"That wretched girl still isn't back. We've been here since morning, and now it's already seven in the evening," Old Lady Li snapped, her voice tight with impatience.
"Mom," Li Jianjun ventured, glancing between his parents and elder brothers, "do you think Li Jianfang and Li Jianping somehow knew we were coming… and ran off?"
Chen Lihua shook her head. "I don't think so. Even her children aren't home. And no one in this neighborhood cares enough about Li Jianfang to warn her. There's no way they could know we're here." She paused, her brow furrowing in thought. "Unless…" Her tone turned sharp. "Unless they're out spending money again. Yesterday that little brat burned through eighty thousand yuan. Who knows how much they'll waste today?"
At the mention of money, Old Lady Li's face flushed a furious red. She slammed her foot hard against the ground.
"How dare they! That money belongs to the Li family. If they've spent even a single penny today, I'll skin them alive. And that fatherless bastard girl—she's the first I'll deal with. Eighty thousand yuan! Who does she think she is?"
"Exactly, Mom. Do they think money is so easy to earn?" Wang Yunmei chimed in, stoking the flames. "That money should belong to Jianguo. After all, he's the eldest son. His promotion is on the line." Her fists clenched at her sides; she, too, could hardly wait for the confrontation.
They had been squatting in the courtyard since morning, enduring the curious stares of passersby. The only time they had left was for a brief lunch break, returning within two hours, only to find the gate still locked. Now, as night settled in, hunger gnawed at their stomachs, but stubborn pride kept them rooted in place. Wang Yunmei was determined—she would not leave without the money.
"Enough of this nonsense," Old Man Li growled. "Li Jianfang needs to be taught a lesson. Burning money—what is she even teaching her daughter? And that money came from Li Jianping? He's just a naïve, useless fellow, not half as clever as his elder brothers. How can he let his sister and niece take advantage of him?"
Conveniently, he seemed to forget that it was their own bias and abuse that had driven Li Jianping away from the family long ago.
Suddenly, every light in the courtyard—and even the neon streetlamps nearby—flickered out. Darkness swallowed the alley.
Startled, the Li family erupted into startled murmurs. Wang Yunmei shrieked, "Oh my God! How can they just cut the electricity? What is this, the 1980s?"
Chen Lihua, long accustomed to power cuts in the northern district, gave a mocking snort. "Oh… so my sister-in-law from Shanghai is scared of a little blackout."
"What? Lihua, elder sister-in-law isn't from Shanghai," Li Jianjun replied in all innocence. "She's from some tiny backwater village in southern Hubei. What are you even saying?"
Chen Lihua bit back a laugh. In the darkness, Wang Yunmei's scream cut off abruptly. Her face burned hot with humiliation, and she shot venomous glares toward Chen Lihua and Li Jianjun.
"Mom, it's already dinner time," Jianjun pressed. "Now there's a power cut, it's pitch dark. Let's just go home and come back tomorrow."
Seeing her chance, Wang Yunmei pounced. "Jianjun, not everyone is idle like you. Your brother has to work tomorrow—he can't just take another day off. We must settle this matter tonight."
Jianjun and Chen Lihua fell silent. Chen Lihua's jaw tightened, rage simmering just beneath her skin. Bitch, she thought.
Old Lady Li nodded firmly. "Right. Your brother can't take leave again. We'll finish this tonight. It's only a power cut—it won't last. And as for dinner, once we get the money, we'll eat out."
The thought of a nice meal seemed to revive their spirits. They nodded in agreement, the earlier frustration melting into anticipation.
Then, faint but growing, came the deep purr of an engine.
A sudden blast of headlights flooded the courtyard, cutting through the darkness like knives. The glare was so sharp that everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
"Hey! Who is that? Turn off those lights immediately!" Old Man Li barked.
"Who dares? Show yourself—I'll deal with you personally!" Old Lady Li roared in equal fury.
"Jianguo, go see who it is! It's blinding!" Wang Yunmei snapped at her husband.
Before Jianguo could move, the power surged back on. The courtyard lights blinked to life, followed by the neon glow of the surrounding streetlamps.
Relief swept through the group—until they saw the car.
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then Jianguo exhaled, his voice low but tinged with disbelief. "That's… a Rolls-Royce."
"What roll?" Old Lady Li asked, confused. But her tone carried an uncharacteristic restraint. She knew nothing of luxury cars, yet the sheer presence of this one—the sleek, imposing lines, the quiet authority it radiated—sent a shiver down her spine.
Jianguo's reply was clipped, almost irritated. "A car three times more expensive than a Hongqi—the ones government officials use. Imported."
The words made the older Li couple, Jianjun, Chen Lihua, and Wang Yunmei stare at the car with wide eyes—equal parts fear and envy twisting in their expressions.
Then, with a soft, synchronized click, all four car doors opened.
And four figures stepped out.
The Li family stood frozen, as if rooted to the spot. No one moved. No one spoke. Their eyes were locked, unblinking, on the figures stepping out of the gleaming Rolls Royce.
Li Ziqing, too, was observing them intently. After her rebirth, this was the first time she had laid eyes on them—everyone except Li Jianguo. Her gaze swept over them slowly, predatory and unyielding, like a hawk studying prey.
And with each face she looked upon, the venomous words from her previous life came echoing back.
When her eyes landed on Old Man Li, she remembered the day she had told him that Zhao Shide was abusing Li Jianfang. His response had been cold, almost bored:
"Now that she's married, she has nothing to do with the Li family. It's only natural for a husband to discipline his wife."
Her gaze shifted to Old Lady Li. In her mind, the scene replayed—the day the police delivered the news of her brother's death. The old woman had stood in the crowd, her expression devoid of grief, and sneered:
"Just a fatherless bastard. He deserved it. What's there to mourn?"
Then her eyes locked on Wang Yunmei, and rage surged hot and violent through her veins. Her fingers itched to strangle the woman where she stood. She remembered every poisonous word:
"Li Jianfang, you're just a woman without support. How will you survive without a man? Let me be clear—if you refuse to marry Zhao Shide, I'll make sure your daughter pays the price."
When her gaze found Li Jianguo, she recalled his cold indifference as she had once begged him not to marry off her mother to some remote, poverty-stricken village. His voice had been like a blade:
"It's all your fault. If you and that bastard brother of yours hadn't been born, Li Jianfang's life would have been better."
She moved on to Li Jianjun and let out a faint, derisive snort. He had been one of the most eager voices pushing for the marriage—driven not by tradition or concern, but because he coveted the courtyard for himself.
But when her eyes fell on Chen Lihua, her expression shifted, just slightly. She still bore no fondness for the woman—Chen Lihua had despised her mother and gone out of her way to make her life difficult. Yet, in the days before the wedding, Chen Lihua had come by, mocking Li Jianfang for refusing her younger brother years earlier. But before leaving, she had dropped her tone, warning in a rare moment of seriousness: "Don't marry Zhao Shide. Wang Yunmei has no good intentions. The whole family is plotting something."
At the time, Ziqing hadn't understood the depth in her gaze as she walked away. Now she did. That last glance had been heavy with something unexpected—pity, even sorrow. There had been more behind those eyes, something deeper, unspoken.
Chen Lihua's resentment towards her mother could be explained, though it rested on shaky grounds. But the hatred Wang Yunmei and the rest of the Li family bore for Li Jianfang was unnatural—excessive, festering. Even though she had given birth to her children out of wedlock, such bitterness was far beyond the ordinary cruelty of gossip.
And then, in her mind's eye, she saw it again—Old Lady Li's face after Li Jianping's death in her past life. That wasn't just hatred. It was malice, pure and deliberate. There had been calculation in her every glance. Greed could be reasoned with. This… this was something darker.
"Mom, Dad… what are you doing here at this hour?" Li Jianfang was the first to break the silence. Her tone was calm, but her eyes betrayed her unease. In all her years, she had never seen her parents come to her courtyard of their own accord—let alone with her elder brother and his wife in tow. This unannounced visit, under the veil of night, sent a ripple of foreboding through her chest.
At Li Jianfang's words, the group finally tore their eyes away from the car—only to freeze again.
Tonight, she looked as though she had stepped straight out of an elite socialite drama. Even those unfamiliar with high-end brands could tell that everything she wore reeked of money and status.
Wang Yunmei's reaction was instantaneous. Her face drained of color, her eyes bulged, and she almost staggered on the spot. Ever since moving to the Eastern District, she had carried a certain superiority over the rest of the Li family—especially Li Jianfang. She prided herself on outshining her in atleast wealth. To keep up appearances, she had insisted on subscribing to luxury lifestyle magazines, fighting with her husband until he finally relented. She had spent more than a decade memorizing the world of couture and jewelry.
And now… her worst nightmare was standing right in front of her.
"You—!" Her voice trembled as she pointed a shaking finger at Li Jianfang, but soon it turned into an enraged roar. "Look at her! Just look at her!" She whipped her head toward her husband, practically shrieking. "I'm telling you, she's up to something shady again! She's going to drag the Li family's name through the mud!"
Her voice rose higher with each word, hysteria bubbling over. "That's a Chanel tweed midi dress—no less than 120,000 yuan! And the Cartier Love bracelet in 18k rose gold with four diamonds… worth five hundred thousand yuan! That bag—" Her voice caught, and her eyes glistened with tears of fury. She clenched her fists so tightly her nails bit into her palms.
"That bag is a Hermès Birkin. Six hundred thousand yuan, at the very least! And that's without counting the purchase quota one has to meet to even buy it! That necklace—Van Cleef & Arpels Vintage Alhambra—three hundred thousand yuan! And her shoes…" She all but spat the words. "Christian Louboutin Hot Chick pumps. Forty thousand yuan. Tell me—how is she wearing all of this unless she's doing something disgraceful?"
Her flawless makeup was streaked with tears, her voice raw with jealousy and rage. If her eyes could ignite, Li Jianfang would have gone up in flames.
Li Jianping's expression darkened instantly. Li Zian, too, bristled. "How dare you accuse my sister?" Li Jianping snapped, his voice like a whip. "What 'shady'? Every piece she wears was bought by us. Who are you to question it? This is our home—leave."
Old Lady Li and Chen Lihua, who until now had only thought the clothes and jewelry looked "a little expensive," suddenly reeled at Wang Yunmei's price breakdown. The figures hit them like a hammer.
Chen Lihua took an instinctive step back, tugging on Li Jianjun's sleeve. Her eyes flicked to the gleaming car in the driveway. Clothes and accessories worth millions, and now a luxury car? She wasn't stupid—none of this would ever end up in her hands. Best to keep her mouth shut. She certainly wasn't about to fight on Wang Yunmei's behalf.
Old Man Li was the first to recover. He slammed his cane against the ground with a deafening crack. "What do you mean you bought this, Li Jianping? Why waste millions on her? How dare you squander money like this!"
Li Jianping frowned in disbelief. "It's my money. I can spend it however I choose. What does this have to do with you?"
Li Jainguo's temper finally snapped. "Did you burn all your money on this nonsense? How dare you!" He turned to Li Jianfang, his voice dripping venom. "And you… as if it wasn't shameful enough that you gave birth to those two bastards, now you leech off your younger brother without an ounce of shame?"
"Li Jainguo!" Li Jianfang's voice thundered across the courtyard, the name spat out like poison. It was the first time she had ever addressed him without respect. She could endure being looked down upon, endure years of contempt—but no one, no one, insulted her children.
"How dare you call my children bastards? Who are you to question their right to exist? Don't think that just because you're some government official, you can spew filth without consequence. Every word you say has a price—remember that."
"What? Now you forget how to respect your elders?" Li Jainguo barked, stepping forward. "Just because Li Jianping has money, you've grown a backbone?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?" she shot back. "You barge into someone else's home in the middle of the night, start hurling insults, and expect me to just stand here? You either leave now or I call the police." She pulled out her phone, her fingers poised over the screen.
Li Jainguo's gaze flicked to the device—and he smirked. "Mom, didn't I tell you? Her daughter's been buying those new Fruit phones. See? Li Jianfang's got one now. They're bleeding Li Jianping dry."
Old Lady Li finally snapped out of her daze at her elder son's words. The moment her mind caught up, her face twisted with fury.
"Li Jianfang!" she barked, her voice as sharp as the crack of old man Li's cane against the ground. "You… unfilial wretch! I should have known you'd bring disgrace sooner or later. Dressed like some… some painted courtesan, flaunting wealth you have no right to!"
Li Jianfang's breath caught in her chest.
Her own mother.
Vicious words poured from those familiar lips as if there had never been a bond between them. For a heartbeat, she felt her world tilt—not because of the insult itself, but because of the look in Old Lady Li's eyes.
Greed.
Pure, hungry greed.
In that moment, Jianfang understood—this wasn't about shame or morality. It was about the fact that the daughter they had discarded was now standing before them in clothes worth millions, stepping out of a car that cost more than their entire courtyard house.
Old Lady Li's gaze snapped to Li Jianping.
"You!" she barked, stabbing the air with her fingers though it were a spear. "Hand it over."
Li Jianping blinked, confusion knitting his brow.
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with me," she snarled. "The money! All of it!"
His confusion deepened. Everyone here knows he'd been bankrolling his sister's life. What money? He barely used to scraped by on his part-time work and all the money used to come from pocket money from his sister.
Wang Yunmei, still trembling with jealousy, exploded before he could speak.
"So it's true! You burned all that money on this shameless woman!" she spat, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at Jianfang. "No wonder she's parading around like some rich madam!"
Li Jianping's temper finally snapped. His voice thundered across the courtyard.
"That's my sister! And I'm warning every single one of you—stop spouting your filthy nonsense, or you'll regret it!"
A collective gasp rippled through the gathered family.
Li Jainguo's face turned crimson. "You dare? I'm your elder brother, and she's your sister-in-law! You're threatening us? What next—you'll raise your hand to your own parents? How shameless can you get?"
Li Jianping turned his gaze on him, cold and unflinching.
"When," he said slowly, each word cutting like a blade, "was the last time you—any of you—fulfilled your responsibilities as my family? As my so-called elder brother? As my parents?" He let out a bitter laugh. "I've lived off my sister all these years, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. She and her kids are the only family I have."
Jainguo's mouth opened, but no words came.
But Old Lady Li was far from done. Her eyes burned with the single-minded focus of a predator.
"I don't care who you call family," she snapped. "I gave birth to you, and that means your money belongs to me. It belongs to the Li family. Hand it over!"
"I'll ask one last time—what money are you talking about?" Jianping's voice was tight with irritation.
Wang Yunmei's lips curled in a sneer. "Don't pretend. He's spent it all on her—those overpriced clothes, that gaudy jewelry, the shiny new phone, the car!"
The moment the words left her mouth, Old Lady Li's fury doubled.
"So it's true!" she screamed. "You think you can waste the Li family's money like this? You'll return every last thing—car, clothes, jewelry—and get my money back!"
And then, clarity struck Jianping like a lightning bolt.
They really believed the money came from him.
"It wasn't my money," he said flatly. "You all know I live off my sister. How could I have that kind of money?"
"Then whose money was it?" Li Jainguo demanded.
Before Jianping could reply, a new voice cut through the tense air.
It was a woman's voice—low, raspy, with the edge of a blade hidden in velvet.
"Mine."
The single word seemed to hang in the courtyard like a thundercloud about to break. Every head turned toward the source.
Li Ziqing stepped forward from the shadow of the car, her eyes cold, her lips curved in the faintest hint of a smile that wasn't kind at all.
____
Thank you so much for the Power stones Kulsum_Bano and 3 stones all at once mwansa0.
Now I'm waiting for someone to write a review it feedback. Because story is soon going to enter another phase. The campus phase. Even Male protogonist is going to enter soon, so to push story ahead I am looking for feedbacks. Please write something 🙏