Mother Qi remained silent through the entire story. It was a lot to take in—after all, who could immediately accept something as unreal as their daughter having transmigrated into another world?
Qi Jianyi didn't press her for a reaction. She understood. Her mother needed time to process it all.
A few long minutes passed in silence before Mother Qi finally looked up, her eyes meeting Qi Jianyi's. When she spoke, her voice was calm, but layered with emotions she had kept hidden for years.
"Is that why you were so different back then?" she asked quietly. "So awkward with us… it was because it wasn't really you, but the other Qi Jianyi?" She paused, searching her daughter's face.
"That child—so unfamiliar, yet so full of longing… She wasn't you, was she?"
Qi Jianyi slowly nodded. "No, Mom. That wasn't me."
