My Bizarre Relatives 010

But this was her own college admission letter!

Fang Ruoruo was momentarily torn. If only her aunt were here—her aunt often scolded her, saying she was too soft-hearted. But she just couldn’t be as tough as her aunt...

In that brief moment of hesitation, Xu Jiayuan snatched the admission letter from her hands, while Li Mei stepped forward to hold her back. "Ruoruo, be a good girl and help your cousin out. If it really doesn’t work out, you can just retake the exams next year," she said, pausing before adding, "Besides, your father has money now."

She had no idea what Fang Zhiyi had been up to, but she’d run into him a few times on the street. He’d been driving a car with Fang Ruoruo in the passenger seat, looking every bit the wealthy businessman. The sight had left her feeling bitter.

She didn’t know whether it was regret or resentment, but why did Fang Zhiyi, now so well-off, still insist on demanding child support from her every month?

"Hmph, with all that money, who knows what shady business he’s involved in," Li Xue sneered, still clutching the admission letter, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You—" Fang Ruoruo was furious, but when she glanced at her mother standing nearby, she swallowed her words. Originally, she’d planned to spend the day with her mother, but the sudden turn of events had left her unsettled.

Fang Ruoruo hurried away—she needed to find her father.

That spot was hers, and she wasn’t giving it up for anyone!

Fang Zhiyi had just finished delegating procurement tasks to his subordinates when Fang Ruoruo rushed in, her eyes red. Fang Yu, who’d been flipping through order forms nearby, looked up.

"What’s wrong, sweetheart?" Fang Yu was always far more attentive to Fang Ruoruo than Fang Zhiyi.

"Stop crying!" Her voice was sharp, making Fang Ruoruo flinch. Fang Yu seemed to realize this and softened her tone. "What happened? Who upset you? Tell me, and I’ll go deal with them!"

Between Fang Ruoruo’s fragmented explanations, the two of them pieced together the story. Fang Yu slammed her hand on the table. "That damn woman! Her son’s a good-for-nothing, so she steals our girl’s admission letter? She’s got a death wish!"

But Fang Zhiyi merely spoke calmly. "Sit down."

"Fang Zhiyi, are you losing it again? Her own mother won’t stand up for her, but her father just sits there doing nothing? I can’t take this!" Fang Yu looked ready to punch Fang Zhiyi first.

Fang Zhiyi waved her off. "No need to rush. Just wait a little longer."

"You—!"

Fang Zhiyi turned to Fang Ruoruo. "Ruoruo, you said your aunt told you not to worry, that they had their own connections, right?"

Fang Ruoruo nodded.

Fang Zhiyi smiled. From the start, he’d been scrutinizing every detail for loopholes—and he’d found one. In the original scenario, a boy taking a girl’s place to enroll? That would require an enormous price.

The only ones who could pull this off were Li Xue and her husband.

"Assault is illegal," Fang Zhiyi said evenly. "When things like this happen, don’t panic. Wait for the right moment."

"I really don’t get you these days. What’s with all the acting?" Fang Yu paced back and forth.

"Just trust me on this. Ruoruo, do you believe in your dad?"

Fang Ruoruo bit her lip and nodded.

"Good. Then wait. What’s yours can’t be taken by anyone."

Summer passed in the blink of an eye, and the enrollment process for every school was completed. Fang Ruoruo grew more anxious with each passing day, and Fang Yu was even more restless. Yet Fang Zhiyi remained unshaken, as if everything was under control.

Fang Yu couldn’t actually hit him—after all, he was technically her boss now.

A week before the semester began, rumors began circulating among parents: a top city high school had admitted a student under false pretenses! The news reached the vice principal’s ears, but he wasn’t concerned. This kind of thing happened every year—probably just some disgruntled parent complaining. It would blow over soon.

Still, it reminded him. The vice principal flipped through his files, pulled out a document with a girl’s photo, crumpled it, and tossed it into the trash.

Just as he lit a cigarette to burn the evidence, his phone rang.

By the time he hung up, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and his face had gone pale.

He stared at the crumpled paper in the trash, bewildered, when another call came in.

This time, the person on the other end unleashed a furious tirade. The vice principal felt his entire body go numb. Trembling, he turned on the TV—just in time to catch breaking news. Someone had gathered evidence and exposed the student impersonation scandal.

Within a single day, the public, the media, and the authorities had all taken notice. There was no way this wasn’t orchestrated!

But finding out who was behind it was no longer the issue.

Because now, his door was being knocked on.

"Please come with us."

Fang Yu was just about to unleash her pent-up rage at Fang Zhiyi when several people walked in. They took Fang Ruoruo’s hands, offering apologies and reassurances. It took Fang Yu a while to understand—these were teachers from the school, here to personally rectify Fang Ruoruo’s enrollment.

For a moment, Fang Yu was at a loss. Thankfully, Fang Zhiyi stepped in, handling everything with calm composure. Watching him, Fang Yu felt dazed. This wasn’t the useless older brother she remembered—not at all. Had his time away been a front? Had he actually been climbing the ranks somewhere?

That night, Fang Zhiyi looked at Fang Yu, still in shock, and Fang Ruoruo, equally stunned.

"Remember, timing is everything in situations like this. Pull the line too soon, and the fish gets away. Wait too long, and it slips free. Only when the moment is just right do you reap the greatest reward."

Neither of them fully understood, but they nodded earnestly.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Li Xue’s home was grim.

"What do you mean he’s been arrested and the money’s gone? How is our son supposed to enroll now?"

Xu Li took a drag of his cigarette. "How was I supposed to know he’d get caught? Didn’t you see the news? Some parent probably reported it!"

"Reported it?" Li Xue’s eyes narrowed as she turned to Li Mei. "Was it that little girl?"

Li Mei flinched, waving her hands frantically. "No way, you know Ruoruo—she’d never do something like that."

Li Xue considered it. Fang Ruoruo was too spineless to dare report anything. And she cared too much about her mother to risk crossing Li Xue. That ruled her out. Was it Fang Zhiyi or Fang Yu? Unlikely. Fang Zhiyi was busy with his business and barely paid attention to his daughter. Fang Yu? That shrew wasn’t smart enough.

Wait—when she’d taken Fang Ruoruo’s admission letter, she’d braced for Fang Yu to come kicking up a fuss. But she never showed up! That had to be it—it was that damn woman!

Li Xue nearly jumped to her feet. "Let’s go! We’re settling this with Fang Yu!"

Li Mei hesitated, but for her sister’s sake, she stood up, her face still wearing that same ingratiating smile.