24 – Thicker Skinned than a Wall
As soon as she returned to the villa, Ye Jin noticed a crowd blocking the entrance. From a distance, she could hear Zhang Yiyi’s furious shouts: “Pah! Shameless! Who’s family with you? Our Xiao Chen has no such relative!”
Oh? So Yu Zhenguo and Lin Xiuxiu had found their way here already?
Yu Zhenguo had followed the rescue troops to the Base. From afar, he could see this was the best house around. After hearing that Ye Jin owned the property and confirming it over several days of inquiries, he immediately gathered his belongings and rushed over, demanding to move in.
This was utterly outrageous! How could Ye Jin and Yu Zichen, those two brats, live in such a fine house! They probably bought it with his money! The thought made Yu Zhenguo’s blood boil. Early in the morning, he had dragged his whole family to Ye Jin’s villa, making a scene about moving in.
“Who are you? None of your damn business! Get Yu Zichen out here now! I’m his uncle – I raised him myself!”
Yu Zhenguo stood with arms akimbo, declaring righteously: “This house was bought with my money! If anyone should be thrown out, it’s you!”
Zhang Yiyi was fuming. Since early morning, this man had been trying to force his way in with his family in tow, shouting about Ye Jin being ungrateful and seizing his property. His audacity was thicker than iron walls.
“Who do you think you’re throwing out?” Ye Jin stepped forward, her voice cold.
She glanced at the pile of belongings on the ground – quilts, clothes, even pots and pans.
Spotting Ye Jin, Yu Zhenguo’s eyes lit up: “Ye Jin! You’re finally back! Quick, let your uncle in!”
He immediately started gathering his things from the ground to enter.
“Who gave you permission?” Ye Jin’s voice remained icy. “Take your trash and get lost, or don’t blame me for being rude!”
Hearing this, Yu Zhenguo exploded: “You little bitch, after all I’ve done for you-”
Slap!
Before he could finish, Ye Jin slapped him hard across the face.
“With such a filthy mouth, I don’t mind knocking your teeth out!”
The slap stunned Yu Zhenguo. This was his first time seeing Ye Jin like this, and her attitude made it clear she wouldn’t let him in.
He immediately started making a scene, pulling at bystanders while wailing: “Everyone, judge for yourselves! My poor deceased second brother left me these two children – I raised them since they were young! I’m like a second father to her! Not only does she disrespect me, she even dares to hit me! There’s no justice!”
The nearby onlookers, who had already been jealous of the house for some time, immediately erupted. So they had seized it from relatives – this was juicy gossip indeed.
“That girl looks so delicate, how could she be so shameless!”
“Treating family like this – worse than animals!”
“Exactly! They’re just a bunch of young kids. Where would they get money for such a nice house?”
“Don’t be fooled by her pretty face. A black heart has nothing to do with appearances.”
The comments grew increasingly vicious. Zhang Yiyi’s eyes welled up with frustrated tears. How could these people spread rumors based on one side of the story? Ye Jin wasn’t like that at all!
Ye Jin simply found the noise irritating. She directly pressed a knife against Yu Zhenguo’s throat and roared: “Enough!”
The crowd fell silent, intimidated by her aura.
Yu Zhenguo trembled as the cold steel touched his neck.”Yu Zhenguo! Forget about you supporting me and my brother—how many benefits have you taken from my family over the years? You know exactly what you’ve done! This house has nothing to do with you, and neither Xiao Chen nor I have ever consumed a single thing of yours! Meanwhile, you’ve been leeching off the company my parents built every single day!”
Ye Jin’s gaze instantly turned sharp as she threatened, “If you dare spread rumors again…”
A Lightning Ball struck right beside Yu Zhenguo’s feet, startling him into another tremble.
The onlookers, witnessing Ye Jin’s dominance and formidable Special Ability, fell silent and quietly dispersed. Envy aside, in this world where the strong prey on the weak, no one would speak up as long as their interests weren’t affected—offending an Ability User was unwise.
Hiding in the crowd, Yu Ruanruan watched with intense resentment. Ye Jin was actually a Dual-Ability User! And she possessed the most offensive Thunder ability!
“If you dare harass me again, I’ll cut off your neck and feed it to the zombies! Get lost!” Ye Jin sheathed her blade, turned, and pulled Zhang Yiyi inside, ignoring Yu Zhenguo completely.
She no longer intended to hide her capabilities. Becoming strong was meant to protect her family—if she couldn’t do that, what was the point of her rebirth?
Though she avoided trouble, trouble sought her out. Since she had already offended Xu Shuai, revealing her strength was better than avoiding conflict, forcing others to think twice before crossing her.
Zhang Yiyi stood stunned, her face full of admiration. “Ye Jin, you’re amazing! That Lightning Ball was so cool!”
“Yiyi, your Special Ability is powerful too. As it develops, it’ll gain offensive power!”
Soon, very soon!
…
Outside, Yu Zhenguo was helped up by Lin Xiuxiu. Though still trembling, he muttered curses under his breath: “Bastard! How dare she defy me! Just wait until my Lejia returns—I’ll make her pay! How dare she hold a blade to my neck! Bitch! Bitch!!!”
Yu Ruanruan quietly approached without a word. She only felt that Ye Jin had changed drastically and was growing more beautiful, which unsettled her greatly.
She had been lingering around Fu Yihao daily, yet his favorability had only increased by ten points—still far from the passing mark.
Though she had managed to stay at the Fu Family residence recently, Yuan Mo was always there, hovering around her, making it difficult to show obvious interest in Fu Yihao.
Frustrated, she realized that Fu Yihao was leaving the Base shortly after arriving—this pursuit had stalled for now.
When they returned to the small house Fu Yihao had arranged for the Yu family, Yu Lejia watched his father’s incessant cursing and said, “Dad, I told you not to go…”
“Shut up! Useless and still yapping! Fu Yihao is leaving soon—are we supposed to live on air?!” Yu Zhenguo cut him off, furious. He refused to live in those temporary tents outside!
After arriving at the Base, Fu Yihao had simply found them this cramped two-bedroom place and disappeared.
Yu Zhenguo hadn’t lived in such poor conditions since his rise to wealth. Remembering how others who entered the Base with them were stuck in ordinary tents—no better than slums—he felt utterly miserable.
“And you! I raised you for nothing—you can’t even secure a man’s affection!”Yu Zhenguo unleashed his temper directly at Yu Ruanruan. He had long seen through her intentions, yet she kept hovering around others every day without achieving anything. If she hadn’t failed to secure a man’s affection, why would he have to endure Ye Jin’s disdain?
Lin Xiuxiu, standing nearby, immediately spoke up in defense of her daughter: “How can you talk to our child like that? If not for Ruanruan inviting Young Master Fu back to fetch us, we wouldn’t even have this house to live in. Look at Old Li—he used to be wealthy, but now he’s stuck living in a tent outside.” She tirelessly made excuses for Yu Ruanruan.
Seeing Lin Xiuxiu’s aggrieved expression, her delicate face etched with bitterness, Yu Zhenguo’s anger subsided slightly. After all, she was the woman he had loved for so many years.
Yu Lejia snorted coldly. Nothing disgusted her more than this older mistress’s affected demeanor—playing the victim at such an age.
“Hah! Too bad Young Master Fu only showed kindness out of respect for Ye Jin.” She sneered at Yu Ruanruan, “Yu Ruanruan, what do you think he’d do to you if he knew how much Ye Jin despises you?”
Yu Ruanruan stared at Yu Lejia’s mocking face, itching to tear it apart! Yu Lejia had been opposing her since childhood, just as detestable as Ye Jin!
“What? Dropping the innocent little white lotus act you put on for men?” Yu Lejia watched Yu Ruanruan glaring viciously—was the mask finally slipping?
Yu Ruanruan’s expression shifted instantly. She clutched Yu Zhenguo’s sleeve, putting on a pitiful face: “Dad, Sister still doesn’t like me after all…”
It seemed she only revealed her true nature around women—her fawning attitude toward men remained unchanged, exactly like her mistress mother!
Yu Zhenguo was already thoroughly irritated, and Yu Lejia’s provocation made him roar at her: “Enough! Stop targeting your sister every day!”
Yu Lejia rolled her eyes outright: “I don’t have a sister!”
Every time these two vixens played the victim, he fell for it! They were both his daughters, yet his favoritism was blatantly blind.
Yang Yu, who had been standing aside for a while, finally intervened. Holding Yu Lejia’s hand to calm her, he said, “Alright Jiajia, don’t be angry.” Then he addressed Yu Zhenguo: “Uncle, don’t worry. I won’t let you sleep in tents. The base is recruiting Ability Users, and I’ve already been hired this morning.”
Yu Zhenguo snorted dismissively: “Hmph, you? Even Fu Yihao only managed to get us this small place through connections. What capabilities do you have?”
It wasn’t as if there were no Ability Users in the base—several of their family members lived in tents. Those with better accommodations either had pre-existing properties in the base area like Ye Jin, or were high-ranking base officials.
“Dad!” Yu Lejia objected strongly to Yu Zhenguo’s attitude.
“If you’re so dissatisfied, Yang Yu and I will move out! I’ve long been sick of certain people anyway!”
If not for Yang Yu insisting on protecting her father, she’d rather brave the winds outside than stay with Yu Ruanruan.
As Yu Lejia began packing to leave, Yu Zhenguo saw she was serious and immediately softened. Their family only had two Ability Users, and Ability Users received extra subsidies in the base—he had no desire to survive on the base’s plain congee rations forever.
He quickly stopped her: “Jiajia, Dad was just speaking in anger! How can you still throw tantrums like a child?” He even stepped forward to snatch the clothes from Yu Lejia’s hands and put them back.He also turned to Yu Ruanruan and said, “What kind of nonsense are you talking! Hurry up and apologize to your sister!” After speaking, he gave Lin Xiuxiu a meaningful look.
Lin Xiuxiu’s smile was stiff as she forced a grin and said, “Yes, Jiajia, don’t be angry.”
Yu Ruanruan felt very upset upon hearing this and tugged at Lin Xiuxiu’s sleeve: “Mom!”
Lin Xiuxiu shook her head slightly at her. There was no other way—who could they rely on now?
Yu Lejia watched this scene with full sarcasm. A woman who could be a mistress was truly different, capable of both bending and stretching.
Yu Ruanruan couldn’t hold back her anger and ran out.
During the time Yang Yu had been living with them, he had roughly understood the situation. Although Yu Zhenguo was a despicable person, he was still Jiajia’s father after all. Yang Yu genuinely liked Jiajia and was willing to protect them, fulfilling his responsibilities as a man.
“Alright, Jiajia, don’t be angry,” he comforted Yu Lejia. He knew Jiajia had a strained relationship with her family, but she still loved her brother and family deeply. He tried his best to act as a peacemaker to ease their tensions.
“Yes, Jiajia, don’t be angry. It’s safer to live with Dad after all.”
Yu Zhenguo coaxed her with many sweet words until Yu Lejia finally calmed down.