I was still sleeping, holding the quilt between my legs, when Senior Sister pushed the door open. "Tang Nan, which outfit are you wearing today? I'll iron it for you." Feeling her gaze travel up my thighs, I quickly wrapped myself tighter in the quilt and said, a little displeased, "Can't you knock first?"
"What's a grown man like you getting shy about?"
"What else am I supposed to do?"
"Stop with the nonsense. Which outfit are you wearing today? I've already shined your leather shoes. How about I wear that sky-blue dress today and tie my hair in a ponytail?"
"Is today some special occasion?"
"Of course! We're meeting Senior Uncle Wang Ren today!"
"She's a woman."
"That's how seniority is counted."
After speaking, Senior Sister walked over and pulled the quilt off me. For a moment, I felt exposed. She looked me up and down and said, "You're still just a child."
"You're older than me, but you don't have a boyfriend either."
I had never brought up Senior Sister's boyfriend before, and in that instant, I felt her gaze turn a little dark. I instinctively shut my mouth. Senior Sister also sensed the shift in her mood, tossed a "Give you five minutes to get up," and fled my room as if escaping.
...
After getting up, Senior Sister helped me get dressed. A shirt and leather shoes. It was meant to make me look refined, but looking in the mirror a few times, I felt I looked like a pretty boy with too much hair gel, like a gigolo.
"Why did you make me look like a bad guy?"
"That's the effect we want. Think about it, how will the Fang family see you if you go in looking like that?"
"If I'm not mistaken, I think another fake report has appeared. I am Yu Rong's son. That's not something Fang family's eldest and second brothers would want to see. So, they've started to have reasonable doubts."
Hearing me say that, Senior Sister's eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled. "So smart, worthy of being Master's last disciple."
"Last disciple? What do you mean? Did Old Ghost have other disciples besides you?"
"Don't ask, let's go!"
...
This was my second time at the Fang residence. Everyone had a cold expression, while Senior Sister was very enthusiastic. She took out a high-end French lipstick, which she had prepared at some point, and handed it to Li Xiuhua and Zhou Meijiao with great warmth. "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, I am Tang Nan's girlfriend, Cao Qianqian. A small gift for you both on our first meeting."
Li Xiuhua reluctantly accepted it, her expression displeased. Zhou Meijiao looked at the lipstick for a few moments, then at Li Xiuhua. Li Xiuhua's face twitched, and after a long pause, she managed to squeeze out a smile.
"Sister, hello!"
The lipstick Senior Sister gave was a Dior Rouge Dior. The name was a bit tacky, a luxury French cosmetic. The usual price was around $100. Giving it as a gift naturally meant it was high-end, and the kind not available domestically.
"To both my sisters-in-law, I've heard about Tang Nan's situation. Don't bother with the property division, that little bit of money isn't even enough for me to buy a car. However, we can't stop him from acknowledging his ancestors, can we?"
With a few words, Li Xiuhua and Zhou Meijiao were stunned. Li Xiuhua listened to Zhou Meijiao. Senior Sister's sky-blue dress, I thought, would cost about sixty dollars in the market, and I'd still haggle. But the way she was dressed, a woman like Zhou Meijiao who understood luxury goods would know it cost at least a hundred thousand. Someone wearing something worth over a hundred thousand, would they care about your tens of millions in family assets?
This was what we had discussed beforehand. When I met Fang Zixu and Fang Zidong, I was direct: "Eldest brother, second brother, I apologize for deceiving you. I am not our father's son. I was aware of the property division. It was that lawyer named Su Jingran who had malicious intentions. He conspired with me to trick you both. In reality, there is no third son of the Fang family. Su Jingran bribed Zhang Qin, the doctor, to tamper with the paternity test."
Fang Zixu, with his protruding belly, looked bewildered. It seemed he hadn't understood a word I said. Fang Zidong, however, frowned and walked up to me, shoving a report into my hand. "How do you explain this?"
...
This was all within mine and Senior Sister's expectations. The situation was unfolding as planned. I pocketed the report, looked at Wang Ren, who was smiling, and asked seriously, "Mother, do you want to explain, or should I?"
On the surface, we had disrupted Wang Ren's plan. But in reality, it wasn't like that. Regardless of Wang Ren's purpose in playing Yu Rong in the Fang family, if I wanted to help him, I needed a valid reason to integrate into the family.
"Good child, I'll explain."
Wang Ren was indeed an old hand. With a single sentence, he picked up the performance of me and Senior Sister.
"Fang Zixin died twenty-five years ago."
"Died?"
Everyone, except me, looked at Wang Ren in surprise, including Senior Sister. Her surprise was perfectly acted, impeccable.
...
It was a tragedy that happened twenty-five years ago. When Fang Yue discovered Fang Zixin was not his son, he took a cleaver and did something worse than a beast. Afterwards, Fang Yue chopped up the corpse and disposed of it with the offal from the slaughterhouse.
When Yu Rong found out, she wanted to call the police but was tricked by Fang Yue. Fang Yue said he could give Yu Rong and her lover all the cash in the house, and gave Yu Rong a meeting place to collect the money. It was a considerable sum. When the lover found out, he discussed it with Yu Rong. Since their son was already dead, why not take the money and leave Fang Yue for a comfortable life? Yu Rong disagreed, so the lover tied her up and went to the meeting alone.
Fang Yue was a butcher. Killing people was no different to him than slaughtering cattle or sheep. He struck with his knife. After killing the lover, Fang Yue went to the lover's residence and saw the bound Yu Rong. Fang Yue then said, "Since you want to be inhuman, then be a dog." He then bought a large iron cage and kept Yu Rong confined in it.
She lived in the cage for two years. Finally, one time when Fang Yue was drunk, he forgot to lock the cage, and Yu Rong escaped. She only returned to this city now.
...
Wang Ren had no reason to fabricate a story about Yu Rong; this should be something that actually happened to her. After she finished speaking, Fang Zixu and Fang Zidong exchanged glances. They didn't express any doubt.
"Yu Rong, it was my father's fault. What is your purpose in returning now?"
Fang Zixu asked tentatively. He was a businessman, operating on the principle that people live for their own benefit, so he asked Yu Rong her purpose for returning.
"Your father did something wrong, and he dare not divorce me. Therefore, I will legally reclaim the portion of the property that belongs to me."
Hearing Wang Ren say this, Li Xiuhua couldn't hold back. Her shrill voice was a bit jarring. "Yu Rong, your son's girlfriend is so wealthy, why are you competing with us for the property?"
"That's one thing, this is another. Fang Yue must pay for what he did."
Li Xiuhua was about to speak again when Zhou Meijiao stopped her. Zhou Meijiao maintained her elegant demeanor and said to Wang Ren, "Yu Rong, according to the will, there's no share for you."
"Is that so? The will states that if Fang Zixin is found before Fang Yue's death, the will shall be executed preferentially. Fang Zixin is dead, and you will never find him. Moreover, with a fake paternity test in hand, if you try to fake it again, I will sue you. At that point, it won't just be about dividing money. If you are suspected of a crime, the will will not be valid. I am Fang Yue's legal wife. If you don't cooperate properly, you won't get a single cent."
Wang Ren suddenly became fierce, leaving the two couples of the Fang family stunned. Fang Zidong was the first to react, saying with a smile, "Mother, you are the victim, and so are we. In fact, we didn't have a good life growing up either. Father would lock us in a dog cage if we didn't listen." After speaking, Fang Zidong glanced at his elder brother, Fang Zixu, who quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes... Yu... Ah no, Mother, we had a tough time too."
Hearing them say that, Wang Ren looked troubled. Fang Zidong pressed his advantage. "Mother, we are your flesh and blood too. You have reasons to hate my father, Fang Yue, but you shouldn't inflict that hatred on your sons whom you haven't seen for years."
At this moment, Senior Sister nudged my waist discreetly. I quickly said, "Eldest brother, second brother, our mother actually misses you very much and can't bear to see you suffer. Why don't we just divide it according to the will? Let's not make a fuss."
"But there isn't enough money!"
Li Xiuhua, the least cunning woman, blurted it out. The eldest brother looked at her unhappily. The second brother looked somewhat pleased, and Zhou Meijiao almost burst into laughter.
Senior Sister intervened at this point. "Why fight over such a small amount of money? Let's divide it equally. If you don't want to divide it equally, let's follow the Talmudic principle. If you don't understand, study and discuss. Yu Rong Auntie and I have other things to discuss. We'll see you tomorrow."
After speaking, Senior Sister, regardless of whether everyone agreed or not, smiled and said to Wang Ren, "Auntie Yu Rong, I know you still eat shaomai. I've specifically booked a place that has good taste and a nice atmosphere. Let's go try it."
"Alright, dear, thank you for going to so much trouble."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. I'm glad you agreed."
...
The three of us left the Fang residence together and got into a rented Ferrari that Senior Sister had hired. Senior Sister drove, and handed a pair of earphones to me and Wang Ren respectively.
"What's this?" I asked curiously. She hadn't told me about this during our planning.
"A gift for Senior Uncle on our first meeting."
Wang Ren smiled and said nothing, then put on the earphones. Seeing this, I obediently put on mine as well. Senior Sister circled around and stopped not far from the Fang residence.
After a while, voices came from the earphones. It was Li Xiuhua: "Yu Rong, that shameless woman, wants to take twenty million from us. She's making me so angry, I really want to slap her."
"Zhou Meijiao, where's Second Brother?"
"He went to the restroom. I was doing my makeup in the restroom just now, and he kicked me out, saying he had a stomachache."
Hearing the voices from the earphones, Wang Ren chuckled. "Girl, can you change the channel?"
Senior Sister was a little nervous. "Senior Uncle, we really can't, but... two lipsticks, two earphones."
After speaking, she handed over another pair of earphones. As we put them on, Senior Sister explained, "I didn't expect them to be separated, so I gave you an extra pair."
Later, the voice from this earphone was like a mosquito: "So Tang Nan is a liar, and Yu Rong is fake. That woman's Ferrari is also rented. Damn it! These damned liars deserve to live in dog cages."
Fang Zidong was on the phone. Based on the information provided by the person on the other end of the line, he had already learned that my identity was fake, and even knew that Senior Sister had rented the Ferrari.