Chapter Six

Dong Zhenghao hesitated for a moment, but still went along.

And just as Liu Mumu had said, he had only seen Qin Kai one last time.

The emergency room doors closed, then opened again. The doctor regretfully announced that the patient had died despite resuscitation, after his wounds had reopened all over his body and he had lost too much blood.

At that moment, Dong Zhenghao stood outside the emergency room, listening to Madam Qin's sobs, a chill running down his spine.

It wasn't until after five that afternoon, when the Qin family had all arrived at the hospital, that Dong Zhenghao and Jiang Li, whom he had called down to comfort Madam Qin, finally returned to their son's hospital room, exhausted.

As they reached the door, they heard Dong Qi's weak but blustering voice from inside. "I'm telling you, don't put on an act, and don't think you can take advantage of our family. The Dong family's money will all be mine one day. You deadweight losers won't get a single cent. Sooner or later, you'll all be kicked out!"

Dong Zhenghao and his wife looked completely unconcerned. Neither of them thought there was anything wrong with what their son had said.

When the old lady was still alive, she had told her precious eldest grandson from the time he was little that everything in the Dong family would be his one day. Everyone had taken it for granted.

As the owner of the Dong family's assets, Dong Zhenghao naturally believed his son would inherit everything. His daughters could be given dowries and married off; there was no way he would let them lay a hand on the Dong family's money or company.

Inside the room, Dong Qi was still hurling insults at Liu Mumu.

The "deadweight losers" he'd mentioned weren't just referring to Liu Mumu, who had suddenly been told to move into his home. They also included his own full sister, Dong Yue.

Deep down, he believed his grandmother had been right. Raising Dong Yue and paying for her schooling had already been more than enough. Once he inherited the family business, he could kick her out. That was his right as the eldest son of the Dong family.

Even Dong Yue, who had heard such talk all her life, found it upsetting. But she never talked back. Whenever she and Dong Qi argued, she was always the one who had to apologize.

Liu Mumu, however, had no intention of indulging him. She rolled her eyes. "Anyone who didn't know better would think your family had a throne to inherit. How much fake liquor did you drink to get this drunk?"

Dong Qi sneered. "Don't get cocky. I'll have Dad kick you out in a minute."

"Afraid you'll be disappointed. Your dad definitely won't kick me out. You, on the other hand, are already this old and still don't know anything about the law. Did you eat too many brain-damaging pills as a kid?

"If your dad dies, the law says that, after the marital property is excluded, his estate will be divided equally among his spouse and children. That means me, your sister, you, and your mom. With your IQ, I doubt you understood any of that, so I'll spell it out: your mom would get five-eighths of the Dong family's assets, and you'd get only one-eighth. Dream on if you think you can keep it all for yourself."

Liu Mumu seemed to be deliberately provoking him. She even looked up the Marriage Law for him and shoved her phone right in his face.

She guessed that this little idiot probably didn't know there was another way the inheritance could be divided: his dad could leave a will. Sure enough, Dong Qi exploded. He raised his hand to smack Liu Mumu's phone, but she nimbly dodged him.

Unable to argue with Liu Mumu, he took out all his anger on the silent Dong Yue, pointing at her and launching into a tirade. "Dong Yue, you bitch! You're helping an outsider go against me. I'll tell Mom in a minute and have her beat you, you shameless—"

The rest of Dong Qi's words were cut off by a pillow smacking him in the face.

Liu Mumu stood not far from his bed, her gaze icy. She had really overestimated the grandson Wang Guixiang had raised like a precious jewel. He was just like her.

With her arms crossed, she kept provoking Dong Qi. "Of course, there's another way to divide the inheritance. Life is unpredictable, after all. You broke your leg today. Who knows if you'll break your neck tomorrow?

"You've got such an unlucky face, I doubt you'll live long enough to inherit anything from your dad.

"Then the Dong family's money will be divided equally among the three of us women. When you think about it, that's not such a bad way to divide it. What do you think?"

Jiang Li had deliberately held Dong Zhenghao back, hoping Liu Mumu would say something nasty and provoke him. Now her expression was starting to crack.

You could talk to Dong Zhenghao about anything except the Dong family's money.

Liu Mumu had certainly hit his sore spot, but the problem was that she'd included herself in the division.

Jiang Li didn't dare let her continue. With a dark look, she pushed the door open and walked in. Her gaze went straight to Liu Mumu, and she addressed her without any courtesy. "You're certainly thinking far ahead. It's your first day living with us, and you're already thinking about dividing up your dad's estate."

Then she deliberately turned to Dong Zhenghao. "Old Dong, you've certainly found yourself a fine daughter."

To Jiang Li's disappointment, Dong Zhenghao didn't fly into a rage. Instead, he scolded his son. "That's enough. I could hear you all shouting before I even came in. Dong Qi, Mumu and Xiao Yue are both your older sisters. Watch what you say from now on. Don't be so disrespectful."

"Dad, they're the ones who—" Dong Qi was so angry he was about to explode. He had never been treated so unfairly in his life.

"Xiao Qi is still young. He doesn't know any better," Jiang Li said, trying to smooth things over.

"Of course. He's only a sixteen-year-old boy who doesn't know any better," Liu Mumu said lazily, ignoring Jiang Li's murderous glare. "He knows the family fortune will all be his one day, and that he'll kick his own sister out of the house. But he's still young, so it's not his fault. Dad, please don't take what your son said to heart. After all, it'll probably be a long time before he dares kick you out, too, so there's no need to worry."

Liu Mumu took sarcasm to its absolute limit. Jiang Li was gnashing her teeth with hatred, but she didn't dare do anything in front of Dong Zhenghao.

At first, Dong Zhenghao hadn't thought much of it. It was normal for boys to have tempers. But after hearing Liu Mumu say it, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Thinking it over, his younger son's words and behavior really had gone a little too far.

He turned and barked at his younger son. "Dong Qi, apologize to your sister. Now."

Dong Qi opened his mouth, ready to vent his anger, but his mother stopped him with a vicious glare. The muscles in his face twitched as he reluctantly forced out three words. "I was wrong."

Liu Mumu pursed her lips but didn't respond.

Seeing that, Jiang Li smacked Dong Yue on the back. "Your brother apologized to you. Cat got your tongue?"

At Jiang Li's veiled insult, Liu Mumu lifted her eyelids. "They say a mother who's too sharp-tongued ends up with a daughter who can't talk back. Tsk, it must be awful being Aunt Jiang's daughter."

Dong Zhenghao seemed to be seeing this kind of argument between women for the first time. He watched with great interest, forgetting to take his wife's side.

Just as Jiang Li was so furious she was about to drop all pretenses, a knock sounded from outside. She glared at Liu Mumu, went to the door, and opened the hospital room door.

As soon as it opened, the gloomy look on Jiang Li's face transformed into a radiant smile, as if she'd learned some kind of magic trick. "Xiao Jia, weren't you just abroad on vacation? What brings you here?"

"I heard Xiao Qi was in the hospital. As his aunt, I had to come see him in person, didn't I, brother-in-law?"

As she spoke, the woman entered the room.

She was a beautiful woman with long, wavy hair, dressed in a black gown and wearing a dazzling set of ruby jewelry that made her stand out.

She looked a little like Jiang Li, but younger—and, of course, prettier.

When Jiang Jia came in and saw Liu Mumu, the new addition to the room, her perfectly shaped brows arched high. "I just got back to the country and heard my brother-in-law had found the daughter he lost. This must be her, right? What a pretty face. She doesn't look anything like her dad, though."

Jiang Li and her younger sister usually didn't get along very well. But this time, Jiang Jia was clearly here to stand up for her, and Jiang Li was happy to watch the show.

Dong Zhenghao was quite polite to his sister-in-law. He simply gave her an offhand reply. "She looks like her mother."

"Is that so?" Jiang Jia looked Liu Mumu over for a long while. Her gaze had started out casual, but gradually acquired a subtle hint of disdain that only Liu Mumu could detect.

"You just found your daughter, and Xiao Qi broke his leg and ended up in the hospital. You should get someone to check whether she's bad luck for your family. Some people are born unlucky and bring misfortune to everyone around them." Jiang Jia withdrew her gaze and spoke lightly.

If she hadn't said that, it might have been fine. But when she did, Dong Zhenghao couldn't help glancing at Liu Mumu.

He didn't know whether she was bad luck, but he did think there was something a little strange about his daughter.

If his son breaking his leg and ending up in the hospital was just an accident, how had she known Old Qin would die? Had she really just said it offhand?

Quite a few people in their circle associated with fortune-telling masters, but he didn't believe in them. He'd always thought those so-called masters were all frauds. But after finding his eldest daughter, a small crack had opened in his worldview.

"You know your brother-in-law doesn't believe in that stuff," Jiang Li said quickly when she realized Jiang Jia was taking things too far, worried Dong Zhenghao would lose face.

"Better safe than sorry. One of these days, I'll ask Old Zhan to introduce my brother-in-law to a master. He's especially accurate at reading people's fortunes."

"We'll talk about it later," Dong Zhenghao replied vaguely.

Jiang Jia didn't stay long. First, she pulled out a thick red envelope and tossed it to Dong Qi, who was lying on the bed. He grinned from ear to ear. Then she took a party invitation out of her bag and handed it to Jiang Li.

"It'll be my husband Old Zhan's forty-fifth birthday in a few days. You and brother-in-law should come, and bring the kids, too." After saying that, she glanced at Liu Mumu. "Bring this girl along, too. Let her broaden her horizons."

From beginning to end, she didn't look Liu Mumu in the eye.

As Jiang Jia was leaving, Dong Zhenghao and Jiang Li went with her to see her out. Dong Yue moved close to Liu Mumu and said softly, "Aunt Jiang has always been like that. Don't be upset."

Compared to Liu Mumu, who had at least gotten a few glances, Dong Yue hadn't even received one.

Liu Mumu pinched her chin, which had grown a little rounder lately. "I'm not upset."

She was usually much more tolerant of people with dark clouds hanging over them, who were about to have terrible luck. It was rare to see a face that even she could read so clearly, so she wanted to treasure the chance. Every extra glance was a bonus.