On a late July afternoon, the sun over G Province was still dazzlingly bright.
The Su family mansion was surrounded by picturesque gardens. Apart from the magnificent main villa, there were a few small outbuildings in a secluded corner. These housed the villa owner’s servants, as well as… the newly recognized “adopted son,” Su Zhisheng.
On a large tree outside the small building’s window, a fluffy little sparrow chirped proudly.
“Hey~ the fake young master buried something outside your house, and the bird has already taken the evidence for you, chirp.”
A slender, fair hand reached out from the windowsill, its palm holding grains that birds love.
“Good work. This is your payment.” Su Zhisheng watched as the sparrow landed on his palm and pecked happily.
He reached out with his other hand and removed the tiny hidden camera strapped to the bird’s leg.
“Now… we just wait for them to come knocking.” Su Zhisheng’s handsome face turned cold.
Back in the day, Su Zhisheng had been abandoned in a desolate mountain village as an infant. His kind adoptive mother raised him by working as a dishwasher.
Su Zhisheng had always been strangely popular with animals. Through hard work, he gained admission to the Veterinary Medicine program at Huaguo National First Agricultural University.
In the second semester of his junior year, his adoptive mother fell ill and was hospitalized, urgently needing a large sum of money for surgery. Su Zhisheng had no choice but to intern at his professor’s pet hospital while saving up through part-time jobs in his spare time.
Just then, the wealthy Su family also discovered that their youngest son had been switched at birth by their former nanny. But the fake young master was mutually in love with the heir of the top-tier Wei family, and their engagement was imminent. So Su Jingye concealed the truth from the outside world and brought Su Zhisheng in as an “adopted son” under the pretext of fate.
High society all assumed Su Zhisheng was an illegitimate child and quietly ostracized him. The family doted on the fake young master, so Su Zhisheng simply left early and returned late, avoiding conflict.
After his fever broke yesterday, Su Zhisheng suddenly realized he could understand animal speech. So, living in that remote little outbuilding, he quickly became friends with the sparrows around the villa.
Su Zhisheng could entertain himself just fine, but the fake young master clearly wasn’t going to let him be. The fake master’s usual snide, melodramatic antics were one thing, but this time he secretly bought mangoes and mixed them into drinks in the kitchen.
The little sparrow knew the fake young master had a severe mango allergy and immediately came to warn him.
Fortunately, Su Zhisheng had already installed hidden pinhole cameras in his own room for self-protection. He decided to go along with the scheme, removed one camera, and strapped it to the bird’s leg. Sure enough, he successfully recorded evidence of the fake young master sneaking around near his house, burying the mangoes!
“That fraud used to drop snide hints, saying the deadbeat dad was planning to sell me off to some rich playboy.” Su Zhisheng’s lips curled slightly. “Who knew… the perfect chance to break free from this family would actually be handed to me by him?”
The little sparrow chirped in cheerful agreement: “Chirp chirp! Your human ATM is about to come online~”
While waiting, Su Zhisheng sat down at the desk by the window, opened his laptop, and continued studying veterinary knowledge ahead of time.
As dinnertime approached, footsteps finally sounded outside.
A large, surly group barged straight in.
His stepmother’s eyes were brimming with tears as she launched straight into an accusation: “Zhisheng, we may favor Xiaojie, but we haven’t mistreated you. If we hadn’t dug up those mangoes under the tree in front of your house, I never would have imagined you could be so cruel as to send Xiaojie into anaphylactic shock!”
Seeing the predictable plot unfold, Su Zhisheng propped his head up with one hand and, instead of getting angry, smiled.
“I think he just lost control of the dosage since it’s been so long since he last touched a mango. He tried to harm me but nearly ended up killing himself instead. Honestly, I find it hilarious.”
“How dare you try to talk your way out of this?!” Su Jingye, the head of the Su family, grew even colder at his words.
“If Xiaojie weren’t lying there barely alive and still pleading for mercy on your behalf, I would have thrown you out of this house long ago! If you have even a shred of conscience left, you’ll go kneel by Xiaojie’s bedside right now.”
Su Zhisheng turned his laptop screen to face everyone directly. “Here, take a look at this.”
On the screen, the fake young master was furtively glancing around. After confirming the servants were all working elsewhere and that Su Zhisheng wasn’t outside, he pulled out a small shovel and started digging.
Though the item he buried was wrapped in a plastic bag, everyone had just dug it up and could immediately recognize it as the offending mango.
Suddenly, the room fell completely silent!
Su Jingye, the head of the family, looked somewhat embarrassed.
He stiffened his neck, unable to bring himself to apologize, but his tone softened considerably.
“This was Xiaojie’s fault. I’ll discipline him properly when I get back.”
“Oh? No demand for him to come kneel before my bed?” Su Zhisheng raised an eyebrow. He actually had a different plan in mind and was simply throwing out an unacceptable demand as a bargaining tactic.
Sure enough, Su Jingye’s face darkened. “We’re family. Don’t push it.”
His stepmother’s tone was gentle, but her words were nothing but inflammatory. “Xiaojie is marrying into the top-tier Wei family. As his second brother, you’ll bask in the reflected glory. Ever since news of the engagement got out, the families willing to arrange a match with you have become considerably more desirable. Xiaojie is your lucky charm…”
Su Zhisheng’s expression turned cold.
If it weren’t for his adoptive mother’s surgery fees, he would have left this toxic, filthy Su household long ago. This so-called “marriage arrangement” was nothing more than selling him off to some playboy.
“He’s indeed a lucky charm—because this video and all its backups are worth 300,000 yuan. Either you pay up, or I sell them to outsiders.”
Su Zhisheng propped his head on one hand and curled his lips into a smirk. “The entertainment company that’s a rival to the Su family would probably love to make a big splash, don’t you think?”
“What Su family? This is YOUR family!” Su Jingye was furious.
No one had ever dared to provoke him like this to his face before!
“Not for much longer.” Su Zhisheng began packing his things. “You don’t need to kick me out. I don’t want to stay in this filthy, toxic dump any longer anyway.”
Su Jingye’s veins bulged with rage as he gritted his teeth. “Butler—transfer him the money and get him out of my sight!”
So hot-headed and useless. Zhisheng was clearly unfit for any real responsibility and would only ever amount to marriage collateral.
Within three months, this son of his—once the real world had beaten him down—would come crawling back, sobbing and begging for forgiveness!
—
The next day, the sun was just as bright. But inside the G Province First People’s Hospital, the wards were filled with worried patients and their anxious families.
Su Zhisheng poured a glass of warm water and handed it to his adoptive mother.
His handsome features carried a trace of delight. “The surgery fees are fully covered now. You’ll be better soon.”
His adoptive mother, Su Yingmei, held the warm cup in her hands, but the worry on her face only deepened.
“That’s over two hundred thousand yuan. How could they possibly be willing to give you that much money?!”
The patient in the next bed had been discharged yesterday. Now, in the large three-bed room, only the two of them remained. That meant they could speak freely about private matters.
His adoptive mother frowned deeply. “When the Su family announced the adoption, they just said they’d taken in an adopted son. Everyone online assumed you were an illegitimate child and cursed you out. Thank goodness they didn’t release your name or photo—otherwise, that fake young master’s fans would’ve torn you apart!”
She put down her cup and nervously clutched Su Zhisheng’s sleeve.
“You didn’t agree to some condition of theirs, did you? My illness isn’t that serious. The surgery isn’t urgent…”
Su Zhisheng gently patted his adoptive mother’s hand. “Relax. I’m fine. I just sold that fraud out…”
Su Yingmei: “?!”
Upon learning that Su Zhisheng had voluntarily left the wealthy family, his adoptive mother finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good riddance. Even though you always told me everything was fine, those online comments were awful—and your biological father and older brother never said a single good word in your defense. I knew that Su family wasn’t a good place to be. Once I’m better, I can work again, and we’ll—”
“Just focus on getting well. Don’t underestimate me.” Su Zhisheng smiled and pulled a ball of yarn from his bag. “Here’s the yarn you wanted. Knit a little if you’d like, but don’t wear yourself out.”
The daily injections while waiting for surgery were indeed boring—no wonder his adoptive mother wanted to knit sweaters to pass the time.
She picked up a small tape measure and measured Su Zhisheng’s waist and back. “You’ve lost weight. What a lousy excuse for a wealthy family—all they’re good for is tormenting people…”
Seeing his mother start to knit, Su Zhisheng sat down beside her, scrolled through his phone, and began planning for the future.
He had gotten 300,000 yuan from the Su family—over two hundred thousand of which would go toward the surgery, with the remainder left for post-operative recovery.
The family’s savings had been mostly drained by hospitalization and treatment, with only 5,000 yuan left. Now, at the end of July, with just over a month until the new semester started, he needed to earn his tuition and living expenses quickly.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to squeeze more money out of the Su family, but 300,000 yuan was the limit. After all, the fake young master and his fiancé were childhood sweethearts. A scandal could tarnish their reputation, but it couldn’t completely destroy the engagement.
Su Zhisheng had no intention of becoming the Su family’s marriage pawn, so his only choice was to continue interning at the pet hospital while picking up some side gigs to make money.
However, after awakening the ability to understand animal speech, Su Zhisheng suddenly had far more options for earning a living.
Come to think of it, the police occasionally offered rewards for leads. He could buy some small treats, ask around with the animals, and act as a middleman—pocketing the difference!
Ahem. It would be a mutually beneficial collaboration between the police, the people, and the animals.
Thinking along these lines, Su Zhisheng began searching for local cases.
Soon, a missing college student case from Yuntian City caught his attention.
Zhou Jiale, a freshman at a film and television school, had vanished after entering a village within the city limits. The police had searched the relevant buildings in the sections without surveillance footage but found nothing.
Authorities determined that Zhou Jiale had likely gotten into a vehicle and left the village. They were currently reviewing footage of passing cars. Of course, they also hadn’t ruled out the possibility that Zhou Jiale had been attacked inside the village and transported away in something like a suitcase.
“Ouch… No wonder they’re asking for leads. This really is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Su Zhisheng normally would have headed straight to that village to ask the animals for clues.
But in that moment, his eyes were fixed on Zhou Jiale’s photo, lost in thought.
This young man looked familiar. Where had he seen him before?
Just then, Su Zhisheng’s phone buzzed.
It was a text message from his stepmother.
Yes, Su Zhisheng hadn’t blocked any of these people.
Because the 300,000 yuan was hush money for the mango-framing incident. As for hush money to keep the fake young master’s identity a secret… he had never taken any!
He was very much looking forward to the fake young master’s engagement banquet and had long been preparing to send a wave of “well-wishes.” Weren’t sincerely loving fiancés supposed to be honest with each other?
And just so he could enjoy the sight of those people falling apart, Su Zhisheng had deliberately refrained from blocking his “family.” Who said he wasn’t vengeful?
Of course, in the eyes of his stepmother and the fake young master, this failure to block them meant Su Zhisheng was still hoping to return to the wealthy family.
His stepmother, who had long wanted him gone, would naturally try to discourage him.
[We’ve just found a suitable marriage prospect. Good family background, decent-looking, and young. Your father has already met him and is very satisfied. Sure, Zhang Weilong plays around a bit, but what man doesn’t stray?]
Su Zhisheng: “…”
The photo showed a young man in his twenties with average looks—at first glance, a decent candidate for an arranged marriage.
Undoubtedly, the stepmother had chosen a prospect that would pass muster with his deadbeat dad. But knowing Su Zhisheng wouldn’t accept it, she deliberately pointed out the man’s unfaithfulness, hoping Su Zhisheng would go cause a scene.
Su Zhisheng narrowed his eyes slightly—and finally remembered where he’d seen Zhou Jiale before.
Back when the Su family had held the adoption banquet for their “adopted son,” they had invited a crowd of wealthy guests. Zhang Weilong had attended with Zhou Jiale as his plus-one, and Su Zhisheng had briefly crossed paths with them.
A small smile curled Su Zhisheng’s lips as he typed out a message, asking his stepmother for the man’s address and phone number.
“Blind dates are too stiff. I’ll go have a casual run-in with him instead. The better I get along with him, the more I can repay the family through this marriage.”
On the other end of the WeChat conversation, his stepmother didn’t reply for a long time—clearly stunned by Su Zhisheng’s complete lack of pride.
But no matter how much she disliked Su Zhisheng, as long as the head of the Su family hadn’t given up on the idea, she had no choice but to hold her nose and provide him with the information.
Su Zhisheng smiled in satisfaction.
He stood up, said goodbye to his adoptive mother, and took a taxi to Zhang Weilong’s villa.
As soon as he approached the villa’s fence, Su Zhisheng heard a husky in the yard barking at a squirrel in the tree.
“I am definitely my owner’s biological son! He buries bones, and I bury bones—that’s heredity!”
“Stupid dog, your owner is burying a BODY!”
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