Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia were fully aware of Chang Jingqiu's worry about the disclosure of her true identity, which was exactly why they could blackmail Chang Jingqiu for this matter.

However, Chang Jingqiu was raised in the Chang family for twenty-seven years after all.

The phrase Chang Zhiyuan mentioned was absolutely right—normal human beings would have feelings for their pet dogs or cats after raising them for more than ten years, not to mention raising, tolerating, and loving a child sincerely for twenty-seven years!

Chang Zhiyuan sighed. "Stand up."

"Uncle..." The teary-eyed Chang Jingqiu clung to the hope and stood up.

"Let's go home and tell your grandma about this. We need to decide about your future together. Anyhow, you can't occupy my biological niece's place and we need to recognize my real niece if we can locate her. Your grandma will make the decisions but don't worry, I won't let you suffer as well," Chang Zhiyuan stared at Chang Jingqiu indecisively.

Chang Zhiyuan's statement extinguished all hope in Chang Jingqiu. The ashen-grey faced Chang Jingqiu could not believe that her desperate plea and attempts in belittling herself to mere specks of dust ended up being futile, and Chang Zhiyuan merely gave her a perfunctory statement in return.

Chang Jingqiu knew Grandmother Chang all too well since she had been accompanying and ingratiating Grandmother Chang for all her life. Grandmother Chang was a heartless lady who would throw her out of the house without hesitation when her true identity was disclosed. Grandmother Chang would not allow an outsider, especially a daughter of two lowlife villagers, to bring disgrace to the Chang family.

Grandmother Chang may even give Chang Jingqiu the cold-shoulder for wasting the Chang family's food even if Chang Jingqiu's parents were not as unpresentable as Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia.

Chang Zhiyuan's decision was basically sentencing Chang Jingqiu to death!

Chang Jingqiu even thought that… that Chang Zhiyuan had feelings for her!

Huang Pinggui and Wang Lixia were so scared that they lost their courage to speak.

They stood idly by when Chang Zhiyuan dragged Chang Jingqiu out of the house, but this time, Chang Jingqiu stood her ground and tried desperately to stop Chang Zhiyuan's actions.

"Uncle, uncle, please don't tell grandma. She won't accept me! She'll despise me since I wasn't born in the Chang family, so there's no way she'll accept me. Uncle—" Chang Jingqiu was dragged out of the house to the courtyard by Chang Zhiyuan in the end despite using up all her strength.

Chang Jingqiu's statement was stopped short at the look on Chang Zhiyuan's face.

"What do you want with my real niece when you insist that I keep this a secret? Do you want her to stay outside without a chance to meet her family for her whole life while you enjoy the privilege that was supposed to be hers? Is there any difference between this and your initial thoughts? You said you were wrong, but I don't think you realize your mistakes yet based on your words just now."

At this moment, Huang Jincheng came out of the lodge beside the main house and stared anxiously at the ongoing commotion.

Chang Jingqiu could not bother to explain further and shook her head vigorously. "I didn't mean that. Uncle, I'm just afraid, afraid that grandma won't accept me anymore."

Chang Zhiyuan sighed. "What do you have to be afraid of? Your quality of life won't deteriorate at all even if Grandmother Chang chose not to accept you anymore. The money I had left for you when you were young was being kept in a trust. I won't reclaim that money and you can still withdraw them as usual. Besides, you have a job now with no worries in life. I bought a house for you in the city under your name and I won't ask you to return it to me. None of it is going to change except for the title of the Chang family's young madam. You don't even need to change your current name too."

Chang Zhiyuan's expression softened up gradually as he comforted Chang Jingqiu. "Besides, this is the worst possible outcome for you. I'll help you persuade Grandmother Chang to let you continue your stay in the Chang family and keep the title of the Chang family's young madam. I'll just mention that we have another niece staying outside as an orphan. That way, you won't suffer any losses at all no matter the circumstances."

She would not suffer losses? How?

Despite being rich, Chang Jingqiu was nothing without the title of the Chang family's young madam.

Those who had a close relationship with Chang Jingqiu initially would ignore her completely. Once they realized Chang Jingqiu's biological parents' identities, they would despise her and her status would end up being lower than Xia Zishan!

"Uncle! Uncle!" The only thought that went through Chang Jingqiu's mind was to stop Chang Zhiyuan at all costs.

The duo was having a tug of war on their way to the car. Lao Liang was going to enter the driver seat while Chang Zhiyuan went around to get into the passenger seat.

Chang Jingqiu was following closely behind Chang Zhiyuan throughout the journey, but he was getting annoyed at Chang Jingqiu's constant disturbance and shoved her aside.

An idea formed in Chang Jingqiu's mind. She peeked at the slope beside her and through gritted teeth, she leaned backward, voluntarily allowing a freefall.

"Ah! Uncle!" Chang Jingqiu exclaimed. She reached out to Chang Zhiyuan, hoping that he would save her while her body tumbled backward.

Chang Zhiyuan was taken by surprise and turned around quickly, only to see Chang Jingqiu rolling down the slope like a puppet suddenly released of their strings. Subconsciously, he tried to grab Chang Jingqiu's outreached hand.

"Jingqiu!" Chang Zhiyuan yelled and finally held onto Chang Jingqiu's hand amidst the panic. However, Chang Jingqiu's downward force was too much and with a trip, Chang Zhiyuan was brought down the slope by the momentum.

Chang Zhiyuan and Chang Jingqiu parted ways as they rolled down the declivity uncontrollably.

Chang Zhiyuan only felt some rocks and unknown sharp objects stabbing and jabbing his body, and his head knocking against everything along the bumpy slope. He tried to scream for help, but words failed to come out of his mouth.

All of a sudden, the back of Chang Zhiyuan's head slammed into a huge rock. Then, darkness consumed him completely as his consciousness faded away. Meanwhile, Chang Jingqiu continued to roll and flip down the slope.

"Brother Chang!" Lao Liang exclaimed after noticing Chang Zhiyuan coming to a halt but ended up in an unconscious state.

Finally, Chang Jingqiu came to an absolute stop when her lower back crashed into a thick tree trunk, screaming in pain as her body trembled in agony.

Lao Liang was a well-reputed police officer who was a superb marksman, skillful in close combat, and had excellent crime-solving skills before he changed his career to become a private investigator. Thus, he regained his calm quickly after a slight moment of anxiety and called the police immediately.

There was only one local police station in-charge of nearby villages, so the police officers needed some time to arrive at the scene. Lao Liang went to the edge of the slope and glanced at Chang Jingqiu who was lying beside a tree with ashen-grey face and closed eyes. The mud, grit, and weeds had become enmeshed with her raw pink flesh spotted with blood as she was cut in multiple places due to the rocks down the bumpy slope.

"Brother Chang!" Lao Liang had no idea if Chang Zhiyuan was able to hear him or not. "Miss Chang, I'll save you guys, hang on! I called the police, so now I'm going to ask the villagers for ropes first!"

Then, Lao Liang took a glance at the duo to ensure that they had come to an absolute stop before borrowing ropes from each house.

The police officers arrived shortly after Lao Liang returned with three long hemp ropes. Moreover, the villagers who borrowed ropes to Lao Liang had men in their houses too, and when they heard someone had accidentally fallen down the hill, they rushed to the scene to lend a helping hand.

After they tied the ropes together, Lao Liang wrapped one end of the rope around his waist while passing the other end of the rope to two police officers before sliding down the slope cautiously.

Chang Jingqiu wished to be unconscious rather than staying awake because an excruciating pain came from her lower back as if a knife was being twisted in her spine. The pain was so unbearable that she almost wished for death.

Chang Jingqiu tried to move but quickly realized how futile it was as energy was drained completely from her body. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Every movement would cause a sharp pain to lance through her lower back and felt as if her spine was going to break into half.

However, Chang Jingqiu had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. Even the slightest breathing would induce an agonizing pain, making her grunt.

Never did Chang Jingqiu expect that she would ever end up badly wounded.

Chang Jingqiu merely glanced at the slope and concluded that it was not steep enough and certainly not a high cliff at all. She had decided to take a leap of faith since she would lose everything anyway when she returned to the Chang family.

Since the situation was beyond saving, Chang Jingqiu came up with a rather ruthless idea—a trick to secure Chang Zhiyuan's faith by inflicting pain on herself deliberately.

Chang Zhiyuan would definitely feel guilty if he was the cause of Chang Jingqiu's physical suffering, and because of that, he would not act too harshly and might even compensate for her agony.

A small injury in exchange for persistent wealth and glory in the future. Totally worth it!

There was a saying—you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. How could success be achieved without sacrifices?

Chang Jingqiu possessed such determination.

Thus, with gritted teeth, Chang Jingqiu fought for her glorious future.

However, it was impossible to calculate everything perfectly since this idea was merely formed spontaneously. One could consider her actions as a cornered beast acting desperately.

The slope seemed to have a gradual incline to it when Chang Jingqiu observed it from above just now, so she assumed that it was not really a big deal to roll down the slope.

However, Chang Jingqiu realized that there were many solid and unpleasantly jagged rocks embedded along the declivity upon rolling down.

Chang Jingqiu slammed into every rock along the slope with uncontrollable force, feeling the cut and jabs on all parts of her body—arms, waist, legs and so on. The pain was so overwhelming that she started to feel regretful about her leap of faith.

Chang Jingqiu even experienced a burning pain on her forehead when she accidentally knocked her head during the process. She could even feel a warm gush of fluid flowing down her forehead, but unsure if that was merely due to her psychological thoughts.

Chang Jingqiu endured all of these physical sufferings through gritted teeth, but she did not expect the last hit to be her doom.

Finally, Chang Jingqiu came to a halt by the tree trunk that stood in her pathway, but her lower back crashed right into it and the pain made her feel like her spine was shattered. Due to that last hit, she did not feel like herself anymore.

Chang Jingqiu stared anxiously at Lao Liang who was sliding down the slope slowly and cautiously. Then, he said after reaching Chang Jingqiu's side, "How are you feeling? Where did you get hurt?"

"Lower back… my lower back… hurts… like hell…" Chang Jingqiu's body quivered with every word which appeared especially agonizing.

Lao Liang fixed his gaze on Chang Jingqiu before shifting it to the unconscious Chang Zhiyuan who was lying nearby and said, "Brother Chang is unconscious and I've no idea where he got injured. I'll pull him up first and come back for you later."

Then, Lao Liang moved toward the unconscious Chang Zhiyuan.

"Save … save…" Chang Jingqiu wanted Lao Liang to save her first. She could not care less about Chang Zhiyuan's fate since he would be more useful dead than alive. That way, no one would be able to reveal her secret anymore. However, she was unable to think clearly as the overwhelming pain caused her mind to be inoperable.

Chang Jingqiu was so scared at the moment. She wanted to live.

Despite the excruciating pain in her lower back which sent Chang Jingqiu into uncontrollable convulsions, she suddenly recalled that other than Chang Zhiyuan, Lao Liang was aware of the whole situation too. If Chang Zhiyuan regained consciousness and Lao Liang conveyed her thoughts to him, her ruthless plan would fail in the end.

Ideally, Chang Jingqiu would prefer if she fell down the slope alone while Chang Zhiyuan stood above ground safely. That way, Chang Zhiyuan would be the cause of her agony and give consideration to her welfare due to his guilty conscience.

Unlike the current situation where both Chang Jingqiu and Chang Zhiyuan fell down the declivity together and no one had any idea how badly injured Chang Zhiyuan was.

Chang Jingqiu's face contorted but unsure if it was due to the possible failure of her scheme or the excruciating pain in her lower back.

"Save… my uncle… save… uncle first…" Chang Jingqiu stammered due to strenuous effort in voicing out words. Fortunately, it was not too late to correct herself since she did not complete her previous statement due to stammering.

Lao Liang nodded before moving toward Chang Zhiyuan cautiously. He checked for breathing and listened for heartbeats before concluding that Chang Zhiyuan merely lost consciousness. Then, he did a thorough physical examination. Other than bruises after getting knocked by rocks along the slope, there was no obvious wound noted on Chang Zhiyuan's body.

Lao Liang felt a huge swelling on Chang Zhiyuan's occiput after slipping his hand carefully to the back of his head, which was an indication that his head was struck just now. It was fairly obvious that Chang Zhiyuan's current state of unconsciousness was related to it. Fortunately, Lao Liang could not feel any obvious warm fluid around the swelling.

Lao Liang retrieved his hand and noticed that only the pulp of his middle finger was slightly stained with blood.

Then, Lao Liang lifted Chang Zhiyuan's head with extreme care. After noticing that there were only a few blood streaks on his hairline which were not obvious at all, Lao Liang relaxed immediately.

Lao Liang untied the rope that encircled around his waist and knotted it around Chang Zhiyuan's waist before asking the crowd above to pull the rope gently. During the process, Lao Liang followed closely behind Chang Zhiyuan to ensure that there were no further knocks on him.

After Chang Zhiyuan was pulled up successfully, they placed him on the back of the car, bandaged, and gave him first aid. Then, Lao Liang tied the rope around his waist again to save Chang Jingqiu.

The frightened Chang Jingqiu was getting impatient after waiting for some time, worrying that she would be left alone in this place. After seeing Lao Liang returning for her, she relaxed immediately and waited eagerly for her life to be saved.

Chang Jingqiu trembled as tears rolled down her cheeks. Lao Liang planned to untie the rope around his waist and knot it around Chang Jingqiu like what he did to Chang Zhiyuan and let the men above pull her to safety first. Then, they would throw the rope down again for him to get up, since it would be arduous to pull both of them at the same time.

However, just when Lao Liang was about to untie the rope, Chang Jingqiu understood his intention immediately and rejected weakly, "No… can't… my… lower back… hurts… badly… can't tie…"

Doubt flashed across Lao Liang's mind immediately, but he did not voice out his concern at that moment. He merely nodded to indicate that he understood the situation and yelled to the men above, "Her lower back hurts so we can't pull her up. Are you guys okay to pull both of us together?"

"No problem! There are villagers who are willing to help," the police officer responded.

Lao Liang took a glance and saw two men joining the rescue attempt. Since five men were more than enough to pull just the two of them up, he nodded in response.

Lao Liang slipped his hand under Chang Jingqiu's arm and just when he was about to lift her, Chang Jingqiu screamed at the top of her lungs. "Cannot! My lower back! Argh! It's painful! Pain! Don't move! Don't touch me! Pain… boohoo… it's so painful…"

Lao Liang frowned and peeked at Chang Jingqiu's lower back. He had a bad feeling about this.

"You've got to hold on. You can't just lie down here forever. You need to get up quickly so that we can send you to a hospital. Your injury may worsen if you stay down here any longer, and you'll regret your decision," Lao Liang replied calmly without feeling the slightest compassion for Chang Jingqiu.

Chang Jingqiu's face was a mess with mud and tears smearing across her face. She had a bad feeling about the unusual pain in her lower back but was unwilling to think further about it.

Chang Jingqiu merely thought to herself that it should not be a big problem and she should not be scared out of wits since anyone who injured his waist would definitely experience an excruciating pain afterward.

"Save… save me… I'll endure… you… bring me up…" Chang Jingqiu wept.

Lao Liang gave a gentle reminder before mustering up his strength. "Hold on."

Then, Lao Liang slipped his hand under Chang Jingqiu's arm and lifted her without touching her lower back.

Chang Jingqiu convulsed in pain and gritted her teeth as tears started to stream down her cheeks uncontrollably. The only thing she wished at the moment was to get up as soon as possible.

Inevitably, Chang Jingqiu crashed into the rocks along the bumpy slope with each pull of the rope, which sent her crying in pain throughout the journey. Finally, she reached the surface and two police officers quickly took her to safety.

Lao Liang reminded, "She injured her lower back and we've no idea how bad it is right now."

"There aren't any decent hospitals around these villages, so she needs to go to the district to get herself checked," said the police officer.

Lao Liang nodded in response. Since Chang Zhiyuan was lying on the back of his car, Chang Jingqiu had no choice but to rest in a supine position in the police car.

The police officers were fully aware of Chang Zhiyuan and Chang Jingqiu's injuries, so they drove the police car at the front to make way so that the patients could reach the district hospital as soon as possible.

Chang Jingqiu was in so much pain and the doctor had no choice but to order an X-ray immediately. Since Chang Zhiyuan remained unconscious, the doctor took a detailed history profile before arranging a cranial computed tomography scan for him.

After that, a nurse came out while Lao Liang was waiting for the result. "Who's the patients' family member?"

"The patients who arrived just now are uncle and his niece, and I'm their friend. Their family members are in B City so they can't rush here in such a short time," Lao Liang stood up and explained.

The nurse nodded in response. "Follow me please."

There was only a doctor and a nurse inside the consultation room with a film hanging beside the table.

"Doctor," Lao Liang sat down.

The doctor pointed at the film and explained. "We did a cranial computed tomography scan for the patient named Chang Zhiyuan, and the result is normal so far, but we need to wait until the patient wakes up for further detailed investigations."

"When can he wake up?" Lao Liang asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I can't give you a time frame. The problem right now is that everything is normal so far. It's better to have found something during our investigations and treat symptomatically. A brain injury can be disastrous. I'm worried that there are some injuries at the cellular level and there's no manifestation of signs and symptoms yet, so we can only wait until he regains consciousness." Lao Liang then asked, "When can he wake up?"

"Truth be told, this is just a district hospital. Our facilities aren't as good as tertiary referral hospitals."

"Is it alright to transfer Chang Zhiyuan to B City in his current condition?" Lao Liang asked again.

The doctor mentioned everything should be fine and Lao Liang nodded to indicate understanding. Then, the doctor explained Chang Jingqiu's situation.

"You can see that there's an obvious fracture here. A huge traumatic impact fractured the patient's lumbar spine and damaged the associated nerves. There's a great possibility that she'll be paralyzed even after surgical repair."

Lao Liang was stunned after hearing that. Despite his dislike toward some of Chang Jingqiu's behaviors, he had never intended to let her suffer such a great loss.

A young, healthy beauty who was alive and kicking with such a great future ahead of her ended up being paralyzed and had to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of her life?

"You said a great possibility, does that mean she can still recover as well?" Lao Liang asked hopefully.

However, the doctor shook his head again. "Let me tell you the truth. Even though this is just a district hospital that doesn't receive as many patients with intractable diseases as tertiary referral hospitals, and there aren't many patients too; as a doctor, I've received many patients with various diseases, and in my experience, no one can recover with such a serious injury."

"The only reason why we'll say this is because we need to take care of the family members' emotions and give them hope. We don't want the family members to collapse before the patient even recovers. The patient needs his family members' guidance and support for closure too. I think you're not the type who needs others to deceive and give you false hope, and you seem to have a strong mind too,, that's why I'm telling you the truth. I hope you're fully prepared," the doctor continued.

Lao Liang nodded in response. Even a bystander like him had trouble accepting this information, so what kind of reaction Chang Jingqiu could possibly have after realizing this fact?