Pregnant and Pampered: The Heiress in a Military Compound

’So if I need something in the future, I’ll have to go to my sister?’

Seeing through Xie Changning’s thoughts, Xie Changyi laughed and chided her, "Let me warn you upfront. I’m strictly by the book. If it doesn’t contribute to our nation’s development, I won’t agree to help you."

"Of course. I’m also thinking about our nation’s development."

Xie Changning said this with great sincerity, as if Xie Changyi had wrongly accused her.

’Who in R&D isn’t thick-skinned?’

’If you aren’t thick-skinned, how can you pull in sponsors? How can you get the leadership to allocate more funds to you?’

’It’s a skill!’

Xie Changning spoke with the three leaders for a good while, but most of that time was spent claiming kinship with Xie Changyi. The other leaders could see it clearly: Xie Changning had her sights set on Xie Changyi.

Before she left, Xie Changyi poked Xie Changning on the forehead.

"Let me tell you, behave yourself! Don’t you always be thinking about getting me to approve your funding!" Their procedures were extremely strict.

Xie Changning nodded obediently. "Mhm, mhm, I know, sister."

"..."

Speechless, Xie Changyi got into the car. Once inside, Yu Chunhe couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

"Xie Changyi, oh, Xie Changyi, you’ve finally met your match!"

In contrast to Yu Chunhe’s amusement, Director Zhao and Xie Changyi both looked rather serious. Director Zhao looked at Xie Changyi. "Did you know that she’s her parents’ adopted daughter?"

Director Zhao knew He Liuzhang, and during a conversation between the two, He Liuzhang had mentioned it to him.

Xie Changyi, for her part, had learned a few things from the ancestral home.

"Yes, the people at my family’s ancestral home told me. They said she was... left behind, placed with my uncle to be raised." ’A couple from the Xie Family who disappeared over twenty years ago, who had to leave in such a hurry that they were forced to leave their child to be raised by a younger brother...’

Besides her own parents, Xie Changyi couldn’t think of a single other couple it could be.

In the entire Xie Family, only her parents had walked that path. Even though they were a scholarly family that had valued education for generations, no one else had chosen the same road as her parents.

Especially with Xie Changning’s immense talent for scientific research, it was hard for Xie Changyi not to let her imagination run wild.

Hearing Xie Changyi say this, the realization finally dawned on Yu Chunhe. "Wait a minute, did something happen to the Xie Family back then? Why would they leave a perfectly fine child to be raised by a brother?"

’Did they meet with disaster?’

Hearing this, Director Zhao shook his head. "It’s not clear."

Xie Changyi’s expression darkened a shade. She turned her head to look at Yu Chunhe. "I’ll investigate this thoroughly. I will have her name officially returned to our family’s ancestral records..."

If she remembered correctly, the people at the ancestral home had said that Xie Changning was not listed in the family genealogy.

And besides, Xie Changning wasn’t well-liked there.

’Xie Zi wasn’t a particularly remarkable member of the Xie Family. Back at the ancestral home, he wasn’t well-off either. So how did he suddenly get the money to start a business?’

These were all things Xie Changyi needed to investigate.

Yu Chunhe didn’t know what Xie Changyi was thinking. She just looked at her and said, "Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We already have a lead, so don’t worry that the investigation will turn up nothing."

Director Zhao nodded in agreement.

Xie Changyi closed her eyes. "Mmm..."

’She hadn’t seen her family in so long. If Xie Changning was truly her younger sister, wasn’t it her duty to protect her?’

She was filled with regret, especially when she thought about the difficult life Xie Changning had probably endured all these years.

’If I had known, I should have stayed home!’

’That way, my sister wouldn’t have had to live under someone else’s roof and be bullied!’

The more she thought about it, the worse Xie Changyi’s mood became. Fortunately, she could still control her temper.

When the group returned to Chuncheng, Xie Changyi went back to her residence and contacted the people at the ancestral home.

"Changyi, what’s the occasion? How do you have time to call today?" The person who answered the phone was the current clan elder, Xie Changyi’s uncle-granduncle.

"Uncle-Granduncle, I wanted to ask about Xie Changning..."

"Oh, you mean that girl, Changning. I wasn’t going to tell you, but you’ve been calling every other day. Have you figured something out?"

Her uncle-granduncle’s slow voice came through the line. Xie Changyi hummed softly in affirmation.

"That child, Changning, she had a falling out with the family and ran away. Her parents, they were criticized and sent down... What a sin! To take a perfectly good child and raise her to be an enemy..."

From her uncle-granduncle’s words, Xie Changyi slowly pieced together the story of Xie Changning’s childhood.

A childhood where she was unloved, but where she strived to succeed through hard work.

It could be said that Xie Changning’s achievements today were not due to anyone else, but entirely to her own efforts and ambition!

Xie Changyi felt both heartbroken and proud.

"Uncle-Granduncle, you have to tell me the truth. Is Changning... my parents’ child?"

Xie Changyi’s words made her rambling uncle-granduncle pause. He seemed to be weighing how to tell her.

He was afraid. He was afraid Xie Changyi would be unhappy. After all, Xie Changyi was almost forty, and there was a fourteen or fifteen-year age gap between them. It would be normal for her to be displeased.

Especially since Xie Changyi had gone abroad to study at fourteen or fifteen and had thought of herself as an only child for nearly forty years.

To suddenly have a younger sister appear—it would be difficult for anyone to accept.

So the uncle-granduncle was deliberating, trying to figure out how to phrase it so Xie Changyi could accept it, or perhaps just lie and say it was someone else’s child.

"You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t mind. On the contrary, I’m very happy." ’During all the years her parents were gone, she had a sister to rely on.’

’Although, their current situation couldn’t exactly be described as relying on each other for survival.’

Hearing Xie Changyi’s words, her uncle-granduncle’s inner turmoil eased slightly. "Really?"

"Really."

"Sigh... She is indeed your younger sister. However, she doesn’t know her true identity. She was raised as Xie Zi’s child from birth, so I suspect learning the truth about her upbringing will be a huge blow."

Xie Changyi took her uncle-granduncle’s words to heart, resolving to secretly be good to Xie Changning.

"Uncle-Granduncle, the money Xie Zi used to start his business... was it left for my sister by my parents?" ’She herself had never worried about food or clothing while abroad because her parents had made arrangements in advance, having her maternal aunt and uncle take her with the funds.’

’But her sister...’

’She couldn’t believe that her parents wouldn’t have left a safety net for her sister.’

’It’s just that the safety net they left for her sister had been embezzled by Xie Zi!’

"Yes. They left a large sum of money for your sister back then. Who would have thought that Xie Zi, under the pretext of raising your sister, would use that money to start a business, and then—"

At this thought, even the uncle-granduncle felt that Xie Zi was utterly inhuman.

Xie Changyi let out a cold snort. "I knew it! That money of his belongs to my sister!"

Xie Changyi was furious. She didn’t mourn the family assets that had been confiscated; she lamented the fact that her sister should have had money but had lived such a pitiful life instead!

’Xie Zi, that man deserves to die!’

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"Ah, go on."

"I want to know where in the Northeast Xie Zi and his wife were sent. I’m planning to... go see them when I have time." As Xie Changyi spoke of "seeing them," she squeezed the words out from between clenched teeth.

The uncle-granduncle knew her visit would be anything but simple.

But Xie Changyi and Xie Changning were now both pillars of the Xie Family. It was better to let them vent their anger, lest they grow resentful and decide to leave the family.