Chapter 71: It Takes a Villain to Deal with a Villain

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: It Takes a Villain to Deal with a Villain

"You old hag, all you do is bitch and moan! You’re fucking useless! Get lost!"

Zhao Cheng, his face bruised and swollen from a fall, shoved Wang Xiaoyue aside, nearly knocking her to the ground.

Wang Xiaoyue meekly apologized.

Zhao Cheng paid her no mind. He stood with his hands on his hips, beer belly jutting out, a few sparse strands of hair plastered to his shiny, bald forehead.

He tilted his chin up, nostrils flared, looking like a ridiculous fighting cock as he unleashed a torrent of curses at Nan Zhi!

"...You think you can just block my number and I won’t be able to find you? Let me tell you, hurry up and give the old man’s house back! A good-for-nothing girl like you is really getting out of hand!"

Wang Xiaoyue, who didn’t even dare to lift her head in front of Zhao Cheng, turned to Nan Zhi and began to earnestly persuade her:

"Your father is right. What does a girl need a house for? You should just sign it over to your younger brother. He’s the root of our family! When you get married someday, the groom’s family won’t dare bully you if they know you have a brother, right?"

The moment they started talking, Nan Zhi covered Nan Yi’s ears to protect him from their filth.

As for herself, she felt nothing at all.

’These two really haven’t changed one bit!’

Zhao Cheng was her grandfather Nan Pingshan’s biological son, but he had taken his stepfather’s surname, Zhao, after his mother remarried when he was young. He had always been closer to the Zhao family and had become estranged from his own father, with whom he had almost no contact.

His only two points of contact with his biological father, Nan Pingshan, were over Nan Zhi, and then over Nan Pingshan’s inheritance after he passed away. ℯℯ𝑙.

He was selfish, shallow, and vicious—a purely evil man.

Unlike some men who like to push their wives out to take the heat, Zhao Cheng was always on the front lines of his own villainy, never letting a single bit of enemy fire get diverted to those around him.

As for Wang Xiaoyue, she was merely Zhao Cheng’s appendage. Whatever Zhao Cheng said, went. Her mind was filled with nothing but her husband and son; she was numb and ignorant.

Sometimes, Nan Zhi had to admire their shamelessness—

They had clearly abandoned her, yet they still acted as her parents, constantly trying to brainwash her into helping and sacrificing for her younger brother...

Unfortunately for them, she already knew they weren’t her biological parents. How could she possibly take their words to heart?

’Huh?’

’Did Zhao Cheng and Wang Xiaoyue know that Grandpa had already told her the truth?’

’Had she talked it over with Grandpa?’

Nan Zhi tried her best to remember.

But it was Nan Yi who spoke first:

"Shut up! Don’t you dare curse at my mom!"

No matter how much of a well-behaved little kitten Nan Yi was in front of Nan Zhi, it couldn’t change the fact that the true color of his soul was wild and untamable.

At that moment, he was glaring viciously at Zhao Cheng and Wang Xiaoyue, like a wolf pup ready to pounce and tear them to shreds at any moment.

The sheer ferocity of his aura startled even a villain like Zhao Cheng, to say nothing of Wang Xiaoyue.

Nan Zhi wanted to laugh.

But she chose to soothe Nan Yi first:

"Don’t be angry. When we run into stray dogs barking on the street, the smart thing to do is keep our distance. We can’t just bite them back, right? Who knows if they have rabies?"

Zhao Cheng snapped out of it and started shouting in fury:

"Well now, Nan Zhi! You damn girl, you actually called me a dog!"

Nan Zhi feigned extreme surprise:

"Oh? You actually figured that out?"

Zhao Cheng grew even angrier.

Wang Xiaoyue, however, sensed that something was off.

’Nan Zhi seems to have changed... As I thought, girls shouldn’t get too much education. A few years in the big city and her heart has gone wild!’

Wang Xiaoyue tugged on Zhao Cheng’s sleeve, wanting to say something.

But Zhao Cheng was like a mad dog, biting whoever was near. He even started cursing Wang Xiaoyue along with everyone else!

The scene was utter chaos, and utterly ridiculous.

Even Nan Yi wasn’t angry anymore; he just watched them as if they were monkeys at the zoo.

Just as it looked like the couple was about to start fighting—or to be more precise, as Zhao Cheng was about to start beating Wang Xiaoyue unilaterally...

Just then, a slender figure suddenly darted out from the side, nimbly squeezing between the two of them!

Zhao Cheng: "Which goddamn son of a turtle... OUCH! Ming! What’re you doing here, kid?"

Wang Xiaoyue: "Ming-ming, are you okay? You didn’t get hit, did you?"

The couple was both nervous and worried.

The newcomer was the apple of their eye, the precious son they had longed for for years, Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming was two years younger than Nan Zhi, making him 25 this year. He was a good-for-nothing loafer.

He was lazy, incompetent, and had no proper job. Ever since graduating high school, he had been mooching off his parents and playing video games at home.

But Nan Zhi’s evaluation of him could be summed up in a single word—

Oddball.

Zhao Ming brushed aside his parents’ concerned hands and questioned them angrily:

"Zhao Cheng, who are you calling a son of a turtle? If I’m a son of a turtle, then what does that make you? An old turtle?"

Completely cowed by his son, Zhao Cheng gave a dry, apologetic laugh:

"It was Dad’s mistake. That’s not what Dad meant."

Then Zhao Ming turned to Wang Xiaoyue:

"I woke up this morning and no one was around. Where’s my food? Are you trying to starve me to death?"

Wang Xiaoyue apologized profusely:

"It’s Mom’s fault, Mom forgot. I was making breakfast and suddenly got a call... Oh, right, your sister is back! We’re trying to get your house back from her!"

Hearing this only made Zhao Ming angrier:

"That house in the provincial capital? You want me to move to the provincial capital? Great, I knew it! You can’t stand having me at home! You’re trying every trick in the book to kick me out, aren’t you? Fine! I’m going to go jump in a river right now! I’ll let the Zhao family line die with me!"

Zhao Ming screeched about wanting to die.

Terrified, Zhao Cheng and Wang Xiaoyue pointed to the heavens and swore as they apologized.

Eventually, the couple burst into loud, miserable sobs.

The ignored Nan Zhi and Nan Yi: ...

Although Nan Zhi had witnessed this many times before, each time it was still a shocking experience that challenged her entire worldview.

As for Nan Yi, his eyes were wide as saucers!

If a scene like this happened in any other family, onlookers would probably lament about the unfilial son.

But when it happened in the Zhao Family...

Everyone would just say:

"It takes a villain to grind a villain!"

With his bout of crying and howling, Zhao Ming made Zhao Cheng and Wang Xiaoyue completely forget about the house.

Afterward, he shooed the couple home to make him food.

As he was leaving, Zhao Cheng pointed at Nan Zhi:

"You just wait! I’ll be back to settle this with you!"

Zhao Ming was about to leave with them, but he stopped in his tracks.

"Sis, have you... been okay all these years?"

Nan Zhi grunted in affirmation, her gaze on Zhao Ming slightly complicated.

Her feelings about this "younger brother" were complicated.

It wasn’t that she liked him.

Hate him? Not quite.

But it was also true that he had saved her a lot of trouble.

Zhao Ming scratched his head and pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket, offering it to her.

Nan Yi eyed him with a mixture of disgust and vigilance.

Zhao Ming held it in for a long moment before saying:

"...It’s not poisoned!"

Nan Yi pursed his lips.

Zhao Ming grumbled and muttered:

"You little thing, you’re pickier than you look..."

As he spoke, he unwrapped the chocolate and tossed it into his own mouth.

While chewing, he didn’t forget to make a face at Nan Yi:

"Now you can’t have it even if you want it! Nya nya nya!"

’Childish!’

Nan Zhi: "Zhao Ming, is there something you want to tell me?"

Zhao Ming froze. After a long hesitation, he pulled a pitch-black notebook from his pocket.

"This belonged to Grandpa. My parents hid it, but I think Grandpa would have wanted you to have it..."

He thrust the notebook into Nan Zhi’s hands, then turned and ran.

His voice drifted back faintly on the wind:

"Don’t come back here again!"