Chapter 24: Uncle, did you once say these same things to Mom?

Meng Qinian and Meng Lei’s pupils constricted violently.

Meng Qinian’s eyes gradually reddened. Trembling all over, he gritted his teeth and asked her, "What... what do you mean by that?"

Consumed by rage, the vengeful spirit had no intention of shielding Ruan Yu; it tore away every shred of her dignity.

Back in college, Ruan Yu had been in a relationship with Meng Lei. At that time, Meng Lei was just a poor boy, long before he had founded his company. Ruan Yu, coming from a modest middle-class family, lived in a dormitory with a wealthy socialite from S City who spent money like water, buying designer clothes and bags at whim. After being brought along by this socialite to a banquet for the ultra-wealthy, Ruan Yu’s horizons were broadened, and she gradually grew vain.

However, her allowance wasn't even a fraction of the cost of a designer bag. Even though Meng Lei worked part-time and gave her every cent he earned, it was never enough. Slowly, having witnessed the opulence of the wealthy, Ruan Yu began to look down on the penniless Meng Lei and broke up with him.

Later, after graduating, she successfully married into a wealthy family, but "marrying up" was not as wonderful as she had imagined. The rigid rules of the high-society household, her in-laws' disdain for her background, and her husband’s infidelity and abuse—these endless trivialities gradually filled her with regret. This regret reached its peak when she heard that Meng Lei had founded a company, married the daughter of a tycoon, and escaped the working class entirely.

She couldn't help but wonder: what if she hadn't left Meng Lei? Would she be the one radiating the confidence of Mrs. Meng?

Thus, during a trip to Siam with her husband’s family, she visited a temple and, upon hearing a monk speak of raising "ghost children," she was tempted. After learning that the more vicious the ghost, the higher the chance of its wishes coming true, she paid a high price for the monk to procure a pair of extremely malicious twin ghosts for her.

The first person she harmed after bringing the ghosts back was not the previous Mrs. Meng, but her own unfaithful and abusive husband. She quietly disposed of her husband and his family, let her own son inherit his company, and then directed the ghosts to kill Mrs. Meng. When Meng Lei was at his most hollow and heartbroken, she engineered a chance encounter and insinuated herself into his life as a sympathetic soul.

Men, after all, always retain a special sentiment for their first loves and ex-girlfriends.

Within half a year, she succeeded.

At first, she had intended to live a good life with Meng Lei, but she soon discovered that Meng Lei did not love her as much as she had imagined, nor did he treat her son as his own. He favored the son he had with his ex-wife. Ruan Yu was unwilling to accept this, and since she had no need for a man with such divided loyalties, she decided to repeat her past tactics.

She never expected that Nan Yuanman would appear out of nowhere and cause her to capsize in the gutter.

After listening to the ghost’s account, Ruan Yu realized the game was up. She sat on the ground, pale and limp. The facade of pathetic innocence she had worn slowly faded, revealing the hidden malice and cruelty beneath.

"This is all your fault," Ruan Yu said, cold sweat beading on her forehead as she looked at Meng Lei, who stood stunned and blank-faced as if struck by lightning. "If you had paid more attention to Cheng Yi, I wouldn't have had to take action against you."

"But even if you know I did it, so what?" Ruan Yu wore a triumphant, mocking smile. "Do you have proof that it was me?"

She grew increasingly calm, looking at Meng Lei and Meng Qinian with smug provocation. "Without evidence, even if you call the police, they can't arrest me. Anything you try to do to me will be a crime—"

*Slap!*

Before she could finish, Meng Qinian struck her across the cheek with a vicious blow. His eyes bloodshot and his body trembling, he lunged at her and gripped her throat tightly. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Meng Lei rushed forward to pull Meng Qinian away. "Qinian, calm down! Calm down, Yuanman is still here!"

Overcome by fury, Meng Qinian heard the name "Yuanman" and regained a shred of composure. He gritted his teeth and pushed Meng Lei aside. "It's all your fault! You let a wolf into the house! If it weren't for you, Mom wouldn't have died! It's all your fault!"

Meng Lei took the punch, veins bulging on his forehead. He glared at Ruan Yu through gritted teeth. "Ruan Yu, I will make you pay the price you deserve."

Nan Yuanman, having listened to everything, raised her hand. "There is evidence. There's proof!"

"The ghost children she raised can be witnesses."

Meng Qinian looked at her, exhilarated. "They can?"

"They can, but I don't know if the police officers will believe them," Nan Yuanman tilted her head slightly.

Meng Lei calmed down further and said, "Yuanman, leave those two ghosts with you for now. I will inquire if there is any official organization that handles these kinds of cases, and then I will hand her over to them."

Nan Yuanman nodded. "Okay!"

She looked up at the sky; the sun had already set. She quickly said, "Brother Qinian, Uncle Meng, I have things to do, so I'll be going now. If you need anything, come find me at the Jiang family home!"

With that, she scurried off in a hurry—she still had to get back to see Zhang Shimian!

Meng Qinian wanted to see her off, but it was too late.

Meng Lei rubbed his temples wearily. "Once we have dealt with the family matters, we will go and thank that child properly."

Meng Qinian remained cold and said nothing.

***

Nan Yuanman ran back to the Jiang estate. Just as she was about to enter the main gate, she nearly collided with Jiang Lixuan, who was striding out.

She twisted her body nimbly, narrowly avoiding the disaster of landing on her backside.

Jiang Lixuan was startled, followed immediately by a surge of anger. He grabbed the back of Nan Yuanman’s collar with a cold face and demanded, "Where did you run off to? Do you know how terrifying it is to just disappear without a word!"

Nan Yuanman was used to being grabbed by him. She crossed her arms and glared at him, her voice soft but full of bite. "What are you acting for? You didn't seem scared when you left me all alone outside the villa last night."

Jiang Lixuan choked on his words, knowing he was in the wrong.

He clicked his tongue with a hint of guilt, carefully set Nan Yuanman down, and crouched in front of her to apologize sincerely. "Yesterday... I was wrong. I shouldn't have left you at the gate by yourself. I should have accompanied you inside."

Nan Yuanman was the type to respond to kindness rather than force. She hadn't expected Jiang Lixuan to apologize; her small face froze, and she scratched her cheek in awkwardness. "I also..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Lixuan continued, "But you were also wrong yesterday. You were the one who used a coffin to hit Xin Xin on the head, and you bruised her forehead. I was angry, which is why I acted that way."

"Yuanman, the Jiang family isn't like the countryside, and Xin Xin’s constitution is weaker than yours. You can't be so rough with her, and you shouldn't be so mischievous. By the way, since you hit Xin Xin yesterday, you need to apologize to her when we go inside. As for your uncle, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you because of your mother’s affairs. I will try to look after you from now on, and I hope that for my sake, you can get along well with Xin Xin. Can you do that?"

As Nan Yuanman listened, the expression on her face slowly vanished, and her heart began to ache for no apparent reason.

She furrowed her brows and looked at Jiang Lixuan in utter bewilderment. "Why is it that I'm the one who has to get along with her, instead of telling her to get along with me?"

"They don't understand me, but you have personally seen me exorcise ghosts. Can't you tell the difference between me attacking her and me helping her?"

"Jiang Lixuan," she said, dropping the honorific "Uncle" and softening her voice to ask, "Did you say these same things to my mother in the past?"

Nan Yuanman was precocious. When she first became self-aware, she had asked her grandfather about her mother. He hadn't hidden anything from her and told her the truth about what he had learned from Bai Wenyin.

She had always known that Bai Wenyin came from the Jiang family of S City, and she knew that the Jiang family now viewed Bai Wenyin, their biological daughter, as a disgrace, while treating the fake daughter who had usurped her place as the apple of their eye. This was part of why she hadn't wanted to come back with Jiang Lixuan in the first place.

But later... because of her grandfather, and because she didn't want her mother to continue bearing sins that didn't belong to her, she decided to visit the Jiang family.

So...

When her mother returned to the Jiang family all those years ago, did her uncle say these exact same words to her?

Demanding that a sister who had been kidnapped for sixteen years and had just been found should accommodate the fake sister who had enjoyed sixteen years of her life and all its riches?

Jiang Lixuan’s pupils constricted, and he stood speechless, staring at Nan Yuanman.