Chapter 9

Jenny had probably been holding it in for a long time. Now that she'd finally found someone to confide in, she told Liu Mumu what had happened without hesitation.

"A year ago, my mom came down with a strange skin disease. A lot of red marks appeared on her body, but they didn't hurt or itch, so she never paid them much attention.

"But later, she developed large patches of bleeding under her skin. We were terrified it might be leukemia, so we went to the hospital for tests. The results showed that everything was normal."

Remembering how her mother had fallen ill, Jenny couldn't help shuddering.

She continued, "The doctor prescribed some medicine and sent us home. But not long after, she started bleeding. The skin around the red patches became very thin, and sometimes it would break at the slightest touch. The bleeding wouldn't stop.

"I called my dad, and he took my mom to the hospital for a full-body examination. They still couldn't find anything. To be honest, I wanted to ask your grandpa for help even then, but my dad didn't believe in that sort of thing and wouldn't agree. Not long after that, my mom passed away."

"Did they never figure out what caused it?" Liu Mumu asked.

Jenny shook her head. "No. The specialists my dad brought in said it might be a disease that hadn't been discovered yet, but they'd never seen another case like it."

Liu Mumu thought for a moment, then said to Jenny, "My grandpa never told me about Aunt Zhang having a condition like that. How about this: I'll go back and look through the diaries he left behind. Maybe I'll find something. I'll let you know if I do."

Jenny looked a little disappointed, but she still nodded in agreement.

After exchanging new contact information, Jenny's brother came out to look for her. Seeing him, Liu Mumu left first.

Zhan Huitian had always been rather cool toward Jenny. The siblings had been apart for many years, and they didn't have much to say to each other. Seeing her talking to Liu Mumu today, he asked curiously, "Do you know her?"

"She was my classmate in high school."

"What a coincidence." Zhan Huitian was a little surprised. Everyone in the Zhan Family knew who Liu Mumu was, except Jenny. After all, they were proper relatives.

"What were you two talking about just now?"

"Nothing." Jenny lowered her head. "She asked what happened to my mom after I came to Qingcheng. I told her Mom had passed away."

At the mention of her birth mother, Zhan Huitian frowned. He stopped walking and spoke in a somewhat warning tone. "Don't go talking about this to people so casually."

"Why?" Jenny asked, confused.

"This is a private family matter. If you tell other people, it'll just become gossip for them." Zhan Huitian glanced at her. "Your status isn't what it used to be. Be careful, and don't bring shame on the family."

Jenny didn't understand what was shameful about chatting with someone she knew, but she obediently nodded.

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

The moment Dong Zhenghao saw the newcomer, his expression turned extremely grim. Liu Mumu took a good look at the guest's face and gave a low whistle to herself.

This guest had the textbook face of a wealthy man—more textbook-perfect than any of the rich people her grandpa had used to teach her. Someone like her dad, with his crooked features, couldn't compare to him at all.

If the man hadn't had plastic surgery, he had to be incredibly, incredibly rich.

As it happened, the guest really was extremely wealthy. He was also an investor Qin Kai and Dong Zhenghao had both desperately tried to win over.

Yet now he was at Zhan Hongye's birthday banquet. His purpose was obvious.

Dong Zhenghao went over to greet him, but the man was indifferent and only chatted with the host of the evening.

His attempt to strike up a conversation had failed, but Dong Zhenghao wasn't willing to give up easily. He couldn't find another opportunity before the banquet ended, and in the end, he had no choice but to leave, still seething with frustration.

Once they were in the car, the mood grew darker and darker. Even Jiang Li didn't dare speak casually.

Liu Mumu seemed untouched by the gloom. She took out her phone, opened a little game, and started rapidly clearing blocks.

The game's maddening sound effects rang out from time to time in the small space. Dong Zhenghao irritably barked, "Turn it off."

Liu Mumu didn't even look up. She merely said, unhurriedly, "Only men who've failed take their frustrations out on their families."

Dong Zhenghao looked ready to start smoking with rage.

Jiang Li hurriedly scolded her. "That's enough. Don't make your dad angry."

"Aunt Jiang, why aren't you telling Dad that I'm still a kid and he shouldn't hold it against me?"

Jiang Li was left speechless.

Liu Mumu kept clearing blocks and added, addressing Dong Zhenghao in the front, "Your luck with money has been declining lately, Dad. You'd be better off accepting reality instead of chasing impossible dreams. That's a professional's advice."

A vein throbbed at Dong Zhenghao's temple. "Enough. Shut up."

Back at the Dong Family villa, Liu Mumu ignored Dong Qi, who'd been throwing a tantrum in the living room for over two hours. She snatched an apple from the coffee table and hurried back to her room.

Once inside, she opened the suitcase she'd broken and dug out a thread-bound notebook.

What she'd told Jenny wasn't exactly a lie. It was just that Liu Mumu didn't have any so-called diary of her grandpa's. The old man had never kept one. In his words, his life had been too exciting to capture in writing.

He had an extremely high opinion of himself, and a terminal case of chuunibyou.

Still, her grandpa had left her a notebook specifically for recording strange and curious incidents he'd encountered or heard about over the years.

Of course, he hadn't expected her to solve any problems with it. He'd only wanted her to run away as soon as she sensed something was wrong, instead of foolishly charging in. After all, in his eyes, his granddaughter was a weakling who couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag.

Liu Mumu skimmed through the notebook but didn't find any similar cases.

She rolled around on the bed with the notebook in her hands. Why had her grandpa given her a notebook instead of a search engine? She had to leaf through the whole thing every time, and she never found anything.

She flopped back onto her stomach and turned a couple more pages. Suddenly, she spotted an entry: Seventy years ago, in the Shanchuan region, two villages were in conflict. A sorcerer crossed into the neighboring village and cursed someone. The victim's body split open for no apparent reason, and blood poured from them nonstop.

Later, the village chief from the neighboring village led a group of strong men from the village and beat the sorcerer to death with clubs.

There was also a note Liu Mumu had written in middle school. Her handwriting was still a little ugly. Back then, she'd been obsessed with online games, so her comment read: Physical attacks are always the fastest and most effective way to attack!

At the time, she'd been hopelessly devoted to the warrior class and had challenged a boy in her class who played a mage to a real-life PvP match, determined to prove that warriors were the most badass.

Then she got beaten up and cried.

Ahem. That wasn't important.

She sat up quickly. Why did those symptoms sound so familiar?

After seeing the last distinguished guest out, Zhan Hongye turned and glanced at his daughter beside him. It was already late. The banquet had gone on for several hours, and Jenny's eyelids were starting to droop.

Outside, the air was still stifling without air conditioning. Gusts of wind passed by, bringing no relief at all.

Only the chirping of insects and birds outside gave Jenny a familiar feeling, reminding her of home. Unfortunately, her mother was no longer by her side.

She was about to go back inside when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone standing beneath a streetlight not far away. To be precise, it didn't look like a person so much as a shadow standing upright. Startled, she stumbled, but Zhan Hongye caught her in time.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Hongye asked.

"There's someone over there." Jenny pointed to the streetlight in the distance.

Zhan Hongye frowned and looked for a moment, then turned and walked toward it.

Only when he got closer could he see clearly. The person was simply dressed all in black, which made them look frightening at night.

As he drew closer, Zhan Hongye recognized her and asked in confusion, "Madam Qin, what are you doing here by yourself?"

The Qin Family villa was in the same neighborhood as his, but at the opposite end. Unless one of them deliberately went out of their way, the two families rarely ran into each other.

"You were the one who killed my Old Qin, weren't you?" Madam Qin's voice was unnaturally hoarse.

Zhan Hongye frowned, displeased. "I know you're upset after Mr. Qin's death, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Please don't make baseless accusations."

"If you didn't do it, how did you manage to poach everyone so quickly? They'd rather break their contracts than keep working there! And Mr. Zhuo, he'd already promised my Old Qin he'd invest. Now he's turned up at your house." Madam Qin stared fixedly at Zhan Hongye, her eyes bloodshot.

Zhan Hongye sighed, seeming a little helpless. "These are common tactics in business. Everyone relies on their own abilities, and I don't believe I've broken any laws. As for you, Madam Qin, I don't want to hear you slandering me again. Otherwise, don't blame me for disregarding the friendship I had with Mr. Qin."

With that, Zhan Hongye had no desire to deal with her any longer. He turned and went back inside.

Behind him, Madam Qin stared at Zhan Hongye's back. "Zhan Hongye, you'll get what's coming to you!"

Zhan Hongye shook his head and didn't break his stride.

Soon, the gate closed, shutting out Madam Qin's poison-filled glare.

All the guests had left, and the house was the only thing left in disarray.

Someone would come to clean it up tomorrow morning. When Jiang Jia saw her husband return with his daughter, she turned and went to her room to take a bath.

Jenny was about to leave too, but Zhan Hongye called her over and led her into his study.

Zhan Hongye was passionate about antiques. One entire wall of the study was taken up by a display shelf, lined with antique porcelain vases from different dynasties.

This was Jenny's first time in there, and she was stunned on the spot.

"These are all part of Dad's collection. What do you think? Is there anything you like?" Seeing that his daughter had been looking at them, Zhan Hongye smiled and asked.

Jenny quickly shook her head. "I don't know anything about them, but they're really beautiful."

Zhan Hongye patted her on the head, then turned and rummaged through his desk. He pulled out a bank card and a business card and handed them both to Jenny.

Jenny took them, puzzled, and looked down. The business card belonged to the vice president of a private hospital in Qingcheng. A phone number was printed below.

Zhan Hongye said, "Keep the bank card and use it whenever you need money. It's your pocket money from Dad. Also, call this number in a few days and go in for a physical examination. You know your mom's illness still has no known cause. I'm worried it might be some kind of hereditary disease, so we should get you checked just in case."

"I understand, Dad." Jenny's eyes grew moist. No matter how her stepmother treated her, her dad had always been good to her.