Chapter 3: Tang Yifei

    It had now been seven days since Tang Yifei was admitted to the hospital. A nurse took her for another check-up and then said to her.

    "Congratulations, you’ll probably be discharged tomorrow."

    She smiled in response, even though her face was still swollen and bruised. The nurse didn’t seem surprised by her appearance. She was likely used to such things, as nurses had to be.

After informing her, the nurse also delivered the news to Grandma Li.

“Thank heaven.”

Grandma Li murmured in reply.

    If Tang Yifei were the nurse, she’d probably roll her eyes and think, ‘You should be thanking us, the ones who really took care of the patient.’

    But the nurse simply smiled at Grandma Li, likely accustomed to hearing such comments.

    As she lay in bed, the sound of a news report from the single television in the hospital room caught her attention.

    “Today, several business figures traveled to City S to attend the funeral of Tang Yifei, one of the heiresses of the Tang family, which operates their business across multiple cities. Miss Tang tragically passed away in a car accident after her vehicle plunged off a cliff. Our program... extends condolences for the untimely passing of Miss Tang Yifei.”

“The rich always make it on the news like this,” one of the patients’ relatives remarked.

“She was still so young,” another added.

    The news showed an accompanying image of the deceased—a bright, smiling young woman. The journalists had managed to find such a picture, one that Tang Yifei recognized from a magazine feature that often interviewed young misses of the wealthy family.

    She had been one of them—a young woman born into wealth but unlucky to have lost her parents.

    And her life had been filled with nannies and her grandfather, who didn’t trust any other relatives to raise her.

    Though her grandfather adored her, he didn’t always have time to spend with her.

    But she knew the person who loved her most was him.

    Her relatives, on the other hand, were only focused on the inheritance. When her grandfather suffered a similar fate and passed away in an accident, all his wealth was left to her.

    Tang Yifei could sense the jealousy from her relatives, especially from her youngest uncle, who had straightened out his life and worked diligently. Despite that, her grandfather had still left everything to her.

    Having been raised well, Tang Yifei knew what she needed to know. She didn’t want to have conflicts with her relatives, so she opted to receive only her dividends from her own share and her grandfather’s and stayed out of the business management.

    She chose to live a leisurely life, studying various subjects abroad and at home as she pleased. Her relatives were content with this arrangement, and she, in turn, was satisfied with the steady stream of money entering her account.

    She played the part of the naive heiress but didn’t let her relatives take too much advantage.

    Sometimes she would inquire about managing certain aspects of the business.

    When she did, the money flowing into her account would increase as it should.

    And so, her life followed this cycle—learning things and avoiding the men her relatives arranged for her to meet.

    For Tang Yifei, these men were like wolves in sheep’s clothing. To her, love should come naturally, by fate. If it didn’t, well, she had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life. She didn’t need to rely on children or grandchildren, she had wealth and lawyers to handle everything.

    If she couldn’t handle these matters in her hometown, she could simply move abroad.

With money, you could live anywhere.

    She never imagined she would die from being hit by a car due to her own recklessness in trying to overtake a truck.

But wait—didn’t the reporter just say she had driven off a cliff?

That’s not right, is it?

    Her parents had driven off a cliff.

    Her grandfather had driven off a cliff.

    And now, she had driven off a cliff too?

Tang Yifei’s heart began to race.

    “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? The nurse just said you can go home tomorrow,” Grandma Li’s voice broke her thoughts.

    Tang Yifei felt a tightness in her chest as she tried to rationalize it all. It had to be a coincidence, right? Maybe the luxury car she had been driving was hit so badly that the truck forced it off the cliff. That’s where the “fell off a cliff” story came from.

    Suddenly, tears welled up and began to fall. Grandma Li, startled, watched as Tang Yifei’s emotions overwhelmed her. She didn’t want to believe the connections her mind was making. Everyone else was gone now, and she was the only one left.

“What’s the matter?” Grandma Li asked repeatedly.

    Tang Yifei turned and hugged Grandma Li tightly, sobbing in her arms. Right now, she just needed to hold someone close.

    Grandma Li was taken aback. Ever since her granddaughter’s accident, she had noticed a change in her behavior. The doctors had said that even though her head wasn’t seriously injured, the impact might have caused some memory gaps. And now here she was, crying uncontrollably, causing the other patients and their families to turn and stare.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. See, everyone’s watching now.”

    “It’s fine, Grandma Li. She’s probably just happy she gets to go home,” said Aunt Cheng, who was taking care of her mother-in-law.

“Yeah, it’s always noisy around here anyway. Let her cry,” someone else chimed in.

“Crying is a form of release.”

    Everyone around tried to make excuses for Yifei’s outburst, though a few looked visibly annoyed by the disturbance.

    “Maybe she’s related to that Miss Tang they just mentioned.”

    Someone muttered sarcastically. Grandma Li shot the person a sharp, warning glance, as if ready for a fight. ‘When your alcoholic daughter yells and causes a scene, I’ve never said a word,’ she thought.

    ‘Now that my granddaughter cries a little, you even dare to criticize?’

    People often talk big but shrink away when confronted. When Grandma Li glared at them, the woman quickly lowered her head and busied herself with adjusting her patient’s blanket, as if she hadn’t said anything at all.

“Don’t mind them. They’re just stressed,” Aunt Cheng said to comfort Grandma Li.

“Yes, probably so,” Grandma Li agreed.

    She stroked her granddaughter’s head to soothe her. Slowly, Tang Yifei’s tight embrace around Grandma Li loosened, and she softly said.

    “I love you, Grandma.”

    A smile broke across Grandma Li’s face. It had been a long time since she had heard those words. Not since her granddaughter had entered the second year of middle school.

“I love you too, Yifei, and I only want what’s best for you,” Grandma Li replied.

    She had raised her son on her own, fighting tooth and nail through life. Sweet words weren’t her forte, as she had to be tough to avoid being taken advantage of by others. Her sharp tongue had become her shield.

    It was hard to change now. But deep down, she hoped her granddaughter would understand her intentions.

However, as Yifei grew older, she had only become more rebellious.

“I know, Grandma.”

Yifei replied softly.

“Good, that’s all I want.”

Grandma Li said, turning to hand her a small towel.

“Here, wipe those tears and snot away. Your face looks terrible.”.

    Although Grandma Li’s words were blunt, she thought to herself that once the bruises healed, her granddaughter would look beautiful again, just as she always had.

    For now, though, Yifei’s smile was a little awkward, as her swollen face hadn’t yet returned to its natural shape.

    Dinner passed by uneventfully, with no one else coming to visit. Tang Yifei didn’t dare to ask why.

    She feared the answer might confirm her suspicion—that they were working hard to cover the medical expenses.

    She’d heard before that the government covered these costs, so why did some people still seek donations? One of her maids had once explained that certain expenses weren’t covered by the government.

    Meaning families had to pay out of pocket.

    Tang Yifei had listened passively back then.

    But never imagined she would experience such a fate herself.

    She briefly considered transferring some of her own money into Li Yifei’s account, but after seeing the news earlier that day, she realized it would be far too risky.

    Who knows what her relatives might accuse her of if they found out she had withdrawn her own funds? It could bring trouble to this family.

    Worse yet, a suspicious relative might look into her death and trace it back to Li Yifei, making the family scapegoats.

    She thought about her designer bags, wondering if she could secretly retrieve them somehow. But that idea was impossible too—surveillance cameras were everywhere.

    There was nothing she could do but mourn the life she could no longer access.

    If she had known this would happen, she would have stored her things in one of her condominiums and given Li Yifei access to them. But that, too, was something that could never happen now.

    Why didn’t the real Li Yifei just give her a warning in a dream beforehand?

    Tang Yifei looked down at her hands, pondering why the original owner of this body had chosen her to take over. Words from the young girl echoed in her mind:

‘I’m not capable enough, but big sister could do better than me.’

She still didn’t understand what Li Yifei had seen in her.

    Grandma Li shifted her position, perhaps uncomfortable in her sleep, which snapped Tang Yifei out of her thoughts. For now, there was nothing more she could do.

    She had been given a new life, and she had to accept it. She could feel that what she had once lacked, she would gain from this family.

    All she could do now was live this new life well, fulfilling the expectations of the body’s former owner.

    With that in mind, she resolved to get a good night’s sleep so she could wake up refreshed tomorrow and prepare to go home.

    A home she had no clear image of yet.

    It was strange. She remembered once catching her maids sneaking around, reading a novel. The head maid had scolded them, and out of curiosity, Tang Yifei had taken the book for herself.

    Of course, she didn’t steal it; she later had her secretary pay the owner.

    The novel told the story of a young girl whose soul was transferred into another body—just like what had happened to her. But in the novel, the memories of the body’s original owner flooded into the protagonist’s mind instantly.

    In her case, Li Yifei’s memories had only surfaced gradually, triggered by certain events. Perhaps it was due to the accident Li Yifei had suffered—it was possible.

    But there was no point in dwelling on it now. Better to sleep and face the new day ahead. She didn’t have many other options anyway.