The Amnesiac Omega Who Reels Me In Every Day

The Amnesiac Omega Who Reels Me In Every Day – Chapter 69

by Little Panda

Drifting Further Away

She left her home completely.

Three days later in the afternoon, Jiang Jinyi went to pick up the DNA report. Just as she had suspected — Jiang Youwan and her mother truly had no blood relation.

There was a ninety-nine percent probability that they were not biological mother and daughter.

So Youwan really wasn’t her biological sister, and wasn’t Mother’s biological daughter either.

She was just an outsider. A bad person who had snuck into her home.

Who exactly was she? How did she have such an ability that she could fool Mother? The more Jiang Jinyi thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.

She was frantic with anxiety, her heart pounding.

She hurried home with the DNA report, wanting to show it to Mother and confront Jiang Youwan face-to-face.

Let’s see what she’d have to say for herself then.

By the time she got home, it was already six in the evening. Only the servants were there, cooking dinner. Neither Jiang Youwan nor Jiang Ningshu had returned.

Not coming home at six o’clock was perfectly normal, but right now Jiang Jinyi couldn’t sit still. She muttered under her breath about when Mother would be home, and a servant overheard. The servant answered gently, “No need to wait, Miss. Chairman Jiang is hosting a banquet tonight. You’ll probably be asleep by the time she returns. Chairman Jiang said to have your dinner on your own tonight.”

Jiang Jinyi caught the key information in her words. “A banquet? Why is she hosting a banquet?”

The servant recalled, “I think I heard it was being held for Miss Youwan…” The servant relayed everything she’d heard, and Jiang Jinyi immediately grew agitated, calling the driver to take her to the venue.

She thought Mother had lost her mind. Mother must have lost her mind — she was actually going to formally introduce Jiang Youwan to the upper social circle, and even make her the CEO of Jiang Corporation.

She must have lost her mind.

Wasn’t that just handing the family over to an outsider for nothing?

Jiang Jinyi got into the car, furious with every passing second. When the car stopped at the entrance of the banquet, she barged right in. The security guards recognized her as the Jiang family’s privileged young lady and didn’t dare stop her.

Jiang Jinyi was wearing her school uniform, her face bare of makeup except for a swipe of lip balm — utterly youthful. She was completely out of place at the banquet, yet she showed not the slightest self-consciousness or awkwardness, scanning the room under everyone’s gaze, searching for someone.

Her eyes quickly landed on a figure that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

She narrowed her eyes, walking toward the person while confirming whether it was really her.

It really was her.

Jiang Youwan was standing at Jiang Ningshu’s side, wearing a black floor-length dress, her face made up with exquisite makeup. She held a wine glass with elegant ease, a composed smile on her face, exuding a cool, aristocratic air — dazzling and captivating, almost bewitching.

She was the star of tonight.

Jiang Ningshu stood beside her, smiling as she introduced her to the guests. “She is my eldest daughter. A very bright girl — she’s taken a great deal of work off my hands. I can rest easy leaving Jiang Corporation in her care.”

The guests showered Jiang Youwan with lavish praise, and Youwan maintained her smile throughout.

Rest easy leaving Jiang Corporation in her care? Jiang Jinyi froze for a moment, finding it unbelievable. Jiang Ningshu was about to continue singing her praises when Jiang Jinyi shouted:

“Bullshit!”

In an instant, everyone around stopped talking, every gaze converging on this girl who had burst in uninvited.

Jiang Ningshu’s eyes tightened when she saw her. “Xiao Jin, what are you doing here?” she said sharply.

Jiang Jinyi ignored Jiang Ningshu, her eyes fixed on Jiang Youwan with a fierce glare. Youwan was looking at her too. She knew what Jinyi had come for — to crash her event and ruin her plans.

It was a bit of a headache, but she didn’t resent it. She didn’t dislike it at all.

It was that helpless feeling of never being able to do anything about Xiao Jin.

Jiang Jinyi stormed over to her. To make sure everyone present could hear her, she had even brought a bullhorn from home. Holding the bullhorn in one hand and the DNA report in the other, she thrust it in front of Jiang Youwan for all to see and shouted:

“Eldest daughter, my ass! Look at this — this report shows a ninety-nine percent probability that you have no blood relation to my mother!”

She said each word deliberately: “You’re nothing but a liar!”

At those words, the room instantly erupted in murmurs from all sides. Yet Jiang Youwan, the person at the center of it all, remained remarkably calm, her expression placid, almost as if she were smiling.

In truth, she didn’t want this role of sister that much anymore.

Finally, Xiao Jin had broken this invisible shackle herself.

Youwan smiled faintly and said nothing, so Jiang Jinyi declared triumphantly, “See? Nothing to say, do you?”

“Xiao Jin, what kind of nonsense is this?” Jiang Ningshu scolded her. Jinyi’s brief surge of triumph was instantly slapped down, as if she’d been struck across the face. She thought Mother hadn’t heard what she’d just said, so she held the DNA report up to her and said, “Mother, look — she doesn’t have a single drop of blood relation to you.”

Jiang Ningshu’s gaze didn’t linger on the report for even a fraction of a second. Instead, she looked at Jiang Jinyi with displeasure, her tone accusatory. “Why would you go and do something like this?”

Why would you go and do something like this?

Jiang Jinyi tilted her head, baffled. “You don’t believe me? This report is real. And I consulted the doctor at the hospital that treated me when I was injured — she can confirm that it was Jiang Youwan who gave me blood. There are clear records. Mother, you’re so smart, you must know — she isn’t my biological sister.”

Her voice grew slightly plaintive. “Shouldn’t you be the one blaming her and kicking her out? Why are you interrogating me?”

Jiang Jinyi’s bullhorn did its job admirably. Even amid the heavy noise, every word she said could be heard clearly — and was eagerly captured by the reporters present.

But Jiang Ningshu remained utterly indifferent to the evidence she presented. She snatched the report and the bullhorn from her hands and warned in a low voice, “Xiao Jin, this is not the place for you to act up!”

With both things taken from her, Jinyi’s eyes stung. “What have I done that’s so out of line?”

The evidence was ironclad. Why was Mother denying it again? Jiang Jinyi felt so wronged. Truly, deeply wronged.

It was like she had painstakingly caught a big fish and brought it to show her mother, only for her mother to scold her for playing in the water instead of praising her.

Why?

She simply couldn’t understand why Mother was being like this.

She hadn’t been like this before.

The more she thought about it, the more her eyes threatened to spill over.

But crying in front of so many people would be too humiliating, and it would undermine her presence. So she held it in — though unbeknownst to her, the effort of holding back looked even more pitiful than crying.

Jiang Youwan’s heart ached dully to see her so wronged.

“Mom, why won’t you believe me? The evidence is all right here! Do you love her that much? Love a fake daughter that much?”

After she said this, she waited for Jiang Ningshu’s response, waited for her to send Jiang Youwan away. But Jiang Ningshu didn’t. She chose to ignore her instead, even calling her assistant. “Take Xiao Jin home first!”

“I’m not going home!” Jiang Jinyi shook off the assistant’s hand, her reddened eyes glaring at Jiang Ningshu as she shouted, “I don’t understand! She’s not even your biological daughter — why are you taking me away? Does this banquet even need to continue?”

“I don’t want to live under the same roof as a liar! Either she goes, or I go!”

Slap—

A resounding slap echoed through the hall. Jiang Jinyi’s eyes went wide. She stiffly raised a hand to touch the reddened imprint on her cheek, her mind a complete blank.

“Calm down!” Jiang Ningshu turned to the assistant and ordered, “Take her home, now!”

For the first time in eighteen years, Mother had hit her.

From childhood to now, no matter how willful, domineering, unreasonable, or disruptive she was, Mother had always indulged her. At most, she would scold her lightly — never yell, let alone strike.

In that moment, Jiang Jinyi began to wonder — was the person in front of her really her mother?

Where had her mother gone?

Jiang Jinyi was escorted out of the banquet, but the event could no longer continue.

Everything she had just said, and the image of Jiang Ningshu slapping her, had been recorded by the reporters and was spreading like wildfire online, quickly trending.

It seemed the truth could no longer be hidden.

Jiang Youwan came home carrying a bottle of anti-swelling ointment. She hadn’t expected Jiang Jinyi to get slapped.

The pampered fusspot had been slapped — how wronged she must feel.

Even though she knew the current Xiao Jin wouldn’t appreciate the gesture, she still wanted to comfort her and give her the ointment.

But the moment she stepped inside, she heard a servant telling Jiang Ningshu, “The young lady is gone. After she was brought back, she slipped away the moment we weren’t watching. She must have run out.”

“Run out?” Jiang Ningshu’s face darkened. “Then why aren’t you out looking for her right now?!”

Jiang Youwan frowned, pulled out her phone to check the location tracker, and went out to find her without a second thought.

Jiang Jinyi’s location had been stationary on a bridge for a long time. When Jiang Youwan arrived, she saw from afar a small, pitiful figure crouching by the bridge railing, her hair blown wild by the wind, hugging her knees with her chin buried between them, eyes red — pitiful and helpless.

Seeing this, Youwan’s heart swelled with aching tenderness — the kind of ache that made her want to pull Jinyi into her arms and give her whatever she wanted.

Jiang Youwan walked toward her, thinking as she went about what she should do, what she should say, to make her feel even a little better.

She walked slowly, carefully, as if not to startle a fragile little creature. But before she could get close, a sports car stopped in front of Jiang Jinyi, and the person who stepped out was Fu Mingyue. Jinyi lifted her face and looked at her with a heart-shattering gaze.

Jiang Youwan’s footsteps stopped.

“Xiao Jin.” Fu Mingyue crouched down. The moment Jinyi saw her, tears poured out uncontrollably. Fu Mingyue pulled out a tissue and wiped them away.

“Fu-jiejie saw everything. Xiao Jin has been wronged.”

“I don’t want to wipe anymore…” Jiang Jinyi pushed the tissue away and buried herself in Fu Mingyue’s arms. Fu Mingyue sighed and let her hold on.

Jiang Youwan could only watch from a distance, her grip on the ointment tightening and tightening.

She stayed one night at the Fu Residence. It wasn’t until the following evening that Jiang Jinyi returned to the Jiang Family Villa, brought back by Fu Mingyue.

When she arrived, Jiang Ningshu and Jiang Youwan were both sitting in the living room, seemingly discussing something — their conversation cut short by her appearance.

Jiang Jinyi only glanced at them flatly. She didn’t throw a tantrum. Her face was devoid of expression, as if she had lost all desire to speak to them or share a room with them, and headed upstairs on her own.

“Xiao Jin.” Jiang Ningshu called to her gently. Jinyi didn’t throw a fit the way she usually would when annoyed — instead, she stopped.

Jiang Ningshu stood and walked toward her, wanting to embrace her, but Jiang Jinyi stepped aside, her eyes and brow full of cold indifference.

“Yesterday was Mother’s fault. Mother shouldn’t have hit you.” Jiang Ningshu explained gently, “Youwan isn’t Mother’s biological daughter. She’s the child of a friend of mine. Both her parents have passed away. Mother brought her back to give her a better place in this family, which is why I told everyone she was my biological daughter. I’m sorry — I should have told you from the start.”

“I understand. A… friend’s daughter.”

Jiang Jinyi had already seen it online — that was the explanation Jiang Ningshu had given the public. After reading it, she found it a little laughable.

All this time, she had been making a fuss, desperate to drive the liar out of the house — only to find that her mother was a liar too.

In fact, it seemed like she was the mastermind behind this whole deception.

In their eyes, was she just a clown — foolish and ridiculous?

So Mother had known all along. And she herself had gone and ruined her plans, done more harm than good.

Jiang Jinyi apologized: “I’m sorry, Mother. I shouldn’t have caused a scene at the banquet.”

That apology was impossible to read for sincerity.

Jiang Ningshu frowned slightly. “You don’t need to apologize. It’s Mother who should apologize to you.”

Jiang Jinyi gave a noncommittal response, showing neither grievance nor anger — so abnormally composed that it made Jiang Youwan’s heart uneasy.

“Is there anything else? If not, I’m going back to my room to study.”

Jiang Ningshu looked at her and said, “Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, can Xiao Jin stop being angry with her jiejie and get along peacefully with her? She’s had a very hard life…”

Jiang Jinyi cut her off coldly: “I still have a lot of homework to do.”

Jiang Ningshu frowned. “Alright. Mother will give you more time to come to terms with it. Go up and do your homework.”

After she left, Jiang Ningshu turned to glance at Jiang Youwan sitting behind her, her eyes unreadable, the corners of her lips curving almost imperceptibly, and went upstairs as well.

After that, their lives seemed to return to normal. Jiang Jinyi was busy studying, busy painting, busy hanging out with her friends. Jiang Youwan had become the CEO of Jiang Corporation, but her workload hadn’t gotten heavier — if anything, it was lighter than before.

Jiang Jinyi reverted to her usual lively, adorable self, as if she had moved past the whole affair. She no longer went out of her way to pick fights with Jiang Youwan — but that only made Youwan more heartbroken.

She was cold. Whenever she faced Youwan, she was cold — cold eyes, cold words. Her smile could be given to anyone and everyone, but she wouldn’t spare Youwan even a fraction of it.

And with Jiang Ningshu, Jinyi was no longer clingy. The mother-daughter relationship had become distant compared to before — no longer sharing everything, not even wanting to speak.

No matter how Ningshu tried to show goodwill, no matter how she coaxed, nothing worked.

As finals approached, Jiang Jinyi’s school schedule grew heavier. She had an extra class in the afternoon, followed by evening study sessions, with less than half an hour for dinner and rest.

So the seniors didn’t go home after school — most of them had meals brought by their parents.

Jiang Jinyi hadn’t told anyone at home about this.

She didn’t like eating in the cafeteria, and she didn’t like the fast food from the restaurants outside the school gates. She usually went hungry, waiting until she got home at nine-thirty at night to eat dinner herself.

After a few days of this, her stomach started hurting. One night after evening study, the pain was so bad her face went pale and she broke out in a cold sweat. She doubled over on the living room sofa clutching her stomach. By the time Jiang Youwan came out of the shower and saw her, she had already taken some painkillers on her own and called Doctor Li.

Doctor Li came to examine her, prescribed medication, and warned her sternly to eat on time. She nodded and promised she would.

But when the servants brought her food to the school gates, she still didn’t want to go pick it up. She didn’t even want to go near the school gates, because there, she would see scenes like this everywhere:

Mothers and fathers watching their children eat, chatting with them as they ate — warm, beautiful scenes.

If it were before, Jiang Jinyi would have pestered Jiang Ningshu to bring her food the way other mothers did. But now she wouldn’t.

She also didn’t want to deal with the servants, who clearly had no real affection for her. So she usually carried two pieces of bread or pastries she liked and called that her dinner.

During that brief half-hour, the classroom was usually quiet, with only a few scattered students. Sitting alone, nibbling bread and staring out the window, she felt like crying. This life, she thought, was a constant reminder that her mother didn’t love her as much anymore.

She had once felt unconditional, bottomless favoritism. Once it changed, she could sense it acutely.

She didn’t know why things had turned out this way. Whose fault was it? Her own?

She didn’t think so — but even if it was, she didn’t want to admit it.

In truth, Jiang Youwan had been keeping close tabs on Jinyi’s class situation all along. It hurt her, but she hadn’t dared to act rashly, afraid of frightening her and pushing her even further away.

Jiang Jinyi had been nursing a frustration lately. She wanted a certain brand’s Christmas limited-edition reindeer plush, but it wasn’t something money could buy — you had to fight for it.

In the end, Jiang Jinyi still didn’t manage to get one.

She was very unhappy, moping about.

There were two reasons for her unhappiness.

First: she hadn’t gotten the plush she wanted.

Second: in the past, limited-edition items like this were trivial for her. As long as she acted cute with Mother and coaxed her, Mother could bring her the only one in the world.

But now, things were different.

She came home dejected and was about to head straight upstairs when she spotted the reindeer plush sitting in the center of the living room sofa. Her eyes lit up instantly. Without a second thought, she rushed over and scooped it up, cooing with delight, unable to let go.

When she was about to carry it upstairs, Jiang Youwan suddenly came out of the kitchen, holding a plate. Their eyes met, and Jiang Jinyi froze.

Still immersed in her joy, she hadn’t quite processed the situation — so her expression was dazed, endearingly so.

Not having received a cold glare, Youwan seized on a glimmer of hope. She smiled and asked, very cautiously, “You really like it?”

“It” referred to the reindeer in her arms.

She had watched Xiao Jin’s delight and joy with her own eyes, so she already knew the answer — she was asking deliberately.

When a child loves something, they can’t bear to let it go.

She knew Xiao Jin had borrowed dozens of people’s accounts to try to snatch this item.

Without waiting for Jinyi’s response, she made a small request: “Then if Xiao Jin eats one cream puff, I’ll give her to you.”

After making this request, she watched Jinyi’s every micro-reaction anxiously, thinking: if Xiao Jin eats the puff, then she’ll eat the dinners I make for her from now on, too, right?

But the moment Jinyi processed the situation, she furrowed her brow. Her arms loosened around the reindeer, as if she might toss it aside the very next second.

Youwan’s heart clenched. She quickly relented, smiling. “You don’t have to eat it. This was always meant to be a Christmas gift for Xiao Jin.”

If Xiao Jin could accept her gift, then their relationship would have thawed, and they could take it slowly, bit by bit, back to the way things were — right?

But things didn’t go as Youwan hoped. Jiang Jinyi wasn’t as easy to coax as she had imagined.

Her eyes went completely cold again. She set the reindeer back on the sofa without a single word, turned around, and went upstairs.

Leaving Jiang Youwan standing there alone, crestfallen.

Youwan had tried similar overtures many times. During the school’s physical fitness test, which included an eight-hundred-meter run, Jinyi wasn’t in great shape. She ran slowly, exhausted, and by the time she crossed the finish line, she was completely drained — but she would rather fall to the ground than let Jiang Youwan catch her.

For a while, she kept coming home late at night. Youwan knew what she was doing — she was feeding a group of stray cats.

Those cats were skittish and only came out at night, so during that period, Jiang Jinyi always had her pockets stuffed with cat food and would go looking for them after dark.

Jiang Jinyi truly loved cats. Her smile was brightest when she was with them — so bright it seemed to make her forget all her troubles. Seizing on a moment when she looked genuinely happy, Youwan asked, “Xiao Jin, do you want to get another cat?”

After a long silence, Jinyi finally deigned to answer her with a smile — a cold one. “Get another one? I’m afraid you’ll throw it out too. Unless you get out.”

A knot tightened in Youwan’s throat.

There was not the slightest room to get close. The moment Youwan showed any inclination to cross the line, to break the ice, Jinyi would retreat — backing further and further away.

During the Spring Festival after that, Jiang Jinyi didn’t spend it at home. She went to Fu Mingyue’s place instead. No matter how they called her, she refused to come back, spending almost the entire winter break there.

Jiang Youwan didn’t even get the chance to give her a red envelope.

Later, Fu Mingyue went abroad. The collaboration with the Jiang family required her to be overseas for several years.

Youwan thought that even maintaining the status quo would be fine, as long as Xiao Jin didn’t get close to anyone else.

But even maintaining the status quo became an unattainable luxury. In the second semester of her senior year, Jiang Jinyi applied to live in the school dorms.

It was hard to imagine that a pampered young lady like Jiang Jinyi would willingly live in a dorm, sleep on such a hard bed, and eat school food.

How much did she not want to come home?

Throughout her entire senior year, she only came home a handful of times. Most weekends, she stayed in the school’s art studio. It was as if she had abandoned her home, abandoned everything in it — her art studio, the flowers she grew, her plush toys, her figurines, the people who cared about her.

And then, after the Gaokao¹ ended, she applied to the university farthest from home.

She left her home completely.

Because she knew that her mother had already given her the answer to that question.