The Ninth Chapter

Zhan Ni, having apparently held it in for a long time and finally finding someone to confide in, told Liu Mumu the whole story without hesitation.

"A year ago, my mom got a strange skin disease. Red marks appeared all over her body. They didn't hurt or itch, so she didn't pay much attention to it.

But later, large areas of subcutaneous bleeding appeared. We were very scared it was leukemia and went to the hospital for a check-up. However, the results showed everything was normal."

Recalling her mother's illness, Zhan Ni couldn't help but shiver.

She continued, "The doctor gave us medicine and sent us home. But soon after, she started bleeding. The skin in the reddened areas became very thin, and sometimes it would break with just a touch, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.

I called my dad over. He took my mom to the hospital for a full body examination, but there were still no results. Actually, I wanted to find your grandfather back then, but my dad didn't believe it and didn't agree. Not long after, my mom passed away."

"In the end, they didn't find out what caused it?" Liu Mumu asked.

Zhan Ni shook her head. "No. The experts my dad invited said it might be a disease that hasn't been discovered yet, but they had never seen a similar case before."

Liu Mumu thought for a moment and said to Zhan Ni, "My grandfather never told me about Aunt Zhang's condition. How about this, I'll go back and check the diaries he left behind. Maybe I can find something. I'll let you know then."

Zhan Ni was a little disappointed but still nodded in agreement.

After the two exchanged new contact information, Jenny's brother came to find her. Seeing this, Liu Mumu left first.

Zhan Huitian had always been indifferent to Zhan Ni. The siblings had been separated for many years and didn't usually talk much. Seeing her talking to Liu Mumu today, he curiously asked, "Do you know her?"

"She's my high school classmate."

"What a coincidence." Zhan Huitian was a little surprised. Besides Zhan Ni, the Zhan family knew about Liu Mumu's identity, as they were considered distant relatives.

"What were you talking about just now?"

"Nothing," Zhan Ni lowered her head. "She asked me what happened to my mom after I came to Qing City. I told her that my mother had passed away."

Hearing her mention her birth mother, Zhan Huitian frowned. He stopped walking and said with a warning tone, "Don't talk about this with others casually in the future."

"Why?" Zhan Ni was confused.

"This is a private family matter. Telling it to others will only become gossip for them." Zhan Huitian glanced at her. "Your identity is different now, so you need to be careful not to embarrass the family."

Although Zhan Ni didn't understand why talking to a familiar person a few words would be embarrassing, she still obediently nodded in agreement.

As the birthday banquet was nearing its end, new guests suddenly arrived. Zhan Hongye and his wife personally went out to greet them.

Upon seeing the arrival, Dong Zhenghao's expression instantly turned very unpleasant. Liu Mumu specifically observed the guest's appearance and let out a "Huo" in her heart.

This guest had a standard wealthy face, more standard than all the rich people whose faces her grandfather used to show her for teaching purposes. Compared to her dad, who was a "crooked melon and cracked date," there was no comparison.

If the person hadn't had plastic surgery, they must be extremely wealthy.

As it turned out, the guest was indeed very wealthy and was an investor that Qin Kai and Dong Zhenghao had desperately tried to win over at one point.

However, this person was now appearing at Zhan Hongye's birthday banquet, and his purpose was self-evident.

Dong Zhenghao stepped forward to greet him, but the other party's reaction was very cold, only conversing with the host of the banquet.

Failing to strike up a conversation, Dong Zhenghao was unwilling to give up easily. He couldn't find another opportunity until the banquet was almost over, and he could only leave reluctantly.

After getting into the car, the air pressure inside the car continued to drop, and even Jiang Li didn't dare to speak casually.

Liu Mumu seemed unaffected by the oppressive atmosphere. She took out her phone, opened a mini-game, and started tapping away at the blocks.

The addictive elimination sound occasionally echoed in the small space. Dong Zhenghao roared irritably, "Turn it off."

Liu Mumu didn't even look up and said unhurriedly, "Only failed men take their anger from outside out on their family."

Dong Zhenghao was so angry he seemed about to smoke.

Jiang Li quickly chided, "Alright, don't provoke your dad."

"Aunt Jiang, why aren't you telling Dad that she's just a child and not to bother with her?"

Jiang Li was so choked up she didn't want to speak.

Liu Mumu continued to eliminate blocks and said to Dong Zhenghao in front, "Dad's luck has been low recently. It's better to accept reality and stop having unrealistic dreams. This is a warning from a professional."

The veins on Dong Zhenghao's forehead twitched. "Alright, you shut up."

Back at the Dong family villa, Liu Mumu ignored Dong Qi, who had been throwing a tantrum in the living room for over two hours. She grabbed an apple from the coffee table and ran back to her room.

Entering her room, she opened the damaged box she had brought and took out a thread-bound book.

What she had said to Zhan Ni wasn't entirely a lie, but Liu Mumu didn't have her grandfather's diary. Her grandfather never kept a diary. In his words, his past was too spectacular to be recorded by mere writing.

He had an exceptionally high opinion of himself and was in the late stages of chuunibyou.

However, her grandfather had left her a booklet specifically for recording strange occurrences, compiling oddities he had witnessed or heard about over the years.

Of course, he didn't expect her to solve any problems with it. It was purely for her to run away immediately if she found anything amiss, rather than foolishly rushing into danger. After all, in his eyes, his granddaughter was a helpless weakling.

Liu Mumu flipped through the booklet roughly and didn't find any similar cases for the time being.

She rolled around on the bed with the booklet and wondered why her grandfather had only given her a booklet instead of a search engine. She had to flip through it every time, and she couldn't find anything.

She propped herself back up on the bed and flipped through a couple more pages. Suddenly, she saw a record on one page: Seventy years ago, in the Shanchuan region, there was a dispute between two villages. A shaman cursed people from the other village, and the cursed individuals' bodies inexplicably split open, bleeding uncontrollably.

Later, the shaman was beaten to death by the village chief and strong men from the neighboring village.

There was also a note Liu Mumu had written in junior high school, her handwriting still a bit messy. At that time, she was obsessed with online games, so she commented: Physical attacks are always the fastest and most effective form of attack!

She had been deeply engrossed in the warrior class and had even engaged in real-life PK battles with a male classmate who played a mage to prove that warriors were the most awesome.

Then she was beaten and cried.

Cough, that's not important.

She quickly sat up, this symptom seemed a bit familiar?

After seeing off the last distinguished guest, Zhan Hongye turned and glanced at his daughter standing beside him. It was getting late, and the banquet had lasted for several hours. Zhan Ni's eyelids were already starting to droop.

The outdoors, without air conditioning, was still stuffy. A gust of wind blew past, but it didn't bring any coolness.

Only the chirping of insects and birds outside gave Zhan Ni a familiar sense of home, but unfortunately, her mother was no longer by her side.

Just as she was about to go back inside, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a person standing under the streetlamp not far away. To be precise, it didn't look like a person, but more like a standing shadow. She was startled, her foot slipped, and Zhan Hongye caught her in time.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Hongye asked.

"There's someone there." Zhan Ni pointed to the streetlamp not far away.

Zhan Hongye frowned and looked for a while, then turned and walked towards the streetlamp.

As he got closer, he could see clearly. The person was just wearing all black, which made them look so frightening at night.

Getting even closer, Zhan Hongye recognized the person and asked in confusion, "Madam Qin, why are you here alone?"

The Qin family's villa was in the same neighborhood as his house, but one was to the north and the other to the south. If they didn't make a special detour, the two families rarely met.

"You killed my Old Qin, didn't you?" Madam Qin's voice was excessively hoarse.

Zhan Hongye frowned, displeased. "I know you're not feeling well after Mr. Qin's passing, but this matter has nothing to do with me. Please don't make baseless accusations."

"If you didn't do it, how could you poach everyone so quickly? They'd rather break their contracts than continue working? And Mr. Zhuo, he had already promised my Old Qin to invest, but now he's at your house." Madam Qin's bloodshot eyes stared intently at Zhan Hongye.

Zhan Hongye sighed with a hint of helplessness. "These are just common tactics in the business world. Everyone relies on their own abilities. I don't think I've broken any laws. On the contrary, Madam Qin, I hope I don't hear any slander against me in the future, or don't blame me for disregarding my past relationship with Mr. Qin."

After speaking, Zhan Hongye no longer wanted to deal with her and turned back.

Behind him, Madam Qin stared fiercely at Zhan Hongye's retreating back. "Zhan Hongye, you won't have a good end!"

Zhan Hongye shook his head, his steps unwavering.

Soon, the main gate closed, blocking Madam Qin's venomous gaze from the outside.

All the guests had left, leaving only a mess in the house.

Someone would come to clean these things up in the morning. Jiang Jia saw her husband and daughter return together and went back to her room to take a bath.

Zhan Ni was also about to leave when Zhan Hongye called her back. He took Zhan Ni into his study.

Zhan Hongye was passionate about antiques. There was a large display shelf covering one wall in the study, filled with antique porcelain vases from various dynasties.

It was Zhan Ni's first time in here, and she was immediately stunned.

"These are all Dad's collections. How are they? Do you like any of them?" Zhan Hongye asked with a smile, seeing his daughter looking around.

Zhan Ni quickly shook her head. "I don't understand these, but they are really beautiful."

Zhan Hongye patted her head, turned, and rummaged through his desk. He found a card and a business card and handed them both to Zhan Ni.

Zhan Ni took them with confusion and looked down. The business card was for the vice president of a private hospital in Qing City, with a phone number printed below.

Zhan Hongye said, "Take this bank card and use it. If you need money, take it from here. This is your pocket money from Dad. Also, in a few days, call this number and get a physical examination. You know, your mother's illness still has no known cause. I'm worried it might be some kind of genetic disease, so it's better to get checked just in case."

"I understand, Dad." A hint of moisture welled up in Zhan Ni's eyes. No matter how her stepmother treated her, her father had always been very good to her.