Jiang Fan neither ducked nor dodged. He raised his arm to block.
The tremendous force made his scrawny arm tremble uncontrollably.
Even so, he gritted his teeth and never took a single step back.
His defiant eyes cold, Jiang Fan stared straight at Jiang Qifeng.
"You keep calling me a little beast. I'm your flesh and blood. If I'm a little beast, then what does that make you?"
"You-" Jiang Qifeng's teeth ground audibly. Just as he was about to strike again, Jiang Fan immediately stepped back, putting distance between them.
"I told you, as long as you pull up the surveillance footage, you can hit me or curse me however you like. I'll leave myself at your mercy. I won't accept being slandered without any evidence. Or could it be-"
At this point, Jiang Fan deliberately changed tack. "As a father, do you simply enjoy being this unfair? If that's really how you are, then I have nothing more to say."
Jiang Qifeng seemed to have been backed into a corner by Jiang Fan. "Fine! Fine! You insist on knowing why you're going to die today, is that it? Butler Zhou, get the surveillance footage immediately! You have five minutes!"
"Yes, sir." The butler hurried away.
Now Jiang Youtian grew anxious. "Dad, really, just let it go. My brother-"
Before he could finish, Jiang Qifeng cut him off.
"Youtian, I know you're kind. Even after Jiang Fan hurt you, you're still defending him. You've been like this for the past four years. Every time you suffer at Jiang Fan's hands, you turn around and plead for him. But let me tell you, kindness is a good thing, but excessive kindness will only fan the flames of an evildoer's arrogance."
"But-"
"No buts. Don't say another word today. I'll handle this. Once Butler Zhou brings up the footage, I'll make him kowtow and apologize to you properly!"
Hearing Jiang Qifeng say this, Jiang Youtian felt as though his heart were burning with anxiety.
Just as he tried to say something more, Jiang Hongyuan and the other three all spoke up to dissuade him.
"Dad's right, Youtian. You're just too kind. You defend Jiang Fan every time, and that's why he's become so lawless, actually pushing you off an overpass. There are only three months until the college entrance exams. You're one of the school's top prospects for the martial arts exam. If that fall had injured you anywhere, all your years of hard work would have gone to waste! Your future would have been ruined too!"
"Exactly. You're our Jiang family's hope. Not one of us has ever gotten into a martial arts university, let alone a favored son of heaven like you who can get into Donglang Martial Arts School!"
While everyone was trying to dissuade Jiang Youtian, Jiang Fan looked over at him, a trace of amusement concealed in his eyes.
Jiang Youtian happened to meet that face with its hidden smile, and he nearly choked on his frustration!
It wasn't because Jiang Fan had the upper hand right now. More importantly, it was Jiang Fan's face: sword-like brows, star-bright eyes, and snow-white skin. He was so handsome that he inspired envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Jiang Fan had mainly inherited his looks from his grandmother. In her youth, her beauty had been the absolute ceiling. It was only because Jiang Fan's grandfather had been fortunate enough to save her that he had been able to marry such a peerless beauty.
Strangely, everyone in the Jiang family had inherited Jiang Fan's grandfather's genes. Only Jiang Fan had fully inherited his grandmother's immortal-like beauty.
Before long, Butler Zhou returned. "Sir, I have the surveillance footage."
"Cast it. Put it on the big screen so this little bastard can open his eyes wide and watch! That way he can't claim he couldn't see it clearly afterward!" Jiang Qifeng said pointedly.
"Yes." The butler immediately cast the surveillance footage from his phone.
On the big screen, Jiang Fan and Jiang Youtian stood on the overpass, talking to each other. The surveillance camera was some distance away, and vehicles passed from time to time, so their conversation could not be heard clearly at all.
Soon, everyone saw Jiang Youtian climb up onto the overpass railing and then jump off.
Throughout the whole thing, Jiang Fan stood where he was without moving at all.
At that moment, the Jiang family members who had been waiting to teach Jiang Fan a lesson all fell as silent as cicadas in winter, unable to react for a long while.
Jiang Fan curled his lips and sneered. "Now you believe what I said, don't you? Jiang Youtian jumped off himself. His goal was to frame me."
Jiang Qifeng opened his mouth, then turned his head to look at Jiang Youtian.
The next second, Jiang Youtian dropped to his knees.
"Dad, that's not it. Eldest Sister, Second Sister, Third Sister, Fourth Sister, listen to me explain. That's not what really happened. I-I-"
"Did you have some difficulty you couldn't speak of?" Jiang Qifeng asked.
Jiang Youtian first glanced at Jiang Fan, then put on a hesitant look, as though he wanted to speak but held back.
If Jiang Qifeng couldn't see such an obvious gesture, he would have to be blind.
"Speak! Don't be afraid of anything. Your dad will stand up for you!"
Jiang Fan folded his arms across his chest. He wanted to see what other tricks Jiang Youtian could pull.
After holding back for a long time, Jiang Youtian finally said, "Ah! I didn't want to say anything, but I was afraid Dad and my sisters would misunderstand. So-so I have no choice but to tell the truth! It-it was Jiang Fan who told me I shouldn't be taking his place. He said I wasn't a member of the Jiang family at all and had no right to stay. If I wanted to keep living here, I had to jump off the overpass."
As Jiang Youtian spoke with emotion in both his voice and expression, he grabbed Jiang Qifeng's trouser leg and continued tearfully, "Dad, it's not that I can't bear to part with all this wealth and luxury. I just can't bear to leave you or my sisters! I don't want to leave this place, so-so I had no choice but to jump off the overpass! Boo-hoo-"
Listening to those heart-wrenching wails like howling ghosts and wolves, Jiang Fan once again marveled inwardly at Jiang Youtian's acting and his transcendent green tea skills.
"This is-this is infuriating! Jiang Fan, who the hell do you think you are? Youtian is my precious son! You're an outsider. What right do you have to drive him away? You even made him jump off an overpass! A thing worse than pigs and dogs like you is the one who should leave! Get out!"
Jiang Qifeng erupted in thunderous fury, pointing at Jiang Fan and ordering him to get lost.
Jiang Hongyuan chimed in as well. "I said back then that we shouldn't bring Jiang Fan back from the slums. It was all Mom. She insisted that he was her own flesh and blood, after all. I told you, a child raised in the slums was bound to pick up all kinds of bad habits!"
Jiang Fan's mother, Xue Ping, who had been singled out, heaved a long sigh. She looked at Jiang Fan with utter disappointment.
"Jiang Fan, you-ah! I really don't know what to say. How could you hurt your younger brother like this? It seems I really did make a mistake. I should never have brought you out of the slums."
Jiang Fan smiled. Though he appeared to be smiling, a thick layer of frost covered his eyes.
"Is that so? I agree. You should never have brought me out. My old home may have been poor, but everyone there had a warm heart. Yet you-your hearts are so cold. They're all made of steel!"
"Every one of you wants me gone. Now you won't have to drive me out. I'll leave on my own."
With that, Jiang Fan turned and walked away without looking back.
Was he really leaving just like that?
Impossible. He was surely only putting on a show, retreating in order to advance.
Everyone in the Jiang family thought so. None of them called out to stop Jiang Fan, either. They wanted to see how he would extricate himself from this shortly.
That was right. They were waiting for Jiang Fan to regret it, turn around, and come back to kowtow and apologize.
Yet Jiang Fan stepped one foot out of the villa's doorway, then brought the other foot out as well.
He was resolute, without the slightest hesitation.
The sight left everyone stunned.
As Jiang Fan was about to step through the wrought-iron gate, Jiang Qifeng roared.
"You can leave like this if you want, but leave all your things behind!"
Jiang Fan stopped and raised his hands. "I haven't taken anything."
"Your clothes! Those clothes belong to our Jiang family too. If you're leaving today, strip naked before you go!" Jiang Qifeng said, his aging face stern.