B5SB -Chapter 365 Playing the Fool

“Mom, how do you have a shop in Jingshi?”

Li Yajing clenched back the surge of anger rising in her chest.

She lifted her gaze, staring intently at her mother, trying to detect the slightest clue on her face.

Mother Li met her eyes and felt a jolt in her heart.

Worried that Yajing might misunderstand, she hurried to explain, “This was your grandmother’s dowry.”

After a brief pause, she continued, “Your grandmother and grandfather used to run a silk and satin shop. After the founding of the country, your grandfather thought the domestic situation was unstable, so he sold the family property and moved to Hong Kong. The remaining unsold items were left to me and your aunt.”

Hearing this, Li Yajing gripped the property deed in her hands tightly, suddenly feeling like a complete fool.

She had been spun around by her own family.

If it weren’t for her mother wanting to give Gu Yihan a shop today as a token of thanks, she might have been kept in the dark her whole life.

And all of grandmother’s belongings would have ended up with her ungrateful eldest brother and sister-in-law?

No way. She absolutely couldn’t let her eldest brother and sister-in-law, who were quick to announce severed relations in the papers, benefit in the slightest.

Li Yajing tried to suppress the anger and resentment welling up inside her and took a deep breath.

She lifted her gaze to Lin Yifei, who was sitting silently across from her.

Her voice flat and even, she asked, “Cousin, do you also have a house in Jingshi?”

Lin Yifei looked at her, puzzled, and lightly hummed, “My mom already gave me the Jingshi property deed a long time ago.”

Li Yajing froze for a moment. Her aunt’s belongings had been given to her cousin…

Could it be that her family’s possessions had also been quietly handed to her eldest brother without her knowledge?

Suddenly, Li Yajing’s eyes lit up. She sprang to her feet in one swift motion.

Striding to Lin Yifei, she grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

Lin Yifei was stunned by her sudden action, confused. “Why are you pulling me?”

Li Yajing glared at him through gritted teeth.

“Answer me! Why?” she roared.

“Didn’t you say my mom and dad were framed? Didn’t you say my dad and mom had no overseas connections? So in the end, you all knew the overseas connection was real, and I was the only one who thought it wasn’t?”

Hearing the words “overseas connection,” Father Li furrowed his brows.

In a stern voice, he scolded, “Enough! Yajing, your cousin is only trying to help you!”

Li Yajing yanked her arm away from Lin Yifei, unwilling, and took slow, deliberate steps toward her parents.

Tears burst forth.

“You all played me for a fool! My cousin lied to me, misled me, made me think our family’s overseas connection was a setup by Zeng Xiao to get back at Gu Yihan!”

Lin Yifei was so frustrated by her words that he let out an amused snort. “When did I mislead you? I only said your aunt and uncle were framed, nothing else.”

Li Yajing ignored him and pointed a finger at her parents.

“You are my real parents. Why would you lie to me too?”

With that, she shook the property deed in her hand.

In a sharp voice, she demanded, “If the family had never been reported, would you have planned to hide everything from me my whole life and leave all the property to my brother?”

Mother Li frowned. She hadn’t expected Yajing’s thoughts to be so extreme.

Not knowing anything, and yet jumping to wild assumptions.

Father Li was also angered by Yajing’s sudden outburst.

In a cold voice, he said, “A daughter who marries out is like water poured out. Why are you still trying to claim things from your maternal home? What nonsense!”

After scolding Father Li, Mother Li turned to Yajing, carefully took her hand, and led her to sit beside Lin Yifei.

Holding her tightly, she patiently explained, “Xiaoya, in Mom’s heart, you and your brother are the same. There’s no such thing as giving to your brother and not to you.”

Li Yajing sneered at her mother, withdrew her hand, and coldly said, “And now you only say we’re the same because I caught on.”

Seeing Yajing wasn’t listening, Mother Li rubbed her brow in frustration.

She couldn’t understand why her daughter, fine just moments ago, suddenly changed just because they came from a family of capitalists.

Lin Yifei glanced at Li Yajing, a trace of mockery in his eyes.

He snorted, “You don’t need to make it hard for aunt and uncle. Just say what you want.”

Li Yajing ignored Lin Yifei. She quietly stared at her mother, her gaze void of any emotion.

Father Li now understood. His daughter was eyeing what was in her sister-in-law’s hands.

Mother Li saw her daughter looking at her as if she were a stranger. Her heart sank, and her eyes immediately reddened.

This was her daughter, born after ten months of pregnancy, whom she raised from diapers. How could she not love her?

Thinking of her recent divorce and previous abuse by that old money woman from the Chang family, even if she was angry, she couldn’t bring herself to scold her.

Sighing, she said, “Xiaoya, Mom promises you. Everything your grandmother left will be yours.”

Li Yajing finally reacted, giving her mother a faint glance, her expression saying, I don’t believe it.

Seeing that her daughter truly coveted what she held, Mother Li felt as if her heart were being pierced with needles, an intense ache spreading throughout.

She turned her head, wiped away her tears, and thought of how she once worked in the fields, hands blistered, yet never shed a tear.

Now, she was genuinely hurt by Yajing. Wiping her tears, she said softly, “Tomorrow, you’ll go to Jingshi with us. I’ll give you everything your grandmother left.”

After speaking, she steadied herself on the wooden armrest of the sofa and staggered to her feet.

Father Li hurried forward, supporting his wife, and they headed to the bedroom. Before closing the door, he shot a fierce glance at Li Yajing.

Three days later

Jingshi Family Compound

After dinner, Gu Yihan walked around the yard once.

Back in the living room, she sat on the sofa, fanning herself, watching Haohao sit on a small stool, patting on the wooden coffee table as he wrote.

Lu Huailin finished clearing the dishes, sat beside his wife, and wrapped his arms around her.

After a while, Gu Yihan felt heat radiating around them and pushed Lu Huailin, annoyed.

“It’s summer! Cramming together like this—aren’t you hot?”

Lu Huailin leaned down and kissed her cheek, smiling, “As long as I’m with you, I can endure any heat.”

Gu Yihan’s expression turned to pure exasperation.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Hearing a knock at the door, Gu Yihan nudged Lu Huailin with her foot, “Go see who’s at the door!”

Lu Huailin laughed, nodded, and went out.

Soon, Li Yajing rushed in, flustered.

Gu Yihan looked at her in surprise. “Yajing, what are you doing here?”

Without wasting words, Li Yajing pulled two shop property deeds from her pocket and handed them to Gu Yihan.

Gu Yihan took them, puzzled. When she saw the names on the deeds, she froze.

Looking up at Li Yajing, she asked, “Yajing… you…”

Li Yajing stepped forward, tightly holding Gu Yihan’s hand. “Xiaoban, one of these deeds is from my mom, for you. The other one is from me.”

Hearing this, Gu Yihan hurriedly pushed the deeds back into Li Yajing’s hands, shaking her head. “Yajing, I can’t accept this.”