Chapter 91 – Ill Intentions
Lin Ganzhi stared expressionlessly at his aunt and uncle sitting across from him, deeply regretting his decision to check on his little vegetable patch at that exact moment.
The original owner’s aunt was named Chen Cuichun. She and the original owner’s mother were born in the same small village, but the two sisters had different ambitions from a young age. Although their family only had two daughters, they had no intention of sending either to university, believing that after junior or senior high, they could work for a couple of years and then marry someone from the same village. However, the original owner’s mother refused to accept this fate. She excelled academically from elementary to high school and was later recommended for admission to a tuition-free teachers’ college, where she met a senior several years older than her. They married after graduation.
The couple first went to a poverty-stricken area to teach for five years before being transferred to the county town as high school teachers. The benefits for teachers were good back then, and the government provided them with a school-owned apartment. Their standard of living was considered upper-middle-class locally. But an accident claimed both their lives, and the original owner was sent to live with his aunt’s family.
Unlike her sister, Chen Cuichun, influenced by her rigid environment, dropped out of junior high. She found a random job in the village and, at eighteen, met her current husband through a matchmaker. She must have been quite jealous of her sister, who had already moved back to the county town by then. When the original owner’s family had their accident, Chen Cuichun only agreed to take him in because she had her eyes on the insurance money and her sister’s inheritance. As for her care, she followed the principle of “as long as he doesn’t starve to death” and washed her hands of him once he turned eighteen, never once mentioning the inheritance.
Although the original owner had a poor personality, he subconsciously didn’t dare to defy the aunt who had raised him. He would even instinctively try to curry favor with her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have obediently listened to her and married a man without knowing anything. Over the years, seventy to eighty percent of the money he earned in the entertainment industry also went into this aunt’s pocket.
His uncle, Wu Erdao, was a man of no real ability. The original owner had suffered the most beatings from him as a child, sometimes for no reason at all. Thus, he was used to yelling at his nephew and demanding money as if it were his right. The two of them together couldn’t form a single decent character.
“Ganzhi, I’m not trying to criticize you, but we raised you all this time, not so you could get married and turn your back on us. If your uncle and I hadn’t come to find you ourselves, were you planning on never acknowledging us again?” Chen Cuichun said, playing the victim.
If Yan Shengping weren’t sitting beside him, Lin Ganzhi would have started cursing. How is trash like you still alive in this modern society?
Lin Ganzhi took a deep breath. It was one thing after another, truly vexing. He had just enjoyed a week of comfort, and now he was back to dealing with trouble. Were he and Yan Shengping some kind of inauspicious lone stars, destined to not have family?
“If I remember correctly, during our last call, didn’t you say you’d call the police if I ever called you again?” Lin Ganzhi’s good memory allowed him to repeat her words verbatim.
Chen Cuichun first glanced cautiously at the extraordinarily distinguished man sitting beside Lin Ganzhi. Seeing that he remained silent, she mustered some courage and retorted, “We’re family. Would it kill you if I said a few words? If I could get taken in and fed for over a decade just by being scolded a little, I’d be willing too! But there’s no such free lunch in this world! We’re still family, after all. You know me, I have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, don’t you?”
Lin Ganzhi rolled his eyes discreetly. “Is that so? Since we’re family, Auntie, did you bring the thirty thousand yuan today? We need the money.”
The smile in Yan Shengping’s eyes was almost impossible to hide as he watched Lin Ganzhi shamelessly demand money. How could he be so adorable even when arguing with someone?
“You!” Chen Cuichun was so angry she nearly shot to her feet, but her husband, Wu Erdao, pulled her back down. That was just his way—a tyrant at home, a typical bully at home, a coward outside. Outside, he couldn’t even speak as coherently as Chen Cuichun could fart. Now, sitting in such a luxurious villa, he clutched the red bag in his hands so tightly it was nearly deformed, not daring to utter a sound. The most obvious action he took was probably pulling Chen Cuichun back to save face.
“Ganzhi, you can’t forget your roots. Your uncle and I worked so hard to raise you. Now, I can see news about you just by opening my phone. Those celebrities on TV earn tens of millions a year. Not only have you not thought of us, but you’re asking two old people who are about to retire for money?” The more Chen Cuichun spoke, the more aggrieved she sounded, and she even started wiping her eyes in front of them.
The couple across from her watched with blank expressions, their hearts completely unmoved. If one had to guess what they were thinking:
Yan Shengping: My Little Foolish Fox is so beautiful when he fake cries.
Lin Ganzhi: Don’t get your tears on the sofa! It’s handmade and costs over a hundred thousand!
“Auntie, have you… gained some weight?” Lin Ganzhi couldn’t be bothered to engage with such a melodramatic cliché and instead keenly focused on Chen Cuichun’s stomach. Her next action only deepened his suspicion. She frantically covered her belly, looking at Lin Ganzhi with a guarded expression.
Fuck! No way!
His aunt had to be at least fifty years old. Wu Guanglian was almost getting married, and now she was pregnant? Was she planning to leech off him?
Lin Ganzhi was an orphan, and he had only ever seen such news on TV. He never expected that after being reborn, such a huge pot of melodrama would be splashed onto him.
“Auntie, are you pregnant?” Lin Ganzhi asked bluntly, with no intention of saving face for the couple before him.
Caught red-handed, Chen Cuichun’s face showed an embarrassment that didn’t belong to someone her age. Wu Erdao, on the other hand, said nothing, but a smug expression suddenly appeared on his face as he looked at the two of them, as if he had just reclaimed all the face he had lost before.
However, the couple very pointedly ignored him.
After a minute or two of panic, Chen Cuichun confessed, “Who can say for sure when it comes to having children? You can be considered his half-brother. Don’t blame your aunt for taking the money so quickly before. It was because your cousin was getting married, and the man’s family demanded a house and a bride price before they would marry her. Haven’t we old folks worked hard our whole lives just to see you two get married off? Now you’ve married into a good family, and your cousin is about to get married too. So what’s wrong with asking you to support your younger brother now?”
Wow, she said that with such self-righteousness.
Yan Shengping didn’t speak. He knew Lin Ganzhi was more than capable of handling this level of confrontation.
Sure enough, Lin Ganzhi completely ignored her spiel and said, “Auntie, spare me the nonsense. First of all, legally, I do have an obligation to support you. So let’s just say the three million you took is settled. I’ve kept a record of every penny from my parents’ inheritance and the money I’ve given you since I started working. What I owed, I’ve repaid you dozens of times over. As for my cousin and the child in your belly, it’s useless even if you sue me. I have absolutely no obligation to support them.” He wasn’t the original owner anymore. There was no need to be polite to them, nor was there any need to humbly beg for their approval and some ridiculous love.
Chen Cuichun was stunned by Lin Ganzhi’s outburst. Was this the same meek and submissive Lin Ganzhi who used to tremble before them? How could he be talking about the law with them now?
“That’s all I have to say. Please, both of you, leave soon. We won’t be keeping you for lunch,” Yan Shengping said, issuing a clear and simple eviction notice. He crossed his fingers and placed them on his lap. Yet, even such a casual statement from him was impossible to ignore. His imposing presence was undeniable.
Wu Erdao had already stood up, but Chen Cuichun was still staring blankly at Lin Ganzhi. Before anyone could react, her body slid to the floor. She even rolled a couple of times onto the spacious carpet and began her performance.
“Oh, I raised him for nothing, for nothing! Sister, how could you have given birth to such an ungrateful person in heaven? Did you hear what he said? I’m at this age, and I got pregnant with a little brother for him because I saw he married a man and couldn’t have children, to support him in his old age! Why else would I have this child! Since he’s irresponsible and heartless, I might as well miscarry this child right here! Oh, what a sin! The older brother is trying to kill his younger brother! Oh, I shouldn’t have raised him in the first place!”
Although Yan Shengping had a difficult time in the Zhong family, the people he encountered were, at most, engaged in covert struggles. This was the first time he had witnessed such a spectacle, and he couldn’t help but frown. Suddenly, Lin Ganzhi leaned over and blocked Yan Shengping’s view. How could he let his great beauty, his boss, see such a thing? It would taint his eyes.
This old hag, while pretending to roll around, was clutching her stomach as if it were a treasure. She could only scare laymen. But was he a layman? When it came to acting, he was a professional.
Lin Ganzhi sniffled, stood up, took a sharp breath, and then, using his core strength, shouted, “Auntie!” The cry echoed throughout the entire living room.
Yan Shengping & Uncle Yan: Startled, thank you.
Chen Cuichun, who was rolling on the floor, was so startled by the shout that she instinctively stopped mid-roll. Had her plan succeeded so quickly?
Lin Ganzhi took two steps, completely blocking Yan Shengping’s view, and then declared with righteous indignation, “Are you going to threaten me with the child in your belly just to get my money?”
Is that all?
Chen Cuichun squeezed out a few crocodile tears. “Oh, my nephew is framing his aunt!”
Lin Ganzhi inhaled and then exhaled. “Auntie!”
His voice completely drowned out Chen Cuichun’s shrill cries. “So today you’re determined to abort this child and frame me as a murderer, is that it?”
Chen Cuichun slapped her knee. “I’m being framed! When did I—”
“Auntie!” Lin Ganzhi shed a torrent of hot tears.
Yan Shengping, who had gradually become numb after the third encore.
“If you keep this up, I’m really going to call the police! I’m calling them right now!” Lin Ganzhi took out his phone and dramatically pressed a “1.”
Chen Cuichun shot up from her sitting position and stood, all traces of her previous tantrum gone. She said warily, “What police! Why would you call the police over something like this?!”
“Stop embarrassing yourself here and go home! I told you we shouldn’t have given all three million to our useless daughter! Do you want a son or a daughter in your belly?” Wu Erdao’s attitude changed so quickly after hitting a wall that Lin Ganzhi couldn’t help but applaud.