The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 1

Jiang Shu felt that something was off with her parents recently.

She had messed up her final exams, dropping from first to second in GPA, yet her mother didn’t scold her. Instead, she comforted Jiang Shu for quite some time.

A couple of days ago, she spent most of her allowance on a limited edition handbag, but her mom didn’t reprimand her. On the contrary, she lovingly deposited two more months’ worth of allowance into her account, telling her to buy whatever she pleased.

This attitude was akin to a doctor saying, “Eat whatever you want.”

Jiang Shu sat on the living room sofa, nibbling on a fruit platter the maid had just brought over, pondering this situation.

There had to be a reason for the change.

Her parents’ attitude shifted right after her finals ended, yet nothing particular had happened then—

Lost in thought, Jiang Shu unwittingly tightened her grip on the fork, causing its prongs to scrape against the plate with a grating sound.

Coming back to her senses, she placed the fork on the plate and pushed it aside. The maid took the plate back to the kitchen.

Jiang Shu was momentarily stunned, watching the maid’s retreating figure. Suddenly, a realization hit her as she recalled.

During the exam week, Mother Jiang personally brought her several fruit platters. At the time, she was so preoccupied with finals that she hadn’t noticed this detail.

In the past, it was always the maid who delivered them at Mother Jiang’s instruction.

But nothing happened during finals week. She was studying intensely, each subject feeling like preparation, as if she were attempting an impossible task, even carving out time for her annual physical check-up—

A check-up?

Jiang Shu suddenly straightened, recalling her previous check-up, and swallowed dryly.

In previous years, she would have already received her examination report. But this year, she hadn’t received it yet… Could it be she had some incurable disease?

She was still young and felt she could fight back.

Jiang Shu mulled over all the possibilities while lounging on the sofa, each thought making her more anxious, until she finally decided to confront Mother Jiang.

She knew everything now! Mother Jiang didn’t need to hide it from her any longer!

Jiang Shu got up from the sofa, asked the maid where Mother Jiang was, and headed upstairs.The study door was open, and Jiang Shu could vaguely see Mother Jiang’s figure inside. Her courage suddenly waned to a great extent, and she hesitated at the doorway for a while, pondering how to begin. Just then, she heard Mother Jiang’s hesitant voice: “Are we really not going to tell Shu Shu?”

Here it comes, Jiang Shu thought calmly, holding her breath.

Involuntarily, she took two steps closer, leaning her body forward slightly. Then she heard Father Jiang’s voice following, “Why should we tell her?”

“We didn’t say anything all these years.” She saw Father Jiang rubbing his temple. “Now that Xiao Wang has just returned, you want to tell Shu Shu that she is adopted, how do you think she would react?”

Jiang Shu didn’t think of anything.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she subconsciously ran Father Jiang’s words through her mind again, clenching her phone in confusion.

Adopted? What adoption? Who is coming back? Isn’t it about her health check-up?

Jiang Shu hadn’t fully processed her thoughts when she heard Father Jiang’s voice again: “Let’s just tell her about Xiao Wang.”

There was a moment of silence in the study, followed by their whispered discussion. Eventually, Mother Jiang compromised, “Let’s go with your suggestion then.”

She said worriedly, “I’ll go downstairs and call Shu Shu now.”

Jiang Shu, who was eavesdropping with her head tilted, was startled.

Holding her breath, she quickly turned around at the sound of a chair moving, rushed downstairs, and almost immediately flopped onto the sofa just in time to catch sight of Mother Jiang approaching from the staircase.

Mother Jiang leaned against the railing, waving her over, “Shu Shu, come upstairs for a moment.”

Jiang Shu took a moment to regulate her hurried breathing from running and stood up from the sofa as naturally as possible. “Coming.”

She deliberately made loud “thud thud thud” noises with her feet as she climbed the stairs before arriving beside Mother Jiang, asking lightly, “Mom, what’s up?”

Mother Jiang reached out and patted her hair. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Her expression tinged with contemplation, she paused for a moment before speaking softly, “Actually… you have an older brother.”

As Mother Jiang spoke, she watched Jiang Shu’s expression, relieved to see no signs of rejection or resentment, and continued, “He went missing a long time ago, so we never told you.”

Mother Jiang fell silent for a while, then her eyes rimmed with red, and her voice choked slightly, “We’ve been searching for him, for seventeen years, and recently we finally received some news.”

Jiang Shu reached out to embrace Mother Jiang, patting her back. After calming her emotions, Mother Jiang continued, “Suddenly having an older brother, I know you might find it hard to adjust. But I promise you, just because your brother is back, doesn’t mean I will neglect you.”

Mother Jiang clasped Jiang Shu’s hand tightly. “My love for you both will never change.”

She wanted to remind Jiang Shu to get along well with her brother but was worried that Jiang Shu might think everything she said before was just for that purpose.

After hesitating for a long time, she swallowed the words, only gripping Jiang Shu’s hand tighter while soothingly saying, “Don’t worry.”

Jiang Shu pressed her lips together.

Since Father Jiang and Mother Jiang didn’t intend to tell her that she was adopted, she decided to pretend she didn’t know. Perhaps it would make them feel more at ease.

Jiang Shu placed her other hand over Mother Jiang’s hand and gave her a comforting smile.Jiang Shu and Mother Jiang talked for a long time before she returned to her bedroom.

Sitting at her desk, she tried hard to sort out the information Mother Jiang had revealed.

She was adopted, the exact time unknown—but definitely before she could remember.

And her elder brother, whom she had never met, was named Pei Wang.

He went missing seventeen years ago, stayed at an orphanage for a year, and was then adopted. It wasn’t until the recent bone marrow match that they discovered his connection to the Jiang family.

Jiang Shu rested her chin on her hand.

She felt a subtle guilt, although Pei Wang’s disappearance seemed unrelated to her. She had enjoyed the full love of Father Jiang and Mother Jiang over the years in his absence.

Jiang Shu took out a pen, tapped the tip on a blank sheet for a while before starting to write.

[Relationship with Pei Wang—Peaceful Coexistence]

She wasn’t sure about Pei Wang’s temperament. If he held any resentment, she could tolerate it a bit.

Jiang Shu bit the pen barrel, analyzing the situation in her mind for a while before jotting down another line.

[Jiang Corporation—Pei Wang’s]

She couldn’t manage the corporation. Previously, Father Jiang attempted to involve her in the management, but after spending just half a day looking at the files, she abandoned the idea of taking over Jiang Corporation.

At that time, Father Jiang was worried, contemplating whether to find a professional manager before his retirement. Now that Pei Wang was back, everything fell into place.

If Pei Wang, after taking over the company, could give her a 200,000 yuan monthly allowance like Father Jiang, he would be the best brother in the world.

“Knock knock knock—”

A sudden knock on the door startled Jiang Shu. She put the pen back into the holder, walked over, and opened the door to see Mother Jiang standing there, her voice low, “Pei Wang is here.”

She glanced at Jiang Shu’s plush nightgown and asked even more softly, “Do you want to change before going down to meet him?”

Jiang Shu blinked.

Of course, she had to meet him. Not seeing Pei Wang in her own home would clearly be unfriendly.

How could she be unfriendly? She was more than happy to welcome Pei Wang.

Jiang Shu gave Mother Jiang a sweet smile, “Give me two minutes.”

She closed the door, quickly changed her clothes, even took the time to wet her slightly unruly bangs with water, trying to transform her look into a more obedient one.

Her bangs drooped wetly as she took a glance in the mirror, satisfied that her appearance was decent. Fearing Pei Wang might get impatient from waiting, she hurriedly opened the door and walked downstairs with Mother Jiang.

As soon as she reached the staircase, she saw someone sitting on the sofa downstairs.The person was holding a teacup, sitting with a straight back, his gaze lowered slightly, exuding an indifferent and stern demeanor.

This was completely different from how Jiang Shu had imagined Pei Wang.

She hesitated for quite a while, only snapping back to reality when Mother Jiang gently pulled her, prompting her to continue walking down.

Jiang Shu didn’t even dare to step heavily on the stairs; she walked down lightly and stood somewhat anxiously in front of Pei Wang, softly calling out, “Brother.”

Pei Wang looked up at her with a glance.

His eyes resembled peach blossom eyes but were slightly narrower at the corners, giving off a clear and sharp impression. His lips were thin, naturally emitting a sense of coldness. He wore a suit, but the jacket was already removed and draped over his arm, revealing a glimpse of a royal blue cufflink.

As Jiang Shu saw his lips move, she was focusing with intent to hear him speak when suddenly her head buzzed, and a mechanical voice abruptly rang in her mind—

“The Face-Slapping System has been activated, binding Host Pei Wang. Host, please quickly slap the vicious supporting female character Jiang Shu to earn system points! Become the winner in life!”

Jiang Shu: “?”

What is this?

Instinctively, Jiang Shu analyzed the meaning of this message, then calmly discarded the thousand scenarios she had imagined in her mind, maturely and calmly concluding—

Oh, he doesn’t need peaceful coexistence.

Author’s Note:

Bravely starting a new story qwq