Fang Youning had actually realized a long time ago that something was wrong with her family.
Her Grandmother was cold and harsh. Although they relied on each other to survive, the old woman didn’t seem to have much affection for her.
Her parents were never around for most of the year, and whenever they did meet, they would weep and complain about how poor the family was. They clearly looked to be in good health, yet they claimed they hadn’t eaten for days and suffered from chronic illnesses. Once she started working part-time while studying and earned a bit of money, they would find all sorts of excuses to wheedle it out of her.
Then there was her fraternal twin sister, whose eyes couldn’t hide the disdain she felt for her. When her sister reached out her hands, they were fair and delicate, not at all like the hands of someone who, according to their parents, had been working hard since childhood.
But she couldn’t figure it out. Why?
It wasn’t until the movie Successor was released. The Boss’s wife at the shop where she worked saw the trailer playing on the wall-mounted TV and let out a scoff. “The movies really know how to make things up. What kind of parents could be so cruel? Who could bear to watch their own child suffer like that?”
Fang Youning’s mind drifted when she heard those words. Her hand, holding a rag to wipe the table, came to a halt.
After washing the dishes in the shop, she asked the Boss’s wife for time off before her shift ended and quietly made a trip back to her hometown.
Upon receiving a call from the old woman in the countryside, Fang Dongming and Li Meifen immediately had their Driver start the car and rushed back in a frantic hurry.
As soon as they entered the door, they saw the Grandmother standing in the room with her head bowed, while their daughter sat in a chair with a dark expression.
The positions of the two were a complete reversal of the natural order!
“Dad, Mom, you’re not wearing your security guard and maid uniforms anymore?”
Fang Youning looked at her father, dressed in a sharp suit with his hair slicked back and his leather shoes polished to a mirror shine. Her mother was draped in jewels, the gold bracelet on her wrist thicker than the rebar of their family’s iron fence. She found it utterly ironic and ludicrous.
For twenty-two years, the whole family had told her they were poor. They demanded she live frugally and even obstructed her education. In the end, she discovered that everything was a lie—the Grandmother was a fake, and the poverty was a sham.
All of this was simply because they wanted her to suffer. And the reason turned out to be a ridiculous fortune-telling from a master?
She and Fang Mingzhu were fraternal twins, but she had a Suffering Fate, while Fang Mingzhu had a Prosperity Fate. The more she suffered, the more Fang Mingzhu’s wealth would flourish, and the more the Fang family would prosper.
When the fake Grandmother, under her pressure, revealed this truth, she was first shocked and then laughed out of sheer anger.
She blurted out a question: “Are they fakes too? Are they not my biological parents at all?”
“They aren’t fakes. You really are their biological child,” the fake Grandmother guaranteed.
Fang Youning’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard by a giant hand—it was suffocating and painful!
She would have preferred if they were fakes as well; that way, it wouldn’t hurt so much.
“You old woman, how do you handle things? How did you let her find out?”
Li Meifen didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt after being mocked by Fang Youning; instead, she lashed out at the old woman.
The fake Grandmother replied in terror, “I didn’t know she would come back suddenly. She clearly told me she wouldn’t be here for another two hours. By the time I ran back, I didn’t even have time to change my clothes before she caught me.”
Li Meifen looked at the silk cheongsam the woman was wearing and the pearl necklace around her neck, rolling her eyes in anger.
She completely forgot that she herself currently looked every bit the jewel-bedecked wealthy lady.
“It’s not entirely her fault,” Fang Youning said coldly. “Half a month ago, I was washing dishes in front of a restaurant when you drove past. Even though it was just a fleeting glance, I still saw Fang Mingzhu in the car. Before coming here, I checked your license plate number and visited the villa where you live. Coming back suddenly to catch her in the act was just because I wanted to know the reason.”
The fake Grandmother said, “See? It wasn’t me who exposed it. You can’t dock my wages.”
With a dark face, Fang Dongming took a stack of hundred-yuan bills of unknown value from his clutch bag, threw them on the ground, and said to the old woman, “Get out. We don’t need you anymore.”
The fake Grandmother hurriedly picked up the money and counted it. Satisfied, she trotted off with the cash.
Until the moment she left, she didn’t spare Fang Youning another glance.
She was certainly professional; acting was just acting, and she didn’t invest a single shred of emotion into it.
“Since you know the truth now, you should understand that it’s impossible for us to let you enjoy the same life as Mingzhu,” Li Meifen said ruthlessly while stroking her freshly manicured nails.
“So, you mean you want me to continue suffering?” Fang Youning asked.
Fang Dongming said, “Youning, I know you feel it’s unfair, but there’s nothing we can do. Who told you to have such bad luck? It’s not that we, as parents, are cruel. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for having this kind of fate. Our family’s company is flourishing now and will go public in a few years. Your suffering is partly to credit for that. Once the company is listed and stable, we will give you some compensation. But for these next few years, you still need to keep suffering so that our family can be even better.”
With tears in her eyes, Fang Youning smiled and asked them, “What kind of compensation do you plan to give me?”
Li Meifen and Fang Dongming were stunned and glanced at each other. They truly hadn’t thought about it.
In their plan, they intended for this daughter to suffer for her entire life so that their family would remain successful forever.
“You haven’t thought about it at all,” Fang Youning exposed them painfully. “You want me to suffer for the rest of my life because you think it will keep you prosperous forever.”
“As long as you understand.”
Li Meifen, having her thoughts guessed correctly, turned her embarrassment into anger and shouted sternly, “Since you understand everything, then honestly continue with your current life. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being heartless. You have half a year until graduation. We know the leaders at your school. If you make any more trouble, we’ll make sure you can’t graduate.”
Fang Youning gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, her whole body trembling with rage.
They knew exactly how much she cherished her chance to study, yet they used this to blackmail her?
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose you? Let everyone know how you mistreat your own biological daughter?”
She had checked; the Fang Group was a major enterprise in Rong City. They were people of status, after all, and should care about their reputation.
To her surprise, Fang Dongming listened with a face full of disdain. “Fang Youning, do you think just because your surname is Fang, people will know you’re my daughter? Look at your household register. You aren’t even on the same register as us. Who would believe you if you said you were our daughter? If you dare to expose us, I’ll call the police and say you’re extorting us. You can suffer just as well if you get locked up, and it would save us a lot of trouble.”
“Hubby, let’s go! The smell here is terrible, it’s stinking to high heaven,” Li Meifen said, covering her nose in disgust.
Fang Dongming nodded. Before leaving, he called someone to have the place demolished.
This place was no longer useful, but they knew Fang Youning had an emotional attachment to it, so tearing it down was just the thing to make her miserable.
They arrived in luxury cars and left in luxury cars, leaving Fang Youning alone in the ruins.
Fang Youning sat in the rubble for a long time. She thought of many ways to expose their beastly behavior, but none of them were feasible.
Fang Dongming was right. She wasn’t on the same household register as them; no one would believe she was their daughter. All these years, they had dumped her in the countryside to be cared for by a strange old woman, and she had never met any of the Fang family’s relatives.
Therefore, no one knew of her existence.
From the day she was born, she had been abandoned by them.
Unless she could do a DNA test with them, but they would certainly never agree.
Wiping away her tears, she stood up from the ground and brushed the dust off her clothes.
Forget it. She didn’t want parents like that anyway.
From now on, she would only be herself. She no longer had to worry if the money she earned was enough for their medical bills, and she certainly didn’t need to look after a so-called sister.
Anyway, she had relied on herself for the past twenty-two years; she could live just as well on her own in the future.
Taking a bus and then a high-speed train, she finally returned to Rong City after dark.
Even at night, the August heat in Rong City was enough to kill.
After getting off the train and taking a bus, she walked for half an hour from the bus station back to her rental. Her clothes were soaked through with sweat, sticking clammily to her body.
However, the door to her rental wouldn’t open.
She called the Landlord. When he arrived, he looked at her with a troubled expression. “Xiao Fang, I’m sorry, I can’t rent this place to you anymore. You haven’t paid this month’s rent yet, so don’t worry about it. Consider it my compensation to you.”
“Uncle Li, why are you suddenly not renting to me?” Fang Youning asked urgently.
The Landlord was silent for a moment before whispering a warning, “Did you offend someone?”
After saying that, he opened the door, took out her bag, placed it on the ground for her, and left.
Fang Youning gave a bitter smile. Who could a poor student like her have offended?
The only ones she had offended were those heartless parents of hers.
They were truly cruel, not even letting her stay in her rented room. Did they want a girl like her to be wandering the streets in the middle of the night?
But it didn’t matter; she still had a boyfriend.
Thinking of Shen Yunhai, a surge of warmth filled her heart.
She immediately took out her phone and called Shen Yunhai, asking if it was convenient for her to go over and see him.
“Sure, come over! I happen to be hosting a party, come join the fun,” Shen Yunhai said.
Fang Youning quickly grabbed her luggage and took a bus to Shen Yunhai’s apartment.
Deafening music drifted through the crack of the door. After ringing the doorbell for a long time and then calling Shen Yunhai again, the door finally opened.
However, the person who opened the door wasn’t Shen Yunhai, but Fang Mingzhu.
She pouted slightly, her face adorned with exquisite makeup. She was wearing a designer dress that Shen Yunhai had given Fang Youning as his first gift—one that Fang Youning had always been too reluctant to wear. Fang Mingzhu complained, “Sister, why are you just getting here? The party’s almost over. Did you just not want to come to our party?”