There really were people that brainless

Overnight, Mu Huai'an became the target of everyone's outrage. A few people took a neutral stance and spoke up for him, but their posts were drowned out in the vast sea of online comments.

Yan Wen got up early, washed up, and went to the cafeteria for breakfast with Tang Yun. While they waited for their food, he opened the Confession Wall for a look.

There were already over a thousand messages. In just the past two minutes, another six or seven had appeared.

Quite a few people had tagged Mu Huai'an, demanding that he come forward and explain himself.

On the way to class, Yan Wen saw Mu Huai'an. He was now universally despised, and without Zhang He and Cao Dong backing him up, he looked even more weak and easily bullied.

Yan Wen gave him only a passing glance before entering the classroom with Tang Yun. More than half their classmates crowded around to apologize, and Yan Wen graciously accepted every apology.

"Next time something like this happens, please get the facts straight before speaking up."

"We won't do it again, Yan Wen. We're sorry. We shouldn't have believed someone else so easily."

"Yan Wen, these shoes are for you, as an apology. Please don't turn them down."

Looking at the black leather shoes in their exquisite shoebox, Yan Wen asked Xiao Qi, Even this shoebox looks expensive. How much do the shoes cost?

Xiao Qi made an electronic searching sound and replied three seconds later, Host, these shoes are worth three hundred thousand.

Yan Wen's eyes flew wide open. That expensive! Then I definitely can't accept them.

"A sincere apology is enough. I can't accept these shoes."

"Why? Do you think I'm not being sincere? Then I'll give you this watch as an apology."

Xiao Qi warned him, Host, you'd better accept the shoes. That watch costs five million!

Hearing that, Yan Wen hurriedly took the shoebox, shoes and all. "I'll take the shoes after all."

"So, Yan Wen, you're not angry with us anymore?"

"I stopped being angry a while ago. You were fooled too. As long as you learn from your mistakes, that's enough."

Their first class that day was finance. When the teacher entered the classroom, everyone returned to their seats and waited for the lesson to begin.

Yan Wen quietly yawned. Thank goodness I'm not the one inheriting the family business. Listening to all this finance stuff leaves my mind completely blank. All I want to do is sleep.

As the lesson went on, Yan Wen's mind wandered. After spacing out for a while, he came back to his senses and resumed listening, and that was how he spent the entire class.

Only when the teacher said, "See you next class, everyone," did Yan Wen feel his soul return to his body.

Gao Yuyang came over and asked, "Yan Wen, is what those comments said true? Is Mu Huai'an from Class Five really your older brother?"

Yan Wen glanced up at him, then looked back down at his notebook and said with a smile, "In name only."

"Oh, right, right! So he really is your older brother in name? He's really your family's adopted son?"

Yan Wen nodded. "Yes. My parents adopted him after I went missing when I was two."

Gao Yuyang frowned. "Huh? Why didn't they look for you? Why adopt someone else?"

"I was probably taken somewhere else by human traffickers. My parents couldn't find me, and my mom was hospitalized several times because of it. To help her get back on her feet sooner, my dad went to an orphanage two years later and adopted a boy two years older than me. Since I came back, they've been doing their best to make it up to me. Whatever Mu Huai'an gets, they give me twice as much. I suppose they feel guilty and want to make amends."

Yan Wen thought back to his first days after returning to the Mu Family. Though they hadn't been particularly pleasant, at least his biological parents had their priorities straight. If even they had sided with their adopted son, he would have gone back to the Yan Family long ago. He certainly wouldn't still be nominally brothers with Mu Huai'an.

Gao Yuyang let out a breath. "Thank goodness your parents have some sense and stand by their biological son. I read some novel about a real and fake young master a couple of days ago. You have no idea how angry it made me!"

Yan Wen's lips curved into a lovely smile. "Was it about the whole family doting on the fake young master, while he framed the real one and no one believed the real young master? They beat and berated him for the fake one's sake, and only regretted it after they'd driven him to his death."

Gao Yuyang looked stunned. "How did you know? You've read it too?!"

"Isn't that how all novels go these days? It's the same with real and fake heiresses. I've seen it so often that it doesn't surprise me anymore."

"True. Nine out of ten are like that. But they're novels, so I can understand them being a little ridiculous. Who would act like that in real life? They've searched for their child for over a decade and finally found him. Instead of thinking about how to make it up to him, they hurt their own child for an outsider's sake. If anyone really did that, they'd have to be completely brainless."

Yan Wen nodded in agreement. Xiao Qi said, Host, there really is a family that brainless. Want to hear about them?

Tell me. I'd like to hear just how brainless they are.

There's a girl in Class Thirteen named Li Zhaoxi. She's the long-lost daughter of the Tao Family, the tenth-ranked family in Weicheng. She went missing as a child because her mother failed to keep an eye on her, and she was lost for fourteen years. The Tao Family only found her and brought her home two years ago, but they haven't treated her with any sincerity. Her parents look down on her for growing up in the countryside and think she isn't as cultured and well-mannered as their adopted daughter. Her two older brothers look down on her too.

Li Zhaoxi still has the surname Li because no one in the Tao Family ever even thought to take her to change her name. To keep the fake heiress from getting upset, the Tao Family told everyone that Li Zhaoxi was the adopted daughter. And with Li Zhaoxi's grades, she's perfectly capable of getting into the Top Three Classes, but after the adopted daughter cried about it at home, Mrs. Tao forced Li Zhaoxi into Class Thirteen, the worst class.

Yan Wen was so angry that he slammed his fist hard against the desk, jolting some water out of his cup and spilling it across the desktop.

Tang Yun quickly pulled out some tissues and wiped up the water. "A Yan, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly get so angry?"

Yan Wen's mind raced. "I suddenly thought of that two-faced little bastard Mu Huai'an. It made me so angry that I couldn't hold it in."

"Then do you want us to get revenge for you?"

"No need. He's already getting what he deserves. What's happening now will keep him busy for quite a while."

Xiao Qi, keep going.

At the Li Family's home, Li Zhaoxi had a cozy little room. It wasn't large, but it got plenty of sunlight and was warm and comfortable. At the Tao Family's home, though, she lives in a dark, damp storage room and wears clothes their adopted daughter, Tao Niannian, no longer wants. The first time Li Zhaoxi ate with the Tao Family, Tao Niannian complained that she was dirty, so her eldest brother, Tao Jingxing, kicked her away from the dining table. Her second brother, Tao Jingcheng, locked her in a little dark room, saying she needed to reflect on what she'd done because she'd upset Tao Niannian.

Yan Wen almost lost control of his expression. Isn't Li Zhaoxi their biological daughter? Why didn't they treat her properly after finding her? If they weren't going to treat her properly, why bring her back at all? Is there something wrong with their brains?

I don't know either. The Tao Family always takes Tao Niannian's side and believes everything she says. Because of Tao Niannian's false accusations, Li Zhaoxi has been forced to kneel, locked in a little dark room, frequently denied food, and whipped during her two years with the Tao Family. In just two short years, their abuse has left her with all sorts of health problems.

Yan Wen wondered, Then why doesn't Li Zhaoxi leave the Tao Family?

Maybe... she's still holding out hope because of that blood connection.

Yan Wen pressed a hand to his forehead. She'd be better off going back to her adoptive parents. She had a sunny room in their home, but at her biological parents' house, she lives in a dark, damp storage room. Even an idiot would know which to choose.

No, I have to go see Li Zhaoxi when I have time. I need to see if she's some kind of ninja, putting up with abuse for that long.