Chapter 106: Counterattack

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Counterattack

Hearing this, Shen Songyao asked,

"Director, about the materials for the restoration..."

"Don’t worry! We have most of them. Anything we’re missing, I guarantee I’ll have it ready for you within three days."

Shen Songyao nodded. "In that case," she said,

"could you please show me which ones are my responsibility?"

Director He pointed ahead, stopping in front of an old-fashioned display cabinet.

"There. This whole row is yours!"

Before reaching out, Shen Songyao first asked Director He for a pair of gloves.

She gently pulled open the door of the bottom-most compartment and leaned down to inspect the objects inside.

After checking the bottom two levels, she straightened up and looked up to ask,

"Director, do you have a pen and paper?"

"Yes!"

Director He turned, walked to his desk, and pulled open a drawer, taking out a stack of lined manuscript paper and a black pen.

Shen Songyao immediately squatted down and began meticulously writing a list.

She wrote down everything clearly: what she needed, how many of each, and their specifications.

When she was done, she tore off the page and handed it to Director He.

"Director, this is what I need most urgently. If you have all of it here, I’ll come in first thing tomorrow morning!"

Director He glanced down at the list, his brow relaxing slightly. He nodded and said,

"We have most of these. We’re just missing a couple of small items. They aren’t rare. If you’re in a hurry, just come in tomorrow."

"The sooner we get this settled, the sooner I can report it to my superiors."

Shen Songyao nodded in agreement.

The two walked out of the storeroom, one after the other. Director He offered a casual compliment.

"Xiao Shen, your handwriting has real character! How many years of school did you have?"

Shen Songyao grinned.

"I didn’t even finish elementary school. I dropped out during the summer vacation of fifth grade."

Director He was taken aback for a moment. He looked down at the paper again, shaking his head.

"No way. I can’t tell at all! I thought you were a high school graduate!"

"You know, we have a position in our department that would be a great fit for you..."

He trailed off as soon as he started.

He probably remembered she hadn’t finished elementary school and figured she wouldn’t even meet the minimum requirements for a permanent position, so he swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Walking her to the door, Director He raised his wrist to check his watch.

"I have something urgent to attend to, so I won’t see you out any further. You know the way, right?"

Shen Songyao nodded hurriedly.

"Yes, yes! Thank you, Director. Please, go on with your work!"

Just as she stepped out of the main entrance of the Cultural Relics Administration Department, she stood on her toes and saw Shen Rongdan’s car was still parked in the same spot.

Shen Rongdan and Li Hanchen had probably seen her too.

The moment she took a step, the car hummed to life and glided forward.

Li Hanchen pulled open the back door, and Shen Songyao deftly slipped inside.

As Shen Rongdan turned the car around, he glanced over his shoulder and asked,

"All settled?"

Shen Songyao’s eyes sparkled, and the corners of her mouth lifted.

"All set! I can start work tomorrow morning!"

Shen Rongdan immediately gave her a thumbs-up, his eyebrows raised in delight.

"That’s my sister for you, always reliable!"

Li Hanchen didn’t say anything, but while Shen Rongdan was looking at the road, he quickly squeezed her fingers.

Shen Songyao scoffed inwardly.

’If you don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you. But the second you make a move, I’ll strike back!’

She hooked her finger and gently tickled his palm.

As if burned, Li Hanchen instantly let go. He even cleared his throat deliberately to hide his embarrassment.

Shen Songyao tilted her head to look at him.

"Huh?"

Li Hanchen immediately turned away, pretending to study the shadows of the plane trees outside the window.

Shen Songyao: "..."

’Sigh. Men. Such hearts of stone that can never be warmed.’

The car drove smoothly back to the courtyard house, and the three of them got out one by one.

In the courtyard, the Shen family’s old master was sitting in a rattan chair, wearing reading glasses and meticulously writing invitations.

Shen Lixin had chosen an auspicious date for Shen Songyao’s family recognition banquet.

「Three days later.」

To show his sincerity, the old master insisted on handwriting every single invitation, not making a single phone call.

A few minutes after Shen Songyao and the others walked in, Shen Zhenwu’s aide-de-camp arrived.

After greeting everyone, he lowered his voice and said,

"Word has come from Ning City. The Shen family there said that Liu Yumin found Song Yao at the entrance of the village on her way back to her parents’ home. This account perfectly matches the leads our local investigators gathered during their field investigation."

Hearing that it was Liu Yumin who had found her, everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.

After all, before this, everyone had been thinking that Yao Yuzhen had most likely lost her own daughter herself.

If that had really been the case, it would have been truly horrifying.

But the more Li Hanchen and Shen Songyao listened, the more something felt off.

Especially Shen Songyao.

’If a child was found, no matter how tightly the family kept the secret, the village gossips would have long been whispering in the child’s ear.’

But Shen Songyao’s case was different.

Everyone in Shen Family Village, even relatives like her third grandaunt, all said she had come out of Liu Yumin’s belly.

Shen Songyao didn’t believe for a second that Liu Yumin would have gone door to door, specifically instructing everyone.

"Don’t any of you dare spout nonsense in front of the child!"

’She wasn’t that kind of person.’

’And Shen Family Village wasn’t full of such kind-hearted people.’

So the only explanation was that everyone, from the bottom of their hearts, believed that Shen Songyao was the Shen family’s biological daughter.

’Could this really have been a spur-of-the-moment decision?’

Shen Songyao wasn’t buying it at all.

She turned directly to the aide-de-camp and asked,

"Have you asked Liu Yumin’s family? Her maiden family?"

"Her maiden family?"

The aide-de-camp waved his hand.

"We didn’t ask them. It’s not relevant to the case."

"Didn’t you say you investigated in and around the village?"

Shen Songyao pressed.

"We investigated the area around Shen Family Village."

At that moment, Yang Wanqing came over and grabbed Shen Songyao’s wrist.

"Song Yao, you don’t believe what the Shen family said?"

Shen Songyao nodded.

"I don’t."

Then she laid out all of her doubts.

The moment Yang Wanqing heard her, she immediately agreed.

"Right! There is something wrong!"

The others standing by also nodded in agreement.

If she were really an adopted child, how could there not have been a single rumor?

It was too abnormal.

Unless...

"Unless everyone, from the very beginning, believed I was the Shen family’s biological child,"

Shen Songyao said.

"But Liu Yumin claims she found me on the road while returning from her parents’ home."

"She insists I was found, but everyone else treated me like I was their own flesh and blood. The two stories don’t match up. Someone is definitely lying."

After hearing this, the aide-de-camp said immediately,

"I’ll report this to my superior exactly as you’ve said it."

He turned and quickly walked out the door.

As soon as he left, Yang Wanqing patted the back of Shen Songyao’s hand, her tone both heavy and firm.

"You just rest easy! Grandma will see this through for you!"

This wasn’t just empty talk. It was her way of telling Shen Songyao, ’What does Yao Yuzhen even matter?’

As long as Shen Songyao hadn’t received justice, this matter would not be over.

When only the family was left in the room, Yang Wanqing took Shen Songyao’s hand and asked,

"How did it go with that job you inquired about today?"

Shen Songyao answered with a smile.

"Director He was quite impressed with my work."

She blinked, casually mentioning as if it were nothing,

"He also asked how many years of schooling I’d had. I told him I never even made it out of elementary school. The moment I said that, Director He clammed up and didn’t ask any more."

Yang Wanqing was immediately silenced.

Shen Jiayue and the others were also stunned, anxious but not knowing what to say.

Yes, twenty whole years. Snatched from her home and thrown into a completely different world.

In those twenty years, she had gnawed on cold buns, slept under bridges, and been ordered around by others.

How could the grievances she carried in her heart be erased just by being reunited with her family and having a meal?

Yang Wanqing stared at Shen Songyao for a while, then suddenly reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Her own daughter was home for a family recognition banquet, yet her own mother was nowhere to be seen?