The Fourteenth Chapter

"Divorce? Fine, divorce! Don't you dare go back on your word. You won't get a single cent of the Zhang family's money," Old Mrs. Zhang said sternly, a flicker of triumph quickly crossing her eyes.

When Lü Yao married into the Zhang family, Old Mrs. Zhang had already insisted they sign a prenuptial agreement before she would allow the marriage. Zhang Shijing eventually agreed and signed the prenuptial agreement with Lü Yao before they registered their marriage.

According to the agreement, if they divorced, Lü Yao would not be able to claim any of the Zhang family's assets, only receive limited child support.

Actually, Old Mrs. Zhang hadn't wanted to give any child support at all initially. It was only after Zhang Shijing's repeated persuasion that she agreed to include it.

"Mom... Yao Yao is still carrying my child," Zhang Shijing reminded her, seeing this.

Old Mrs. Zhang sat back down, muttering indistinctly to herself, "If it didn't turn out to be a boy, what's the use of it being born?"

That master had clearly said it would be a boy, and had said so many good things about Lü Yao's unborn child, even calling it an Immortal Child. Back then, she hadn't been thinking clearly and felt the master was right. Now, however, she couldn't help but wonder if that so-called master had been scamming her.

Although she had been briefly convinced before, her deeply ingrained beliefs still dominated her. In Old Mrs. Zhang's heart, only a boy was a child of their Zhang family, worthy of her attention.

Coupled with Lü Yao's recent actions, Old Mrs. Zhang, who had initially held some expectations for the child, completely changed her mind. Her suspicion towards the master deepened. No, she had to find that fortune-telling master.

Zhang Shijing didn't hear clearly and looked at his mother in confusion. Old Mrs. Zhang ignored him and said to Lü Yao, "Then we'll give you a bit more child support. That's our Zhang family being fair to you and the child in your belly. If it weren't for you, Yangyang wouldn't have had to suffer so much, and you wouldn't feel wronged. We've been fair to you."

Apart from her initial statement about divorce, Lü Yao had shown no other reaction.

Zhang Shijing didn't want his mother to continue provoking Lü Yao, so he gently persuaded her to leave.

Although Old Mrs. Zhang was displeased, she habitually listened to her son. Before leaving, she repeatedly warned her son not to be soft-hearted.

Finally, only the husband and wife were left in the living room. Zhang Shijing said softly to Lü Yao, "Yao Yao, I know... you've suffered a lot. My family has wronged you."

Lü Yao glanced at him, then lowered her eyes. "What do you want to say?"

After all, she had been with Zhang Shijing for so long and understood him deeply. His apologies were usually just a means to an end.

Zhang Shijing pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I know you resent me for favoring Yangyang and not telling the truth to the police. I admit it. He's my first child, after all. I can't bear to see him end up like this."

"You want me to let him go? On what grounds?" Lü Yao's words were sharp, and her attitude was unexpectedly firm.

Zhang Shijing was a bit surprised. The Lü Yao he knew had always been gentle. They were university classmates, and she had always been timid, cowardly, and easily bullied in school. Even after marrying him, she had never raised her voice. Why had she suddenly become like a different person?

Or was she always like this, and had she just been pretending all these years?

Impossible, Zhang Shijing denied in his heart. There was no need for such pretense.

His wandering thoughts were quickly pulled back. Zhang Shijing smiled and said to her, "My mother might have spoken excessively, but you should know that what she said is true. After divorcing me, you'll get nothing besides child support."

Lü Yao remained silent.

"I can give you five million to buy your forgiveness for Yangyang."

Lü Yao seemed to waver. "Even if I let him go, the police will continue their investigation."

Zhang Shijing smiled. "I'll handle the rest."

If Lü Yao, as the victim, were willing to let his son off the hook, it would be much easier to get Zhang Yang out of the police station.

"...Ten million."

"Deal." After a pause, Zhang Shijing added, "Don't tell my mother."

If Old Mrs. Zhang knew the terms of their deal, she might pester Lü Yao every day.

In her eyes, a woman like Lü Yao was simply leeching off the Zhang family. She shouldn't get a single cent, let alone an extra ten million.

Perhaps this money wasn't much to Zhang Shijing, but it was certainly a considerable sum.

"I know," Lü Yao said, lowering her eyes.

The seemingly loving Zhang family couple was getting a divorce. After hearing the news from Zhang Shijing's younger sister, Jiang Li couldn't help but sigh, "I thought Lü Yao would just endure it. Zhang Shijing treats her well, and once the old Mrs. Zhang is gone, the Zhang family will be hers to command."

Her words seemed to express genuine pity for Lü Yao.

Although they didn't have much of a relationship, the Zhang family's affairs had already spread. No one believed the story about Zhang Yang switching his stepmother Lü Yao's fertility pills. What could a child understand? Such a wicked deed was most likely the old woman's idea.

Lü Yao couldn't touch Old Mrs. Zhang and was furious, so she could only take it out on the younger Zhang Yang.

Speaking of which, Jiang Li couldn't help but shake her head. "It's because she's a woman and easy to bully. Zhang Shijing isn't a good person either."

After saying that, she glanced at Dong Zhenghao.

Old Dong, being very sensitive, looked up defensively. "What are you looking at me for? I'm much more conscientious than that Zhang family."

Jiang Li snorted. She had called the old Mrs. Zhang outrageous, but Dong Zhenghao's mother was no better. One drugged someone, the other directly sold her granddaughter. Fortunately, she wasn't her daughter, or she would have torn that old woman apart. Both of them had lost all conscience; neither should talk about the other.

As they were talking, Liu Mumu came downstairs with her phone. She had just received a call from Yan Xiu; he was back at work, so she was planning to go out and collect her late red envelope.

Seeing Liu Mumu, they immediately stopped talking about the Zhang family, likely worried she would be reminded of the deceased Wang Guixiang. However, she had already overheard.

She walked over and sat on the sofa, asking casually, "Are you really getting a divorce?"

Jiang Li replied, "Isn't it? I heard Zhang Shijing gave her a sum of money. The old Mrs. Zhang doesn't know about this yet, or who knows how much trouble she'd cause."

"Quite interesting," Liu Mumu thought. She still remembered what Lü Yao had told her that day: the old Mrs. Zhang wasn't entirely clean either. Lü Yao hadn't dealt with her but had targeted Zhang Yang. Was she truly planning to let him off the hook, or was she waiting to deal with Old Mrs. Zhang after getting the money from the divorce?

"Let her make trouble. Even a cornered rabbit will bite," Liu Mumu said meaningfully, adding that it was hard to say if Lü Yao was truly a rabbit.

Jiang Li's ears immediately perked up, thinking Liu Mumu would reveal something more. To her disappointment, Liu Mumu got up, waved goodbye to them, and said, "I'm going out to play, bye-bye."

After everyone had left, Dong Zhenghao clicked his tongue, slightly displeased. "This kid. How can she speak only half a sentence?"

Jiang Li withdrew her gaze and said to Dong Zhenghao, "Do we have any business dealings with the Zhang family? If so, it's best to cut them off soon. I get the feeling from Mumu's words that there might be something else going on."

"You don't need to tell me," Dong Zhenghao waved his hand. "I'm going to the company."

On the third day of officially starting work, Liu Mumu brought a bag of milk tea to visit the Special Case Investigation Section.

As soon as Fang Chuan saw her, he said righteously, "We will never take a needle or a thread from the people."

Both of their gazes fell on the milk tea bag Liu Mumu was carrying.

Then Liu Mumu slowly took out a straw, poked it in, and smiled at Fang Chuan, "This is for myself."

Fang Chuan: He was being overly sentimental, and a little sad. That was his favorite mango-flavored milk tea.

Captain Fang was still standing at the door questioning his life, while Liu Mumu had already slipped inside to find Yan Xiu. As she passed Fang Chuan's desk, she casually put down the milk tea.

People who are stubborn don't deserve milk tea, but who made her soft-hearted?

When she went in, Yan Xiu was looking at the computer. She pounced on the desk, "Happy New Year, wish you prosperity."

Then she asked expectantly, "Where's the red envelope?"

Yan Xiu looked up at Liu Mumu. She was dressed very festively today, in a chubby red down jacket, which made her fair face stand out, like a walking red lantern.

Looking at the little girl's sparkling big eyes, he couldn't help but wonder if Liu Mumu was here for him or for the red envelope.

He pushed a pre-wrapped red envelope towards her. Liu Mumu happily opened it. Inside, there was no dream-like five-million-dollar check, but five ancient coins.

"Wow, this copper coin has actually turned green." Liu Mumu examined the ancient coins carefully. She could understand the characters on three of them; they were all "Tongbao."

The other two had strange scripts. One had a drawing of an hourglass on it, and the characters were completely unrecognizable. The other had a strange script: "What character is this, 'two,' 'half'?"

"Half liang."

"Wait." Liu Mumu was startled, her voice rising an octave. "Is this a Qin Banliang?"

"Mm."

"Are these the legendary Five Emperors Coins?" Although our Master Liu shook coins every day, she had never seen the ancestor of coins, the Five Emperors Coins.

That was one of the divination tools a diviner dreamed of possessing.

"Yes."

"You're really giving them to me?" Liu Mumu's eyes were practically shining. Even though her divinations weren't very accurate, it didn't stop her from loving diviner-exclusive magic items deeply, just like all diviners.

"Don't want them?"

"I do." Liu Mumu shyly moved closer to him. "But they're too precious."

Yan Xiu didn't speak, waiting for her to continue.

"How about I repay you with myself instead!" Then the red lantern lunged towards him.

He placed an index finger on her forehead, not too hard, just enough to stop her from getting any closer.

Liu Mumu swiped her arm. Alas, the attempt to get close failed, and she was disappointed.

"No need, thank you. Go back and sit."

"Oh." Liu Mumu sat back down, disappointed. She didn't forget to put away her New Year red envelope, then continued to peek around. "What are you looking at?"

Yan Xiu turned the computer screen, which only showed a bust photo of her neighbor.

"Lü Yao?" Liu Mumu was a little surprised. "Why are you investigating her?"

"Didn't you think she was acting strange?" Yan Xiu turned the computer back, answering casually.

"I clearly just thought she was a bit odd," she said softly.

Even so, when Liu Mumu tried to lean in to see more of the other person's information, Yan Xiu closed the computer.

"Internal information, classified."

"Stingy." Liu Mumu muttered. "So, what did you find out?"

"Nothing. A perfectly normal person."

According to the information, Lü Yao's life was excessively simple. She studied when she should have, and after graduation, she found a mediocre job. The only notable setback was her boyfriend of three years breaking up with her to marry someone else.

Later, she met her former university classmate Zhang Shijing, married him, and hadn't worked since the marriage.

It was worth noting that Lü Yao had no religious beliefs, had never been to places like temples, let alone practiced divination or fortune-telling.

"Maybe she just felt soft-hearted that day she came to me?" Because she didn't want to call the police, but wanted someone to talk to? Liu Mumu wasn't sure. She still felt something was off.

"Speaking of which, I just heard she's getting a divorce. She went to the hospital on New Year's Day. After coming out, she went to the police, saying her stepson swapped the medicine she was taking with fertility pills, trying to harm her." Liu Mumu sighed. Lü Yao might have been truly pushed to her limit.

Yan Xiu raised an eyebrow. "Your living environment is concerning."

"You're easily surprised. I've seen countless families like this with my grandfather before, some even more exaggerated than this."

Yan Xiu didn't speak. From her frequently troubled parents, younger brother, and younger sister, to her neighbor's family affairs, she genuinely seemed to consider such a life normal.