Wen Qiqi yanked hard on Wen Jiaojiao’s hair. “You dare say this is your room? These clothes, these shoes—who do they belong to?! Speak!”
“Wen Qiqi, I won’t let you off!” Wen Jiaojiao glared at her viciously, her eyes filled with venom.
“Won’t let me off?” Wen Qiqi laughed. “Alright then.”
She raised her hand and slapped Wen Jiaojiao hard across the face.
Smack!This slap was for the original owner.
Smack!This one was for the original owner’s mother, Wei Rou.
Smack!This one was for the two innocent children who were driven out of their home.
Smack!And this one? No reason at all—just because she felt like it.
Wen Jiaojiao cried out miserably, wailing until her voice cracked.
Wang Meiyu finally realized that the current Wen Qiqi was someone she absolutely could not provoke. She didn’t dare stir up trouble anymore and begged tearfully for Wen Qiqi to let her daughter go.
“Let her go? Sure. Hand over the jade pendant my mother left me.”
Wen Jiaojiao stiffened her neck. “Impossible!”
“Impossible?” Wen Qiqi sneered. At a glance, she spotted the pendant peeking out from Wen Jiaojiao’s collar and yanked it off in one swift motion.
Its green was vivid like dripping water, smooth like congealed cream—a fine piece of jade.
And the lingering attachment and joy deep within the original owner’s heart made Wen Qiqi certain—this was the pendant that contained the hidden space.
“Give it back to me!”
Wen Jiaojiao shrieked, struggling desperately like an eel, trying to snatch the pendant back, but Wen Qiqi held her firmly in place.
“Wen Qiqi! What are you doing?!” Wen Jinkang had just returned when he heard the screams upstairs. He rushed up in a panic and was furious at the sight before him.
“Dad, Dad! Look at Wen Qiqi—she’s gone crazy! She’s stealing my things and hitting me!” Wen Jiaojiao was now disheveled, her makeup streaked from crying, making her look frightening.
“Ungrateful girl! I’ve exchanged the grain coupons—take them and get out!” Wen Jinkang angrily threw a kraft paper bag filled with grain coupons onto the floor.
Wen Qiqi glanced at it and lazily curled her lips. “That’s all?”
“What more do you want?! Let Jiaojiao go right now!” Wen Jinkang shouted as he moved to rescue her.
Though both were his daughters, he treasured Wen Jiaojiao while treating Wen Qiqi like trash—and even like an enemy.
Wen Qiqi didn’t dodge. Instead, she said calmly, “I have an inside piece of information. Do you want to hear it?”
Wen Jinkang paused. “Inside information?”
“That’s right,” Wen Qiqi nodded. “As long as you write a statement severing our father-daughter relationship and give me fifty gold bars, I’ll tell you.”
Wen Jinkang flew into a rage. “Wen Qiqi, do you take me for a fool?!”
A severance document?
Back when Wei Rou died, the house had already been transferred into Wen Qiqi’s name. If he signed such a document, how could he continue living here?
“Fine, don’t write it,” Wen Qiqi said indifferently. “Then just wait to be sent to a labor camp. When that happens, all your property will be gone.”
Her words instantly changed the expressions on Wen Jinkang and Wang Meiyu’s faces.
They weren’t fools—they understood exactly what she was implying.
Seeing that she already had the upper hand, Wen Qiqi shoved Wen Jiaojiao toward Wang Meiyu.
Wang Meiyu scrambled up and caught her daughter.
“Dad, don’t believe her! Hurry and get my pendant back!” Wen Jiaojiao pushed Wang Meiyu aside and threw herself into Wen Jinkang’s arms, crying and urging him to snatch the pendant.
“Shut up!” Wen Jinkang shoved her away harshly.
With tensions running high, he himself was uneasy.
But Wen Qiqi’s husband was a regiment commander—maybe she really did have insider information.
Startled by his fierce expression, Wen Jiaojiao turned and buried herself in Wang Meiyu’s arms, crying loudly.
Wen Qiqi smiled faintly at the mother and daughter, then looked at Wen Jinkang. “Dad, let’s talk inside.”
Wen Jinkang’s body trembled.
In all these years, this was the first time Wen Qiqi had called him “Dad.”
As if possessed, he followed her into the room.
Outside, Wen Jiaojiao was both angry and anxious, crying as if she might faint.
Wang Meiyu held her, comforting her, but her mind was full of suspicion.
This Wen Qiqi seemed like she’d been possessed—how could she have changed so much?
Was it her regiment-commander husband giving her confidence, or… did she really know something?
She crept to the door, trying to listen in, but the solid wooden door was too well-made—she couldn’t hear a word.
“You’re telling the truth?!” Inside the room, Wen Jinkang’s face had completely changed, his pupils shrinking.
What Wen Qiqi had just told him—that capitalists were about to be purged and sent down—hit him like a thunderbolt.
“Why would I lie to you?” Wen Qiqi scoffed. “Haven’t you heard any rumors at all?”
Rumors… rumors!
Old Master Wei had built his fortune from nothing and was a leader in the industry. In her youth, Wei Rou had been pursued by countless elite businessmen.
As a live-in son-in-law from the countryside, Wen Jinkang only had sweet talk to deceive women—he was never taken seriously by the big players, nor did anyone bother associating with him.
No one would risk sharing such information with him.
But recently, he had noticed the Zhang family next door secretly moving things out—clearly, they had already begun preparing.
“Why are you telling me this?” He still didn’t fully trust Wen Qiqi.
“Because you’re my only family left,” Wen Qiqi sighed, her expression sincere to the extreme. “I still have my husband to rely on. But what about you? If something happens to you, I won’t even have half a relative left in this world.”
Wen Jinkang’s lips moved slightly, a trace of emotion flashing in his eyes.
“Dad, if you write the severance document now, it gives me protection. Then transfer your assets overseas and leave quickly. If the worst happens, I can still help you.”
“Right now, besides me, who else can you count on?”
This kind of emotional manipulation came easily to Wen Qiqi.
As for dealing with a scumbag father—morality didn’t matter.
As she spoke, she took out paper and a pen.
Wen Jinkang thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth. “I can write the severance document—but you must also sign a paper transferring the property to my name.”
Wen Qiqi sneered inwardly. This old fox wasn’t stupid.
“That’s fine… but…” Wen Qiqi’s eyes reddened. “If I’m going to sign, I want to take one last look at the antiques my mother left behind… just for remembrance.”
“My husband is a soldier. These things are just burdens to me. When you go abroad and live well… just remember to come back and see me.”
As she spoke, tears fell from her eyes.
Watching her wipe them away with her chubby hands, Wen Jinkang felt a complicated mix of emotions.