Chapter 146: exchange life
After completing the formalities, Ruan Lan went home and packed up.
In fact, she didn't have anything, she had already taken away what she should have taken away when she went to Yangcheng to shoot the show. The rest of the textbooks were issued by the school after the transfer, so she didn't need to take them away.
But she still wanted to go back to the village, for no other reason than that
—I want to see Huo Xingchao.
Ruan Lan's adoptive mother is a strong woman.
Widowed at an early age, she never remarried and never had children. She is forty-six years old this year. She has indeed been living abroad before, and she has indeed always wanted to adopt a child.
But Ruan Lan knew very well that she adopted herself not simply because she liked herself while watching the show.
But because of Brother Huo. It must be because of Brother Huo.
As a person, she has had bad luck since childhood. Whenever something good happens, it's basically because of Brother Huo.
Even in the filming of "Exchange Life", the teacher originally liked Huo Xingchao, but he finally recommended himself to the teacher.
The adults were still greeting each other politely in the main room outside. Ruan Lan opened the small window of his room and squeaked—sure enough, the delicate and beautiful face of the young man appeared in front of him.
He was still holding a book in his hand, and when he heard the voice, he raised his head and showed a faint smile,
"Blue."
...She suddenly had the urge to cry like a lifetime ago.
Ruan Lan's room was said to be his own room, but it was actually just a small compartment separated from the utility room on the far left, with only a bed and a stool. Sometimes she does her homework, and instead of being scolded at the dining table outside, she just sits cross-legged on the ground and uses the stool as a table.
But despite how cramped and gloomy this cubicle was, Ruan Lan never disliked it after having lived there for more than ten years from childhood to adulthood.
Because the window beside the bed was open, it was the window of Huo's house.
For more than a decade, they have been communicating through this distance.
On countless nights of starvation and freezing, she could always see a steaming roasted sweet potato or a thick padded jacket from this window.
When I was in elementary school, the school received books donated from outside. There were assorted and miscellaneous books. The teacher distributed them one by one.
She felt that Huo Xingchao was her Aladdin magic lamp.
The kind that can make countless wishes and never go out.
The teenager threw her a peanut candy, leaned against the window and asked her,
"What did you say over there?"
There, it refers to the Lu family.
Because there were so many things to do these days, and it was inconvenient to send text messages, Huo Xingchao only knew the outline of the final negotiation result between the Lu family and Ruan Lan, but not the details.
The little girl peeled off the candy wrapper, lowered her eyes and said softly,
"They said that because of many, many things, they couldn't recognize me directly and could only adopt me as an adopted daughter. But they would treat me as their biological daughter, and I hope I can understand them."
...as?
Isn't it natural?
Huo Xingchao suddenly felt amused, raised his eyebrows, and continued to listen without interrupting her.
"Then I asked, what about Lu Zhiya? They said, Zhiya is also a victim in this matter. In the future, both of us will be daughters of the Lu family and get along well like sisters."
"Later I asked again, what about that woman? They said that she was at fault, but she was also Lu Zhiya's biological mother and took care of me for so many years. When the time comes, just give her a sum of money and send her away. "
Ruan Lan raised her head and looked at him, her eyes dark and stubborn,
"I originally wanted to agree, because Lu Zhiya's dress is so beautiful, her parents are so gentle and kind, and the entire Lu family's house looks amazing. But that night, Lu Zhiya stood in the living room and said to me, Ruan Lan, I I'll give you my room, and you'll live there in the future."
"Then they said with a smile, Zhiya is really sensible, you should be good sisters for a lifetime. I just don't want to stay there all of a sudden."
She pursed her lips, and the extremely tough girl who showed her incomparable tenacity in front of outsiders and cameras for more than a month finally revealed her inner fragility and grievance.
"Brother, those things should have belonged to me in the first place, right? Why, why do you have to give them to me?"
"If they all feel that this is something Lu Zhiya gave me, then I don't want it. I don't care."
The little girl raised her head, pursed her lips, and even had a bit of hatred on her brows.
"I didn't do anything wrong. For so many years, the mother and daughter have enjoyed everything. Why should I live so secretly in the end? Could it be that the sparrow took the place of the Phoenix, and when the Phoenix returned to his home, Are you still pretending to be a peacock? Why? Why? I don't want to!"
The more she spoke, the more intense her tone became, and in the end she even faintly cried a little unwillingly.
"Why should I be called a sparrow sister? Why should I treat my biological parents as adoptive parents? I have suffered so much since I was a child, but Lu Zhiya has lived so well. During the fight, she was enjoying everything that should belong to me in that house. It was obviously her mother's crime, why should I bear all the consequences and pain? Why?!"
......
Huo Xingchao could tell that in her heart, she hated not only Mother Ruan, but also Lu Zhiya, and even her own biological parents.
Indeed, all these mishaps have nothing to do with Lu Zhiya, Lu's parents, and Lu's mother. Everything was caused by Ruan's mother who changed her child.
But as Ruan Lan said, why should Mother Ruan have to bear the consequences for the crime she committed? From beginning to end, she is the most innocent victim, isn't she?
The Lu family's decision took everyone's reputation and mood into consideration, but they didn't think about Ruan Lan's pain, which means that in their hearts, the weight of this biological daughter is no longer comparable to the more than a dozen they have raised. Lu Zhiya is now.
"Probably in their hearts, Lu Zhiya is their daughter, and I'm just a bad guy who suddenly destroyed the harmony of their family. Maybe they still blame me in their hearts."
The little girl smiled bitterly, then wiped away her tears and took a deep breath,
"No matter what they think, I don't need to go back now. Brother Huo, thank you, if I don't have you and Aunt Luo Hua, even if I'm not reconciled, I might still have to go back to Lu's house. Who let two places have two Mom, it's still scary here."
Aunt Luo Hua is a good friend of Director Yang who adopted Ruan Lan.
It may be because she has lived abroad all year round, her character is very warm and kind, and when she saw Ruan Lan's first face, she gave her a big hug, which somewhat eased the little girl's unease.
Huo Xingchao looked at her eyelashes still stained with teardrops, was silent for a while, and suddenly asked,
"Your mother...Aunt Ruan, what are you going to do?"
"I can't do it yet."
She pursed her lips, her expression full of stubbornness, "But when I grow up, I will definitely come back, and I will definitely make her pay the price. I will never forgive her!"
......
Quiet for a while.
Ruan Lan suddenly turned her head to look at him,
"Brother, do you think I'm so bad?"
"Why do you think you are bad?"
"I don't know, but they all seem to think so."
The little girl tugged at the corners of her lips, "After all these years, she has fulfilled her responsibilities, didn't she. She didn't let me starve to death, if she just threw me away back then, I might have died a long time ago. So ah, I actually Still thinking about revenge on her is simply unconscionable..."
"You can't think that way."
The boy knocked on her head, the wind blew, he coughed lightly,
"She didn't give birth to you, so she didn't give birth to grace. She did support you, but she didn't give you anything other than material things. You filmed the show and most of the salary was in her hands. Later, I also In your name, you gave her 30,000 yuan, and this amount of money is enough to pay her back for you."
"Lanlan, you have to understand that in this world, you only owe me. Others, whether it's your biological parents or your adoptive parents, you don't owe anything, and you don't need any guilt. And If you want to repay the harm they have done to you, you just have to repay it boldly."
Speaking of this, Huo Xingchao suddenly thought of something, raised his eyebrows and looked at her,
"How about staying here for one more night tonight?"
Ruan Lan was originally listening, but was moved to the point of tears, but when she heard this, she was a little stunned, "Ah?"
"Believe it or not, if you stay for another night, she must ask you for the three thousand dollars back."
The boy's eyes were quiet and indifferent,
"Lanlan, if your enemy is a wild boar, don't treat him like a lion."
......
When the ninth issue of "Life Exchange" was broadcast, the sound source of Huo Xingchao's song had already appeared on the music website.
As early as a week ago, Huayue Company held a press conference to announce that Huo Xingchao signed with the company and made his debut.
The interview video of the press conference was very popular on the Internet. Almost as soon as this matter was announced, like all the previous topics about Huo Xingchao, it quickly became a hot search.
As soon as Huo Xingchao's official Weibo was launched, the number of fans exceeded one million in less than half a day.
But you have to know that Huo Xingchao's image has always been that of a clear boy in the mountains, and the public's feelings for him will always be a little distressed.
But once the clear boy in the mountains made his debut and entered the entertainment industry, all the previous things must be overturned and rethought. Although there are many people who spoke for him on Weibo, for some passers-by and fans of Xu Yang, The tone of the comments is not very good.
"Let me just say, how could the show crew give so many shots to a poor rural child for no reason? It was for this [smile]"
"I'll just haha. When Xu Yang released his single before, a bunch of people mocked him for making the show for the sake of being popular. Now, what about Huo Xingchao? Don't tell me it's someone from the agency after the show aired. , when the audience are all mentally handicapped?"
"To be honest, I'm a little suspicious now. This Huo Xingchao's character design was fake from the beginning. I thought it was strange at the time, how could a child in the countryside look like this. Like that?"
......
People from Huayue Company had already anticipated all this public opinion, but they did not intend to ignore it.
The agent assigned by the company to Huo Xingchao was Luo Hua's friend Ye Sui, who was also a relatively senior agent in the industry. She flipped through the comments, then closed Weibo and said to the boy on the sofa,
"It's normal to have these comments now, but as long as you have works and strength, these things can be turned over quickly, you don't have to pay too much attention to them."
Huo Xingchao looked up from the lyrics book, saw her serious and slightly concerned eyes, and smiled,
"I know, I don't care."
He really doesn't care.
After all, although there are many negative news, there are also many positive comments. Compared with the two, the support is still stronger.
Moreover, in his current life, he has enough food and clothing, and he has a salary every month. He is studying in a key city school, and his mother no longer has to work as hard as before. Compared with the previous seventeen years, he already feels that he is very lucky.
When he was in the fifth grade of elementary school, he wrote an essay, which was later sent to the county by the teacher and won the first prize in the county.
The last paragraph of that composition is what he understood from a very young age:
"Life is long, and the outside world is very big. No matter how hard it is, you have to work hard to move forward. But as you walk, don't forget the landscapes and flowers you have along the road.
There is dissatisfaction in front of you, and contentment around you. When you walk on the road, you have to look after you, front, back, left and right. "
The boy wrote the last sentence in the lyrics book, and the phone vibrated just so, he picked it up, it was Ruan Lan's WeChat.
"Brother, this time I took the mock test for grade 52, which is 60 places better than last time! The teacher said, as long as I keep this ranking, I can definitely get into Z University. How about you, have you studied hard? Don't take the bad comments on the Internet to heart, there are still many people who like you. Our music teachers all say that your songs are very well written, and you will definitely become the best singer!"
He bent his lips and went back with a word,
"Is the Lu family still looking for you?"
The news came back very quickly.
"Yes. But Mama Luo talked to them once, and they didn't seem to dare to look for me any more. Brother, I used to think that the Lu family was very powerful, but now I find that Mama Luo is even more powerful."
Then in a few seconds,
"It's Lu Zhiya who has been looking for me, saying that her parents are very sad every day and hope I can go home or something. I'm a little annoying to her, but I don't want to quarrel with her at school. I really want to take the college entrance examination soon. "
Huo Xingchao looked at the screen for a while, and finally typed a few words lightly,
"Well. Then study hard. I have handed over that video to the police station, and Aunt Luo Hua is also helping to deal with it. She will definitely go to jail."
......
"it is good."
On the last night of Ruan Lan's stay at Ruan's house, Yang directed them to stay at the village chief's house because there were not enough rooms.
So sure enough, just as Huo Xingchao had expected, Mother Ruan and the others left her room and opened her room, holding up the tongs and asking her to take out the three thousand quick money she had stolen.
The little girl huddled in the corner of the bed and pursed her lips, her voice soft but stubborn,
"Aunt Luo has already paid you three thousand. That's the pocket money she gave me. I want to save it and return it to her later, but I can't give it to you."
"Ou Yo, then you are really incredible. You thought it would be hard if someone else bought your wings, right? I tell you, you have to give me the money today!"
Mother Ruan looked at her coldly, the tongs had already pointed to her eyes, her voice was full of anger and contempt,
"Can you take it? Can you take it? Take it! Can you take it!"
The tongs are cold, and it will hurt for a while if you hit her. She has been beaten like this many times before, and she is used to it.
So she held her head, her voice was full of crying, but there was not a single tear on her face,
"I already know. I was deliberately exchanged by you back then. Now that Aunt Luo Hua has given you money, you have no right to beat me like this!"
Mother Ruan was stunned for a moment. When she heard that she knew, she panicked for a while, and then realized that she didn't seem to know who her biological parents were, and her heart immediately became even more angry.
"Okay, so you're waiting for me here! What if you got it back from me, can you take the money? Believe it or not, even if I beat you to death today, no one will care about this. Housework!"
"Don't you feel guilty? Do you know that it is against the law for you to deliberately steal children. What's the difference between you and those kidnappers?"
"What's wrong with me? I've changed for more than ten years, do you have any evidence? If you have the ability, go to the police station and sue me! I said that you were brought by me, and you can see whether the police are concerned about me! Ruan Lan Let me tell you, more than ten years have passed, which shows that you were born with such a fate!"
The little girl raised her head and stared at him stubbornly,
"Even if you steal your child, I don't have any evidence, but it is against the law for you to abuse me all the time."
"Oh, breaking the law? What kind of law? Let me tell you, you are my daughter, and if I teach you a lesson, the police can't say anything! Look at the whole village, which family has never beaten a child, I just beat you to death on the bed, It's just right!"
"yes."
Suddenly, a young voice came from outside the window.
Mother Ruan was stunned for a moment, only then did she realize that the window was open. She thought of what she had just said, and with a shake, she hurriedly opened the window.
Sure enough, Huo Xingzhao's expressionless face appeared outside the window.
In fact, this child Huo Xingchao was obviously thin and weak, and his health was not good, but Mother Ruan had always been a little scared of him.
The young man lowered his eyes, looked at the scarred little girl huddled at the corner of the bed, twitched the corner of his mouth, and then stared at the panic-stricken mother Ruan,
"But she is not your daughter now."
"Then... how about that! It wasn't me, I beat it! Do you have any evidence, you, I'll tell you..."
"Yes, I have."
He bent his lips lightly and stretched out the phone in his hand, "I've recorded it all. Are you going to the police station to take a look?"
Sure enough, they were still too poor before.
If you have money, in this high-tech era, you can't find any evidence for someone like Ruan's mother.
In short, this matter, even if there is evidence, is actually still entangled and difficult to judge.
But it didn't matter. It was handed over to Ms. Luo Hua. They were all involved in the military and political affairs. They didn't seek favoritism.
Although Ms. Luo Hua initially adopted Ruan Lan because of Huo Xingchao's factors, more than half of what really made her resolve was because she really wanted to adopt a child, and she really liked Ruan Lan.
Of course, she also wanted to deal with these unreasonably angered private pasts as soon as possible.
So so far, everything is going well. It not only satisfied Lu's father and Lu's mother's wish to "keep the ugliness of the family", but also allowed Ruan's mother to successfully enter the police station.
As for other things that make me sad when I think about it, after Ruan Lanzhi cried that day, he never planned to think about it again.
After all, there are so many painful things in her life, it is better to think about the hard-won peace and happiness now.
"Ruan Lan, Lu Zhiya is here to find you again."
The familiar voice of a classmate came from the door.
......