She Really Wanted to Live Off Yan Xianjue Too!

[What's more, the real daughter had been driven out of the house and ignored for eighteen years.]

[Yet they wanted to bring her back for Ji the Old Master's birthday banquet.]

[If there wasn't something fishy going on, she'd chop off Ji Xi's head and use it as a ball!]

Shen Fangli slammed her forehead heavily onto the desk.

It made a crisp thud.

"What's wrong, Fangli?" her deskmate asked with concern.

Shen Fangli bared her teeth in pain and shook her head. "I didn't sleep well last night and accidentally fell asleep."

"Pfft."

Without even turning around, Shen Fangli knew who the sound had come from.

She turned back and shot Lin Shi a fierce glare.

Hah! Yan Xianjue even set flags for other people!

Unfortunately, she could only hear Yan Xianjue's thoughts and had no idea why Ji Xi had gone looking for him.

Shen Fangli wondered if she could replicate Ji Xi's successful experience.

She really wanted to live off Yan Xianjue too!

Yan Xianjue looked at Ji Xi, whose school uniform had been washed pale but was still kept impeccably clean.

"Can I ask what exactly happened back then?"

Ji Xi shook his head. "I don't know either."

Yan Xianjue rubbed his brow.

Their first interaction had begun with him tossing a towel to a pitiful stray kitten that had fallen into the water.

"Have you considered looking for Ji Heng?"

He sincerely advised, "Ji Heng is one of the few genuinely kind people in the Ji Household."

"And he's your mother's biological younger brother."

"You don't need to sell yourself to me."

[The key is that I'm not in the human trafficking business!]

Yan Xianjue shook his head regretfully.

[A future big shot is tempting, sure, but my eldest brother gets along well with Ji Heng. I'm not planning to take advantage of someone in trouble.]

Ji Xi pressed his lips together. "I don't want to ask anyone from the Ji Household for help."

"What do you want?" Yan Xianjue asked.

"I don't want my mom to go."

Ji Xi closed his eyes. "Just thinking about it makes it obvious that this birthday banquet is a trap."

Yan Xianjue waved a hand, telling him to go back and think it over.

For matters involving the Ji Household, Ji Heng was far more reliable than him.

Yan Xianjue thought about it for a long time but still couldn't make sense of it.

It wasn't until he returned home that he was surprised to find an unfamiliar guest there.

[Who's this?]

At a glance, Yan Xianjue noticed that the corners of Mother Yan's mouth had gone stiff from smiling.

The moment Mother Yan heard Yan Xianjue's thoughts, her eyes lit up as though she had seen a savior.

She had picked up her teacup countless times, yet the person across from her remained completely unmoved, pretending not to understand.

Mother Yan hurriedly waved Yan Xianjue over. "Xian Jue, you're home from school. Do you have physics homework today?"

Yan Xianjue distinctly felt the hand on his head tighten slightly.

It was as though she were threatening to crush his skull if he said no.

Yan Xianjue immediately caught on. He nodded, pouting. "It's so hard. So annoying."

Mother Yan smiled apologetically at the woman across from her. "I need to help my child with his homework. Make yourself at home. I'll have the butler entertain you."

The woman clearly hadn't expected Mother Yan to embarrass her so openly.

She awkwardly said, "Hehe. Does a child that old still need help with homework?"

"My child handled everything on his own after middle school."

The moment she spoke, Yan Xianjue realized her face looked far older than her voice.

They did not match her age at all.

Mother Yan merely smiled modestly. "I spoiled this child too much."

"Heh." Yan Xianjue raised a brow. "After all, my mom is a wealthy lady with a degree from a top university, not some housewife who graduated from a diploma mill and can't tutor her own child."

After saying that, he willfully dragged Mother Yan upstairs. "Come on, Mom. I don't want to stay up late today."

"Okay~" Mother Yan replied in a doting tone so saccharine that even she found it disgusting.

"Sorry, Little Ji. I won't keep you company."

As soon as she finished speaking, she and Yan Xianjue, moving with an agility completely unlike someone in her fifties, swiftly vanished from the woman's sight.

Only after they reached the third floor did Mother Yan let out a long breath.

Yan Xianjue asked curiously, "Dad isn't home today?"

Mother Yan waved a hand. "Don't mention it. There was a board meeting today, so I was home alone, and then she came knocking."

"She is?" Yan Xianjue had absolutely no impression of her.

She should not have been someone the Yan Household associated with.

Mother Yan half-covered her mouth and curled her lips. "She's the fake daughter from the Ji Household."

Yan Xianjue's mouth fell open. "Her? She's that old?"

[For her to have driven the real daughter out of the house, that fake daughter should have had some tricks up her sleeve.]

[Even if she had been married off far away, carrying the identity of the Ji Household's daughter, she shouldn't be in such a miserable state.]

[By age, she should be several years younger than Mom, but she looks so much older!]

[She even looks much older than Ji Xi's mother, who sells breakfast outside in the wind and sun every day.]

Mother Yan yawned. "I told you, everyone in the Ji Household is crazy."

"Ji the Old Master drove his real daughter out, but he didn't exactly let the fake daughter off easy either."

A trace of disdain appeared in Mother Yan's eyes. "That fake daughter thought that getting rid of the real daughter meant she could rest easy. She never expected Ji the Old Master to be so cold-hearted that he could abandon the daughter he had doted on for over twenty years without a second thought."

"The family he picked for her had fallen on hard times, and when they married her, they thought they would gain the Ji Household's favor."

"Only after bringing her home did they discover that she had absolutely no say in the Ji Household."

"On top of that, she had never been in good health. To secure her footing in her husband's family, she gave birth to three children in a row."

"Of course she looks old."

Mother Yan shook her head. "What do you think she was after?"

"Someone like Ji the Old Master spent his entire life playing power games. Her little tricks were nothing in his eyes."

"She helped Ji the Old Master solve his eldest son's biggest problem without him having to dirty his own hands, while also saving him from the reputation of mistreating his blood-related daughter."

Yan Xianjue pushed open his bedroom door and gestured for his mother to enter.

"Then why did she come today?"

Mother Yan sat on the sofa in his bedroom.

Slowly, she revealed a piece of information. "Ji the Old Master plans to announce his will at this birthday banquet."

Yan Xianjue's eyes widened.

Mother Yan felt that still wasn't enough. "She hopes to win the Yan Household's support."

"Perhaps her chances of gaining Ji Corporation are slim, but she still wants to secure some benefits for her three children."

[No wonder!]

[Now it all fits together!]

There were no outsiders in the room, so Mother Yan did not need to listen to his thoughts to learn from Yan Xianjue that Ji Xi had come looking for him.

Mother Yan feigned surprise. "Who is Ji Xi?"

Yan Xianjue tilted his head, confused. "Mom, didn't you mention him at the parent-teacher meeting before? He's the top student in the grade."

Mother Yan: Damn, I put on too much of a show and overacted.

Pretending to yawn, she said, "I sat across from her all afternoon. I'm exhausted."

"Now that you mention it, I remember."

Thanks to the trust Mother Yan had built up over the years, Yan Xianjue sat down beside her without the slightest suspicion.

He opened the school forum on his phone and found a photo of Ji Xi on the honor roll downstairs.

Mother Yan suddenly understood. "Oh, it's him."

"Why did he come looking for you?"

Yan Xianjue lay back on the sofa, sinking a hollow into the cushion beside Mother Yan.

"His mother is the real daughter of the Ji Household, and she received an invitation too."

[Tsk, I knew that guy Ji Xi, who was black to the core once cut open, wouldn't make a losing deal.]

[Good thing Mom knows so much, or I would've been tricked.]

"So Ji the Old Master really is going to announce his will at the birthday banquet?"

[Is that auspicious?]

Mother Yan shook her head. Yan Xianjue did not understand.

It represented many things. On one hand, the old master was preparing to relinquish power and wanted everyone to pay attention to the heir.

On the other hand, at his age, with his wealth having accumulated to a certain extent, whether something was auspicious no longer mattered as much.

[Interesting.]

[It's clearly Ji the Old Master's will, yet the fake daughter of the Ji Household and the real daughter's son have separately come seeking Yan Corporation's support.]