Song Siyi’s voice was loud enough to wake everyone in the Song household.
Song Jianwen, draped in his clothes, came out just in time to see a figure darting swiftly out the door.
After leaving the Song family courtyard, Song Siyi used her space to teleport back to her room.
She emerged from her room holding a flashlight and a stick.
The panic on her face hadn’t yet faded.
Song Jianwen saw Song Siyi coming out of her room just as the rest of the Song family gradually emerged from their houses.
Song Jianshe’s face still bore traces of drowsiness, and his tone was somewhat impatient. “What’s going on? Why are you screaming like a ghost in the middle of the night?”
Song Siyi clattered the stick onto the ground. “A thief broke into the house. All my money was stolen. What do you think I’m screaming about?”
Her eyes swept fiercely over the Song family members. “Was it one of you? You resent me for taking the money, so you stole it back.”
The Song family exchanged glances. Old Lady Li tightened her clothes and asked uncertainly, “Was it really stolen?”
Song Sijia and Sun Hongmei, among others, wore expressions of sheer schadenfreude.
Serves her right!
Song Siyi stretched out her hand, pointing it at them. “Of course it was stolen! He even tried to snatch the watch off my wrist. Luckily, I was wearing it the whole time.”
She cast a suspicious glance at everyone. “It wasn’t one of you, was it?”
Song Jianwen frowned. “Don’t talk nonsense, girl. Everyone in the family is here. I just saw someone run out—it must have been an outsider.”
“Then maybe you hired someone to steal it?”
Song Sijia’s eyes flickered.
Song Siyi retorted, “That thief couldn’t have come specifically to steal my money, could he? What are the odds of that? Unless your money was stolen too, I have every reason to suspect it was one of you.”
Old Lady Li’s heart sank. She turned and hurried back to her room.
The others found this reasoning plausible and also returned to their rooms.
A few minutes later, the screams of the Song family echoed through the household.
Song Sijia couldn’t believe it and muttered softly to herself, “That’s impossible. How could he have stolen from the others?”
She had only told him to steal from Song Siyi.
At that moment, the Song family members were rushing around their rooms, so Song Sijia’s words were heard not only by Song Siyi but also by Song Yu.
Song Siyi was inwardly gleeful. She charged in, grabbed Song Sijia by the collar, and dragged her out.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!”
“Song Siyi, you bitch! I said let go of me!”
Song Siyi threw her to the ground. Song Sijia fell, scraping her hand and howling in pain.
“You little brat, you’ve really gone too far! I’ll teach you a lesson on behalf of your dead parents!”
Sun Hongmei rushed in, ready to hit Song Siyi, but Song Siyi kicked her flying. She landed right next to Song Sijia.
This time, Old Lady Li was truly furious. Her cloudy eyes fixed sharply on Song Siyi.
“Do you think just because the family tolerates you, you can do whatever you want?”
“She’s your fourth aunt and your sister. How could you hit them?”
Song Siyi stared back at her. “Old Lady, I don’t have a fourth aunt or sister like that.”
“What kind of sister would collude with an outsider to steal from her own family?”
Sun Hongmei exploded at this.
“You little bitch, born with a mother but raised without one! What nonsense are you spouting? You… Ah!”
Song Siyi darted over to Sun Hongmei and slapped her several times. As if that wasn’t enough to vent her anger, she punched her several more times.
That ferocious appearance even made Song Sijia shrink back a little.
Her mind was filled with confusion—how had Song Siyi become like this? Was she like this in her past life too?
Could it be that forcing her into an exchange marriage had driven her mad?
It wasn’t until Song Jianshe and Song Jianwen pulled her away that Song Siyi finally stopped.
Ruan Lihua and Lin Hui, who had been watching the drama, came over to Song Siyi. “What do you mean by that?”
Her money had been stolen too. She had saved for so long to accumulate fifty yuan, and now it was all gone.
Song Siyi pointed at Song Yu. “Ask Eldest Cousin. He heard it too.”
Ruan Lihua actually turned to look at Song Yu. “Speak.”
The others also looked at Song Yu.
Sun Hongmei helped Song Sijia stand up. Song Sijia’s heart was pounding with panic—she hated her own mouth so much.
With a complicated expression, Song Yu repeated what Song Sijia had whispered earlier.
Song Sijia denied it. “You all misheard. I never said anything like that.”
Song Siyi’s voice was icy. “How do you know he couldn’t have stolen from others? Who is he?”
“How would I know?” Song Sijia stubbornly refused to admit it.
Song Siyi spread her hands. “Then let’s report it to the public security bureau. I’m sure they’ll investigate thoroughly.”
Lin Hui and Ruan Lihua both agreed. “We must report it. That’s so much money—we can’t let certain people and the thief get away with it.”
The two glared resentfully at Song Sijia. What a fine specimen—the family had raised a thief who betrayed them from within.
Despite Song Sijia’s denial, no one believed her anymore.
If Song Siyi had said it, they might have doubted it a little, but it was Song Yu who had spoken.
Just as Song Siyi was about to walk outside, Old Lady Li blocked her path.
“We can’t report it to the public security bureau.”
Song Siyi didn’t care. “Fine, then give me back my money.”
Old Lady Li closed her eyes for a moment. “Alright, I’ll give it to you.”
Song Siyi was suspicious—did the old lady still have money?
Old Lady Li said, “I’ll give you two hundred first. For the rest, I’ll write an IOU.”
Eldest Aunt hurriedly interjected, “Mom, what about us…”
Old Lady Li shot her a warning look. “You shut up!”
Eldest Aunt rolled her eyes fiercely. Shut up, my foot—the money’s gone anyway.
She ignored Old Lady Li’s glare. “Song Sijia caused this mess. You have to write IOUs for us too. Since your money was also stolen, calculate the accounts properly and write IOUs for us. Otherwise, this isn’t over.”
Eldest Aunt continued, “Mom, there has to be a limit to your favoritism. We didn’t say anything about the eight hundred yuan you gave Siyi earlier because that was Third Brother’s pension. But our money was stolen too. Now that the money’s gone, how are we supposed to survive?”
“Jianguo and Jianwen are your own sons too.”
“And the younger ones are still in school. What are they supposed to use for their education?”
“I don’t care—you have to write those IOUs.”
Song Sijia grabbed Old Lady Li’s arm and whined, “Grandma, don’t agree to them. This really has nothing to do with me. I…”
Old Lady Li sighed inwardly and slapped her hard across the face. “Shut up, you fool!”
Song Sijia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Grandma, you actually hit me?”
Old Lady Li pointed at her. “Are you only happy when you’ve torn this family apart?”
“It seems we’ve truly spoiled you rotten. After you marry, don’t come back to your parents’ home.”
Tears streamed down Song Sijia’s face. “Fine, fine. Since you’re all bullying me like this, I hope you never come begging to me in the future.”
When she becomes the wife of the richest man, she absolutely won’t help her own family—that’s what she said.
Song Sijia covered her face and rushed back to her room.
Eldest Aunt and the others rolled their eyes in disdain, while Second Aunt shook her head and sighed.
Sun Hongmei didn’t dare to make a fuss anymore.
In the end, Old Lady Li still made the fourth branch of the family write an IOU.
Compared to the gloom and despair of the Song family, Song Siyi was all smiles.
She stretched out her hand. “Two hundred yuan.”
Old Lady Li glared at her. “What a wicked creature I’ve raised.”
Song Siyi beamed. “Isn’t that right? Old Lady, you truly have a talent—ordinary people could never raise a wicked creature and ingrate like Song Sijia.”