Chapter 270 | Chapter 271 | Chapter 272
Chapter 270: Antiques
Because it was daytime, places like bars hadn’t opened for business yet, so Wei Xiao couldn’t “drown his sorrows in alcohol.”
Not to mention, he was still wearing his Mingde school uniform; while he could take off his blazer, there was no way to take off his trousers.
He fired off a message in the group chat of wealthy young heirs he was in, asking if anyone knew of a place to pass the time and relax. One person immediately recommended Yunjin House, mentioning they had a shooting range.
Wei Xiao pretended he hadn’t seen it. Why would he go to territory owned by Jiang Chuchu’s family?
That card Han Lang had given him had been returned to Wei Yan after Han Yun exposed its origin, and he hadn’t set foot in Yunjin House since.
Another person sent a photo of what appeared to be an elegantly decorated tea house.
[Just find a quiet place to lie down for a while, don’t think about anything.]
It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to think; he didn’t want to hear anything, either.
But looking at it, a place like that seemed appropriate. Wei Xiao had him send over the location. The wealthy heir eagerly responded: [How could I trouble Brother Wei with that? Just send me your location, and I’ll have someone drive over to pick you up.]
About half an hour later, Wei Xiao arrived at the club.
Unlike Yunjin House, the style here was more traditional—a Chinese-style courtyard surrounded by greenery. It wasn’t small, and it certainly didn’t look any less upscale than Yunjin House.
Wei Xiao was quite satisfied with this, and his mood improved slightly. “What do you recommend?”
“I’m not sure what Brother Wei wants, so I booked you the room with the best view outside the window and had them light calming incense in advance. You can get some proper rest,” the wealthy heir said with a touch of simple-minded eagerness.
The arrangement wasn’t particularly clever or entertaining, but Wei Xiao didn’t want to do anything anyway; he just wanted to be left alone.
He nodded slightly. “This is fine. I’m going to rest for a while; don’t let anyone disturb me.”
A waiter led him to his room. Wei Xiao looked around and was somewhat surprised to find that some of the rooms had one-way glass. He asked about it, and the waiter politely replied, “To ensure our guests’ privacy, some of our rooms are equipped with one-way glass, so you can’t see into the room from the outside.”
Once inside his guest room, Wei Xiao opened half of the window to test it. He leaned out and looked in from the outside, and sure enough, his guest room was one-way glass too.
His satisfaction grew. Right now, he didn’t want anyone casting any inquisitive glances his way ever again.
The scent of the incense in the room was faint and not off-putting. Wei Xiao closed his eyes and flopped onto the bed.
The room was very quiet. Through the window, the sounds from outside were muffled, with only the occasional cry of a waterbird, which made the state of mind feel even more expansive.
Wei Xiao relaxed quickly and drifted into a deep sleep. He didn’t know how long he had slept, but he gradually began to hear fragments of conversation that slowly woke him up.
Despite being woken up, this was the best sleep Wei Xiao had gotten in a long time. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, surprisingly not feeling too annoyed by the chatter that had disturbed him.
He walked to the window, intending to see who was talking. As he got closer, the sounds from outside became increasingly clear.
Wei Xiao saw two men standing by the lake, no more than two or three meters away from him. It was only because of the one-way glass that they hadn’t discovered his presence at such a close distance.
The men had their backs to him, and Wei Xiao couldn’t see their faces, but judging by the sophistication of their clothing, they were likely people of some status.
The two were deep in conversation, jumping between topics—one moment discussing the state of their companies last year, the next talking about their children at home.
Wei Xiao gradually grasped the situation: the one dressed casually was a playboy who traveled around the world, while the other, dressed formally, was a friend of the former who was developing his career domestically.
The two were attending a joint event here and had sought out this quiet spot to chat privately away from the others.
Wei Xiao had originally intended to open the window and tell them to chat elsewhere so they wouldn’t affect his rest, but before his hand could touch the frame, he heard the former say with great interest: “Say, that Wei family has been quite lively lately, huh.”
Wei Xiao froze, involuntarily holding his breath.
The latter shook his head. “Don’t go sticking your nose into affairs of that family.”
The former let out a “tsk.” “I never liked that Wei Yan guy. He swapped wives just for a son, and the current one isn’t even that great—give him credit for not being picky.”
His tone quickly became cheerful again. “I’m just so happy to see things turn out like this.”
Wei Xiao gritted his teeth. Why are there so many people kicking others when they’re down!
The latter seemed to recall something. “Speaking of his current wife, she seems to have trended on social media today—something about getting into trouble and ending up in prison.”
The former was surprised. After chatting with the latter for a while and understanding what had happened, he sighed, “How on earth did that woman get caught… I never expected her to be so crafty; I really misjudged her.”
What is there to praise about that woman! Wei Xiao pressed his palms against the window.
Just as he was about to open the window to tell the two to move further away, the former seemed to suddenly think of something, his voice rising a notch.
“Wait, the way you put that makes me remember something!” the former said rapidly. “Back when I was abroad, someone told me that antiques once purchased by Wei Yan had appeared on the black market.”
“Do you remember Wei Yan’s antiques?”
“I lost out to him at an auction previously, so I remember them clearly.”
The former sounded somewhat resentful. “Never mind that, listen to me—I thought at the time that Wei Yan had sold them himself. After all, it had been a while; maybe he wanted to sell them to buy new ones.”
“But now, I suspect… could it be that Zhu Yuanyuan sold off Wei Yan’s antiques, and when he found out, he flew into a rage and had her thrown in prison?”
The latter fell silent, seemingly speechless. “Come on, Wei Yan isn’t short on cash; why would he make such a huge fuss over a single antique?”
The former sheepishly replied, “I was just making a wild guess…”
Feeling embarrassed himself, he didn’t dwell on the topic further and urged, “Alright, enough chatter. Time to go back to the event.”
With that, the two walked away, one after the other.
Wei Xiao stood before the window, a tempest raging in his heart.
Wei Yan’s antiques were sold off? Although the latter half of that man’s theory was utter nonsense, this piece of news was clearly problematic.
He suppressed the shock in his heart and paced the room twice.
Could it be… that Zhu Yuanyuan really did secretly sell off Wei Yan’s antiques and funneled the money into her own private stash?
Did Wei Yan know about this? Did Zhu Yuanyuan really hide money away?
No, the main point is, given Zhu Yuanyuan’s personality, it is genuinely possible that she stashed away a fortune! A fortune that neither he nor Wei Yan knew about!
I have to investigate this. Wei Xiao began chewing on his fingernails unconsciously.
If Zhu Yuanyuan really did hide money… how much did she hide? Where did she hide it?
Most importantly, once she gets out of prison, will she be able to live a life of comfort with that money?
No, how can that be! She’s the culprit who landed me in this predicament; how can she live a life better than mine!
Chapter 271: Madness
Learning that Wei Xiao had begun investigating the money Zhu Yuanyuan stashed away, Gu Qinghuan let out a massive sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. This time, things are finally progressing as scheduled.”
Having their trouble-making sniped by someone else two times in a row had left the marmots of Class Three feeling a bit deflated.
“How is the internal school opinion today?” Xia He asked casually.
“It’s fine. Everyone utterly loathes human traffickers, so they’re cursing her fiercely,” Gu Qinghuan massaged her temples.
Class Three had guided the topic carefully, ensuring the discourse didn’t scatter too wildly. However, just as Xu Xinghe had anticipated, some people were starting to sympathize with Wei Xiao, feeling that being saddled with a mother like that wasn’t something he could choose.
Zhu Yuanyuan is the human trafficker, not Wei Xiao. Isn’t cursing Wei Xiao going a bit too far?
The Class Three students had already been inoculated against this by Xu Xinghe, so they remained exceptionally calm upon seeing these comments, directly presenting the consensus from their discussions.
Deal with facts as they are. We aren’t discussing Wei Xiao’s other personal flaws; we’re discussing him strictly in his capacity as Zhu Yuanyuan’s son.
Zhu Yuanyuan being a human trafficker has nothing to do with Wei Xiao; he was ignorant of it. Therefore, the families harmed by Zhu Yuanyuan should target her personally.
For instance, once Zhu Yuanyuan gets out of prison, whether they secretly ambush her with a sack over her head or whatever—while illegal, it’s aligned with human nature. They just have to bear the legal consequences themselves.
However, ambushing Wei Xiao with a sack makes zero sense! To make Zhu Yuanyuan taste the heartbreak of watching her child suffer?
What is heartbreak to a person like Zhu Yuanyuan? Would she even care? If you want revenge, target the person responsible. Expecting a human trafficker to possess humanity is far too naive.
As for Wei Xiao’s issue, it lies in whether he acknowledges and accepts his mother’s crimes, and whether he, from the perspective of a family member, offers proper compensation and atonement to the victims.
Anyone who uses excuses like, “Even though my dad is a human trafficker, he was very good to me,” to absolve a criminal—every single one of them needs a brain check.
Wei Xiao’s current state clearly shows he doesn’t want to admit any fault; he wants to preserve his own image. But to the victims and their families, this only brings deeper fury. So on this specific point, he is in the wrong.
Finding this logic completely sound upon reflection, the comments section pivoted to blasting Wei Xiao for being unrepentant.
Shen Jianwei, who had provided the breakdown for this discussion, received a unanimous round of applause from Class Three.
Shen Jianwei waved her hands modestly: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the exact same thing about a certain neighboring country. I just learned a bit from watching them.”
Gu Qinghuan thought for a moment and asked, “Roughly how long will it take for Wei Xiao to dig up the matter regarding Zhu Yuanyuan?”
Xia He replied, “It won’t be that fast. After all, I intend for him to find out later than Wei Yan.”
When Wei Xiao learned from Wei Yan’s own mouth that no such thing existed, yet unearthed the evidence himself anyway, what would he do?
Deem his own findings incorrect? No, the evidence was formatted so meticulously that no one who looked at it would think it flawed.
Wei Xiao would think: If even I can dig this up, can Wei Yan truly not find it? Or is it that Wei Yan simply doesn’t want to tell me the ‘truth’?
No matter what Wei Yan’s underlying motive was for keeping him in the dark, the moment Wei Xiao thought this way, a widening fissure would form between father and son.
Sooner or later, they would be utterly swallowed by that fissure.
Xia He recalled the report provided by the operative he sent to keep tabs on Wei Xiao. It stated that Wei Xiao’s recent psychological state was highly problematic; a preliminary assessment suggested he might have developed an anxiety disorder.
Reaping what he sowed, nothing more. Xia He knit his brows, completely devoid of any intention to grant Wei Xiao a shred of sympathy.
The girls Wei Xiao had harmed in the past had similarly suffered from various psychological issues. Now that it was Wei Xiao’s turn, it could only be described as pure retribution.
Wei Xiao jarred awake from his dream once again.
It was currently the dead of night, and the sky outside was an overcast gray, with no sign of the sun.
He clutched his forehead and panted for a while, feeling thoroughly exhausted. He snatched the bottle of melatonin on his nightstand and tossed a pill into his mouth.
He comforted himself: It’s fine. Wei Yan is already investigating Zhu Yuanyuan’s private hoard; there will be results very soon.
Furthermore, although his personal network couldn’t match Wei Yan’s, the wealthy heir who had introduced him to that club last time was also helping him look into it through connections.
Among that crowd, only that wealthy heir possessed a modicum of competence. Wei Xiao decided to maintain a good relationship with him from now on, viewing him as a genuine friend.
The guy was just a bit talkative and loved to show off; whenever he uncovered a tiny detail, he would fire off messages like a beating drum to display his capability.
But thanks to that solid physical evidence, Wei Xiao felt at ease. As long as Wei Yan uncovered these facts as well, he could effortlessly claw back that fortune.
He couldn’t wait to see the look on Zhu Yuanyuan’s face when she discovered her hidden hoard was completely gone.
It would surely be spectacular, wouldn’t it? This was the exact retribution she deserved for abandoning him and shattering his life!
With this thought, Wei Xiao’s mood improved slightly. The nightmare where he was left destitute and broke was completely wiped from his mind, and he drifted back to sleep.
Under the influence of the melatonin, Wei Xiao slept straight through until the sun was high in the sky.
The sun had risen long ago, its bright glare making Wei Xiao feel a twinge of nausea.
Cradling his slightly groggy head, he walked into the living room, just in time to see Wei Yan standing by the floor-to-ceiling window making a phone call.
He appeared to be discussing business. Wei Xiao caught a few substantial figures, which made his eyes burn with envy once again.
Originally, all of this should have belonged to me!
Wei Yan hung up the phone and turned around, catching sight of the rather haggard-looking Wei Xiao.
He furrowed his brows. At this stage, he didn’t even want to comment on Wei Xiao’s unilateral decision to skip school. He had seen the trending searches and could guess Wei Xiao’s reason for avoiding school; consequently, his disappointment in Wei Xiao grew.
This son, though not his biological flesh and blood, was still raised under his personal guidance for so long. I never expected him to be this fragile.
Although Wei Yan desperately wanted a grandson, looking at Wei Xiao now, he figured it would be better to seek out a more exceptional male partner in the future; he absolutely couldn’t allow the Wei family bloodline to be contaminated.
At this thought, Wei Yan’s expression turned a fraction colder. “What do you want?”
“I just… I just wanted to ask.” Wei Xiao had become exceptionally prone to nervousness lately, to the point where he stammered slightly as he spoke.
But recalling the latest evidence he had just received on his phone, Wei Xiao braced himself. “The matter of Zhu Yuanyuan hiding money—how is your investigation going, Father?”
Wei Yan felt a surge of displeasure. Since when was it Wei Xiao’s place to question his progress?
He said indifferently, “The investigation concluded earlier. There is no such thing.”
Like a blunt strike to the head, Wei Xiao stood entirely frozen.
He blurted out instinctively, “How is that possible? There’s clear evidence…”
Before he could flash the evidence on his phone, Wei Yan had already walked past him, heading toward the entryway. “Your so-called evidence is nothing but hearsay. A complete waste of my time.”
“If your wild goose chase hadn’t wasted my manpower, I would have already located my daughter by now,” Wei Yan’s tone carried a heavy trace of regret.
“My daughter”—the phrasing dealt a brutal blow to Wei Xiao’s heart.
He couldn’t control himself, shrieking out, “She explicitly hid it! A million US dollars!”
Though surprised by why Wei Xiao was so adamantly certain, Wei Yan placed far more trust in the findings of his own investigation, merely assuming that this figure was the price of the antiques Wei Xiao had overheard in that conversation.
He grew impatient. “Even if she truly hid it, let her keep it. That amount of money is just the price of severing ties; it’s not like I can’t afford it.”
With that, he allowed the servant to help him into his suit jacket, stepped through the door, and left the house.
“That amount of money”? Wei Xiao was in a daze. Yes, to the Wei family, it’s ‘that amount of money.’ But to me, it’s wealth I will never have access to again!
Why does Zhu Yuanyuan get to take that money and escape this place? Why am I the one forced to stay here and suffer?
Wei Yan actually found out long ago, didn’t he? He’s just refusing to say it because he wants Zhu Yuanyuan to keep her mouth shut! He’s playing me for a fool!
Wei Xiao violently smashed the teacups on the table, glaring out the window with a look of pure madness.
My life is already ruined. Since that’s the case, none of you get to have an easy life either!
Chapter 272: Mask
Although everyone knew that Thursday was the day the attorney would visit the prison to have Zhu Yuanyuan sign the divorce agreement, and Gu Qinghuan had also verified through Xia He that Wei Xiao had taken action, everyone still felt uneasy. They had no idea whether Wei Xiao’s attempts to provoke her would yield any results.
Over the past few days, Wei Xiao had not come to school at all, making it impossible for them to confirm his situation on campus. As for the internal school discussions surrounding him, they gradually died down due to his continued absence.
Yu Xin furrowed her brows, feeling a rare surge of anxiety. “There hasn’t been a single peep. This suspense is truly agonizing.”
“There’s nothing we can do about that; our primary sphere of activity is still the school grounds,” Jiang Chuchu said, shaking her head. “When it comes to a situation like the Wei family’s, it was already difficult for us to intervene in the first place.”
In reality, if they truly wanted to investigate, given the Jiang family’s corporate strength, Jiang Chuchu could have easily dug up information just by asking Jiang Youwei for personnel and connections. However, Jiang Chuchu had already resolved not to abuse that power before it truly belonged to her; she could not afford to develop a dependency on it.
By comparison, Lin Zhulu actually had the peace of mind to comfort them.
“Don’t worry. We do our best and leave the rest to fate,” Lin Zhulu said. “We’ve already done everything within our power. From here on out, we just have to see if things unfold according to our design.”
Gu Qinghuan glanced at her phone. Receiving no new messages, she shoved it back into her desk drawer. She looked up at Lin Zhulu. “Speaking of which, after Wei Yan tracked down that fake evidence, he stopped investigating Zhu Yuanyuan’s affairs entirely and poured all his resources into investigating you, didn’t he? How much longer can you hold out?”
Lin Zhulu replied, “The best-case scenario is stalling until the day after tomorrow. The worst-case scenario… well, it might get uncovered today.”
The marmots: “…Huh?”
Xie Xiangxue was stunned. “Today?! How are you managing to stay this calm!”
“After all, he’s been investigating for quite a while now. I’ve been mentally preparing myself all along, so by today, I’ve long accepted the reality of being found out,” Lin Zhulu spread her hands helplessly.
Back then, although the Lin family believed Wei Yan wouldn’t care about Lin Zhulu as a daughter, they had still considered what they would do if Wei Yan ever came to fight for custody. Therefore, regarding Lin Zhulu’s identity, the Lin family had consistently maintained a great deal of cover. The simplest measure was that the Lin family’s corporate assets had originally not been based in this city.
Uprooting an entire family’s corporate empire and relocating it to another city is an exceptionally difficult endeavor for any household. However, it coincided with a period when the Lin family’s business was undergoing restructuring and upgrading, and the local policies were also seeing adjustments. Lin Aiji took a massive gamble at the time.
She split the Lin family’s corporate assets, moving the legacy operations to a city more suitable for growth, while bringing the newly upgraded sectors to this city under a fresh corporate name.
Therefore, for Wei Yan to investigate the Lin family, he had to first probe the legacy company in the original city, get redirected to another city, and then trace the new corporate structure through the old registry. Although modern society offered platforms like Qichacha as investigative tools, Lin Yueji and Lin Aiji had long hidden themselves through nominee shareholders.
As for the Lin family elders, they had handed over the reins long ago and were enjoying their retirement abroad; Wei Yan had no starting point to investigate them either.
In short, trying to trace Lin Zhulu required running in massive circles. It was far too tedious, especially for Wei Yan, who had not yet established a firm foothold within the country.
That being said, concealment had its limits. Even with Zhu Yuanyuan’s intervention causing delays, it was about time for Wei Yan to find Lin Zhulu.
Hearing Lin Zhulu’s explanation, everyone grew deeply worried, but she quickly comforted them in return. “It’s really fine. If anything, my mom and aunt both feel that managing to hide it for this long is already an incredible feat.”
“It really is incredible. They’ve been working so hard to protect you,” Gu Qinghuan nodded.
Lin Zhulu paused, the smile on her face widening. “Yes, they are the absolute best moms!”
“So, they’ve done everything they can. I won’t sit here wondering why they couldn’t hide me a bit longer or keep me hidden forever—that’s simply unrealistic.”
“Besides, I need to confront the Wei family using my own methods too!” Lin Zhulu pumped herself up. “Everyone has taught me so much, I’ll find a way to protect myself!”
“If something happens, don’t just think about relying on yourself,” Yu Xin urged her. “The entire class is your ally.”
“Of course. After all, we are the trouble-making squad,” Lin Zhulu said with a bright smile.
Seeing her in such a good mindset, everyone relaxed as well. They simply let it go; whatever the outcome was, so be it.
Thus, throughout Friday afternoon, everyone attended their classes completely normally, and up until Friday morning, it seemed as though absolutely nothing had happened.
It wasn’t until Friday afternoon, when the police suddenly marched into the conference room of the Wei family’s company and escorted Wei Yan away on the spot for questioning, that the trending searches exploded once again.
[The Wei family drama is honestly turning into a soap opera.]
[Does anyone know exactly what crime he committed?]
[Did Zhu Yuanyuan rat him out from inside prison?]
[Don’t tell me he’s a human trafficker too?]
[That’s unlikely. Wei Yan was already incredibly wealthy before moving abroad; he wouldn’t need to break the law, would he?]
[It’s quite baffling. If it’s a crime Zhu Yuanyuan knew about, it’s highly likely she was involved in it too. In that case, exposing Wei Yan is more likely to be considered a self-confession rather than a meritorious act, which might even result in concurrent sentences. What is she playing at?]
“To drag him down to hell with her, of course!” Wei Xiao violently smashed the wine bottle in his hand against the floor, laughing like a maniac.
He had driven the servants out long ago; right now, the entire Wei family villa was his domain alone.
That woman, Zhu Yuanyuan, was just too clever for her own good when it came to manipulating human nature. That’s why her own cleverness backfired on her this time!
He had merely instructed the attorney to drop a hint to Zhu Yuanyuan, saying that because of her, he had been suffering immensely at school lately, and Wei Yan had decided to compensate him with one million US dollars.
With the exact same amount mentioned, Zhu Yuanyuan would instantly think of her hidden stash, wouldn’t she?
That fortune was her sole beacon of hope inside prison. It was precisely the realization that her money was gone that drove Zhu Yuanyuan completely insane, wasn’t it?
What Wei Xiao did not know was that there was another catalyst for Zhu Yuanyuan’s decision to drag Wei Yan down with her—the very detail Wei Xiao himself had revealed about “suffering immensely.”
Zhu Yuanyuan had no way of knowing that the students of Class Three would deliberately leak information within the school. In her understanding, if her crimes had generated enough notoriety in the outside world to affect even Wei Xiao, the public backlash must be massive.
Of course, in reality, it made little difference.
Although people often said time washed away everything, her actual prison sentence was only two and a half years. Everyone now knew her history, and the scandal had exploded spectacularly. Under these circumstances, she had even lost the hidden fortune that was supposed to be her life raft.
The remaining two hundred thousand or so yuan was no longer enough for her to flee the country, let alone enjoy a life of luxury.
For someone like Zhu Yuanyuan, having her mask violently ripped away to face the universal condemnation and scorn of society upon her release was an unbearable prospect.
She had fought so hard to become a master over others! She refused to ever return to that night, kneeling at someone else’s feet, wiping away their vomit with a head covered in blood!
Since that was the case, she would use an even greater atrocity to shroud herself.
She would use the wreckage of the Wei family to stitch together a brand-new mask.
