Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Okay,” Xing Fang replied to her shortly before she continued to speak, “No one believed that you had nothing to do with the fire that happened at the Xing Family mansion that year, but I trusted that you had nothing to do with it! This is because I personally saw with my own eyes that someone had picked you up and left—You were not even at the scene when the fire started at the Xing Family mansion, so how could you be the one who set the fire?”


  BAM!

  These words plummeted down like a peal of thunder and exploded beside Nian Xiaomu’s ears.

  She was completely dumbfounded.

  Her eyes grew wide as she stared at Xing Fang.

  She tightened her grip on Xing Fang’s arms silently, and her voice started to unknowingly tremble as well.

  “Did you say that someone had taken me away before the fire even started?”


  “Yes!”


  Xing Fang’s expression became a little complex as well when she recounted the situation from that day.

  “My eldest uncle and aunt were the only capable ones among all the brothers in the Xing Family—they had been taking care of the other brothers and even provided for their daily expenses. That day, my dad lost money gambling. He was afraid that my mom would make a ruckus if she knew about it, so he instructed me to head to eldest uncle’s house in secret to borrow some money from him.”


  “I remember everything very clearly. It was already dusk when I reached the residence. I recalled that you would always sit in the backyard alone and wanted to ask for your help to open the door so that I could enter from the back and avoid bumping into others. However, when I reached the back entrance, I saw a few black cars parked there. I was shocked at that time, and right after that, I saw my eldest uncle and aunt holding your hands as they led you out of the backyard…”


  Xing Fang’s tone changed as she recounted this.

  “My eldest aunt carried you and personally placed you in the car. Someone else seemed to be inside that car as well, and bodyguards who were dressed in all black were everywhere. However, the car door closed before I could call out to you. Eldest uncle and aunt did not get in the car, and you waved to them through the car window. You seemed to have said something as well, but I was quite a distance away and did not manage to catch what you said. Afterward, the car drove off.”


  All of a sudden, Xing Fang looked up and said in an extremely certain tone, “Someone had obviously picked you up on the day of the fire, and you were not even at the Xing Family mansion. How could you have been the one who set the fire?”


  “…”


  As Nian Xiaomu’s body froze, she stood still in her original position. She was just like a meditating monk.

  For a long time, there was no reaction from her after she heard everything that Xing Fang had said.

  She had already been picked up and left before the fire started.

  She was not the one who had caused the fire at the Xing Family mansion 10 years ago.

  And so, she did not have anything to do with the deaths of her adoptive parents either.

  Nian Xiaomu returned to her senses and said, “Have you ever told all of this to anyone in the Xing Family?

  “Yes, I did.”


  When Xing Fang spoke of this, she sat right on the bed like a deflated balloon.

  She spread both her hands out and said, “I started telling them this 10 years ago, but none of them believed me, and all of them thought that I was crazy. You are the biological daughter of my eldest uncle and aunt, and both of them always stayed close by your side to take care of you. How could they have allowed others to take you away? Furthermore, Xing Li insisted that you started the fire after an argument with my eldest uncle and uncle. In addition, she is your biological older sister. With her words, no one believed anything I said. In the end, I was beaten by my dad whenever I tried to speak up for you. As time went by, I didn’t dare to say anything anymore.”


  From her tone, Xing Fang sounded helpless.

  She seemed like the only sane person in a circle of lunatics.

  She could only cooperate with the lunatics if she wanted to survive.

  Otherwise, she would instead be the lunatic in everyone’s eyes.

  Nian Xiaomu tightened her fists and said, “I was taken away in the afternoon, whereas the fire happened at night. I was already away from home by then, but after I left, the person who burned things in my room…”