CHAPTER 10:  Gold-Digger

“Grandpa, that was your favorite teacup,” Yi Hongping said. When he was younger, he once broke one of his grandfather’s cherished possessions, and his father had chased him all over the courtyard trying to beat him.

Back then, Second Master Yi had even winked at Yi Hongping, telling his son to run faster. They were both putting on a show. But in the end, Old Master Yi still called them out, and Yi Hongping was dumbfounded. Wasn’t a grandpa supposed to turn a blind eye so they could cover things up?

Unfortunately, Old Master Yi didn’t play by the rules. He even picked up a paddle and made Second Master Yi spank Yi Hongping right in front of him.

“Is the teacup more important, or your cousin?” Old Master Yi asked.

“Of course… of course it’s my cousin,” Yi Hongping answered. He didn’t dare say the teacup was more important—if it were between him and the teacup, the teacup probably had more value. “Grandpa, Uncle said we’re not allowed to go. So we’re just not going?”

“Since when are you so obedient?” Old Master Yi snorted.

“…” Yi Hongping thought to himself, Of course I’m not that obedient.

Back at home, the kids who had bullied Yi Xiaoya didn’t even dare tell their families what they had done. They wanted to pretend like nothing had happened.

But this wasn’t the kind of thing they could just sweep under the rug—especially after someone saw Yi Yao’s post on his WeChat Moments.

Yi Yao knew how to post on Moments and restrict who could see it. He included a picture of his daughter’s hospital test results, along with her looking weak and delicate. He captioned it:
“Just because someone’s of higher status, does that mean no one else is allowed to share the same birthday? Not even a day or two before or after?”

He also reposted news articles about school bullying, emphasizing the need to prevent it.

Even though he didn’t mention names, some people could still guess who he was talking about. This social circle wasn’t huge—people often remembered the birthdays of their clients’ children. Not to mention, someone had recently gone out of their way to highlight their daughter’s upcoming birthday.

As it happened, Xiao Caiyu’s father saw a screenshot of Yi Yao’s post. A friend had forwarded it to him and asked, “Is it your daughter’s birthday around this time?” That friend’s child had also mentioned Xiao Caiyu’s birthday and wanting to buy a gift.

The Xiao family couldn’t compare to the Yi family at all. The Yis were a giant, and the Xiaos were just a tiny shrimp.

At 9 p.m., Xiao Caiyu was already back in her room. She was unusually quiet today. She didn’t dare tell her parents that she had provoked Yi Yao’s daughter. She kept thinking that Yi Yao wasn’t married, so maybe Yi Xiaoya was just an illegitimate child. If that were the case, maybe Yi Yao wouldn’t make a big deal over an illegitimate daughter.

But Mr. Xiao, face grim, came looking for his daughter. The door wasn’t locked, so he kicked it open.

“You offended someone and didn’t say a word—what, are you planning to sleep on the street next?” Mr. Xiao said coldly.

He had been hoping to work with the Yi family and get orders from their company. But now his daughter had offended them and even bullied Yi Yao’s daughter at school. Ha. Did they still think they had a shot at working with Yi Corporation?

Sure, Yi Yao had started his own company, but even that was bigger than the Xiao family’s business.

Seeing his daughter shrink back like a scared quail, Mr. Xiao immediately knew the truth. If she hadn’t done anything wrong, she would’ve argued back.

“Dad…” Xiao Caiyu was feeling guilty. She wanted to explain, but seeing her father’s fierce expression, she was terrified. She tried to stay calm, but her voice still trembled. “I… I really didn’t know… She was sitting next to me, and my friend asked how I was going to celebrate my birthday. She said hers was in a few days too… and then… and then…”

“And then you all started giving her a hard time?” Mr. Xiao glared at her. “She has a birthday around the same time—that’s fate! Why didn’t you invite her to celebrate together?”

It would’ve been such a perfect opportunity!

Mr. Xiao thought this was a great chance completely wasted by his daughter.

“You think people have to share a birthday celebration with you?” Mr. Xiao had previously told his wife to teach their daughter not to go around making enemies at school.

Their family was doing okay, but there were plenty of people worse off than them.

Mr. Xiao had assumed his daughter wouldn’t make trouble at school. Even if she did something minor, others would still treat her nicely.

When Mrs. Xiao heard the commotion and came over, she saw her husband’s face dark as thunder. “What’s going on?”

Mrs. Xiao hurried to shield her daughter, who was visibly frightened by her father.

“Ask her what she did—she and her friends were bullying someone at school,” Mr. Xiao said, pointing at Xiao Caiyu. “Who does she think she is? Instead of behaving like a proper student, she’s out there making enemies.”

“Those girls in her class? Their family backgrounds are just so-so, definitely worse than ours,” Mrs. Xiao said.

Mrs. Xiao had already investigated thoroughly. She had even told her daughter that there was no need to hold back—those people weren’t as good as her, so she should walk with her head held high. She didn’t completely follow her husband’s advice to keep their daughter low-key.

Mr. Xiao, who had been busy outside and seen all kinds of people, knew better than to judge a book by its cover. While it was rare for someone to pretend to be weak while actually being powerful, it wasn’t impossible. Some people who looked poor really were poor—but if even one or two of them turned out to be someone powerful and they offended them, it could spell real trouble.

“The daughter of the Yi family—is she someone our daughter can afford to offend?” Mr. Xiao gritted his teeth. “She even ended up in the hospital after being bullied!”

Mr. Xiao was getting a headache. If it weren’t so late, he would’ve dragged his daughter over to apologize in person right now.

“This is the daughter you raised so well!” Mr. Xiao snapped.

“The Yi family? That Yi family?” Mrs. Xiao looked confused. “That can’t be right. I already looked into those students…”

“She’s a transfer student,” Xiao Caiyu explained. “She’s probably Yi Yao’s illegitimate daughter.”

“Yi Third Master has no other children. Even if she’s illegitimate, she’s still his only daughter!” Mr. Xiao glared at his daughter. Was she really this fearless? “Don’t you dare look down on others just because of their background!”

If Yi Yao had a bunch of illegitimate children, then one of them wouldn’t matter that much. But he didn’t. And the Yi family had no daughters before this.

Mr. Xiao had actually considered sending his daughter to mingle more with the Yi family—mainly because they treated girls very well. Yi Yao had a sister, but she wasn’t a biological one; she was adopted.

And adopted vs. biological? That made a huge difference.

Even so, that adopted sister had still benefited plenty from the Yi family.

Just thinking about how his daughter had offended someone like that made Mr. Xiao want to bang his head against a wall.

“This…” Mrs. Xiao didn’t expect things to turn out like this. She lowered her head to look at her daughter. “It’s just kids fooling around…”

“A group of people ganging up on one person—do you still want to call that ‘fooling around’? Are you seriously saying that’s normal?” Mr. Xiao was furious.

“Tomorrow. We’ll go apologize tomorrow.” Mrs. Xiao rushed to say. Speaking of illegitimate daughters, her husband had more than one—he even had an illegitimate son. It was just that he hadn’t let them into the family home. She couldn’t let him think his own daughter was useless.

Meanwhile, Yi Xiaoya and Yi Yao had returned from the hospital. Yi Yao had planned to use this opportunity to get a full check-up done on his daughter.

Even though she seemed perfectly healthy in the dream, no one could guarantee there wouldn’t be accidents.

“Your birthday’s coming up. Do you want to invite anyone to the house?” Yi Yao asked. “Want to go to your grandpa’s place? Have him throw you a grand, extravagant birthday party?”

Yi Yao wondered if maybe he hadn’t made his presence obvious enough. Was that why people dared to bully his daughter? Maybe he should’ve made it known earlier that Yi Xiaoya was his biological child. Originally, he didn’t want the old man and the rest of the family getting too close—he knew how they liked to ruin people by pretending to dote on them.

Just look at his older sister. Ha. That sister of his insisted on marrying for love despite everyone’s objections. She said the family looked down on her and wouldn’t let her marry the man she loved. In the end, they stopped trying to convince her. She married him—and that so-called love of hers turned out to be a blood-sucking leech, constantly needing the Yi family’s help.

And if the Yi family didn’t help? People would say it was because she wasn’t their real daughter. That the family not only refused to give her more of the inheritance, but also tried to restrict her. Honestly, they’d already given her a generous dowry. She was adopted, not even blood-related.

With the way she kept making a scene, whatever affection they had left was gone.

“So this is so everyone knows I’m your daughter?” Yi Xiaoya tilted her head. “Is it going to be like those birthday parties in dramas? Super extravagant? Do I get to wear a little tiara—one that costs tens of thousands?”

“Only tens of thousands?” Yi Yao looked at his daughter. She wasn’t a total waste yet, but she was close. Her vision was far too narrow. All she could think about was a tiara worth tens of thousands? “Be bolder.”

“Hundreds of thousands?” Yi Xiaoya rubbed her hands together. “Back then, I only got a few dozen bucks a week as allowance.”

And that was already considered a lot. Her brother—well, Lin Dahua—was always jealous.

Yi Xiaoya never thought her foster parents gave her too little. She got more than her brother, and that made her feel lucky.

“…” Yi Yao felt that his daughter really needed broader horizons. With her kind of mindset, it’d be all too easy for her to get tricked by some scumbag.

“Would that be my gift?” Yi Xiaoya’s eyes lit up. “But I can’t wear a crown every day. Maybe… maybe you guys should give me a house instead, so I can be a landlady.”

Back when she watched TV dramas, she’d always admired those fierce, free-spirited landladies. But the first step was to have property of her own.

“Talk to your grandpa. Tell him to give you one,” Yi Yao said. “He’s got a ton of real estate—not just all over the country, but even overseas.”

“He’d actually give me one?” Yi Xiaoya asked.

“He would,” Yi Yao said. Then he picked up his phone and said into it, “You heard that, right? Go prepare a few more property deeds for my daughter!”

“…That’s Grandpa?” Yi Xiaoya asked nervously. When she saw her dad nod, she fell silent. Her dad had totally set her up—couldn’t he say stuff like this in private? Why did he have to say it right in front of Grandpa?

Ugh. Her image as a poor little sweetheart was ruined—now she looked like a gold digger!