CHAPTER 11:  Lifeline

Yi Xiaoya thought maybe her dad was just bluffing. Maybe the person on the other end wasn’t even her grandpa.

“Talk to your grandpa,” Yi Yao raised an eyebrow.

At that moment, Yi Xiaoya was all kinds of anxious. She was seriously considering running away. But he’d already heard everything she said! She looked at her dad—how could he be so heartless?

“Just talk.” Yi Yao even shoved the phone into her hand. “It’s not a hot potato. If you don’t want to talk, hang up. If you don’t hang up, then think about your dream of becoming a landlady.”

“……” Yi Xiaoya felt like someone had just grabbed her by the throat.

“Say it, what are you afraid of?” Yi Yao said. “This blood relationship isn’t going to change. If you weren’t really his biological granddaughter, then I wouldn’t be his biological son either.”

Yi Yao had done a paternity test with Yi Xiaoya. He had dreamed about her before, but it hadn’t felt real. That’s why he went and got the test, and only then confirmed that Yi Xiaoya was truly his biological daughter.

“This isn’t a TV drama,” Yi Xiaoya muttered.

She had once watched a drama where the child’s grandfather did a DNA test with the child and found out they weren’t biologically related. So he assumed his daughter-in-law had cheated. But of course the daughter-in-law insisted she hadn’t, so the son and the child went for a test—and they were indeed biologically related. That led to the conclusion that the son and the father weren’t related.

And in the end, it turned out there had been a baby mix-up at the hospital!

The daughter-in-law’s younger brother turned out to be their real child. Then people started wondering if the son and daughter-in-law were actually siblings. Later, it was revealed that the daughter-in-law had also been adopted.

So many twists and turns—it just kept spiraling.

Yi Xiaoya thought, as if something from a drama could happen that easily in real life. She looked at the phone in her hand, took a deep breath, and said, “Grandpa, I still have homework to do. I’m going to do that first. Bye.”

Then Yi Xiaoya directly hung up the call.

“So cowardly?” Yi Yao said.

“That’s not cowardice—it’s a tactical retreat,” Yi Xiaoya said, fanning herself with her hand. She felt a little hot, probably because the weather was getting warmer. “Besides, it’s not face-to-face. You can’t explain things clearly over the phone.”

“Oh? So you want to say it in person?” Yi Yao said. “Fine, I’ll take you there tomorrow. Try looking a bit pitiful—no, actually, even if you don’t act pitiful, they’ll still think you are.”

Old Master Yi didn’t call back after Yi Xiaoya hung up. When Yi Yao had just called earlier, Old Master Yi had thought his youngest son was up to something again. But when he heard what his precious granddaughter had to say, he was actually in a pretty good mood.

Though, that youngest son of his really did go too far—he scared the poor girl.

Someone who grew up with such poor living conditions, being able to joke around like that with her biological father… didn’t necessarily mean she could say the same things in front of the rest of them.

Forget a few houses—ten or even a hundred, if he had them, of course he’d be happy to give more to his granddaughter.

His grandson had company shares and other assets too. But this granddaughter had lived outside the family her whole life. Old Master Yi had already sent the housekeeper to look into her background. Her living conditions really weren’t good—there was a massive difference.

“He’s already a father, and he’s still acting so childish,” Old Master Yi sighed. He was starting to worry that his granddaughter’s dreams were too simple.

If her dreams were really that modest, any slightly rich man could help her fulfill them. Wouldn’t that make her an easy target to get swept away?

She didn’t even dare say things clearly over the phone. That showed she was really just a paper tiger.

And just as Old Master Yi had guessed—Yi Xiaoya really didn’t dare.

Back when she lived with the Lin family, no matter how poor they were, Lin Mother wouldn’t let them take things from others. No matter how broke they were, as long as they had something to eat and weren’t freezing, that was enough.

—

The next morning, Yi Yao took Yi Xiaoya out bright and early.

When Mr. Xiao brought his wife and daughter over, Yi Yao and his daughter had already left. From a distance, they saw the car driving off, and when they rang the doorbell, the servant told them the father and daughter weren’t home.

“They did that on purpose, didn’t they?” Xiao Caiyu muttered.

“What do you mean, ‘on purpose’? Watch your mouth!” Mr. Xiao glared at his daughter. She was still saying things like that at a time like this. He could tell she didn’t understand how serious things were. Did she want their family to go bankrupt?

“Don’t be so harsh,” Mrs. Xiao said. “You’re scaring her.”

“She’s scared?” Mr. Xiao said coldly. “I’m the one who’s scared! Do you have any idea how many calls I took yesterday? And how many more today? Deals that were going smoothly just fell through like that!”

Just thinking about it made Mr. Xiao anxious. He was genuinely afraid this would severely impact the company. At his age, if they went bankrupt, he’d have a hard time finding another job. Even if they didn’t go under, life would definitely be harder, and they’d earn much less.

His wife and daughter always bullied the weak and feared the strong. Deep down, they believed that if someone seemed easy to push around, then they could be taken advantage of. Once they got that first impression, it was hard for them to change it.

“She—”

“You’re still defending her?” Mr. Xiao snapped. “What, is she three years old?”

“Let’s not talk here—we’re still at the Yi family’s front gate,” Mrs. Xiao said.

She looked at her daughter, who was shivering after being yelled at, and still felt her husband was too harsh. She didn’t think this was their daughter’s fault. She had already asked her—Yi Xiaoya had been in school for several days, and she had acted completely normal. She was even using pens that cost just one or two yuan.

If Yi Xiaoya hadn’t hidden things so well, how could anyone else have known?

“Besides, it’s not just our Caiyu’s fault. Other people were involved too,” Mrs. Xiao said. “You can’t just blame her because her birthday happened to be coming up.”

Mr. Xiao wasn’t stupid. He knew the others had all been trying to flatter their own daughters. But if you want to catch the culprit, you take down the ringleader first—and the Yi family naturally pinned the blame on Xiao Caiyu.

Just because the Xiao family said she wasn’t the mastermind didn’t mean she really wasn’t.

—

Yi Yao brought Yi Xiaoya to the Yi family’s main residence. He reminded his daughter, “Whether you get to be a landlady or not—it all depends on this moment.”

“Dad, why don’t you just hand me a big bunch of keys and let me be the landlady?” Yi Xiaoya didn’t get it.

“You have to learn to work for it,” Yi Yao said. “The stuff you earn with your own effort always tastes sweeter.”

On the surveillance feed, Yi Yao and Yi Xiaoya stood at the gate for quite a while. Old Master Yi was already aware of it.

“They’re not coming in?” Old Master Yi had been sitting, but when the housekeeper said they were still at the door, he couldn’t help but stand up. If this kept going, he figured he might as well go out himself—otherwise his youngest son might just be showing the girl the house from outside, and then walk away with her again.

His other sons might not do something like this, but Yi Yao very likely would.