The Outsiders 02

The next day, Fang Zhiyi fell ill. The problems caused by years of overwork and lack of sleep erupted all at once.

While he was in the hospital bed, not a single child came to visit him. Fang Zhiyi lay there, looking back on the first half of his life, wondering if things wouldn't have turned out this way had he not chosen to go into business.

But before he could figure it out, a piece of news forced him out of bed. A customer had found a dead mouse in their food at his restaurant, and it was causing a huge uproar.

Enduring his physical discomfort, Fang Zhiyi checked the surveillance footage. In the video, he saw his own son sneaking around and throwing something into the kitchen.

He chose not to call the police because he couldn't afford the humiliation. Besides... they were his family after all. He had complained about them, but he also felt he owed them. He picked up the phone, but the number he dialed was his wife's.

Hearing the impatient "Hello" from the other end, Fang Zhiyi opened his mouth, only to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Once again, he compromised. He transferred the restaurant to someone else and divided the money among his children. That day, his hospital room was unusually lively. They laughed and talked with each other, while Fang Zhiyi watched them like an outsider.

After the procedures were completed, they left. Fang Zhiyi now held a divorce agreement in his arms, which stated that he had neglected his family for many years, that the children were raised solely by Zhang Enyu, and that their marital affection had long since shattered, among other things.

Fang Zhiyi stared blankly at the door of the ward. He didn't know how much time had passed before he saw a plainly dressed girl poke her head in.

"Dad."

Then she just opened her mouth without making a sound.

Fang Zhiyi smiled.

In the end, his own blood relatives were worse than an adopted daughter with no blood relation.

Fang Yuran took careful care of him. That day, she talked with him a lot. Fang Zhiyi felt that they spoke more than they had in the past eighteen years combined. Looking at the unrelated girl before him, Fang Zhiyi's eyes gradually reddened.

When Fang Yuran went to get food for him, she left her phone on the bed. Fang Zhiyi picked it up and, as if possessed, entered the passcode. Fang Yuran still used her birthday as her passcode. But the moment it unlocked, Fang Zhiyi saw a scene that completely broke him. It was a short video where the so-called media was interviewing a pixelated woman. The woman was complaining to the camera about her hardships over the years. Although her voice was altered and her face was blurred, he recognized the faint birthmark on his wife's wrist.

Looking at the overwhelming curses directed at him in the comment section, Fang Zhiyi's mind went completely blank.

Fang Yuran hurried back with the food. She wanted to tell Fang Zhiyi that she had found a job, that she had left her so-called biological father's house, and that she could support him from now on.

But what Fang Yuran saw was Fang Zhiyi sitting by the window. Before she could make a sound, Fang Zhiyi said "I'm sorry" to her and disappeared from there.

Fang Yuran's eyes turned bloodshot. She threw herself at the window and looked down, all the emotions in her heart twisting into a knot.

"Hey, there's a problem here!" Fang Zhiyi frowned.

Little Hei, however, made no sound.

"Was this guy cuckolded! Little Hei?"

Little Hei had fallen into a deep sleep.

"Damn it." Fang Zhiyi looked extremely displeased. "What kind of plot is this? This biological daughter isn't quite normal either, is she?" He had already developed a habit of being suspicious. Could this Fang Nian be another transmigrator?

No, probably not. If she were a transmigrator, wouldn't she be flying high by now?

But Little Hei couldn't provide any help anymore.

"Screw you..." Before he could finish, someone outside called out, "Dad, time to eat."

Then a small face poked in. Fang Zhiyi looked at the girl in front of him with a calm expression. "Mm."

Fang Nian chuckled and turned to leave. Fang Zhiyi stood up, looking at her back, and shook his head.

"I sent her to her biological dad's place. She already found her real father, yet she was still freeloading at our house. I don't know what Dad was thinking!" Fang Yunhui complained.

Fang Yunyi stuffed braised pork into his mouth. "Big brother, it's not like you don't know how well Dad treats that fake. She gets better treatment than any of us."

Zhang Enyu didn't say anything; she just picked up some food for Fang Nian, who had just returned and sat down.

"It's good that she's gone, otherwise she'd still be spending our family's money. Why should she? If you ask me, we should demand child support for the past eighteen years from her!"

"Big brother, second brother, third brother, let it go... It's all because of me that Sister Ran left. She was in this house for so many years after all. It's all my fault." Fang Nian looked a bit sad.

"Look at this, this is what a real sister is like. That Fang Yuran was always like a block of wood. No wonder I never felt close to her!" Fang Yunhui quickly comforted her. "She's just one of those fake heiresses who was afraid you'd threaten her position, so she used all sorts of tricks. She deserved to leave, don't be sad."

"Exactly, if she hadn't left, I would've wanted to beat her up!" Fang Yunyi chimed in. "Sister, don't think about those things."

Fang Nian suddenly looked up. "Dad."

The others all turned to look at Fang Zhiyi, but their eyes grew much colder.

No one even invited him to sit down and eat.

Fang Zhiyi felt a pain in the balls. Was the original owner a turtle? How could he tolerate this?

"Eating well, are we?" Fang Zhiyi asked.

Fang Yunhui finally spoke up. "We didn't know if you were going to the restaurant, so we didn't call you."

Fang Zhiyi narrowed his eyes. Zhang Enyu put on airs: "It's rare for you to still be at home. I thought you had already left. Our biological daughter is the best, specially saying she should go call you for dinner..."

"Slap!"

Fang Yunhui fell to the side. Having never been beaten since he was little, he was completely unprepared for this strike. Everyone else was stunned and turned to look at Fang Zhiyi.

"Are you crazy, Fang Zhiyi!" Zhang Enyu stood up abruptly, running forward with a heartbroken look to help her son up.

Fang Zhiyi shook his hand, feeling much better. In principle, he didn't agree with hitting his sons, but this was an exception.

"You don't even know how to call me Dad, just 'you' this and 'you' that. If word gets out, people will think you were raised without a mother to teach you," Fang Zhiyi said slowly.

Zhang Enyu froze, staring wide-eyed at Fang Zhiyi. Did this man, who was usually so honest he was almost cowardly, take the wrong medicine today?

"Fang Zhiyi, apologize to your son! It's just calling you Dad, isn't it? How could you hit your son!"

Holding her bowl, Fang Nian was completely dumbfounded.

Fang Zhiyi ignored her. The plot Little Hei had given him was a bit bizarre, and he still needed to explore some information points himself. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. "Where is Fang Yuran?"

"She, she went back to her biological dad's!" Holding his face, Fang Yunhui finally reacted and shouted stubbornly, "Why did you hit me!"

What answered him was another loud slap.

Fang Zhiyi squinted at him. "The first time was because you had no respect for your old man. The second time is because you actually weren't listening when I told you the reason?"