CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 88: DING LING AND DING LING

Ding Ling shook her wheelchair, took a few steps, and, having skipped breakfast and feeling weak, her annoyance escaped through her words, "I have already spared you any trouble by allowing you to marry my father. From now on, don’t call me Xiao Ling; it sounds just like you’re calling your dead daughter."

Wei Ruqin bit her lip tightly, her face, too youthful for her age, twisted in contention. She had sacrificed so much, even forsaken her own daughter, cringing before this disabled wretch for a life of enviable comfort; as these thoughts circled her mind, her beautifully manicured long fingernails dug into her palm.

"Why the discontent?" Ding Ling, holding her mobile phone, summoned her personal caretaker to push her wheelchair. If it weren’t to convince Brother Xun that she was the same Ding Ling who once roamed the streets with him, she wouldn’t have allowed this pretentious woman through her family’s front door. "Blame it on my short-lived uncle who died too early, blame it on your failure to seduce my father from the start."

The delicate "Barbie doll," spewed out malicious words, her face full of acerbity.

If not for Lu Xun, Ding Ling would never have accepted Wei Ruqin, let alone impersonate Wei Ruqin’s dead daughter "Ding Ling."

Fourteen years ago, Ding Ling’s great uncle Ding Han and the current Major General Ding were known as the twin jewels of the Rand Armed Department. One brother was responsible for internal R&D and the other for external affairs. Ding Han died on the spot in a lab accident. He left behind only his wife Wei Ruqin and their eight-year-old daughter Ding Ling.

Later, as Ding Ling’s mother grew seriously ill, her father, to support Wei Ruqin, had her come to help take care of his wife. It wasn’t long before sparks flew between Wei Ruqin and her father. After her mother’s death, her father proposed marrying Wei Ruqin; when he consulted Ding Ling, she outright refused and especially opposed the idea of Wei Ruqin bringing her own daughter into the family.

Even after Wei Ruqin heartlessly abandoned her daughter, Ding Ling firmly insisted that Wei Ruqin could be her father’s mistress, but if she wanted to be the legitimate matriarch of the Ding family, that would only happen over Ding Ling’s dead body.

Little did Ding Ling expect that she would indeed "die" so soon. Wei Ruqin endured in silence for two years in the Ding Family until, two years later, during a walk with Wei Ruqin, Ding Ling met Lu Xun. At that moment, she "died," and "Ding Ling" became "Ding Ling."

Eight-year-old Ding Ling gawked upon seeing Lu Xun, his face smeared with dirt but still showcasing handsome and elegant features. From the very first moment, she liked this tall, strong-eyed boy.

As Lu Xun was looking at Ding Ling, then turned towards Wei Ruqin, he only uttered one question: "Is it Xiao Ling?"

Wei Ruqin remembered this boy too. Back when she wanted to marry cleanly into the Ding family, she abandoned her eight-year-old daughter Ding Ling on the streets. As she heartlessly let go of her daughter’s hand, she saw standing at a street corner, the boy Lu Xun.

Embarrassed, Wei Ruqin was about to deny it, but Ding Ling, who was normally aloof to strangers, suddenly responded affirmatively, "Yes, I am Xiao Ling."

Ding Ling thought of her cousin Ding Ling whom she had met once as a child and felt a full belly of disgust. Logically, two cousins of similar age, even sharing similar names, should get along well.

Yet, ever since Lu Xun was adopted by the Ding family, he would often narrate his encounters with Ding Ling. Hearing these stories over and over, Ding Ling grew to dislike Ding Ling even more.

Lu Xun said that the first time he met her, it was beside a garbage incinerator in the neighborhood. He asked several times before she responded with, "My name is Xiao Ling."

Ding Ling knew that Lu Xun was mistaken. What her cousin had said was "My name is Xiao Ling."

Lu Xun said that "Xiao Ling," like him, was a wandering orphan without support. They scavenged for food together in the garbage and rejoiced over occasional finds of money and clothes.

Lu Xun recounted that every time he was caught and beaten for stealing wallets, "Xiao Ling" would sternly warn him never to steal again—an ethos instilled by her army father from a young age.

Ding Ling still remembered the adoration in Lu Xun’s eyes whenever he spoke of "Ding Ling."

What good can come from a daughter born from such a despicable woman? Ding Ling felt uniformly uneasy thinking that Lu Xun still believed she was that Ding Ling who fatefully met him on the streets and then disappeared.

Despite being shrewd, Brother Xun still had no idea that she wasn’t the "Ding Ling" who shared hardships with him on the streets.

But never mind, Wei Ruqin had already married her father, and at least in the eyes of outsiders, theirs was a family marked by motherly love and filial piety. When Lu Xun learned that "Ding Ling" had injured her legs in an accident after leaving him, he vowed to stay by her side and care for her. Thinking of Lu Xun’s constant company, Ding Ling had little regard for her cousin Ding Ling, who had disappeared many years ago and was likely already starved or frozen to death.

After scathingly mocking Wei Ruqin, Ding Ling felt her hunger prickle and had her waiting caretaker wheel her to the dining room for breakfast.

Wei Ruqin stood in place, a flicker of rage in her eyes. The living room phone rang, and she automatically picked it up, her voice booming once she heard the other’s voice: "Oh, Mrs. Zhang, about your son wanting to join the Rand Military District, no problem, no problem. I’ll make sure our dear Ding sees to it—it’s just a matter of a word." Now armed with power and status, having lost a daughter and seen her erstwhile husband dead, Wei Ruqin had no patience left for conscience. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to cast your recommendation and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)