Chapter 87

Bailu calculated her New Year’s money and realized she still had some left. She also had the money Chen Hao gave her, which amounted to over a thousand. Considering her living expenses… ummm, she couldn’t stretch it any further, especially when she had regular expenses to cover. So, she called her family, acted coquettishly for a while, and they sent her some more money.

With enough funds now, Bailu decided to buy a new laptop.

She actually had an old one she used in high school, which she brought with her to college. It was still functional, but when she saw Ji Anning and Meng Xinyu buying new laptops together, she got envious.

During a free time, she persuaded Meng Xinyu to accompany her to purchase a new laptop. They went to the nearest mall to the university. Although you could also buy online, she wanted to physically check out the laptops before making a purchase.

Unexpectedly, they ran into Meng Xinyu’s fellow villager, Yu Xia, at the electronics store.

Bailu had met Yu Xia more than once before, and this time, she immediately noticed that Yu Xia had significantly improved her sense of fashion.

Yu Xia was in the process of choosing a laptop, and when she saw them, she greeted them with a smile, “Are you buying a laptop too?”

The three of them exchanged a few words, had a brief discussion about the laptop’s performance, and then each started to make their own selections.

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Yldt Dkduw oyp fwpv vblal yp nsxrydu; Jyk Nw oyp vbl sdl xyjkdt vbl rwanbypl. Fbl prldv psxl vkxl nsdvlxrzyvkdt clvolld vos ekqqlaldv xselzp.

Yldt Dkduw pyke, “R’zz ts vs vbl alpvassx.”

Gp pssd yp pbl zlqv, Zw Dky bye xyel bla nbsknl yde vsze vbl pyzlprlapsd, “R oydv vbkp xselz.”

Jykzw ypjle, “Zsw nbspl vbkp sdl?”

“Zlp,” Zw Dky alrzkle. “Rv byp tsse prlnkqknyvksdp.”

Jyk Nw jdlo, sq nswapl, vbyv vbl xselz okvb tsse prlnkqknyvksdp oyp obyv pbl oydvle. Fbl blpkvyvle clnywpl kv oyp pzktbvzu shla bla cwetlv. Jwv Zw Dky eked’v xkde; pbl ytalle vs cwu kv okvbswv ydu blpkvyvksd.

Jyk Nw qlzv ldhkswp yde ypjle, “Ebyv ryav-vkxl fsc yal usw eskdt dso vs lyad ps xwnb xsdlu? Dkduw kdvasewnle xl vs vwvsakdt, yde kv’p ps vkakdt. Tyhkdt vs oyjl wr lyazu sd olljldep, vbl jkep yal ps pzso vs wdelapvyde, yde lhld yqvla lmrzykdkdt vbkdtp voknl, vblu pvkzz esd’v tlv kv. R nyd cyalzu bydezl sdl plppksd, yde qsa vbl ryu, kv’p alyzzu dsv osavb pynakqknkdt xu olljlde pzllr.”

Zw Dky alrzkle, “Mblal’p ds fsc vbyv ryup vbyv xwnb. R’x dsv zkjl Gddkdt qasx uswa nzypp, pbl’p ps clywvkqwz yde nyd es xselzkdt; vbyv’p oblal vbl alyz xsdlu kp.”

Bai Lu was not very pleased and felt that Yu Xia was being secretive and not as open as Meng Xinyu and Ji Anning when it came to sharing information. When she was unhappy, it showed on her face, and Yu Xia, being astute, quickly noticed it.

“Really,” Yu Xia, who was used to avoiding conflicts, spoke honestly, “I’ll tell you, I’m essentially pre-spending. I applied for a student loan to buy this notebook. I had no other choice. We have a course that requires us to have a notebook from this semester onwards.”

Bai Lu was surprised, “You can get a loan for buying a computer?”

“Yes, you didn’t know? There are many campus loans available nowadays, small amounts, no threshold, you just need your ID, and the money gets transferred quickly. It’s super convenient,” Yu Xia enthusiastically informed Bai Lu.

Bai Lu’s heart raced.

Yang Yuan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and listened to Yang Bo reporting the progress of these days one by one.

“My little brother has a strong personality and won’t budge,” Yang Bo smiled, “But the negotiators said that he’s bluffing, and they can tell he doesn’t have much to back it up.”

When Yang Bo referred to Wen Yu as “little brother” over and over, it irritated Yang Yuan.

He opened his eyes and looked at his son in front of him.

Cheng Lian was a beauty, and Wen Yu took after her in terms of looks. Yang Bo’s mother had an ordinary appearance, at best described as pretty, but Yang Bo looked almost identical to how Yang Yuan looked when he was young.

He couldn’t bring himself to like either of these two sons. In fact, Yang Yuan was a person with a very indifferent attitude towards other people, including his own family.

He only loved himself.

“Understood,” he said, “So, tomorrow…”

“I have something to do tomorrow,” Yang Bo interrupted.

His son’s tone was impolite, which furrowed Yang Yuan’s brow.

Yang Bo looked at him and said, “Tomorrow, do you remember what day it is?”

Yang Yuan blinked, furrowing his brow, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall anything special about tomorrow or any important events.

Yang Bo didn’t have any expectations from this man, so he couldn’t be disappointed. He calmly replied, “Tomorrow is my mother’s birthday, and I’m going to be with her.”

Yang Yuan suddenly remembered, and he forced a hint of warmth into his expression as he asked, “How has she been lately?”

“Thanks to you,” Yang Bo said, “She’s been doing well.”

These sons of his, they all had complicated relationships with their mothers, and they didn’t seem to understand what was truly important. Yang Yuan was quite dissatisfied with this situation.

He stopped Yang Bo, who was about to leave, and said, “Xiao Bo!”

Yang Bo turned back.

Yang Yuan said, “Remember, we’re in the same boat.”

Yang Bo shrugged and replied, “Of course.”

Their gazes met, one filled with irritation, the other with a half-smile.

The one feeling irritated was, of course, Yang Yuan.

Too many things had spiraled out of control.

First and foremost, there was Cheng Lian’s death.

All of it was Yang Bo’s fault.

Cheng Lian’s escape plan was not particularly complex. She created a sense of suspicion to frame and incriminate Wen Guoan, all to buy herself some time. The goal was to keep him entangled in trouble, restrict his movements, and delay his investigation into her whereabouts.

Cheng Lian didn’t actually believe that framing Wen Guoan would ruin him. With Wen Guoan’s abilities and connections, he would surely extricate himself.

Cheng Lian only wanted to use this time to undergo plastic surgery, create a new identity for herself, and quickly escape from Wen Guoan.

She looked forward to her future life, like a young girl with dreams.

All of this would have been fine, and even if her future life didn’t turn out as she had hoped, Yang Yuan could have comforted her.

What shattered Cheng Lian’s beautiful dream was Yang Bo.

Every time Yang Bo saw Cheng Lian, he addressed her as “Aunt Cheng,” but in his heart, he harbored deep-seated hatred for her.

At this stage, Yang Bo no longer had any reservations about Cheng Lian, and he took action to shatter her dreams.

He showed her some photographs. Some of them featured him with various children in solo photos, while others showed those children with adult women.

“What is this?” Cheng Lian was puzzled. She saw photos of Yang Bo with other kids, and there was some resemblance in their facial features. She even asked, “Are they relatives?”

“I should say they’re family,” Yang Bo replied with a smile. “They are all brothers and sisters, and the youngest one here is only six months old.”

All those children were Yang Yuan’s.

Cheng Lian had always thought that, even though Yang Yuan had married Yang Bo’s mother to have children, he only loved her.

Over the years, she had given him so much money, and in return, he had given her emotional support—love.

This love, even though it had to compromise under Wen Guoan’s pressure, could still be considered pure. The fact that Yang Bo’s mother was the only one Cheng Lian had to accept.

However, Cheng Lian couldn’t accept Yang Yuan’s deception. She couldn’t accept that Yang Yuan was using her money while having so many other women and children!

Those women were all very young, and the youngest had just turned twenty-two. Their skin was smooth, full of collagen, and they could easily pass as her daughters.

Cheng Lian was going crazy.

In reality, there is no such thing as a perfectly executed plan and a precise outcome. Most of the time, the development of events involves a series of actions and reactions, gradually leading to the final result.

People caught up in these situations are either being propelled forward or making the best of circumstances, trying to leverage the situation for their own advantage.

Yang Bo’s initial intention in doing all of this was simply to let out years of pent-up frustration. However, he had no idea that a menopausal woman, a woman who had decided to leave her husband and son and start a new life, would actually go insane.

She actually pulled out a knife and tried to kill Yang Yuan.

That knife was exactly the same as the one from the Wen family. When Cheng Lian left, she left the one with Wen Guoan’s fingerprints behind and took this one with her.

Of course, Yang Bo couldn’t just watch Cheng Lian kill Yang Yuan, so he had to help Yang Yuan stop her.

But when he saw Yang Yuan wrest the knife from Cheng Lian’s hand, a sudden thought sprang to his mind.

Before Yang Yuan could react, he was holding a knife in his hand, and the knife was thrust into Cheng Lian’s body.

While Yang Yuan was still in shock, Yang Bo had already let go, taken out his phone, and recorded the scene.

Though Yang Bo couldn’t find it in himself to love his son, he did provide for him and give him a comfortable life. Yang Yuan could never have expected that one day, Yang Bo would turn on him.

Luckily, their blood ties made it impossible for Yang Bo to send Yang Yuan to prison.

What Yang Bo wanted was merely more inheritance and a greater say in matters.

In the end, they were both on the same ship, and that ship couldn’t sink. At most, they would vie for who got to steer.

Wen Yu took over Wen Guoan’s team, working on both sowing discord between the Yangs and investigating the whereabouts of the money.

He almost forgot about Old Xing.

However, Old Xing had been diligently working, delivering the results of his investigations to Wen Yu.

A lot of the information in Wen Guoan’s possession matches up.

Yang Yuan, despite being touted as an elite student from a prestigious school, didn’t exhibit exceptional talent in business. At least during those years, his entrepreneurial attempts with the money given by Cheng Lian ended in failure.

“We’ve found people he collaborated with back then,” Old Xing said. “He probably falsified the books to deceive Ms. Cheng.”

If it were the later Cheng Lian, she would have likely seen through it early on. But at that time, Cheng Lian was still young and inexperienced. Coupled with the filter of love, she believed all of Yang Yuan’s sweet-talking and lies, giving him even more money.

Old Xing continued, “He went to Southeast Asia with the money, and his rise to prominence began from there.”

Wen Yu looked at the information and sarcastically remarked, “Oh, he became a successful person in no time, huh?”

“Yes, it was very sudden,” Old Xing said. “I have some old comrades, and they switched careers and went to the Southeastern border. I spoke to them.”

Wen Yu raised his gaze and looked at him.

Old Xing continued, “This kind of sudden success is usually associated with smuggling and drug trafficking. The companies he later established are probably all empty shells.”

This was in line with Wen Guoan’s suspicions that Yang Yuan might be involved in money laundering.

However, while going through a heap of documents, Wen Yu noticed a photograph of a woman.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“Xu Ying,” Old Xing said. “She’s Yang Yuan’s wife and Yang Bo’s biological mother.”

Wen Yu asked, “Is there something wrong with her?”

Old Xing replied, “She is currently in a psychiatric hospital.”

Wen Yu couldn’t believe his ears. What kind of dog blood drama was this?

“Yang Yuan came from a very ordinary background. He was born in a small town. His father was a craftsman, and his mother ran a small snack stall. He had two elder sisters, and the whole family worked hard to support his education.”

“About four to five months after your parents got married, Yang Yuan went back to his hometown for an arranged marriage. Two months later, he got married directly.”

“Xu Ying only has a junior high school education, so it’s safe to say she lacks formal education. They had a significant gap in education and appearance. Yang Yuan’s parents strongly opposed the marriage, but he insisted on marrying Xu Ying and took her to the big city.”

“Xu Ying has a gentle personality, and after marriage, she didn’t work and focused on household chores. She soon became pregnant and gave birth to Yang Bo.”

“It all sounds good. So, how did she end up with a mental illness?” Wen Yu asked.

In his heart, he could already guess that it had something to do with Cheng Lian.

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Sansukini: First of all, don’t let those loan apps or easy loans fool you. Those are traps. Always live within your means. Second of all, Cheng Lian’s death is so ironic.

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