The Zuo Family in Chaos

January 27th, 3:00 p.m.

Ming Jiu's SUV had finally arrived and was parked in the underground lot at Dragonview Court.

After completing the vehicle handover, Ming Jiu took Ming Rong out for hotpot. They strolled along the street to walk off the meal, then casually stepped into a barbershop by the roadside.

Ming Jiu cut her hair to shoulder length. It was the easiest length to manage—convenient to wash, just long enough to tie up, and didn't need frequent trims.

Ming Rong decisively chose the same hairstyle as her sister, showing no attachment whatsoever to her thick, glossy long hair.

As she got her hair cut, Ming Jiu closed her eyes and sent her mental power into her space. While planting vegetables, she watched the exciting surveillance footage the system had saved from the Zuo Family villa.

In the early hours of the 25th, she had sent the board members evidence of Zuo Junhao exploiting his position to embezzle a huge amount of company funds. After that, she had been busy transferring the inheritance and dealing with the house... so busy that she had had no time at all to check the results.

If the Chu Family hadn't suddenly surfaced, she might not even have remembered.

The footage was timestamped at noon on the 25th, which was when Zuo Junxin had failed to pick a fight with her and been forcibly called home.

All four members of the Zuo Family were in the large study—not the small study where Ming Jiu had retrieved the jade miniature mountain ornament that gave her her golden finger, but the proper main study of the Zuo Family villa.

Zuo Junhao sat on the sofa opposite the desk, his head lowered without a word. Madam Zuo sat at the other end of the sofa, her well-maintained face revealing no particular expression.

Ming Jiu's gaze lingered on Madam Zuo for several seconds.

She had to admit, Madam Zuo really knew how to take care of herself. Nearly sixty and having given birth to two children, she looked only around forty. Zuo Junxin looked very much like her; standing together, they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.

Zuo Zhenrong sat behind the desk with his hands clasped on its surface, his eyes fixed on the son sitting across from him.

Zuo Junxin sat in the study's armchair—she was practically the most relaxed person in the entire room. With one leg crossed over the other, she watched her parents and older brother as though none of this concerned her.

This suffocating silence lasted at least five minutes. Ming Jiu sold off a crop of tomatoes and had just begun looking for the fast-forward button when the footage finally stirred.

"I'll ask you one last time. Where the hell did you put the money?!"

Zuo Zhenrong rose to his feet, walked around the desk, and headed for the sofa.

Zuo Junhao remained silent, his head still lowered.

"Speak!"

Zuo Junhao took a deep breath and raised his head. His face held the calm composure of someone who had given up caring.

"Anyway, it's gone."

The moment he finished speaking, a porcelain pen holder flew at his face. He instinctively dodged, and the pen holder smashed against the feature wall behind the sofa, shards of porcelain spraying in every direction.

Zuo Zhenrong pointed at his son with one hand and clutched his chest with the other, too furious to speak. His eyes rolled back, and his entire body collapsed into the large office chair behind him. The study instantly descended into chaos.

Ming Jiu: ...

That's it?

The surveillance footage on the light screen was replaced by a hospital report. Zuo Zhenrong was in decent health; he had simply fainted from anger. His blood pressure was a little high, but there was nothing wrong with his heart. He was discharged and sent home that very evening.

On the night of the 25th, the Zuo Family's meeting moved from the monitored study to the unmonitored master bedroom. But the all-powerful system still got Ming Jiu the freshest gossip—by hacking into their phones and other electronic devices for live recordings.

In the recording, Zuo Junhao stubbornly held his ground. No matter how Zuo Zhenrong pressed him, he refused to say a word. Whenever asked, he only said the money was gone.

It wasn't until Madam Zuo's sobbing began that a few different words finally came from Zuo Junhao's mouth.

"I didn't gamble, and I didn't use the money to do anything illegal. There are only a little over ten days left. You'll know then."

"Mom, believe me."

Madam Zuo said nothing. She only cried.

Zuo Zhenrong said, "Misappropriating funds is illegal! Did all your schooling go to the dogs?! If you still refuse to tell the truth, I can't be bothered with you anymore. That's five hundred million! Do you know how many years you could get for five hundred million?!"

Zuo Junhao's tone was calm. "Whether I go to prison or not, the hole has to be filled. Once the company's cash flow breaks, I don't need to spell out the consequences."

That was followed by a string of smashing sounds.

Ming Jiu harvested a batch of lettuce, planted new seeds with one click, and handed the harvested lettuce over to the system.

Zuo Zhenrong ultimately compromised—though in truth, he had already done so long ago. When Ming Jiu and Zuo Junxin had clashed, Zuo Zhenrong had already begun liquidating assets.

He would never give up the group's shares, much less allow the group to suffer because its cash flow had broken. Just as Zuo Junhao had said, money had to be spent no matter what. Sending him to prison was utterly meaningless.

The surveillance footage from the 26th contained only two things—Zuo Zhenrong making phone calls like mad, and Zuo Junxin throwing a hysterical fit.

The reason was simple: the assets under her name had also been liquidated to fill Zuo Junhao's massive hole.

They were still in the main study. Zuo Junxin wore pajamas, her long hair a tangled mess. The books on the shelves—whether she had actually read them or merely used them for show—had all been swept onto the floor. She sat amid a pile of wastepaper, shrieking and screaming, repeating, "Why?" over and over.

Madam Zuo did not appear. Zuo Zhenrong gave Zuo Junhao a look.

Zuo Junhao slowly approached Zuo Junxin from behind and forcefully wrapped her in his arms. Her arms were pinned tightly, her legs kicked wildly in the air, and her screams and curses never stopped.

Unlike the bedrooms of the other villa residents, Zuo Junxin's bedroom had surveillance cameras.

Zuo Junhao carried her back to her room. Several servants rushed in at once, working together to pin her down on the bed and secure specialized restraint straps around her.

A doctor arrived quickly. No one knew what he injected into Zuo Junxin, but she soon fell asleep.

The servants left, and Zuo Junhao left as well.

Then Zuo Junhao returned, holding a stack of contract documents. He picked up Zuo Junxin's hand and pressed her fingerprints onto the contracts one by one.

From beginning to end, Madam Zuo never showed herself.

Another day of chaos in the Zuo Family came to an end.

Because the footage was too long, the system had thoughtfully edited it down, making it flow as smoothly as a complete story.

Ming Jiu clicked her tongue.

From this perspective, Zuo Junxin really was miserable.

But that was not a reason for Zuo Junxin to bully her.

If she had the guts, she should have set the house on fire and stabbed her parents. What kind of person took their anger out on an innocent bystander?

Ming Jiu: [That's it? The Chu Family never showed up?]

Zuo Junhao's outrageous stunt could not possibly be covered up. Ever since the group's board began holding him accountable, the news had spread through their circle like wildfire.

As his fiancée, Chu Lanning had made no statement at all?

System: [She has now.]

[Chu Lanning is at the Zuo Family home right now.]

Ming Jiu's eyes lit up. [Quick, quick!]

Time for live surveillance!

System: [They are outside the surveillance range, but I can record them.]

"What exactly were you thinking?"

Chu Lanning's voice was lovely, and her tone calm, but her question was met only with a long silence.

The sound had been processed and amplified by the system. Ming Jiu could even hear the two of them breathing.

After a long while, Zuo Junhao finally spoke. "If the Chu Family wants to break off the engagement, I understand. Lanning, I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me."

"Zuo Junhao, I didn't come today to break off our engagement. I only want an answer from you."

"As long as you give me a reasonable explanation, I won't break off the engagement. I can help you."

"I believe you aren't someone who acts recklessly. You must have your own reasons."