CHAPTER 15: Killing with Kindness

Be careful—she might just kill you!

Yi Xuezhen had long known what kind of person Yao was. He was younger than her, but she’d entered the Yao family when he was around three, staying on as an adopted daughter.

Back then, her biological parents had told her the adoptive family lacked a daughter, and if she went, she’d be treated like a princess, able to boss people around. Maybe they’d painted too rosy a picture, because Yi Xuezhen had never taken Yao seriously. She even felt she was the real treasure of the Yao family, the one who should be most pampered.

She was only a little over a year older than Yao and younger than his two older brothers. When she came into the family, she expected everyone to spoil her. She was proud and mischievous, and never put Yao in her eyes.

At first, since Yao was a boy, the others in the family would scold him from time to time. Old Madam Yao especially doted on her son, and since she had no blood relation with Yi Xuezhen, she wasn’t very fond of her. Old Master Yao, however, tended to favor Yi Xuezhen a bit more.

He believed Yao needed to grow into a real man, while a girl like Yi Xuezhen only needed to enjoy life—boys should go through more trials.

This was one of the reasons Yao had such a poor relationship with Old Master Yao. Even after Old Madam Yao passed away, and Yi Xuezhen married and her adoption was annulled, Yao still resented the old man.

Even if the Yao family was short on daughters, they shouldn’t have treated someone with no real blood ties so well. Well, not entirely unrelated—they were distant relatives, but the blood relationship was weak.

“Don’t think I’m just being dramatic,” Yao scoffed. “She’s absolutely capable of doing something like that.”

“Dad, if I die, you should donate all your assets to charity,” Yao Ya said directly. “Or go find someone and have another kid…”

“You think kids are sunflowers in a field? You plant one and get a whole pile of seeds?” Yao shot back.

“Yao, must you be like this?” Yi Xuezhen’s nails were nearly digging into her palms. One reason Old Master Yao had annulled the adoption was also because of Yao.

He had never liked her and had even pushed for the annulment. While others spoke cautiously in front of Old Master Yao, Yao never cared whether his father would be pleased or not, nor did he care what others thought. He said whatever was on his mind.

When Old Madam Yao was still alive, she could keep Yao in check, so he didn’t say much. But after her death, Yao was like an unbridled wild horse—he dared say anything.

“You’ve never seen me as your sister,” Yi Xuezhen gritted her teeth. “And now that the adoption’s annulled, you don’t even pretend anymore. You’re just afraid I’ll take things from your daughter!”

“Those things are my daughter’s in the first place,” Yao said. “Just because you’re surnamed Yao doesn’t mean you get to have any of it.”

“Yeah, all that stuff is mine,” Yao Ya chimed in quickly. She didn’t know the full story between Yi Xuezhen and her dad, but she knew she had to stand with her biological father. Her dad said everything belonged to her—she couldn’t drop the ball now.

“Old man, do you want her to stay, or do you want your biological granddaughter to stay?” Yao asked.

“You’re forcing Dad!” Yi Xuezhen hadn’t expected Yao to say such a thing. She turned to look at Old Master Yao. “Dad, we’ve had so many years together…”

“Back then, the Yao family didn’t have a daughter, so we took you in, and now you’re biting the hand that fed you,” Yao interrupted. “What, you think you did the Yao family a favor? If you’d grown up with your patriarchal biological parents, would you have gotten any of this?”

Her biological parents had received quite a bit from the Yao family. To stop them from constantly asking Yi Xuezhen for money, Old Master Yao had given them a lot over the years. Only after she got married did he stop providing for them. But even then, they went to their daughter asking for more.

This only made Yi Xuezhen resent the Yao family more. She felt they had used her and cast her aside—that they were heartless.

Old Master Yao looked at the two arguing. Their relationship had always been rocky. He used to criticize Yao a lot, but by the time he realized he was wrong, it was too late—his youngest son had already grown stubborn and extreme.

“Yi Xuezhen, go home for now,” Old Master Yao said. He glanced at Yao Ya again, worried that she might be scared, or that she’d begin to resent them.

The girl had already suffered a lot outside. If she came back only to feel she wasn’t as important as a non-blood-related aunt, she would be hurt. If she kept it inside and a rift formed between them, that would be a problem.

This was her first time at their house—they needed to be mindful of that.

“Dad, are you making me leave just because she came?” Yi Xuezhen pointed at Yao Ya.

Yao slammed her hand down. “She’s my biological daughter. She’s part of this family. You? You’re an outsider!”

Yi Xuezhen had wanted to say Yao Ya was the outsider, but Yao had beaten her to it.

Once a man made up his mind, his heart hardened too. Yi Xuezhen looked around—she knew the men in the Yao family wouldn’t help her. She tried to look to her sisters-in-law.

But they were even less likely to back her. When they first married into the family, Yi Xuezhen had given them a hard time. The relationships between sisters-in-law might look peaceful on the surface, but there were plenty of hidden tensions—just no one had pointed them out.

“Aunt-in-law? And Second Aunt? Where did they go?” Yi Xuezhen’s eyes darted around. “Don’t tell me they don’t even—”

“Auntie, please don’t say that,” Yi Hongping interrupted, standing up for his own mother. “My mom took on an emergency case and went to another city to treat someone. A life is more important than anything. It’s not that she didn’t want to come.”

“Xiaoya, have some fruit.” Madam Yi, the eldest daughter-in-law, had overheard what Yi Hongping said and walked over with a smile.

If Madam Yi could tolerate someone like Yi Xuezhen making a fuss, then she could certainly tolerate Yi Xiaoya. Besides, Yi Xiaoya was the Yi family’s biological granddaughter. It was only right that Old Master Yi left her some things.

If Yi Xiaoya had grown up in the Yi family, she would’ve received even more.

They shouldn’t focus only on the present, on what Yi Xiaoya was receiving now. Those things originally belonged to Old Master Yi—he had the right to give them to whomever he pleased. As for the jewelry and heirlooms Old Madam Yi left behind, she’d said on her deathbed that they should be passed on to her biological granddaughter.

And if there was no biological granddaughter while Old Master Yi was still alive, then the jewelry should be auctioned off for charity—to help impoverished girls.

That was why Madam Yi didn’t bother thinking about whether those things might’ve gone to her own son. There was no need. Her husband already held the majority of the company’s shares, while the other two brothers had far fewer and lived off their dividends.

As the true matriarch of the Yi family, Madam Yi’s heart was far too big to sweat over such petty things.

“We weren’t sure what kind of fruit you liked, so we prepared a little of everything,” she said with a warm smile. “This is your home now. If there’s anything you want to eat, just tell the staff. You’re still growing—you need to eat more.”

After saying this, she turned to Yi Xuezhen. “Leaving already? Let me walk you out.”

“You—” Yi Xuezhen’s face darkened.

“Come on.” Madam Yi stepped forward.

Seeing the half-smiling look on Madam Yi’s face, Yi Xuezhen stomped her foot and turned to leave. These people were all eager to see her gone. If she stuck around any longer, they might really have the servants toss her out.

How infuriating!

Yi Xuezhen was seething. With Yi Xiaoya around, it seemed she wouldn’t be able to stay in the Yi family much longer.

For now, she had even forgotten the promise she made to Madam Xiao before coming—she was supposed to put in a few good words for Xiao Caiyu in front of the Yi family, say it was just a petty squabble between kids and let it go.

But Yi Xuezhen had only wanted to teach Yi Xiaoya a lesson. In the heat of the moment, she forgot all about it.

It wasn’t until she walked out of the Yi family estate that she remembered.

Her husband’s company wasn’t as successful as the Xiao family’s. He had hoped she could leverage her Yi family connections to build relationships with other wealthy wives—what was known as “social diplomacy” among the upper class. If she did it well, his company might secure more orders.

“Just wait. Don’t think you can raise someone else’s daughter for nothing!” Yi Xuezhen gave the Yi family’s front gate another hard glare before finally leaving.

After she was gone, Madam Yi and Old Master Yi were all very warm and accommodating toward Yi Xiaoya, worried that she’d been scared by what had just happened.

Yi Yao told Yi Xiaoya to go rest in her room first. It was her first time visiting, and now there’d been this unexpected disturbance from Yi Xuezhen—he was worried she’d be shaken up.

After all, it had been fate that granted him a prophetic dream, allowing him to find his daughter earlier than he otherwise would have. Sure, he’d said a few harsh things about his daughter in the past, but when it came down to it, blood was blood. No way was he going to let his biological daughter sit there, nervous and frightened.

Yi Xiaoya took a few steps toward the stairs, then paused and leaned closer to Yi Yao. In a soft voice, she said, “Dad, we’re on the same team!”

Yi Yao: As if that even needs to be said—of course we are!

“Go get some rest. Don’t stay up late,” Yi Yao reminded. “Staying up late scrolling on your phone is a no. Same goes for doing homework into the night—it’s bad for your health.”

He had hired tutors for his daughter, yes, but he wasn’t a tyrant who wanted to make her into some kind of unstoppable academic machine.

“If I catch you, I’m confiscating your phone,” he threatened lightly.

Yi Xiaoya pouted. She figured she’d better hide some cash—nowadays you could get a cheap smartphone for a few hundred yuan anyway.

After Yi Xiaoya went upstairs, Yi Yao turned to Old Master Yi. “Since you’ve already severed the adoption, make it a clean break. Don’t let her come around anymore. If she shows up again, don’t expect my daughter to come over just to get bullied!”