The Outsiders 01

"You're done showing off, but I almost died there!" Little Hei nagged.

Fang Zhiyi spat, "You almost died from overeating! But was that thing really the Heavenly Dao? It looked... hard to describe."

"A collapsed Heavenly Dao looks like that. The vast universe is full of strange things." Little Hei stretched. "I might need to sleep for a while. I was quite full, but it all went to waste."

Despite the banter, Fang Zhiyi had seen the peril of Little Hei's battle with that monster Heavenly Dao. The two sides tore at each other like two primordial behemoths. Every clash was enough to destroy the world, and Fang Zhiyi's physical body was almost torn apart after just a few impacts.

"Good thing that thing lost most of its energy, otherwise we would have been done for." Little Hei extended a tentacle. "Here's the plot, hurry up."

Fang Zhiyi was a small business owner. Because his family was so poor when he was young—so poor that his father had to sell blood to feed him—Fang Zhiyi understood the importance of money exceptionally well. He started as an apprentice, slowly accumulating resources, opening a shop, attracting clients, and collecting debts, taking it step by step to reach where he was today.

He had a gentle and beautiful wife, Zhang Enyu, whom he met on a blind date introduced by a friend. Zhang Enyu was very satisfied with her impression of him and his financial conditions, so the two quickly got their marriage certificate.

After getting married, Fang Zhiyi wanted to find a balance between his career and family, but found it very difficult. When Zhang Enyu gave birth to their eldest son, Fang Yunhui, Fang Zhiyi chose to close his shop and stay home specifically to accompany her. It was a blissful moment in life, but unfortunately, Fang Yunhui fell seriously ill and needed a lot of money for treatment. Fang Zhiyi poured almost all of his accumulated savings into it.

Facing his wife's reproaches, he could only borrow money to open a shop again, secretly resolving to provide a secure future for his family.

Later, his second son, Fang Yunyi, and third son, Fang Yunyao, were born one after another, making Fang Zhiyi even busier. Zhang Enyu spent money lavishly, and the sons wanted the best of everything. He didn't dare to stop at all, silently shouldering the responsibility.

It wasn't until his youngest daughter, Fang Yuran, was born that Fang Zhiyi held the only daughter in the family, grinning from ear to ear, completely missing the look of disgust in Zhang Enyu's eyes beside him.

Although busy, Fang Zhiyi gave the best of everything to this youngest daughter. However, unlike her three older brothers who acted recklessly, Fang Yuran spoke very little and always looked cautious.

Until Fang Yuran's eighteenth birthday, a shocking secret was exposed: Fang Yuran was not Fang Zhiyi's biological daughter!

Zhang Enyu threw the paternity test on the table with an icy demeanor, and Fang Zhiyi felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

After some searching, he found a man named Sun Lei. At Sun Lei's house, he met his biological daughter. The girl was dressed cleanly, but the look in her eyes as she looked at him was distant.

After giving Sun Lei a sum of money, Fang Zhiyi took his biological daughter away, and the girl's name was changed to Fang Nian.

Looking at the adopted daughter he had raised for eighteen years, Fang Zhiyi could never harden his heart, so he just let her continue living in the Fang family. Fang Yuran became even more reticent. Fang Nian was not as quiet as Fang Yuran; she had a lively personality and knew how to please the family. She quickly established a deep sibling bond with her three older brothers. Compared to the always silent Fang Yuran, Zhang Enyu obviously preferred this biological daughter much more.

Fang Zhiyi began to hear complaints from his children time and time again. Today they said Fang Yuran stole their mother's pearl necklace; tomorrow he heard that Fang Yuran pushed Fang Nian down and injured her. As the number of times increased, Fang Zhiyi's attitude towards Fang Yuran began to change.

Finally, one day during Zhang Enyu's birthday, the cake Fang Nian had prepared fell to the ground. Beside her, Fang Yuran waved her hands nervously, "No, it wasn't me, I didn't touch my sister..."

But Fang Nian's crying infuriated the rest of the Fang family. The sons jumped out to accuse Fang Yuran, saying everything from calling her a fake to claiming she wanted to stay in the Fang family to leech off them.

Even Zhang Enyu, with a cold face, demanded that she apologize to Fang Nian.

Fang Yuran looked at Fang Zhiyi tremblingly, "Dad..."

Fang Zhiyi looked at the familiar yet strange daughter in front of him, and finally frowned and waved his hand. He had been good enough to her, but ever since Fang Nian returned, this daughter had changed. Although he was busy making money all day, he also knew he needed to maintain the family.

Fang Yuran left, taking nothing with her.

He originally thought the family's days would return to how they were before, but Fang Zhiyi had underestimated the extent of his children's troublemaking.

Fang Yunhui spent money as lavishly as Zhang Enyu and often caused trouble outside using Fang Zhiyi's name. His classic saying was, "In the future, my dad's restaurants will all be mine!" During a drunk drag race, Fang Yunhui hit someone, but he just opened his mouth to ask how much money they wanted. It wasn't until a bystander called the police that he fled in a panic, immediately turning to his family for help.

When Fang Zhiyi heard about this, he was furious. Fang Yunhui, who had never been beaten since childhood, received a severe beating and was then sent to the police station by Fang Zhiyi. Fortunately, the person who was hit reacted quickly and only suffered scrapes. Fang Zhiyi paid compensation, and Fang Yunhui was detained for a month, but after this incident, he held a grudge against Fang Zhiyi.

Fang Yunyi often hung out with a bad crowd. Listening to their advice, he secretly took money from home to invest and lost disastrously. To cover the deficit, he could only turn to his mother and sister for help. Zhang Enyu covered the hole for him, but when Fang Zhiyi found out about this, he furiously reprimanded him and told him to cut ties with those people. Fang Yunyi felt that Fang Zhiyi had never fulfilled his duties as a father and was now criticizing his friends. He threw a huge tantrum at home and slammed the door as he left.

The youngest son, Fang Yunyao, also entered a rebellious phase. He didn't want to go to school and disliked Fang Zhiyi's preaching. He just liked playing games and would argue with people in games in the middle of the night. When Fang Zhiyi tried to advise him, he simply shut the door with an impatient look on his face.

"Where were you earlier? Now you're thinking about managing me."

Seeing that her older brothers had all fallen out with their father, Fang Nian also followed this fine tradition and brought back a boyfriend. Fang Zhiyi firmly opposed it; he felt his daughter was too young and it wasn't the time for relationships. Unsurprisingly, Fang Nian also stormed back to her room in a huff and cried all night. From that day on, she ignored Fang Zhiyi as well, and Fang Zhiyi seemed to become an outsider in this home.

Fang Zhiyi felt completely mentally and physically exhausted. Since when had his life become like this? He wanted to ask his wife, but Zhang Enyu accused him of only ever caring about the shop's business, coming home reeking of cooking oil or alcohol and tobacco, and neglecting the household. She claimed that the children not being close to him now was entirely his own doing. Fang Zhiyi opened his mouth to speak, but after glancing at the expensive clothes and jewelry on his wife, he lowered his head.