Tangxi Li walked in gracefully, and upon seeing An Minghe’s furious expression with his thick brows knitted together, her mood instantly brightened.
She casually pulled over a chair and sat down, crossing her legs and folding her arms as she smiled faintly. “It seems Mr. An isn’t very satisfied with my gift.”
Seeing her audacity, An Minghe’s face darkened with rage. All strategies and plans were thrown to the wind as he grabbed an ashtray from nearby and hurled it at her.
The petal-shaped crystal ashtray flew straight toward Tangxi Li’s head.
She neither dodged nor flinched, as if she hadn’t seen it, maintaining her composure while watching the enraged An Minghe.
The servants who had gathered at the entrance to watch gasped, their hearts tightening as the ashtray flew toward Tangxi Li. They felt as if it were about to hit them instead.
(Oh no, that girl’s head is going to be smashed!)
However, in the next second, the situation took an unexpected turn.
A figure moved as fast as lightning, positioning itself in front of her.
With a swift kick of their long leg, they effortlessly sent the ashtray flying toward the three-dimensional peony screen made of mirror fragments diagonally across the room.
“Bang—” A loud crash echoed.
The artistic screen, worth hundreds of thousands, instantly shattered into a pile of worthless glass fragments.
“Ah…” The servants screamed in fright.
The An family was equally stunned.
From the moment Tangxi Li entered, their attention had been solely on her. Only now did they notice that she was followed by six foreign women.
They wore high ponytails, dressed uniformly in black tank tops and black shorts.
Straight, long legs and slender waists were adorned with black leather pouches of unknown contents, making them look like agents from Western films.
“…” The An family members exchanged glances, their eyes filled with anger.
“An Wu Yang, how dare you act so recklessly here?” The speaker was Old Master An, his hair graying and well over seventy years old.
Dressed in a black-gray Tang suit and holding a sandalwood cane, he scrutinized his long-unseen granddaughter with an extremely stern gaze.
Tangxi Li showed no trace of fear, lifting her eyes to look at each of them one by one.
Aside from a few of the younger generation, she remembered every one of them deeply.
Old Master An, Old Madam An, ‘Second Uncle’ An Minghui, ‘Second Aunt’ Qian Meng, ‘Eldest Aunt’ An Zhixue, ‘Eldest Uncle’ Wang Fan, ‘Youngest Aunt’ An Xianyue, and of course, her ‘father’ An Minghe and the mistress-turned-wife Gu Yuqing.
Every one of them had blood on their hands—her mother’s blood, her grandparents’ blood.
They had stolen her grandparents’ research patents, then turned around and falsely accused them, causing her grandfather to be imprisoned, where he died in old age.
They drove her grandmother to slit her wrists and take her own life.
As for her mother, on her wedding night, Gu Yuqing schemed to ruin her chastity, and the An family humiliated, beat, and berated her.
They injected her with psychiatric drugs, imprisoned her, and defiled her at will.
One night when she was six years old, she hid in the shadows and watched as An Minghe, An Minghui, and Wang Fan took turns visiting the basement where her mother was locked away.
As a child, she didn’t understand, but as she grew older, every time she recalled it, hatred festered like a bone-deep disease, growing wildly within her flesh and bones.
She wouldn’t let them die so easily.
She would slowly strip away everything they held dear, making them struggle, despair, and live a life worse than death in the hell she had forged for them.
The smile on Tangxi Li’s lips grew colder as she leisurely withdrew her gaze.After sixteen years of biding her time, she had long mastered the art of concealing her emotions.
“Old Mr. An…” she began, with impeccable courtesy and refinement, “My name is Tangxi Li, as in pear blossom. From now on, you are not to mispronounce it, because… your surname is unworthy.”
With these words, she successfully darkened the expressions of the An family members.
Yet, they all restrained themselves.
The top priority was to retrieve that batch of goods first; dealing with her could wait!
Old Madam An composed herself and put on a kindly, affectionate smile. “An… Little Li, don’t speak to your grandfather like that. You don’t know how much he has missed you. Grandma has missed you too. After all these years apart, our Little Li has grown up.”
As she spoke, two clear trails of tears traced down her wrinkled face.
Anyone who saw it would be moved.
Tangxi Li’s smile remained unchanged, her eyes filled with mockery. “You mean you wish I were dead, right?”
Old Madam An was deeply hurt by this. “Child, how can you say such a thing? We are your family.”
Following the old lady’s words, her two daughters, An Zhixue and An Xianyue, joined in the emotional appeal.
An Zhixue feigned warmth, saying, “Yes, Little Li, we are all family. Your grandmother knows how much you’ve suffered over the years, and she has decided to gift you her shares as compensation.”
An Xianyue added, “And your father—he was foolish back then and misunderstood you. He has realized his mistake. Little Li, won’t you give him a chance to make it up to you?”
Tangxi Li watched their performance expressionlessly.
She remained silent. Since the stage was set, if she didn’t give them the opportunity, how would they ever understand the meaning of futility?
Seeing her silence, An Minghe shot a meaningful glance at his younger brother.
An Minghui understood and spoke thoughtfully, “Child, your father truly knows he was wrong and deeply regrets it. When you were 13, he went abroad to bring you back but couldn’t find you…”
“Really?” Tangxi Li glanced at him, feigning slight surprise. “So that happened…”
When she was 13, she had killed her ‘adoptive father’ and his family before leaving.
Whether he had actually gone to retrieve her was, of course, entirely up to their fabrication.
An Minghui met her penetrating, discerning gaze and felt a twinge of guilt, though he showed none on his face, maintaining a smooth and earnest demeanor. “Of course, it’s true. Your father has been searching for you all these years, never giving up…”
“Hahaha…” Before he could finish, Tangxi Li couldn’t help but laugh.
Her bell-like laughter seemed to drift from a haunted mansion, echoing in every corner of the living room.
The quiet night suddenly took on an eerie tone.
The An family watched her laugh as if she were having a psychotic episode, utterly bewildered.
They had no idea which part of their words had triggered such hysterical laughter.
An Minghe’s face darkened repeatedly. He stood up, ready to rebuke her.
But Gu Yuqing stopped him, silently shaking her head and signaling that he must endure it.
An Minghe took several deep breaths, forcing himself to suppress his anger, and mustered a benevolent smile with great effort. “Little Li, what’s wrong?”
Tangxi Li’s laughter gradually subsided. She brushed her hair back and said apologetically, “Sorry about that. I usually don’t laugh much, unless something is just too ridiculous. It’s all your fault—you had to tell me such hilarious jokes. Who could resist? Hahaha…”
As she spoke, she broke into another soft chuckle.
The An family members: “…”
It dawned on them that their emotional strategy not only failed to work on her but had become a laughingstock instead.Instantly, the An Family’s expressions turned extremely unpleasant.