Chapter 25
Xiang Wan, who was far away at his ancestral home, received a report from his secretary and recognized Li Taohua, who was throwing a tantrum on the ground, from the photo.
She was playing chess with her grandfather at that moment. She glanced at the photo of Li Taohua on the tablet, then her gaze returned to the chessboard.
Her losses were considerable; apart from a bishop and a cannon, all her pieces, big and small, were captured by her grandfather.
But all of this was part of her plan, because her next step was to take the helm.
It was clear that the grandfather had seen the trap after making his move, but there was no going back. He picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and looked at his granddaughter carefully.
"Shu Han has indeed changed a lot in just three days."
The grandfather's gaze was deep, yet it was not hard to see his satisfaction with his granddaughter.
Xiang Wan pursed her lips and also took a sip of tea: "Grandfather's tea is never bad."
Her grandfather seemed to read her mind: "What? You're going back after only a short while?"
Xiang Wan looked at the flowing water on the bridge beside her: "I'm going to see someone."
Her grandfather didn't stop her, but told her to take some tea leaves with her when she went back, and then went back to the pavilion to feed the koi.
Xiang Wan glanced at her grandfather's back and then instructed the housekeeper of the ancestral home, "Uncle Gong, your grandfather needs to eat light meals. Please take good care of him. He can't drink alcohol."
"I remember everything, Miss."
"Okay." She glanced one last time in her grandfather's direction. "I'm leaving now. I'll come back next week to play chess with you again."
"I'll take you there, Miss."
"No need, you stay with your grandfather."
After leaving the ancestral home, Xiang Wan sent a message to her secretary.
"Tell her my home address, but don't say I gave it to her."
On the other side, after watching the young lady's car drive away, Butler Gong returned to the pavilion and reported to the master who was feeding the fish, "The young lady has already gone back."
"Hmm." Grandfather looked at the koi carp scrambling for food under the bridge and asked slowly, "Gong Lin, do you think Shu Han has changed in any way?"
"The young lady is more thoughtful and composed than in previous years."
Grandfather's expression remained unchanged: "You can even beat me, your cunning and calculating grandfather."
Gong Lin chuckled, his eyes revealing a certain understanding: "It wasn't that the master deliberately walked into the trap, but the young lady's abilities far surpass those of her peers."
Grandfather scattered the remaining fish food under the bridge, then turned and walked into the hall: "Go and find out more about the people Shuhan has met in recent years, and get a detailed understanding of them."
Gong Lin was somewhat surprised: "Wouldn't that be inappropriate? If the young lady finds out, I'm afraid..."
"Then don't let Shu Han know."
"Yes." Butler Gong hesitated for a moment, but still did not disobey.
*
At the same time, at the Xiang family villa.
As soon as Li Taohua got out of the taxi, she saw Chen Yan feeding Green Hair outside the courtyard.
She had only guessed at first. Even if Xiang Wan initially thought Chen Yan was a girl, more than two years had passed. Could she still be kept in the dark?
But when she saw Chen Yan with short hair, her suspicions were confirmed, and Li Taohua felt instantly reassured.
I no longer felt that driving a four-wheeled vehicle was expensive; I instantly felt that my trip to the city was worthwhile.
If Chen Yan, that bastard, wants to keep his son's identity a secret, he'll have to pay her hush money.
But she was still very polite to his face: "Xiao Yan, it's me, your Aunt Peach Blossom."
Although it had been two years since they last met, Li Taohua's two-faced behavior left a deep impression on him, so Chen Yan recognized her the moment she opened her mouth.
He paused in feeding the green-haired girl, already guessing that she had come with ill intentions. Looking at the fake smile on her face, he also understood that she already knew his secret.
When he learned that the secret was about to be exposed, Chen Yan's first reaction was not fear, but relief.
Although he didn't know how he would pay for his mother-in-law's medical expenses, at least he no longer had to lie to her.
He had already prepared for the worst, so when Li Taohua threatened him openly and subtly, Chen Yan still chose to pretend he didn't understand.
“Xiao Yan, you’re living such a good life in the city, living in a big house and being able to study. You can’t forget about our old friendship. Your brother Chengze and I are still living a hard life in Lijia Village.”
"Have you forgotten how we shared flour with your family when you and your mother-in-law had no rice to eat?"
Chen Yan initially let the words go in one ear and out the other, but upon hearing this, he sneered inwardly.
Li Taohua put it nicely, saying that her mother-in-law had come to her house begging to borrow some rice, promising to pay it back next month. No one would have said anything if she hadn't lent it, but instead, she gave her mother-in-law a bag of moldy flour.
The mother-in-law's eyesight was failing, and she couldn't bear to eat it herself, so she made pancakes for him. Chen Yan vomited all day after eating them, and his mother-in-law fed him water with laundry detergent, which made him vomit up all the pancakes, and he finally recovered.
Later, after Chen Yan recovered from his illness, he discovered that the bag of flour had long been moldy. In order to prevent them from discovering it, the people who gave it to him had sprinkled a thin layer of flour on the moldy flour.
Chen Yan dared not think about whether her mother-in-law would have survived if she had eaten that bag of flour.
He was indignant and wanted to argue with Li Taohua, but his mother-in-law stopped him with tears streaming down her face.
The mother-in-law wasn't unangry; she was afraid of offending Li Taohua, and that the village chief, Li Shengde, would kick them both out of Li Family Village. After all, the relationship between the village chief and Li Taohua had always been ambiguous.
Chen Yan didn't confront Li Taohua, but that didn't mean he'd forgotten about it. He remembered it all, and he remembered Li Taohua telling everyone how kind she was, how she'd given them a bag of flour when they were down on their luck.
He had long harbored resentment towards Li Taohua, so when he saw her bring up the flour issue again, he sneered in front of her.
He was too lazy to call her out on it. He knew she was aware that the bag of flour was moldy, otherwise she wouldn't have deliberately sprinkled a layer of unspoiled flour on top.
Seeing his sneer, Li Taohua's eyes flickered guiltily for a moment, but the next second, her aura returned to its original self-righteousness.
Seeing that he wouldn't listen, she directly tore off the mask and made an outrageous demand: "Xiao Yan, if you don't bring me and your brother Chengze to the city, I'll tell her the truth."
"Do you think she would let you go if she knew you'd been lying to her for so long?" Seeing that Chen Yan remained unmoved, Li Taohua added another strong dose of medicine.
"And your mother-in-law, I heard that your old hag's daily medical expenses are equivalent to our entire year's harvest." As she said this, her expression became increasingly distorted.
“Of course.” At this point, Li Taohua’s expression returned to normal from its ferocious state. “As long as your brother Chengze and I live a good life, we can also help you keep it from her.”
“You’ll always need someone to help you.” She said this as if she was certain that Chen Yan would agree, and quietly waited for his answer.
However, Chen Yan had completely given up: "She's in the lobby."
"What?" Li Taohua was a little confused.
"Go find her."
"Are you crazy?" She was also startled by his frankness, but she wasn't stupid. If Xiang Wan didn't like this bastard, how could she possibly benefit from it?
Therefore, she never intended to expose Chen Yan in the first place, but planned to have Chen Yan act as a go-between so that Xiang Wan could also sponsor her precious son.
Seeing that things were getting out of her control, Li Taohua grabbed Chen Yan's arm to stop him from leaving.
The two were entangled in a protracted conflict, and it was at this moment that Xiang Wan appeared.
She had already planned this scheme in her mind when she first learned from her secretary that Li Taohua had come to the company to cause trouble.
She didn't have her secretary bring Li Taohua to see her; instead, she had her secretary tell her the address, so that Li Taohua could see Chen Yan herself.
She had witnessed the entire conversation between the two in the study on the second floor, and she wanted to know what Chen Yan would choose.
She knew he wasn't a bad person, and she had guessed he might confess to her himself, but she never expected him to reject Li Taohua so decisively.
This made her somewhat suspicious. Was his sending Li Taohua to find her just a delaying tactic, or did he really want to be honest with her?
Xiang Wan glanced at the fawning Li Taohua, then looked at Chen Yan, wondering whether he was thinking the former or the latter.
After learning that Chen Yan had lied to her, she maintained a lukewarm attitude towards him for nearly two months. Although he greeted her casually each time, she never looked him in the eye.
Firstly, it was to punish him; secondly, she genuinely hadn't figured out how to treat him next. Li Taohua's appearance was like a bomb, instantly shattering the facade of peace they had maintained for the past two months.
Xiang Wan looked at Li Taohua, pretending not to recognize her, and asked Chen Yan, who was standing to the side, "Xiao Yan, who is this?"
Chen Yan didn't want to lie to her anymore, but he couldn't think of how to introduce Li Taohua, so he inevitably remained silent for a few seconds.
However, Li Taohua seized this opportunity and began to introduce herself. She tried to smile kindly, but the two people in front of her happened to know her true colors, so they only felt that her smile was insincere.
“Miss, I am Xiao Yan’s aunt. I came to see him after I learned that he had come to Bei Yi.”
"What a clever aunt," Xiang Wan thought with a sneer. Li Taohua now lies without even thinking; she's convinced that she couldn't possibly remember their brief encounter two years ago.
If she hadn't been reborn, she would have actually believed her nonsense. But Xiang Wan didn't interrupt her, mainly because she wanted to see Chen Yan's reaction.
If Chen Yan sees Li Taohua lying to her, will he help her lie to her?
Chen Yan's face remained unchanged, but his heart was filled with bitterness. For the past two months, he had clearly felt her coldness and distance towards him every day, but he had to pretend that he had not noticed anything.
His expression remained unchanged, but he didn't hesitate to expose Li Taohua's lie: "Sister, I don't have an aunt, I only have my mother-in-law as a relative."
Xiang Wan understood immediately, but feigned surprise as she looked at Li Taohua: "And who is this?"
Li Taohua was also a little embarrassed. She didn't expect Chen Yan to be so ruthless. She glared at him, and seeing that he wasn't leaving her a way out, she decided to cut off his escape route as well.
She looked at Xiang Wan and mercilessly exposed his lie: "Chen Yan is a boy, not a girl at all. You've been fooled."
Seemingly feeling that things weren't quite right, Li Taohua added fuel to the fire between the two: "He lied to you for two whole years."
While she was stirring things up, Chen Yan remained silent, neither offering any explanation nor looking at anyone.
He was too ashamed to look at Wan, nor did he dare to look at her, so he simply lowered his head and waited quietly.
He was anxious and uneasy while waiting, but even though he was practically pinching his thigh raw with his hands in his pockets, Xiang Wan still didn't say a word.
His head drooped lower and lower, and his back became more and more hunched, as if he had returned to Lijia Village, when he was overwhelmed by the burdens of life.
Like waiting for divine guidance, despite his anxiety and torment, he quietly awaited her 'judgment'.
After a long while, when he felt like he was suffocating, Xiang Wan finally spoke.
However, what she said surprised both him and Li Taohua: "I know Xiaoyan is a boy, is there a problem?"
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