Chapter 9

Seeing that a smile had finally appeared on her face instead of the cold expression when they first met, An ZhiAng also smiled and said, "Little sister, are you happy now?"

"Of course I'm happy, brother. You're so kind." An ZhiXia nodded vigorously, and then looked somewhat sad again. "But is it really okay for us to do this? Won't we get in trouble?"

It was still a sensitive time, and even a little carelessness could bring disaster to the whole family.

But An ZhiAng was very confident. "Don't worry, when brother takes care of things, no one will be able to catch me by my pigtail. Although we just taught that malicious couple a lesson, we didn't listen to their explanation. In the future, we can't keep them from speaking indefinitely. If it really is as we imagined, that they want to push someone out to take the blame, I'm afraid they won't be able to move their whole family."

Although an individual's wrongdoing implicated the whole family, as long as outsiders hardened their hearts and cut ties, the policy would not exterminate them.

The smile on An ZhiXia's face stiffened for a moment, obviously unwilling.

But in a flash, she thought of something from her previous life that she had learned with An MeiYun several decades later.

The sturdy husband and wife who could carry out the baby swap were not simple characters all along. 20 years ago, during land reform, Gao Dazhuang had already skimmed off a lot of wealth on the sly, but those things could not see the light of day now and were hidden away.

Gao Dazhuang was also capable of hiding things. It wasn't until his old age in An ZhiXia's previous life that he took out those things and divided the spoils among the three Gao siblings. By then, it was several decades later when those things were valuable. An MeiYun was already wealthy enough by then, so she only took some antiques and collectibles.

But An ZhiXia did not know where those things were hidden, because the division happened when the Gaos' mud house had been rebuilt into a three-story townhouse.

An ZhiXia furrowed her brows, carefully thinking about where Gao Dazhuang would have hidden those things at this time.

He definitely wouldn't hide them too far, as that stingy and greedy man wouldn't feel assured with them too far away. The memories from back then were just too distant, and many details had become blurred and unclear. She really could not recall the location at the moment.

An ZhiAng thought that she was remaining silent because she could not bear for the entire Gao family to suffer the consequences. He hurriedly reassured her, "Little sister, don't be upset. Even if we let Gao Dazhuang avoid blame for now, your fourth brother will make sure he lives a fate worse than death in the second half of his life to atone for you. Do you believe your fourth brother will do that for you?"

"Yes, thank you, fourth brother." An ZhiXia was naturally moved. Perhaps it was because they were twins, but she felt a special closeness with An ZhiAng to begin with.

Additionally, there were the memories from her previous life, where he had erected a memorial grave for her, changed her name, and told her that if she had the chance to be reborn as his sister again, he would never lose her and would cherish and protect her well.

For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat depressed as An ZhiAng's mind raced to think of how to retaliate against the Gaos.

Suddenly, a flash of insight lit up An ZhiXia's mind, reminding her of an important memory.

When she was about fifteen or sixteen, while cooking in the kitchen, she had watched a big rat crawl into the hole in the wall behind the stove.

She had cleared the area around it and lit a fire, trying to smoke the rat out of the hole, but Gao Dazhuang happened to return right then.

At the time, he had looked flustered. Not only did he stop her actions, but he had also beaten her severely with a willow switch.

That was the first time she had been beaten so badly for no apparent reason, so the memory was deeply imprinted.

After that, even if rats crawled at her feet, she didn't dare catch them.

That area behind the stove was piled high with firewood all year round, even during the holidays, so it was unlikely anyone would think to look for things there.

No wonder Gao Dazhuang was able to keep those things hidden for decades without anyone finding them.

"Brother, I know how we can make the entire Gao family suffer misfortune for generations to come..."

An ZhiXia's small face was sallow and emaciated, but her eyes were exceptionally large and bright. At this moment, as she spoke, her eyes seemed to glitter like stars.

After listening to An ZhiXia's words, An ZhiAng's brows were tightly knitted. "Little sister, can you be sure?" If it was true, Gao Dazhuang really had guts.

Then again, if he lacked guts, how could he have done something as despicable as swapping his own sister?

An ZhiXia nodded firmly. Just then, a group of over ten people rode up to them on bicycles. "Brother An ZhiAng, have you already gone to get revenge?"

The one leading them was Liu Jun. Because he was under the age limit for being sent down to the countryside, he led a group of similarly undersized rascals to swagger through the streets.

An ZhiAng had mixed with them for a period of time before and was even one of the top dogs. But later his father An JingZhi and eldest brother An ZhiQing had hung him from a tree and given him a severe thrashing that nearly shredded his belt. After that lesson, he obediently stayed home.

Moreover, he was not exactly young anymore. He had already graduated in the first half of the year and was idle at home. His family was recently debating whether to arrange a job for him or send him down to the countryside.

An ZhiAng had notified Liu Jun beforehand. He never intended to conceal the fact that An MeiYun was not a blood relation of the An family.

Seeing Liu Jun bring people over now, he quickly went up to greet them and deftly handed out cigarettes to establish rapport with the influential members of the group.

Liu Jun's followers ranged from his age in their mid to late teens down to around twelve or thirteen years old.

An ZhiAng told him about going to the Gaos for revenge, and also pulled him aside and whispered in his ear. Liu Jun's eyes shone brightly when he came back, and his mouth was practically split to his earlobes.

If the matter was genuine, and they uncovered inappropriate items while searching the Gaos' home, it would be a great achievement.

Since he was leading this endeavor, he might even make the newspapers as a commended figure!

Liu Jun dreamed about this as he solemnly promised An ZhiAng that he would properly teach the Gao family a lesson and lead them to ideologically transform themselves into good people.

An ZhiAng expressed his satisfaction and thanked him, even giving Liu Jun two chickens from the spoils. "We're brothers, so I won't bother with too many words of gratitude. This is the compensation the Gaos just gave us for raising their daughter all these years. You all came a long way, so have these two chickens for refreshments along the journey."

Liu Jun did not stand on ceremony and accepted the chickens. He took some rope from his pocket and skillfully tied their legs before hanging them from the front rack of the bike.

In fact, when they were in the city, they were no strangers to stealing chickens and eggs from people's homes. Due to their notoriety, no one dared to look for trouble as long as they weren't caught red-handed.

It was precisely because of this that the young punks were arrogant and unruly. This was why An ZhiAng had been punished so harshly by his family when he was running with them before being forced into disciplinary detention.

However, he handled things well and didn't leave anyone disgruntled after leaving the group. On the contrary, he maintained the relationships quite smoothly, and could still call on them for help when needed.