Chapter 5:Change

Hospital.

Shen Caisheng sat by the hospital bed, his voice cold and stern.

“Do you want to die?”

The young man on the bed, nicknamed Houzi, trembled slightly as a sharp pain from his abdomen twisted his expression into a grimace. “Brother Shen… I had no other choice.”

Shen Caisheng remained unmoved. “Who told you to do this?”

This time, Houzi had truly done something beyond belief.

No one could have imagined that a guy who would wail for half a day over a scraped knee would actually dare to stab himself with a knife. Shen Caisheng was so furious he didn’t even know what to say to him.

Houzi opened and closed his mouth, unable to find the right words. If there had been any other way, he wouldn’t have resorted to this. But those people had gone too far.

Today, they were ruthless enough to poison Yuanyuan. If they were allowed to take Yuanyuan away and raise him, could he really expect them to treat him well?

Houzi forced a smile, one that looked even worse than crying. He knew Brother Shen was truly disappointed in him this time. “I’m sorry…”

Before he could hear a response, he murmured again, “Please help me take care of Yuanyuan. I don’t want him to see me like this. Brother Shen, just help me this one last time. I promise I won’t trouble you again in the future.”

Shen Caisheng was silent for a moment. “Do as you like. I’m leaving. Call the nurse if you need anything.”

He couldn’t even figure out why he was so angry.

Houzi’s real name was Hou Fang, and he had a younger brother named Hou Yuan.

The two of them shared a similar fate with Shen Caisheng. All had lost their parents at a young age. However, Hou Fang’s family had been much better off than Shen Caisheng’s before the tragedy struck.

Their parents had been highly skilled technicians at a factory, but an accident at work had taken both their lives.

The factory bore responsibility for the incident, so not only did they allocate a house to the orphaned brothers, but they also provided a generous compensation payout.

For a while, things had been relatively peaceful. But in the past two years, distant relatives from the Hou family had somehow caught wind of the inheritance.

Knowing that the Hou brothers had a house and a sizable sum of money, these relatives began making frequent contact with them.

At first, Hou Fang and his brother had been delighted. After all, who wouldn’t long for family affection?

But they were young, not foolish. Over time, they began to see the true intentions of these so-called relatives.

Realizing what was really going on, Hou Fang decided to cut ties with them.

Those people, seeing that playing the family card was no longer effective, began thinking of other ways. One of their ideas was to go after custody rights.

Houzi was already considered an adult, making it difficult for them to manipulate him, so they set their sights on taking custody of Hou Yuan instead.

Once, they even secretly took Hou Yuan away. It was only after Houzi rode a motorcycle to the countryside, causing a huge commotion, that he managed to get the child back. Only then did the matter come to an end.

After that incident, those people quieted down for a while, leaving only a few who still maintained contact.

Yet, ironically, it was those remaining few—who seemed to have a decent relationship with them—who started causing trouble again. This time, they actually tried to gain custody by deliberately making Hou Yuan get hurt.

Those people were truly despicable, but Houzi’s way of handling things was also far too extreme.

When he let his cousin hold a knife and stab him, he must have considered the possibility that he might not survive.

Even before the incident happened, he had already asked Shen Caisheng to take care of Yuanyuan.

Shen Caisheng was furious, and it was precisely because he genuinely saw Houzi as a close friend that he was angry.

There was trouble, yet Houzi didn’t discuss it with his brothers. He acted recklessly, not valuing his own life.

—

“Sister-in-law, you have no idea. If it weren’t for Brother Shen, Houzi would have been charged with hooliganism multiple times by now,” Ma Jie, who was helping Yuan Lingling sweep the snow, brought up Houzi.

Yuan Lingling was stunned. “Huh?”

“They used all sorts of shameless tricks. They got Houzi drunk, drugged him, and even locked a girl in his room.”

Yuan Lingling was dazed. If it weren’t for the sincerity on Ma Jie’s face, she would have thought he was mocking her.

“Sister-in-law, you never would have expected this, right? There really are all kinds of people in this world.”

Yuan Lingling forced a smile. “Heh, yeah.”

“…So he got hurt because of this?” Trying to assault someone but ending up getting stabbed instead? That was insane.

Were all the characters in this book mentally unwell?

“No.” Ma Jie’s face darkened. “Those scumbags are capable of anything. Just to take Yuanyuan away and raise him themselves, they even drugged the child. If Brother Shen hadn’t discovered it in time, the kid might have been poisoned to death.”

Yuan Lingling was utterly shocked. “Drugged him? To prove Houzi was unfit to raise him?”

“Exactly. And the person who did it was Yuanyuan’s favorite cousin. What a beast—worse than a pig or a dog!”

Yuan Lingling was shaken.

No wonder things escalated to knives. If she were in that situation, she might have wanted to kill someone too.

“But why did he end up being the one who got stabbed?”

Just as she finished speaking, Yang Ying’s loud voice rang out from outside the courtyard.

“Pah! Shameless! That’s just a case of Zhu Bajie putting on a show—turning the tables to frame someone else!” After saying that, she stepped into the yard.

Ma Jie set down his broom and walked over. “Mom, who are you talking about?”

“Who else? Those two from the Xie family! They’re complaining about Caisheng’s wife, saying your sweet potato cakes are poisonous. Pah! Why didn’t it poison those two shameless wretches to death instead?”

Yuan Lingling instinctively looked at Ma Jie and saw his eyes darting around guiltily, his face full of guilt.

A question mark slowly formed in her mind.

Was he a black-hearted trickster?

Just earlier, the Xie mother and daughter had rushed back home clutching their stomachs. She had assumed they were trying to frame her, but now it turned out this guy was behind it all.

A hundred meters away, the Xie family was cursing under their breath. Though they deliberately lowered their voices, it was still possible to piece together their words if one listened closely.

“It must be Yuan Lingling trying to harm us! She’s absolutely vicious!”

“No way! We have to make her pay!”

“Tell Second Brother to go. He’ll definitely get more out of her—we have to skin that crazy woman alive!”

…

The Xie mother and daughter usually presented themselves as generous and gentle, but since they were always around, it was hard for people not to see their true colors. However, that did not mean people liked Yuan Lingling either.

Now that there was gossip about them, the cold no longer seemed unbearable. People gathered in small groups in the alley, pretending to chat idly, but in reality, they were all listening intently, eager to catch the latest drama.

Shen Caisheng, holding the child’s hand, passed by the alley entrance with a blank expression. The onlookers, feeling awkward, quickly retreated into their courtyards.

Some, however, were thick-skinned enough to take a detour into their yards, only to circle back as soon as Shen Caisheng had passed.

Regardless of their actions, Shen Caisheng acted as if he did not see them. He had mastered the art of turning a blind eye and a deaf ear from a young age. However, he did not expect that as he reached the Xie family’s doorstep, he would nearly collide with Xie Guanglian, who was rushing out of the house.

“That wretch Yuan Lingling! I will never let her step into my Xie family’s door!”

The voice from the courtyard was loud and forceful, as if the speaker had poured all their strength into those words. Xie Guanglian’s face turned pale in an instant.

Meeting Shen Caisheng’s gaze, he felt more than just fear—there was also a deep sense of shame.

All the secret thoughts he had harbored—the petty desires to surpass Shen Caisheng—felt utterly exposed. It was just like the time he had slipped stolen money into Shen Caisheng’s schoolbag and then been caught under Shen Caisheng’s steady gaze.

“I…”

He wanted to explain himself, but Shen Caisheng acted as if he did not see him, walking past without even a glance.

For reasons he could not explain, Xie Guanglian felt his emotions tangled, like a ball of yarn clawed by a cat. His mind went blank for a moment, and before he could think, he blurted out, “Shen Caisheng!”

He wanted to ask—why?

Why was Shen Caisheng always so indifferent to everything?

Did he really have nothing and no one he cared about?

Wasn’t Yuan Lingling his wife?

His wife was about to be taken away by someone else, yet he still did not seem to care?

Shen Caisheng paused mid-step. Xie Guanglian thought he would finally see some trace of anger on his face.

But to his surprise, Shen Caisheng merely glanced at him and said, “Remember to pay back the money.”

Just one short sentence made all of Xie Guanglian’s recent actions seem utterly ridiculous.

He had approached Yuan Lingling not just for money but also because he wanted to finally win against Shen Caisheng.

But in the end, Shen Caisheng had never even put him in his eyes.

Inside the courtyard, the two people were still loudly “plotting” something. Xie Guanglian felt a suffocating pressure in his chest, his face turning numb from the frustration.

Something inside him snapped. He stormed into the main hall and swept his father’s beloved tea set off the table.

The crash of porcelain shattering echoed through the house.

Xie Guanglian roared, “Can you shut up already? Haven’t you embarrassed us enough?!”

At first, he had not intended to let them know about him and Yuan Lingling. He had simply been enjoying himself.

But then his younger sister kept provoking him, constantly comparing him to Shen Caisheng. He had lost control and blurted everything out.

Back then, Jiang Liping had been worried that Shen Caisheng would cause trouble for the family. But later, when he brought home some money from Yuan Lingling, their attitude changed completely.

Yuan Lingling had never wronged them. Yet, despite being his family, they treated him as if he were obligated to sacrifice himself for them.

“You’ve lost your mind!” Jiang Liping snapped after a brief moment of shock. She glared at him viciously and ordered, “Go and bring Yuan Lingling here right now! She’s going to ruin us!”

Jiang Liping sat on the chair in an awkward posture, her breath weak, but she still managed to throw him a fierce look.

At that moment, Xie Guanglian felt as if he were not her son at all.

In the past, though he had been aimless outside, he had always treated his family well.

The things he had told Yuan Lingling were not entirely lies. As the second son of the family, he had never been valued like his elder brother or cherished like his younger sister. Now, drowning in debt, he dared not even ask for help.

Why?

They were all part of the same family.

Why was he always the one left out?

He wanted to see what would happen if his elder brother’s career got dragged into this mess because of their favoritism.

If he could not have peace, then no one would.

Ignoring their angry scolding, Xie Guanglian turned and walked back to his room.

His room was in the western side of the main hall, the smallest one in the house.

Since childhood, his mother had always coaxed him, saying that once his younger sister got married, he could move into her room.

But why should he wait?

Why did his eldest brother and little sister get to live in big rooms since they were young, while he had to squeeze into this tiny, cramped space?

Xie Guanglian slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Immediately, Jiang Liping’s furious voice rang out from outside.

“Xie Guanglian, are you looking for death?”

“Might as well let me die already!”