The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law made a decision, and Cui's father did not say anything to stop them. His silence was equivalent to tacit support.

After Qian Mengping left, he said, "Let's go to Cui Lanzhi's house."

When the two of them came over, Cui Lanzhi had just returned from buying New Year's goods with her children. They lived in a house allocated by the Letters and Visits Office. It had two bedrooms and a living room. The room was not big, but it was very clean.

Cui Lanzhi was very cold towards them. She opened the door but did not invite them to sit down. She made two cups of tea and put them on the table without speaking.

"Lanzhi, have you been in touch with Gong Wantang?"

It was Cui's father who spoke. On the way here, Cui's father had already told Cui's mother not to speak.

The mother and daughter were born incompatible. They would always argue with each other when they spoke. If they quarreled again, they would not be able to get any news from each other later.

"No."

Cui Lanzhi answered very simply, with only two words.

"We just met someone on the street who looked a lot like Gong Wantang."

Father Cui deliberately left his words unsaid. Cui Lanzhi didn't think he was testing her, and she frowned when she heard what he said.

With just this one small expression, Cui's father was certain she was lying. He continued, "That girl looks quite like your second brother. She's twenty years old. You should know her."

Cui Lanzhi knew her father quite well. He was the most scheming of the family. Now she could see clearly that he was just testing her on purpose.

"So what if I know, and so what if I don't. She and my second brother divorced a long time ago, and everything is clearly divided. They owe each other nothing. Now she's remarried and has a new family. What's the point of you asking about her?"

Mother Cui opened her mouth to speak, but Father Cui stopped her in time with a look. He continued, "It seems that you have known for a long time that the girl is your second brother's daughter. You resent us and deliberately hide it from us. We can understand, but why didn't you tell him? You have always had a good relationship with your second brother. You should know his character. This is good news for him. You shouldn't have kept it from him."

Cui Lanzhi didn't follow his words and sneered, "You don't need to test me anymore. Aside from having Cui family blood flowing in my veins and my last name being Cui, I have nothing else to do with the Cui family."

She knew that this time they had used a different method to ask her for her second brother's contact information. Not to mention that she really didn't know, even if she knew, she wouldn't tell them.

"Cui Lanzhi, no matter what, we gave birth to you and raised you, and we are your parents."

"We're not asking you to support us now, and we're not forcing you to come to us and pay respects when we're down and out. We just want to find a way for your nephews and nieces to make a living."

"We were the ones who wronged you back then, and now we, your eldest brother, third brother, and sister have all received retribution. But your nephews and nieces have never done anything to wrong you. Can you bear to watch them live the rest of their lives in mediocrity and nothingness?"

Father Cui knew that she hated them and her brothers and sisters in her heart, so he could only use her grandchildren to plead for her.

Cui Lanzhi looked at them coldly, her tone calm. "What's wrong with being mediocre and doing nothing? Their parents were indoctrinated with so many wrong ideas by you, pushed forward by your step-by-step calculations, reaching the heights of glory you thought you had, only to fall into the abyss together. With all these past experiences as a lesson, you don't reflect on yourself, but are still scheming and plotting here. You truly refuse to repent."

"Cui Lanzhi!"

Cui's mother couldn't help but roar, "You evil creature, I really regret not drowning you earlier."

Cui Lanzhi used to feel chilled and heartbroken when she heard these words, but now she doesn't feel anything at all. She has long been accustomed to it and has become numb. She replied coldly: "You can leave now. Don't come to my house again."

They parted on bad terms again. Cui's father's face was ashen when he left, and Cui's mother kept cursing all the way.

After watching them walk away, Xiaolei closed the door and came over to ask, "Mom, what on earth are they doing?"

"They won't do anything without profit. They must be scheming something."

Cui Lanzhi stood up, took out a phone book from the cabinet, and said to them, "You guys pack up your New Year's goods at home, I'm going to go out and make a phone call."

"Mom, are you calling that...?" Xiaoyue asked in a low voice.

"Well, I don't know what they're going to do. I can only call the mother and daughter to remind them."

Cui Lanzhi exchanged contact information with Gong Wantang when they met for the second time, but she never contacted her again and did not disturb her current life. If it was not related to Gong Linglong, she would not have made this call.

Gong Linglong and her group were having dinner in a restaurant at this time. She was treating everyone today and invited them to eat mutton. They not only ordered the warming mutton hotpot, but also a lot of grilled mutton skewers.

The children love eating lamb skewers. At this time, they each have a skewer in each hand and are eating it with gusto.

After eating and drinking, everyone didn’t go anywhere else. They dispersed on the spot and went home.

Han Ji was at home today, holding his son and walking around the house. As soon as the triplets came in, they gave him the mutton skewers they had brought back. "Grandpa, we brought back some mutton skewers. Come and eat them."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"We ate and were full."

The three brothers had eaten a lot today. Seeing Gong Wantang coming out of the house, Lu Changxiao leaned over and said, "Grandma, you can't eat the mutton skewers. We only bought them for Grandpa and Grandma Yu."

"Grandma won't eat it. Wait until uncle is weaned before eating it."

Gong Wantang came over and took her son away, letting Han Ji eat the skewers first. She turned and said to her daughter, "Linglong, Cui Lanzhi just called."

"Hmm? Is there something wrong with her?" Gong Linglong raised her eyebrows.

"You were walking around the street today and must have been seen by the two old men from the Cui family. They guessed it from your appearance and must have been thinking about something. Cui Lanzhi called and told us to be on guard."

If it were a special period in the past, Gong Wantang would worry that someone would use Cui Zhiyuan's overseas study status to affect her daughter's career prospects. Now that the special period is over, she is not afraid of outsiders, nor is she afraid that the Cui family will use this matter to threaten her.

However, the two old guys in the Cui family are both profit-driven. Now Cui Ningyuan and the others have all been sentenced, and their homes have been raided. Their financial lives are probably a problem. Given their and Qian Mengping's character, they will definitely make some calculations in these aspects after confirming Linglong's identity.

Gong Linglong didn't care. She waved her hand and said, "Mom, it's okay. The Cui family is like a pheasant with its wings plucked out. It can't even flap its wings. It doesn't have the ability to make a big move."

Han Ji had said something similar before, and seeing that she was calm and composed, Gong Wantang didn't say much.