Inside the second courtyard, as she followed Zeng Jingchu, Tian Jing's eyes immediately fell upon the walls of the main hall, which were covered with photographs.
They were all pictures of her and her four children.
In the photos, she and the children were smiling happily. These were taken five years ago by Boss Zeng when he went to buy watermelons.
Tian Jing turned around, "Boss Zeng, this was all planned beforehand, wasn't it..."
Her words trailed off as she was startled by a woman entering through the doorway.
The woman, who looked no older than fifty but had a head full of white hair, was being supported by an elderly man. She walked falteringly towards Tian Jing.
Tears streamed down the woman's face before she even spoke. Extending her hand towards Tian Jing, she murmured, "Tiantian..."
Tian Jing stepped back, "Who are you?"
Who was this woman who looked exactly like her?
Tian Jing's resistance and wariness caused the woman's tears to flow even more fiercely.
The elderly man half-embraced the woman, patting her chest. "Shuzhen, don't be so upset. The child is so grown up now, and she's doing so well."
"Child? Sister?"
Was she the daughter of this woman who was her spitting image?
This woman was not Chen Yaoming's mother. In her first life, she had seen a photo of Chen Yaoming's mother. This woman bore at most an eight-tenths resemblance to Chen Yaoming's mother.
The first time she met Chen Yaoming and Guo Xiaoli, she had intentionally dressed in a way that resembled that photograph, which led Chen Yaoming and Guo Xiaoli to mistake her.
Who exactly was this woman?
Zeng Jingchu and Zeng Jingliang helped the woman to a Grand Tutor chair against the north wall in the main hall.
The elderly man sat in another Grand Tutor chair on the side.
Only then did Zeng Jingchu approach the stunned Tian Jing, "Sister, please have a seat here."
Tian Jing forcefully shook off Zeng Jingchu's hand.
"Boss Zeng, your two explanations of your identity were both lies to me."
"You came to the provincial capital primarily to find me, didn't you? You saw me eleven years ago, but you hid it. Why are you telling me now?"
"If I had still been the same timid person at the Tian family, you wouldn't have been able to get close to me, would you?"
"If I were not likable, if I were greedy, you wouldn't have continued to approach me, would you?"
"If I were just an ordinary, unremarkable farmer's wife, this scene wouldn't be happening today, would it?"
"It's because I passed your test, and your family's test, isn't it?"
Zeng Jingchu knew that Tian Jing's strong principles could not tolerate deception. "Tiantian, it's not what you think."
"Alright! I'll listen to your explanation of what it is then?"
Tian Jing voluntarily sat on a round chair by the east wall, facing Zeng Jingliang.
Zeng Jingchu sat below Zeng Jingliang and began to explain the whole story to Tian Jing.
The Zeng, Chen, and Han families were old acquaintances.
It was during the generation of Chen Guangping, Chen Yaoming's father.
The Chen family had two sons, the Zeng family had one son, and the Han family had two daughters, with an eleven-year age difference between them.
The three families often interacted, and the younger generations were all familiar with each other.
When the eldest daughter of the Han family, Han Shuqin, was sixteen, the Chen family proposed marriage.
Her father agreed.
By parental decree and matchmaker's word, Han Shuqin married into the Chen family.
Not long after their marriage, the Chen family moved to a provincial capital, citing family tradition.
When Han Shuzhen, the younger daughter, turned sixteen, both the Chen and Zeng families proposed marriage.
Her father chose the Zeng family, following the custom of not putting all one's eggs in the same basket.
After marrying into the Zeng family, Han Shuzhen gave birth to Zeng Jingliang at the end of the year.
From birth, Zeng Jingliang was not in good health, often suffering from colds and fevers.
At the age of two, a high fever nearly cost Zeng Jingliang his life, leaving him with asthma afterward.
Han Shuzhen collapsed from exhaustion while caring for her eldest son. Upon examination, the doctor discovered she was pregnant.
The grandmother took the eldest grandson to personally care for him, instructing her daughter-in-law to take good care of herself during the pregnancy to ensure a healthy grandson.
A few months later, the healthy Zeng Jingchu was born.
The Zeng family rejoiced, as they had been a single-son lineage for three generations.
Good times were short-lived; the Han family suffered a misfortune.
After considerable effort from the Zeng family, they were only able to rescue the six-year-old Han Rong from prison.
The Zeng family renamed him Zeng Jingrong.
Zeng Jingliang's health was often poor, and his attacks were almost fatal.
When Zeng Jingliang was eight years old, the Zeng family learned of a renowned doctor in a provincial capital who was very skilled in treating asthma.
This provincial capital was where Han Shuqin, the eldest daughter of the Han family, lived.
Han Shuzhen and her husband left their younger son with his grandmother and took their elder son to their eldest sister's place to seek medical treatment.
After the treatment, Zeng Jingliang's condition improved significantly. With further consolidation of the treatment, the asthma would not recur so frequently.
The couple was overjoyed and continued to stay with the Chen family while their elder son underwent treatment.
At this time, the Zeng family's business encountered some problems.
After discussion, Zeng Honglin decided to return first to handle the business, while Han Shuzhen stayed behind.
One evening, after Han Shuzhen had put her elder son, who had taken his medicine, to sleep, she returned to her room, only to be embraced by someone.
A woman's strength was naturally no match for a man's.
After forcing himself on her, the man declared he had fallen in love with the shy and gentle Han Shuzhen and had no feelings for the strong-willed Han Shuqin.
Marriage was merely for family interests.
Indeed, this man was Han Shuzhen's brother-in-law.
Han Shuzhen threw everything off the bed, finally driving away Chen Guangping, who dared to utter such shameless sweet nothings to her.
She wept bitterly all night, nearly taking her own life. However, thinking of her frail elder son in the next room and her younger son with his grandmother, she finally endured.
The next day, when her elder sister came to visit, she saw Han Shuzhen's red and swollen eyes and asked what was wrong.
Facing her elder sister, she could not bring herself to speak of her brother-in-law's actions. She simply said she was worried about her children and the family business, and asked her sister to stay with her for the night.
Half a month later, Zeng Honglin arrived, and Han Shuzhen no longer needed her elder sister to accompany her.
Another half month later, Zeng Jingliang's condition stabilized, and the couple planned to return to the capital. It was then that Han Shuzhen discovered she was pregnant.
Han Shuzhen could no longer bear the grievances in her heart and confessed to her husband about that night.
Zeng Honglin wanted to confront Chen Guangping for an explanation, but Han Shuzhen stopped him. If such a matter were to become known, how could she continue to live?
Zeng Honglin also regretted leaving at such a time.
Upon returning to the capital, Han Shuzhen prepared to have an abortion. However, her in-laws, believing it to be Zeng family's child, absolutely refused.
Six months later, Han Shuzhen gave birth prematurely to a daughter.
The political climate grew increasingly unstable, and the Zeng family planned to emigrate overseas.
Han Shuzhen was unwilling to face this daughter, although the daughter was still young and showed no signs of the Chen family, which could not be guaranteed in the future.
She couldn't bear to abandon her, so she ultimately chose a farming family in the suburbs of the capital.
The reason for choosing a farming family was that in that era, farming families could live a stable life.
Moreover, the family consisted of honest and upright individuals with only two sons, and they were willing to adopt a daughter.
On top of that, the family that gave away their daughter provided a considerable amount of money and jewelry.
Once everything was arranged, the Zeng family emigrated overseas.
Only then did the Zeng family's in-laws discover that their granddaughter was missing and questioned Han Shuzhen.
Zeng Honglin smoothed things over for his wife, claiming they only realized their daughter was missing when they boarded the ship.
She must have been snatched away by someone in the crowded dock.
He couldn't abandon his entire family to search for her, could he?
The Zeng family's elders were helpless and could only instruct that when the situation in the country improved, they must find the Zeng family bloodline.
Even after giving away her daughter, Han Shuzhen was not happy, as it was a piece of her own flesh and blood.
Slowly, she developed depression.
Years later, Zeng's parents passed away, and Zeng Honglin took over the family business.
He expanded the family business even further.