Mrs. Wen chimed in from the side, “Your dad misses you so much. Even your brother talks about you every day at home, saying how much he misses his sister.”
Wen Ci narrowed her eyes coldly.
In her memory, the one who had treated her best in the Wen family was indeed her younger brother, Wen Yaozu. Just 14 years old, he already weighed around 180 pounds.
Wen Yaozu had been pampered since childhood in the Wen household. White Rabbit candies, peach crisps, malted milk, nougat—all kinds of snacks were his for the taking.
Meanwhile, the original Wen Ci got none of it.
Only Yaozu would sneak snacks to share with his sister when their parents weren’t around. Though he was a troublemaker in the village, the chubby boy was an obedient younger brother in front of Wen Ci.
He would go west if she told him to, never east.
However, her bond with Wen Yaozu had nothing to do with the Wen parents. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and looked at them with a sharp gaze:
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going back to take a nap.”
“Give us some money.”
Wen Ci couldn’t help but laugh.
So they came here to ask for money?
Suddenly, Wen Ci sensed something was off.
How did they know she had returned to the capital military base?
“We’re not asking for money for nothing. Once Yaozu gets into university and starts working, he’ll send you a red envelope every month.”
Wen Ci couldn’t help but shake her head with a smile.
University?
With the way these two spoiled him, it was questionable whether Yaozu could even finish middle school, let alone dream of university.
“What, you don’t believe my Yaozu can get into university?”
“No,” Wen Ci denied.
Yaozu was clever and perceptive, but his intelligence wasn’t channeled in the right direction. Without guidance, he might end up on a path of crime in the future.
Wen Ci’s heart was suddenly torn.
She wanted to help Yaozu find the right path, but she didn’t want to have too much contact with the Wen family.
“Why don’t you ask your biological daughter for money?”
“She’s been kicked out of the Jiang family. Where would she get money?”
Hearing this, Wen Ci lowered her eyelids, crossed her arms, and smiled charmingly. “Since she doesn’t have money, why do you think I would?”
“If you don’t give us money, don’t think we won’t spread the word that you’re not really the Jiang family’s daughter. You’re just a country girl from the countryside!”
Wen Ci shrugged.
Their threats didn’t faze her at all.
If anything, it would be Minister Jiang’s reputation that would suffer, not hers. She smiled and said, “Go ahead, spread the word. The bigger the scandal, the better~”
When Minister Jiang’s reputation took a hit, he would have the couple arrested and punished accordingly. That might even help set Wen Yaozu on the right path.
“We’d better keep a low profile,” Mrs. Wen glanced at the soldiers in the guardhouse and lowered her voice. “Don’t provoke her biological father.”
This instantly cooled Mr. Wen’s temper.
They couldn’t afford to push the girl too far—not yet.
Wen Ci remembered Su Guilan mentioning that she had bought Jiang Ye an apartment near the school. She smiled and said, “Jiang Ye has her own apartment in the city.”
With that, she turned and walked back toward the residential compound.
The couple exchanged glances. “Do you think the girl’s telling the truth?”
“Didn’t Xiao Ye say the apartment was under the Jiang family’s son’s name?”
·
Not far from the capital military base gate, Jiang Ye had been watching the trio’s conversation. After a while, she still hadn’t seen Wen Ci hand over any money.
Frustrated, she stomped her foot and muttered under her breath, “Useless. They got sent away after just a few words.”
She had hoped to make Wen Ci pay dearly.
Once she was sure Wen Ci was gone, Jiang Ye frowned and walked over to the couple. She asked bluntly, “Why didn’t you get any money?”
Mr. Wen looked at Jiang Ye, his eyes filled with greed. In full view of everyone, he grabbed Jiang Ye’s hand and dragged her into a nearby alley, smiling as he said:
“Dad has something to ask you.”
A flash of malice crossed Jiang Ye’s eyes, but her wrist was tightly gripped, and she couldn’t break free. Once they were in the alley, she narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists.
“What do you want?”
Mrs. Wen tried to soothe her. “Sweetheart, don’t overthink it. Your dad just has a few questions. He won’t do anything to you.”
Jiang Ye relaxed her fists. “Ask.”
Hearing this, Mr. Wen rubbed his hands together excitedly, a smile plastered on his face. “Whose name is the apartment near the school under?”
He had already calculated that the apartment, located in the heart of the capital and near the school, could sell for at least tens of thousands of yuan.
If they sold the apartment, he could become the first ten-thousand-yuan household in the village.
Then he could buy a bicycle, a TV, a sofa—everything to show the village who the real rich person was.
Jiang Ye blinked, feeling her breath catch. She absolutely couldn’t admit that the apartment was under her name.
“My brother’s name.”
“You’re lying to me?” Mr. Wen narrowed his eyes.
This statement shattered his dreams. Veins bulged on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and asked, “Whose name is the apartment really under?”
Jiang Ye didn’t dare breathe under his questioning. She pretended to be relaxed and indifferent. “Why would I lie? The apartment has already been taken back by the Jiang family. Otherwise, why would I still be living in the residential compound?”
Mr. Wen pressed further, “Then why did Wen Ci say the apartment is yours?”
“She’s trying to stir trouble. She’s definitely trying to cause trouble.”
Mr. Wen stared straight into Jiang Ye’s eyes. This was about whether he could become a ten-thousand-yuan household, and he didn’t trust anyone’s word. After thinking, he asked, “Can the housing bureau check whose name the apartment is under?”
“Yes, you can go check,” Jiang Ye replied.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Checking the housing bureau required police approval, and private individuals couldn’t access that information.
With that, Jiang Ye gritted her teeth and took out twenty yuan from her bag, saying with a pained expression, “This is what my brother gave me. Take it for now.”
Jiang Chen had given her thirty yuan in total.
She couldn’t bear to part with all her money, so she decided to use twenty yuan to temporarily divert their attention from the apartment.
Mrs. Wen’s eyes lit up at the sight of the money. She snatched the twenty yuan from Jiang Ye’s hand and asked suspiciously, “Is this all you have?”
“Yes, just twenty yuan.”
“Nothing more?”
Jiang Ye shook her head, refusing to admit. “That’s all.”
But Mr. Wen didn’t care. He reached into Jiang Ye’s pocket and pulled out another ten yuan, sneering, “You’re hiding money?”
“That ten yuan is all my living expenses.”
“We don’t care. If you run out of money, ask your brother for more. We have to take the bus back to the village this afternoon.”
With that, Mr. Wen grabbed Jiang Ye’s wrist and said, “It’s still early. Let’s go to the housing bureau and ask whose name the apartment is under.”
Jiang Ye: “…”
If she, as the owner, went to the housing bureau, all the information about the property would be revealed. “I have things to do. You can go to the housing bureau yourselves.”
“What things could you possibly have?”
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