Father-in-Law 010

Fang Zhiyi was taken aback by her bizarre line of conversation. What on earth was she going on about?

"How have I not liked you?" Fang Zhiyi spread his hands. "All the relatives are here today. Come on, everyone, tell me, what have I done wrong?"

Someone immediately spoke up: "Xiao Yun, you should be ashamed of yourself for saying that. Your father never remarried for your sake, rushing from construction sites to your school, even working multiple jobs to support you through university. I know all about it."

Fang Yunyun was stunned. Why was someone speaking up for Fang Zhiyi?

"See, a daughter married off is like water splashed out. Now she's turning around to blame her own father," a relative remarked sarcastically.

No! This wasn't how things were supposed to go! Fang Zhiyi was supposed to signal for her to stop making a scene, then apologize quietly, finish the meal, and go home to continue looking after the kids and cleaning! He...!

"You don't know anything!" Since she'd already lost face, she might as well go all the way! Fang Yunyun threw caution to the wind. "When I was little, a neighbor's kid had a birthday and invited me. I went, but when he came home later, he scolded me for no reason. From then on, I didn't dare play with those friends anymore!"

Fang Zhiyi didn't respond, but a cousin's wife from another table frowned: "I actually know about that incident, Xiao Yun. It wasn't wrong for you to go play at their house, but the child was allergic to mangoes. You insisted they eat the mango you brought. You went home, but your father ran around the hospital paying their medical bills. Why don't you mention that?"

Fang Yunyun was speechless for a moment.

"He never spent money on good food for me. I knew we were poor, but that one time I found a piece of candy and thought I'd eat it secretly. He caught me, actually dug the candy out of my mouth, threw it away, and yelled at me!" She paused, pointing at Fang Zhiyi. "It's not that I didn't understand you. You talked about having backbone. I didn't steal or rob anyone. I was just a kid who wanted some candy. What right did you have to yell at me!"

Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes. "If I'd known it would come to this, I wouldn't have even dug that candy out of your mouth. It was rat poison left out by the neighbor."

The room fell silent.

"You... you're lying!" Fang Yunyun hadn't expected this.

"Hmph, Big Cousin, this daughter of yours is an ungrateful wretch," said a mean-looking auntie sarcastically.

"My apologies for the spectacle," Fang Zhiyi shook his head.

Fang Yunyun saw that relative too and immediately straightened up again. "Don't you talk like that! Back then, he was too busy making money to care for me, dumped me in the countryside. I was playing with my younger cousins, and you went and told on me. I got a beating that day, and the whole village laughed at me! I'm a girl!" Her eyes were full of resentment.

The auntie coughed. "That was your father hitting you. If it were me, you wouldn't even be standing here talking now!"

"You!"

"This little girl came to stay. The countryside has space, so fine, let her stay. Big Cousin is a good man, we didn't mind. She played with my son and daughter, made them do what? Use their teeth to bite open a pesticide bottle and drink it, insisting it was soda! Luckily, we found out in time!" As she recounted this, her son and daughter glared fiercely at Fang Yunyun from beside her.

"Well, no beating was ever for nothing," someone couldn't help but chuckle.

"This little ingrate only remembers her father disciplining her, but conveniently forgets why she got punished."

"Enough!" Fang Yunyun, her face flushed crimson, shouted. Her original goal was now impossible, so she might as well go straight for what she wanted!

"Dad, fine, you don't have to come back, but that house is in your name. You're out all the time now, what if something happens?" She paused. Beside her, Chen Cai squeezed her hand, giving her a firm look.

"Let bygones be bygones, Dad. I'm your daughter. Transfer the house to me."

As soon as these words were out, the room erupted.

"Hearing is believing, but seeing is the real deal!"

"This family is truly something else!"

"Uncle has really suffered all these years."

"Hey! You freeloader! How do you have the nerve to stand there?"

Soon, the criticism turned towards Chen Cai. Chen Cai was stunned. What did they call him?

"Grandpa, just agree!" Chen Xiaoqun kept shaking Fang Zhiyi's arm. He remembered what Chen Cai had promised him, and he'd overheard his parents talking—he knew the house was a good thing, meant for him someday.

Seeing Fang Zhiyi shake off his hand and even take two steps back, Chen Xiaoqun forgot all the past kindness from Fang Zhiyi. Swinging his arm, he hit out: "Bad grandpa! You're a miser!"

But Fang Zhiyi sidestepped. Chen Xiaoqun fell to the ground, cried for a couple of seconds, then started wailing.

"What are you doing!" Fang Yunyun hurried to help her son up, still blaming her father. "How have you become like this! You weren't like this before!"

Fang Zhiyi smiled. "Oh, so according to you, I should go back to being the old workhorse, huh? Raised you, now I'm supposed to support your husband and your son too? Do I owe you?"

"Brother, how can you say that? I'm an artist. I need you to support me?" Before Fang Yunyun could speak, Chen Cai interjected.

"Artist? What kind of lousy artist? What good is that junk of yours besides selling for scrap? Go ask the scrap collector if he can even scrape together two dollars for it!"

"You!" Chen Cai was furious. He knew perfectly well before that Fang Zhiyi, being a proud man, even if he didn't like him, had maintained his daughter's dignity on their wedding day, praising him as an 'artist' repeatedly, giving him plenty of face in front of relatives and friends. But today, he was personally tearing that face off, throwing it on the ground, and stomping on it!

"Stop pretending, freeloader. If Xiao Yun hadn't been blind, could you ever have entered the Fang family?" someone shouted.

"What did you say!"

"Tch, not much talent but a big temper. A freeloader with an attitude, is that it?" another person teased.

Fang Yunyun finally calmed her son, though Chen Xiaoqun was still muttering curses at Fang Zhiyi.

"Xiao Yun, you... you really chill people's hearts. Back when you were sick, your father came to us in the middle of the night to borrow money for you. Later, to pay it back, he took on a night shift job. How good he was to you, we all saw it. How did you become like this?"

"I didn't believe it when Uncle mentioned it before, but seeing it today, it's true!"

Fang Yunyun looked over. Those were relatives from her mother's side. She had originally invited them to help persuade Fang Zhiyi, but they turned out to be enemies!

"Our Li family can't bear this shame. We won't acknowledge you as a relative anymore!" The speaker was an old lady, but she turned her head. "Big Cousin, you're different. We should still keep in touch."

Fang Zhiyi nodded. "Alright, ma'am."

Fang Yunyun didn't understand, but Chen Cai did. These people had clearly been bribed by Fang Zhiyi in advance!