Chapter 51: Zhou Wanfeng’s Plan
As Zhou Wanfeng approached, Yun Lan panicked and retreated, looking at Yang Yijun in alarm, calling out, “Mom, Mom…”
Yun Lan was soft and weak, especially with her long, flowing hair. When she cried, she was like a pear blossom in the rain, evoking pity. But none of this had any effect on Zhou Wanfeng.
She reached out and grabbed a handful of her dark hair. Yun Lan’s head was half-tilted, and she cried out in pain, calling for Yang Yijun to save her. “Mom, Mom, save me! Save me! It hurts so much!”
A flash of pity appeared in Yang Yijun’s teary eyes. She took two steps forward but met Zhou Wanfeng’s dark and icy gaze, and immediately hesitated.
She thought of Jingya, who had had a breakdown at school, who had cried so hard.
“Mom, help! Help! Mom, save me! My head hurts so much!” Yun Lan tried to pry Zhou Wanfeng’s hand away with both her hands. She felt like her scalp was about to be torn off. It was so painful.
Zhou Wanfeng glanced at the restroom and, half-dragging, half-pulling, she dragged Yun Lan into the restroom.
Yang Yijun had a habit of taking a bath in her spare time. She would fill a large bathtub with hot water and lie in it to relieve her fatigue.
At this moment, Zhou Wanfeng forcefully pressed Yun Lan against the side of the bathtub, one hand on her neck, the other turning on the faucet.
Cold water sprayed out in an instant.
Yun Lan’s wails echoed throughout the bathroom. No matter how she struggled, she could not break free from the shackle on her neck. The cold water ran down her scalp, her cheeks, and her neck, soaking her entire body.
She closed her eyes and thrashed her hands. “Mom, Mom, where are you? Save me! The water is so cold! I feel so uncomfortable! Help me! Please, Mom, save me!”
Zhou Wanfeng suddenly lifted Yun Lan up. “Why don’t you call Zhou Zhiru to save you? Are Yun Jingya and your mother not a match for Zhou Zhiru? The one who gave birth to you and the one you gave birth to are now being hurt by Zhou Zhiru. Are you indifferent?”
“No, that’s not it, waaah. I want everyone to be well, just like before… waaah,” Yun Lan said, shaking her head as she cried.
Zhou Wanfeng’s hand tightened. She leaned down to Yun Lan’s ear, her voice cold and deep. “Let me tell you a fact. Zhou Zhiru loves fame, loves money, loves power, but he doesn’t love people. The person who truly loves you is over there. Can’t you see her pain? Has Zhou Zhiru ever been like this for you?”
Yang Yijun closed her eyes tightly, not daring to look, but the tear stains on her face had already betrayed her. She clutched her chest, her footsteps stumbling. “Qiqi, ah, waaah, think of Jingya! She’s only just started high school! Do you want to watch her be destroyed? You’re her mother… The child can’t study anymore. She’s crying at school, waaah.”
The palm and the back of the hand are both flesh. Only now did Yang Yijun truly feel the dilemma, the pain in her heart, as if her liver and intestines were being torn apart.
“You’re lying! Zhiru said you hate him! You hate him for ignoring you all these years!” Yun Lan shouted, shaking her head, not listening at all.
The water was gushing into the bathtub. Zhou Wanfeng’s eyes darkened. She gritted her teeth and pushed Yun Lan into the water. Gurgle, gurgle. She was struggling desperately, kicking her legs.
Yang Yijun cried out and rushed forward, crying, “Stop! Stop! Zhou Wanfeng, do you want her life?”
“Yun Lan and Yun Jingya, which one do you want? I asked you just now.”
Yang Yijun was completely stunned.
The next second, with a splash, Yun Lan was lifted out, completely soaked. She was gasping for breath and desperately calling out to Yang Yijun for help. “Mom, save me, waaah!”
Zhou Wanfeng lifted Yun Lan up and said through gritted teeth, “If it weren’t for me three years ago, your Yun family’s restaurant would have been finished long ago. You wouldn’t have gotten a single cent of Zhou Zhiru’s money. You have parents above you and children below you. Are you capable of taking care of them? You’ve lived for more than forty years, and you’re just a parasite. When Yang Yijun and Yun Haisheng are sick and ask you for money, when Yun Jingya and Yun Chengbin ask you for school fees and living expenses, are you capable of giving it to them? You’re living off your parents, and now you’re helping an outsider to deal with your own parents? You’ve thrown aside the child you gave birth to and don’t care about her? What are you living for?”
Thud. She pushed Yun Lan into the bathtub again. The water in the bathtub was overflowing.
Yang Yijun’s hand trembled as she slapped Zhou Wanfeng’s arm, crying and shouting, “Enough! Enough!” But when she heard Zhou Wanfeng say that the Yun family’s restaurant had been saved three years ago, she froze, her eyes wide as she looked at Zhou Wanfeng.
She had indeed found it strange at the time. The business had been losing money, but suddenly, Yun Haisheng had changed his usual ways and had suddenly carried out a major reform, with an urgent posture. During that time, he had been so busy that he hadn’t even come home.
“So it was you. The Yun family’s restaurant was actually you,” Yang Yijun murmured, her eyes dazed. She also remembered that for a period of time, Diao Yufeng had been particularly good to Zhou Wanfeng. So that was what it was all about.
“To treat a wolf as a watchdog, and to think that a leash is enough. I can’t believe you guys could do that,” Zhou Wanfeng said with a sneer.
Zhou Wanfeng pulled Yun Lan out and pushed her wet long hair aside. At this moment, Yun Lan was as limp as a noodle, her eyes dazed, and she was panting heavily. “I know you won’t believe anything I say now. Then let’s make a bet. I bet he doesn’t love you. You’ll be like the old furniture in the house, to be disposed of by him.”
Her hand let go, and Yun Lan fell to the ground with a thud, her lips trembling, her whole body soaked, and she couldn’t stop shivering.
Yang Yijun took a bath towel and wiped her with a look of pity, but it was snatched away by Zhou Wanfeng and thrown away.
She stood up straight, bent down, and said to Yang Yijun with a blank expression, “What are you wiping her for? Just let her freeze. It’s better for her to get sick so we can lock her up,” to save her the energy to cause trouble.
“Lock… lock her up?” Yang Yijun’s face was filled with horror.
Zhou Wanfeng looked at Yang Yijun with a sneer. “Otherwise? Send her back to Zhou Zhiru to be brainwashed and come back to cause trouble? Can you bear to abandon her? You just want to delay time, right? Have you thought about whether Yun Jingya can get through this? She was raised under your protection. If she breaks down from the inside, aren’t you afraid she’ll be broken?”
Yang Yijun looked at Yun Lan, who was on the ground, her lips pale with cold, her whole body trembling. She pinched her palm to keep herself from being soft-hearted.
Now, as Zhou Wanfeng had said, she had no way of dealing with it. But she knew that she could not let Yun Lan go back to Ziyuan Court at this moment.
Yang Yijun called for Auntie Zhang and had her help Yun Lan to the second-floor bedroom. She personally locked the door.
Yun Lan was banging on the door and shouting inside. Yang Yijun was determined this time and instructed Auntie Zhang to watch her.
In the main bedroom on the first floor, Zhou Wanfeng was still waiting for Yang Yijun.
When Yang Yijun came over with a tired look on her face, she got straight to the point. “You give Zhou Zhiru that dirt on him. The condition is that he divorces Yun Lan.”
Yang Yijun’s expression was hesitant, as if she were reluctant to part with something.
Zhou Wanfeng sneered. “You still want Zhou Zhiru’s assets at a time like this?”
Yang Yijun’s eyes widened, her face filled with resentment. “It’s not that I want it. That should have been Yun Lan’s share. Without our Yun family’s help, would he be where he is today?”
“You’re still reluctant to part with Zhou Zhiru’s money. The Yun family’s business has not collapsed. You won’t be short of money now or in the future. And now you want to gamble with Zhou Zhiru for money? Are you his match? If the dirt you have on him is not fatal, and he doesn’t divorce Yun Lan, do you know what the final result will be? The entire Yun family will be given to him by Yun Lan. You and Yun Haisheng are still alive, but you can’t do anything about Yun Lan, can you? He’s got a hold of you. In the future, when you’re dead, there will be even less you can do.
“Are you counting on Yun Jingya? What can Yun Jingya do against the tearful Yun Lan? Even you can’t be ruthless. And you want to leave this mess for Yun Jingya to deal with? Are you sure you love her?”
Zhou Wanfeng sneered. “You won’t even have to wait for the future. If Zhou Zhiru delays a little longer, he can make Yun Jingya have a complete breakdown. He has Yun Lan as his trump card. You can’t be ruthless. You have no chance of winning. Cut your losses. Now is also the time to let Yun Lan wake up and see Zhou Zhiru’s cold-blooded and ruthless side.”
Yang Yijun’s mind was in a mess. She reached out her hand. “Let me think about it. Let me think about it.”
“Lock Yun Lan in the house. Don’t let Zhou Zhiru see her. Don’t say anything. Don’t see Yun Lan or Zhou Zhiru. Have Auntie Luo send her meals in.”
Yang Yijun frowned. “If… if I use the dirt on him to make him divorce Yun Lan, I also want half of his assets.”
Zhou Wanfeng’s eyes were cold. She looked straight at Yang Yijun, her mouth opening and closing, slowly spitting out a sentence, “Do you know what the next line of ‘a person’s heart is not enough to swallow an elephant’ is?”
“Why did I come out of school today to meddle in this mess? What good is it for me? You’re holding the dirt on him, but you don’t dare to report him. Am I right? You, or Zhou Zhiru, what does it have to do with me if you fight to the death? I came here because Yun Jingya was crying and begging me to help her. She was crying and squatting in front of me, begging me to help her. And you’re still calculating your gains and losses. Suit yourself. Don’t just take half. If you’re really that formidable, you can take it all.”
Zhou Wanfeng sneered and turned to leave.
Yang Yijun was a little panicked. She was just a little unwilling.
That evening, after work, Zhou Zhiru came to South Lake Mansion to pick her up.
Auntie Zhang stood at the side door with a cold face, not even opening the door. “Miss Yun Lan is tired today. She’s asleep,” she said, and then quickly left.
Zhou Wanfeng had returned to the school, climbing over the wall. She had not gone in or out through the main gate from beginning to end.
She went back to find the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei.
The math teacher, Meng Yuanzhi, had already talked about what had happened in class. When Xu Lei went to the classroom, he found that Zhou Wanfeng was not there. The class president, Wu Junfeng, stood up and stammered, “Zhou Wanfeng has asked for leave for something urgent.”
He called Yun Jingya out. Yun Jingya’s eyes were red from crying. She just said that there was something at home.
By the time Zhou Wanfeng returned and stood in front of the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, she said, “There was an emergency at home. I went back for a bit.”
Xu Lei opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. In fact, apart from him and the students of First Year, Class Three, no one knew that Zhou Wanfeng had taken leave.
Even the guard at the school gate didn’t know. There was no leave slip.
She hadn’t even gone out through the main gate.
After a long while, Xu Lei took a breath and said, “Just this once. There will be no next time, Zhou Wanfeng.”
“Thank you, teacher,” Zhou Wanfeng said. Xu Lei had let it go lightly, turning a blind eye.
Lu Qing had hopped over to First Year, Class Three several times, with Jiang Yi supporting him.
When he came over again during the evening self-study, he finally saw that Zhou Wanfeng was back.
Yun Jingya had wanted to find Zhou Wanfeng and ask her what she had been doing, but she had never had the chance. After the evening self-study, under the dim lights, Yun Jingya hesitated for a moment and asked in a hoarse voice, “Wanfeng…”
“Didn’t you want to know what happened in the study that day?” Zhou Wanfeng looked at Yun Jingya.
Yun Jingya was taken aback, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “You’re willing to tell me?” If she knew the reason, maybe she could mediate the conflict between her grandmother and her mother.
The faint light could not hide the coldness in Zhou Wanfeng’s eyes. “Yang Yijun has some dirt on Zhou Zhiru that is not good for him. If she reports him, he might go to jail. Yun Lan wants to get that dirt from Yang Yijun. Yang Yijun doesn’t want to give it to her. She wants to use the dirt to extort money from Zhou Zhiru. Zhou Zhiru brainwashed Yun Lan and used her to deal with Yang Yijun and you. The reason Yun Chengbin has the Yun surname is also because he wants the entire Yun family’s business. It was originally the couple’s joint property, but Zhou Zhiru found a way to make Yun Lan sign a post-nuptial agreement. Yun Lan has no money. Now, the family’s pretense has been torn apart, and they can’t live together anymore.”
Yun Jingya stopped. Her brain couldn’t process so much information at once. After a long while, she looked at Zhou Wanfeng, who was standing in front.
She had her hands in her pockets, her back straight, and her head tilted, not knowing what she was looking at.
“And what about you, Wanfeng? Why were you so angry that day? This should have nothing to do with you,” Yun Jingya had not heard anything about Zhou Wanfeng, but she could still vividly remember her angry expression and cold gaze that day.
Zhou Wanfeng turned around with a blank expression. “My junior high school homeroom teacher mailed me some military academy materials, and Zhou Zhiru saw them. He knows that I want to go to a military academy for the college entrance exam, which will involve a family political review. If Yang Yijun’s dirt on him is exposed, he will have a criminal record, which will also affect my going to a military academy,” Zhou Wanfeng said, sizing up Yun Jingya. “Zhou Zhiru wants to use me to put pressure on you, so that Yang Yijun will be forced to hand it over.”
Yun Jingya swallowed, took a deep breath, her eyes darting around, her expression as if she couldn’t accept it. Her lips were pressed together, and tears were welling up in her eyes. “Dad… Dad, what does it mean to put pressure on me?”
“To make you envious, to make you jealous, to make you sad, to make you suffer, just like you are now.”
“But you haven’t done anything to me,” Yun Jingya said, her voice choked with tears, which quickly streaked down her face.
Zhou Wanfeng looked up at the sky. “I have. I’ve torn apart everyone’s pretense. The reason Yun Lan and Zhou Zhiru moved out is also because of this.”
Yun Jingya was hit with a barrage of explosive information.
Her elegant and dignified grandmother wanted money?
Her gentle and refined father was using her mother to hurt her grandmother and her?
Her mother, for the sake of her father, was willing to hurt her grandmother?
And even now, she had only just found out that Wanfeng had wanted to go to a military academy since junior high.
Many of her cognitions were overturned in one night. Yun Jingya’s mind was in a state of chaos, but her tears still fell one by one. But she forced a smile and said, crying and laughing, “Wanfeng, you haven’t hurt me. You’ve been protecting me all along. That’s great,” she said, and then her tears fell like rain.
Zhou Wanfeng stood there until Yun Jingya had finished crying, sobbing, and hiccuping, then she turned and continued to walk forward.
Yun Jingya raised her hand and wiped her tears, quickly catching up. “Wanfeng, what did you do today?”
“I went back to South Lake Mansion and had your grandmother lock your mom up,” Zhou Wanfeng said truthfully.
Yun Jingya lowered her head and followed closely behind, and after a while, she said, “My mom is indeed a little muddle-headed sometimes. She’s soft-hearted and easily deceived.”
“She’s a love-struck fool.”
“Huh?”
“When she’s in love, she has no self. She can give up anything for the person she likes,” Zhou Wanfeng quickly defined Yun Lan.
“Dad…” Yun Jingya frowned, her expression pained as she pressed her lips together and said no more.
The two of them were silent for a while. It wasn’t until they returned to the rented house and went to their respective rooms that they, for the first time, did not study in the living room, but in their own bedrooms.
Yun Jingya had no mind to study. She hadn’t even taken out the books from her backpack. She lay on her bed and quietly thought about what Zhou Wanfeng had said.
Her grandmother had told her to only believe what Wanfeng said.
Just as Wanfeng had said, the harmonious surface of the family had been torn apart by her. The family could never go back to the way it was before.
The next day, after lunch, Yun Jingya used the public phone to call home.
Auntie Luo answered the phone and put it aside, then immediately went to call Yang Yijun.
“Grandma.”
“Jingya…” The moment Yang Yijun heard Jingya’s voice, her nose tingled.
“Wanfeng told me everything. Grandma, what kind of family is it if we’re all on guard against each other and scheming against each other? A family shouldn’t be like this,” Yun Jingya was actually very sad. Her warm and harmonious family had been shattered in an instant.
It turned out that what she had always seen was just a facade that everyone had put up.
“Jingya, don’t think too much. Grandma will solve these things as soon as possible. Don’t think about these things. Don’t be affected. You just study hard at school and leave the family matters to Grandma to handle,” Yang Yijun wanted to soothe Jingya’s emotions, but she vaguely heard a soft sobbing sound from the other end of the phone, and she immediately panicked.
“Jingya, are you crying? Don’t cry. You have to believe that Grandma can handle it.”
“Grandma, how are you going to handle it? Are you going to threaten Dad for all his money?”
“That’s also your mother’s money. Jingya, your father set a trap for your mother. It was clearly the couple’s property after marriage, but now it’s all his. Zhou Wanfeng wants them to get a divorce, but if they get a divorce, your mother…” Yang Yijun was anxious, resentful of Yun Lan’s stupidity, and also resentful of Zhou Zhiru’s cunning.
“Then let them get a divorce! You’re all just calculating your gains and losses! If you want money, you should earn it with your own ability, not by scheming for other people’s money! I don’t want any money! I just want you and Mom to be well!” Yun Jingya cried and hung up the phone. She lowered her head and wiped her tears.
After knowing the truth, Yun Jingya had gone from her initial panic to a state of calm, and then to calm thinking. This process had taken her a week.
Occasionally, when she thought of her childhood, she still couldn’t help but have her eyelashes wet with tears.
But she told herself to be strong.
She pulled herself together and went back to her old self, attending class seriously, joking with her classmates, and concentrating on her homework.
Zhou Wanfeng silently watched Yun Jingya, taking in all her changes. She saw her pretend to be calm, and occasionally space out. When the two of them were alone, they would not mention South Lake Mansion, or their family, and would pretend that nothing had happened.
Yun Jingya would call home every other week to ask how things were going.
But Yang Yijun, who answered the phone, was exhausted. This week had been like hell for her.
She said to Yun Jingya on the phone in a weak voice, “Jingya, you guys come back this week. Bring Zhou Wanfeng back with you. Waaah, Yun Lan has really disappointed me, and she has also hurt me so much. I really regret giving birth to her, waaah.”
She finally made it to Friday, when school was on vacation.
A black Crown car was parked not far from the school gate. The driver was Yun Haisheng’s driver. Zhou Wanfeng sat in the back seat, looking at the passing scenery outside the window, her expression blank, her eyes also very calm.
“Yun Jingya, what do you want to do in the future, or what is your dream?” Zhou Wanfeng asked suddenly, her gaze shifting from the window to Yun Jingya.
Yun Jingya had not expected Wanfeng to ask about her dream. She thought for a moment. “I… I’m very interested in news and media. For the college entrance exam, I’ll probably choose these majors.”
“That’s not bad. The future prospects are great,” Zhou Wanfeng said with a simple comment, then closed her eyes and began to feign sleep. She also began to think about what she should do.
Yun Jingya let out a breath. Looking at the road home, she was actually a little nervous.
School was out early on Friday. By the time they got home, the sun had not yet set.
Not only Yang Yijun, but Yun Haisheng was also there. Both of them looked much more haggard.
When Yun Haisheng saw Zhou Wanfeng, his feelings were a little complicated. He had also learned from Yang Yijun that what Yun Lang had said before might have been what Zhou Wanfeng had asked him to do.
He had specifically gone to Yun Lang to verify, but Yun Lang had refused to say anything, still insisting that his great-aunt had said it.
“Zhou Wanfeng has already admitted it. Are you still hiding it?”
“She admitted it herself? How is that possible? She was so adamant about not letting me say anything before. She made me memorize it for a whole morning in a dilapidated little park,” Yun Lang had not yet reacted to the fact that he had been tricked.
Yun Haisheng and Yun Lusheng looked at each other. Only then did they confirm that the person who had saved the Yun family’s Yuxiang Pavilion was actually Zhou Wanfeng.
As for why she had done it, Yun Haisheng had also learned from Yang Yijun.
Now, seeing Zhou Wanfeng come over, Yun Haisheng walked up to her and bowed deeply. “Thank you, child. Without your guidance back then, I can’t imagine what the Yun family would be like today.”
Yun Jingya had a confused look on her face.
But Zhou Wanfeng didn’t care. She had not really wanted to help the Yun family in the first place, but just to balance the relationship. If the Yun family had fallen today, there would have been no chance to negotiate.
Suddenly, a series of banging and crashing sounds came from the second floor, as well as Yun Lan’s crying and shouting.
Yun Jingya put down her backpack and immediately ran to the second floor.
Yang Yijun glanced at Auntie Luo, telling her to hurry up and follow.
The three of them turned and went to Yun Haisheng’s study.
Yang Yijun sat down and supported her head with her hands, full of fatigue. She looked at Zhou Wanfeng and said, “You were right. I don’t want anything now. I’m willing to give the thing to Zhou Zhiru. I just hope he will divorce Yun Lan as soon as possible.”
Yun Haisheng looked at Zhou Wanfeng and nodded. From the moment he had known that the content Yun Lang had said was written by her, he had felt that the cold-eyed and cold-faced girl before him was no longer someone he could see through.
“What happened during this period?”
Yang Yijun’s expression was extremely painful, as if she didn’t want to recall it. She just said, “It’s a long story,” and then covered her face with her hands, her expression as if she had aged several years in an instant.
A series of urgent knocks came from the door. Auntie Luo was shouting from the doorway, “Old Master, Old Mistress, Miss Yun Lan has injured Miss Jingya…”
“What?” Yang Yijun immediately stood up, kicked the leg of the coffee table in front of her, and despite the tears in her eyes from the pain, she endured it and walked to the second floor. Yun Haisheng went over to support her.
Zhou Wanfeng ran to the second floor. Before she reached the bedroom, she heard Yun Lan’s crying and shouting, and Yun Chengbin was at the door, his face filled with fear, his eyes watery as he looked in.
He didn’t dare to go in. Seeing Zhou Wanfeng run over, he immediately went to pull her hand, as if that was the only way he would be safe. “Sister Wanfeng, has Mom gone crazy?”
Yun Jingya was standing in the bedroom, facing Yun Lan. She was bleeding from above her ear, and the blood was trickling down her temple.