipping to the next page.
When she reached the photograph, Tang Wan's hand paused, she sighed lightly, "Looks like I've to change the strategy again."
Her mind wandered to another matter, her sigh, however, appeared like a lament for her bleak future in front of Meng Zhiyi. She bowed her head, hiding the amusement at the corner of her lips. When she looked up again, there were "tears" in her eyes.
"Sister, my foster parents aren't well-off, try not to feel sad."
"Don’call me sister; it sounds awkward." Tang Wan wasn't putting on a show for her parents as she didn't care, and neither did they.
"I... I'm sorry." Meng Zhiyi held onto the corner of her clothes confusingly as if burdened by guilt.
"I know you're used to this luxurious lifestyle, sister. You're not accustomed to our lifestyle. Dad, if she wants to stay here, let's allow her. Even though I'm your daughter, sister has grown up here. Clearly, she shares a close bond with you."
With watery eyes, Meng Zhiyi looked at Tang Sheng, a vision of innocence, ready to accept the short end of the stick for others.
Tang Wan raised an eyebrow, picked up her teacup, and took a sip. Unfortunately, the tea was cold, hence tasted less pleasant. She put it down and Aunt Liu swiftly replaced it with a fresh cup.
Tang Sheng, ignoring Meng Zhiyi's amateurish acting, kept silent, and so did Tang Wan.
"What’s your plan?"
It was only after Tang Wan had closed the file folder that Tang Sheng finally spoke.
"Back to square one." Tang Wan sipped the tea, suppressing a smile on the corner of her lips.
