Chapter 9 – A Weasel Paying New Year’s Greetings to a Chicken

The show wouldn’t start airing until August. In the meantime, Li Fan received a message from Shen Guochang, asking her to come home for a visit.

Li Fan thought it over for a moment, unsure what kind of game he was playing.

006 said: [He’s definitely up to no good.]

“I know he’s up to no good. Ever since I married Han Xuzhou, it’s been over a year now, and we’ve never contacted each other in all that time.”

Ever since Han Xuzhou became disabled, Shen Guochang never took him seriously.

[Shen Guochang recently got in with the Liang family. He’s scheming to set Han Xuzhou up.]

“The Liang family?”

[That second male lead in Green Hill, the rich second-gen influencer with millions of fans—Liang Kang—he’s the youngest son of the Liang family. His older sister, Liang Wenting, is Han Anhuai’s wife.]

The Liang family and Han Fuyang were related by marriage.

So in short, Shen Guochang was now aligned with Han Fuyang of the Han family.

If he wanted Li Fan to come over, he was obviously trying to use her to set a trap for Han Xuzhou.

Li Fan stroked her chin. Last time she went to the Han family’s for dinner, she didn’t see Liang Wenting.

“I wonder if Liang Wenting knows about Han Anhuai and Su Xian.”

[In any case, this is definitely a weasel paying New Year’s greetings to a chicken. You’d better not go.]

Li Fan chuckled. “Why not go? I’ll just listen to what they have to say.”

She replied to Shen Guochang, saying she’d be home on time.

On the evening of the 25th, Li Fan returned to the Shen residence.

The Shen residence? It should’ve been called the Jiang residence.

This villa had been her home for over twenty years.

According to the system, it had been bought by Old Master Jiang when he was still alive.

There had been multiple transfers of ownership since, and all traces of the Jiang family had been thoroughly wiped away.

As soon as Li Fan appeared, Wen Lianxin greeted her with a smile, warmly fussing over her.

“Judging by your complexion, you look well. Where’s Xuzhou? Why didn’t he come back with you?”

Li Fan sat across from Wen Lianxin, ignoring her questions as she picked up her teacup and took a sip.

She hadn’t even swallowed it before spitting it back out into the cup.

“Sorry, Aunt Wen. I’m not used to stale tea. Business not doing so well lately? Even the tea is cheap and perfunctory.”

Wen Lianxin’s smile froze.

She clenched her fists discreetly. Just married to Han Xuzhou for a year, and already acting like a high-society lady.

“Maybe the housekeeper made a mistake. Xiang-jie! Xiang-jie! What’s with this tea? How could you serve stale tea to Fanfan? Throw it out and brew a new pot!”

The housekeeper didn’t dare argue and brewed a fresh pot, but Li Fan didn’t touch it again.

She waved her hand casually. “I heard before Aunt Wen married Uncle Shen, she worked as a cleaning lady at a public restroom. Unlike me, she’s not picky about old or fresh tea—totally understandable.”

Wen Lianxin almost choked. “Who worked in a public restroom? Who told you that?!”

“Oh? Wasn’t it true? I heard Mrs. Liang say it last time. She and the others were playing mahjong, describing it vividly—I thought she saw it with her own eyes.”

Li Fan blinked innocently.

“Mrs. Liang? Ha!”

Wen Lianxin had indeed been interacting with Mrs. Liang a lot recently, all because Shen Guochang wanted to use the Liang family to get close to Han Fuyang.

He had strictly instructed her to curry favor with Mrs. Liang.

That Mrs. Liang was incredibly haughty, bossing her around and clearly looking down on her.

Wen Lianxin had been swallowing her pride for days, humiliated again and again by Mrs. Liang.

Now hearing Li Fan say this, a grudge began to take root in her heart.

Wen Lianxin adjusted her breathing and forced a smile.

“Let’s not talk about unpleasant things. You haven’t told me—how is Xuzhou treating you?”

Li Fan raised her eyebrows. “Aunt Wen, haven’t you been reading the entertainment news? Han Xuzhou shows up in the headlines every couple of days—you haven’t seen it?”

Wen Lianxin brought it up just to rub salt in the wound.

But Li Fan’s rhetorical question left her speechless.

Wen Lianxin gave a strained smile. “Men, you know… They all mess around a little. No matter how nice the women outside are, they can’t compare to the wife at home.”

“Oh? Is that Aunt Wen’s own experience? Sounds like Uncle Shen fooled around quite a bit.”

Wen Lianxin gritted her teeth. “No, your Uncle Shen has always kept himself clean. Speaking of which, he should be home soon. I even asked the kitchen to make your favorite—salt and pepper prawns.”

“I’m allergic to shrimp. That’s my sister’s favorite, not mine,” Li Fan replied coolly.

Wen Lianxin’s expression nearly collapsed. For the first time, she realized that playing the loving stepmother was such a difficult act.

Li Fan really had changed—she didn’t know how or why, but she was different now.

Luckily, not long after, Shen Guochang came home.

The “happy family” sat together and finished dinner with false warmth and veiled smiles. Afterward, Shen Guochang asked Li Fan to come upstairs and speak privately in the study.

Shen Guochang wasn’t exactly a brilliant actor—actually, he was worse than Wen Lianxin.

He wanted to use Li Fan, yet couldn’t even be bothered to pretend.

[Ugh, disgusting. How could this guy be my biological father?]

006: [Shen Guochang isn’t your biological father.]

Li Fan: “?”

006: [Back then, Jiang Rou got back together with her first love and found out she was pregnant. The marriage was arranged from the start. While she was pregnant, the old master wanted to find a nominal father for the child. He and Jiang Rou chose Shen Guochang and signed an agreement before the wedding. Once the child was born safely, Shen Guochang would receive 5% of Jiang Group’s shares.]

So it wasn’t that Jiang Rou had cheated on Shen Guochang—the marriage was just a transaction where both sides got what they wanted.

[Later, Old Master Jiang and Jiang Rou passed away. The old man named his granddaughter as his heir. Everything in the Jiang family ended up under Shen Yuwan’s name, and as her guardian, Shen Guochang naturally took control of the assets.]

Li Fan silently cursed him as shameless.

Once Shen Guochang sat down, he got straight to the point.

In his eyes, Li Fan was still that grateful, obedient girl who had been easy to manipulate.

Just like when Shen Yuwan didn’t want to marry, and he asked Li Fan to do it instead.

She hadn’t even hesitated back then.

What he didn’t know was that Li Fan had married Han Xuzhou out of genuine affection—Shen family had nothing to do with it.

This time, Shen Guochang wanted her to install surveillance and recording devices in the home study.

Li Fan: “……”

Han Xuzhou had only been to Xinghua Dan Garden less than five times in a whole year, and you expect him to work from home?

[HAHAHAHA I can’t take it anymore! How did Shen Guochang’s brain even form?!]

“Sure, Uncle Shen.” Obedient and agreeable.

Li Fan’s straightforwardness caught Shen Guochang off guard.

“You’re not even going to ask why?”

Li Fan smiled gently. “If Uncle Shen asks me to do something, he must have his reasons. Just like when you asked me to marry Han Xuzhou, I’m sure you had your reasons then too. I was raised by the Shen family—whatever I can do to repay your kindness, I won’t refuse.”

Shen Guochang smiled with satisfaction. “I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. You’re a good girl!”

Just earlier, Wen Lianxin had been whispering in his ear that Li Fan had changed—but she seemed perfectly well-behaved now.

The “good girl” Li Fan smiled sweetly, but only 006 knew that in her heart, she had just cursed out all eighteen generations of Shen Guochang’s ancestors.

006: [You should consider taking on more drama roles. With acting like this, you might even win an Oscar.]