Chapter 46 The table rhythmically bumped against the wall, emitting a dull sound.

Chapter 46 The table rhythmically bumped against the wall, emitting a dull sound.

Zhao Lixiang, who rarely woke up early enough to arrive on time for work, stood in the garden waiting for the car to arrive.

Usually, as soon as he stepped out, the car would automatically stop at the door waiting for him. But today, something seemed off. He waited for several minutes, but there was no sign of the car.

Just as he was about to turn back to ask, he noticed that the maids were not around. Then he remembered that his elder brother had stopped the car assigned to him.

Early in the morning, he didn’t want to ask for help. He had two legs and could walk.

With this thought, he strode towards the main gate.

After exiting the main gate and walking down the asphalt road, the Zhao family garden was located halfway up Yunping Mountain. The road down the mountain wasn’t straight but twisted and turned in a spiral, turning a 200-meter height into a 2000-meter mountain path.

Although it was downhill, it wasn’t a continuous descent. According to the mountain’s terrain, there were both downhill and uphill sections.

This made the walk quite exhausting.

After walking less than a few hundred meters, the young master was already sweating profusely. He had to take off his suit jacket and sling it over his arm.

As he walked, he cursed under his breath, convinced that his elder brother was deliberately making things difficult for him.

As he walked, he heard the sound of a car horn behind him. Turning around, he saw a white car slowly approaching.

Wasn’t that his sister-in-law’s car?

His sister-in-law would never be as heartless as his elder brother.

Zhao Lixiang, as if seeing a lifeline, waved to stop the car.

The car slowed down, and he seemed to see hope, a smile spreading across his face.

But as the car passed him, it didn’t stop. The rear window rolled down, and his elder brother, sitting inside, gave him a look of exasperation.

Zhao Lixiang, who had initially thought of chasing after the car, immediately deflated and came to a halt. He was seething inside but utterly helpless.

Meanwhile, Lin Yufan, sitting next to Zhao Zhiao in the car, couldn’t help but comment as a colleague, “Lixiang’s going to be late and will have his pay docked.”

Noticing that his wife didn’t plead for Zhao Lixiang, Zhao Zhiao was in a good mood. “He had it coming.”

Lin Yufan knew that Zhao Zhiao actually cared deeply for his younger brother. She was genuinely curious about this because even full brothers often had conflicts, let alone half-brothers.

She asked, “Although you punished him, I can see that you and Lixiang are closer than many full brothers.”

Zhao Zhiao smiled faintly, “Because we suffered together when we were young.”

Lin Yufan was curious, “No matter what, you are both descendants of the Zhao family. How bad could it have been?”

“You have no idea how we struggled during the years when my father neglected the family. We originally had our grandmother’s protection, but after she passed away, my father sneakily took away the inheritance, leaving only the big house. At that time, it was entirely up to the first wife to sell her own dowry to support us two brothers. The memory that stands out the most to me was when I was twelve years old. Because I had to go to school outside, the first wife took out money to pay a large sum for my tuition, leaving the family with no money for meat. During the Dragon Boat Festival, Uncle Thirteen brought over a big pork knuckle, braised to perfection. None of the three of us could bring ourselves to eat too much, and we shared that pork knuckle for three days before finishing it. That was the most delicious pork knuckle I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

That’s why he hated his father so much.

Because of this experience, Zhao Zhiao knew that his stepmother had some selfish motives. She treated him well in the hope of winning back her husband’s heart, but at least she had taken care of him, ensuring he didn’t lose his home from a young age. That’s why he was now willing to provide her with the best life.

Lin Yufan hadn’t experienced such hardships in her childhood. She asked, “Didn’t the large Zhao family take care of you?”

“They did. If my father had died, they would have taken over and managed everything. But since my father was still alive, living in a mansion and keeping dancers, the family had no reason to spend extra money to support us. So, a father like Zhao Qinghui might as well be dead.”

That made sense.

You could hear the bitterness in his voice.

She held his hand, listening quietly without speaking.

By evening, after dinner at around eight, Zhao Lixiang still hadn’t come home.

Normally, Wang Junyao wouldn’t care if he came home early, but today was different—he didn’t have a car.

The second concubine, Geng Dongping, knew what Wang Junyao was worried about and said, "The second young master doesn’t have a car, but he’s not stupid. He can take a taxi."

Zhao Lixiang wasn’t stupid, but Zhao Zhiao was even more intimidating.

Nearly all the taxis in the city belonged to Zhao Zhiao’s company, "Ping’an Yunda." With one word from him, no taxi driver in the city would dare pick up Zhao Lixiang today.

Sure enough, when Zhao Lixiang returned at nine, he was exhausted, soaked in sweat, and slumped on the couch, feeling like his legs were about to give out.

Wang Junyao and Geng Dongping gathered around, offering him water and a towel.

Geng Dongping asked, "Why didn’t you get a taxi?"

Zhao Lixiang, too tired to even roll his eyes, said, "After I got in, the drivers heard I was going to No. 5 Yunping Mountain Road and kicked me out. Then I changed it to No. 4 Yunping Mountain Road, but they still wouldn’t take me. Finally, I had to settle for just going to the foot of the mountain, but still, no taxi would take me!"

He was so mad he swore he’d never take a taxi again.

Geng Dongping stifled a laugh and said, "Why don’t you go apologize to your elder brother?"

After Geng Dongping left, Wang Junyao scolded her son, "You really don’t know what’s good for you. Your elder brother is doing this for your own good. He knows who you should and shouldn’t hang out with. Do you think he’d deliberately let you suffer?"

"Once bitten, twice shy. I’ve been hurt by him before," Zhao Lixiang thought angrily. Lin Yufan could’ve been his wife, but now he had to call her sister-in-law.

Wang Junyao understood his petty thoughts and pinched him, "Don’t be ungrateful!"

She lowered her voice, "She chose your elder brother, not you. It was a fair fight, and you lost. Besides, she’s a better match for your elder brother, not you. Your elder brother doesn’t need in-laws to back him up, but you do. What do you have? How can you compare to your elder brother? Zhao Lixiang, you’re being ungrateful. What you should do now is use your elder brother’s influence and find a girl from a good family."

Already annoyed, Zhao Lixiang got even more frustrated after his mother’s lecture.

"I’m moving out."

Wang Junyao was so angry it gave her a headache, "If you dare move out, you can wait to collect my body. I worked so hard to raise you, and this is how you repay me? I’ve wasted my time raising you."

Unable to win against his mother, Zhao Lixiang got up and returned to his room.

"Aren’t you going to eat dinner?"

"I’m not hungry."

Wang Junyao decided not to indulge him this time. If he didn’t want to eat, then he could go hungry!

*

In the middle of the night, Lin Yufan woke up and found no one beside her. She didn’t know if Zhao Zhiao had returned or not, so she got up to check.

His bedroom was empty, and as she walked out, the study was also empty.

However, there was a rustling sound in the small hallway on the second floor. She went out to look and found Zhao Lixiang, who had gotten hungry in the middle of the night and had a servant cook him a bowl of noodles.

Seeing Lin Yufan, Zhao Lixiang guessed she was looking for Zhao Zhiao and said, "Elder brother hasn’t returned yet."

Lin Yufan nodded and asked him, "Are you waiting for him?"

Zhao Lixiang was slightly taken aback and asked in return, "Do you also think I should apologize to elder brother?"

Lin Yufan rested her hand on the back of the chair outside: "He told me that you and Mom are the most important people in his life. He has no reason to intentionally make things hard for you. The people he advises you to avoid must have been carefully thought through by him. Apologizing or not is secondary; you should really consider his advice."

Zhao Lixiang looked at Lin Yufan, and these words truly resonated with him. "Do you also think Ji Shutong isn’t someone worth getting close to?"

Lin Yufan shook her head: "I’m not sure. Maybe it’s not just about Ji Shutong personally but also his position and the environment he’s in."

"If you were in my shoes, would you give up on getting closer to Ji Shutong?"

"I’d try to talk to your brother and share my thoughts. If I shared my thoughts and he still insisted, then his insistence is likely correct. Because your brother isn’t the stubborn or unreasonable type." In several arguments, whenever she was really insistent, Zhao Zhiao usually gave in.

Zhao Lixiang fell into deep thought, absentmindedly stirring his noodle soup. Perhaps Lin Yufan was right.

Around midnight, Zhao Zhiao finally returned. He headed straight to his study, ignoring Zhao Lixiang sitting in the small hallway.

Zhao Lixiang stood at the study door but didn’t enter.

"The President asked me today if I’d consider switching departments. I’ll reply to him tomorrow, moving from Editor Group A to Group B."

"Changed your mind?" Zhao Zhiao glanced at him.

"Your wife just had a chat with me, and I think she made a lot of sense."

Zhao Zhiao: "..."

"However, the matter of publishing books for Ji Shutong has already started. If I stop suddenly, it’d really hit him hard. I want to finish this. Anyway, he doesn’t know it’s me helping him. He probably won’t latch onto me because of this."

Zhao Zhiao looked at his naive younger brother, a bit impatient: "Since you’ve already started helping Ji Shutong publish books, you can’t just stop abruptly. Why are you just standing there? Come in and let’s talk."

Zhao Lixiang had no choice but to shuffle into the study, pulling out a chair to sit down.

*

On Saturday, Lin Yufan and Fifth Brother headed to the shoe factory to meet Boss Xie.

The factory’s back workshop already had a new buyer, but the two front dormitory buildings were still unsold.

Boss Xie: "I heard you’re now selling each unit for 10,000, so 24 units would sell for 240,000. I sold them to you for 100,000. Mrs. Zhao, you’ve really struck gold."

Prices were set to keep climbing, and the profits would definitely surpass Boss Xie’s expectations.

Lin Yufan didn’t bite on that comment: "What’s your asking price for the other two buildings?"

"190,000 each. You’ll pocket at least 50,000 per building."

Lin Yufan didn’t have that much cash on hand. She couldn’t figure out why a sharp businessman like Boss Xie wouldn’t sell them individually: "Why don’t you split them up and sell them unit by unit?"

Boss Xie had applied to divide the property rights but couldn’t get approval because the policy hadn’t been officially implemented yet. Only those with connections could get approvals now.

He didn’t come clean, just smiled: "I’m too lazy to sell them myself. Let’s all cash in together."

Lin Yufan and Fifth Brother exchanged glances, guessing that Boss Xie was willing to sell to her because he couldn’t get the approval himself.

"I don’t have the cash on hand." She planned to open a publishing house early next year, which would also require funds.

Boss Xie chuckled. After Ji Shukuan’s incident, he finally learned about Lin Yufan’s identity. Now he didn’t believe she was short on money.

He flattered her: "Mrs. Zhao, even a little bit leaking from your fingers would be enough for me to live on for years."

Lin Yufan: "If I had money, I wouldn’t owe you the 50,000 balance."

Boss Xie didn’t believe her: "If you asked Boss Zhao, wouldn’t he give it to you?"

"I’m not one to ask people for money."

Lin Yuwu chimed in at the right moment, "Boss Xie, if you lower the price, we might consider it. If it’s too expensive, forget it. We’re not into nickel-and-diming. Think it over, and let’s circle back. We definitely won’t consider 190,000 yuan."

After chatting for a while longer, they got into the car and left.

Once they were in the car, Lin Yuwu turned to his sister and suggested, "If he can drop the price, this deal might be worth it."

"I don’t have enough to cover those two buildings."

Lin Yuwu said, "There’s still a way around it."

Lin Yufan looked at her Fifth Brother, "What way?"

"Sell the first dormitory building quicker, just like you said, bump up the price by just 1 yuan each time. There are many inquiries now, and we might be able to sell it all within a month. After selling, we could have nearly 300,000 yuan. I’ll negotiate with Boss Xie to try and get those two buildings for 300,000 yuan."

Although this idea had quickly flashed through Lin Yufan’s mind, she still complimented her Fifth Brother with a smile, "Fifth Brother, you’ve always got a plan."

"Of course. Who do you think I am? I’m your big brother!" Lin Yuwu loved this kind of praise and could be happy all day from it.

Seeing her Fifth Brother laugh, Lin Yufan also smiled, "We can talk to Boss Xie, like with the first building, to pay in two installments and see if he can accept it. We can’t tie up all our cash; if the paper factory deal goes through, we’ll need money too."

"Yeah, yeah, I’ll talk to him."

"What’s the latest with the paper factory deal?"

"Kang Nian pressured him down to 28,000 yuan, and Boss Yu was so angry he hung up the phone. I’ll have my friend lean on him again to see if he can still refuse to lower the price."

Lin Yufan was casual about workplace opportunities, "If there’s a shot, take it; if not, let it go."

"Alright, if he’s willing to drop the price, we’ll go for it."

Lin Yuwu glanced out the window, "I’ll hop off at the intersection later, I’ve got a tea date today."

*

Qin Hai rented an office on Chatham Road to get his magazine off the ground.

Yang Pinwen, clutching a pot of lucky bamboo, waited outside the office. It was nearly 11 when someone finally showed up to unlock the door.

He hung around the office until 3:30 when Qin Hai finally showed up.

Qin Hai’s attitude towards Yang Pinwen was pretty wishy-washy, neither directly rejecting him nor taking the bait, and there was no further action.

He brought the lucky bamboo, and Qin Hai had it set on the desk, complimenting his taste.

But when it came to serious matters, Qin Hai was evasive, not giving a direct answer.

Yang Pinwen, feeling antsy, had to scoot closer to Qin Hai. When Qin Hai’s hand rested on his inner thigh, he seized the opportunity and asked somewhat coquettishly, "Editor Qin, is there any progress on my request for contributions from Nanluo and Si Mu?"

Qin Hai glanced at him and withdrew his hand from his thigh.

"Nanluo did agree last time, but he really doesn’t like the climate here and changed his mind at the last minute. He took a boat to America last week."

"Ah? He... went to America?"

"Yes, he’s going to America, and there’s nothing I can do."

Yang Pinwen thought for a moment, then scooted closer to Qin Hai, "If Nanluo is out, what about Si Mu?"

Qin Hai shook his head, "Si Mu didn’t come to Hong Kong. He’s seriously ill, and it’s uncertain if he can be cured. Don’t think about asking for contributions from him."

So, was Yang Pinwen taken advantage of by Qin Hai last time?

Yang Pinwen was angry but didn’t dare to show it, so he could only beg Qin Hai to take advantage of him again, hoping he could provide some resources.

*

Today at the editorial meeting, to Lin Yufan’s great surprise, Yang Pinwen claimed to have obtained the copyright of a novel by Si Mu.

The novel is titled "The Voluptuous Woman."

Lin Yufan was utterly shocked.

The editors were full of curiosity, while Editor-in-Chief Wang was pleasantly surprised, "Pinwen truly lives up to the hype."

Director Chen inquired about the price: "Have you met Si Mu? How did you negotiate?"

Yang Pinwen said, "The first print run must be at least 5,000 copies, priced at more than 1 yuan, with a 20% royalty."

An editor immediately questioned, "Isn’t that royalty rate too high? Our highest this year was Xiaoming’s at 11%, most authors are within 8%."

Yang Pinwen sneered, "That’s what Si Mu is asking for. What can you do? If we don’t agree, he can switch to another publisher who can print 10,000 copies first. Can we do that?"

Despite the high demands and price, Editor-in-Chief Wang overruled the dissent, "Let’s first assess the quality of the book. If it’s good, we’ll finalize it. I’ll report to the higher-ups."

Director Chen: "Yufan, you need to transcribe this book in the next couple of days, so everyone can read it quickly."

Thus, the manuscript first landed in Lin Yufan’s hands.

Yang Pinwen stared at Lin Yufan, "You haven’t forgotten our wager, have you? When are you going to publish a public apology?"

Lin Yufan certainly remembered. If Yang Pinwen could bring Si Mu, she would publish an apology for him; if not, Yang Pinwen would publish in the newspaper, not an apology, but admitting he was an idiot.

Lin Yufan: "Are you sure you really secured Si Mu?"

Yang Pinwen’s face changed slightly: "Hey, what do you mean? Can’t handle the wager?"

"It’s not that I can’t handle the wager. If you really can get Si Mu and publish a novel under her name, I will definitely publish an apology. I’m just afraid you got a counterfeit."

"Hey! Director Chen, you need to manage your team. Listen to what she’s saying." Yang Pinwen’s sharp voice cried out, "She’s slandering me."

Director Chen quickly tried to calm the situation: "Yufan, don’t speak recklessly."

Yang Pinwen snorted, "I’ll hurry up and aim for a ten-day publication. I’m waiting for your published apology."

Lin Yufan didn’t reply further. She picked up the so-called manuscript by Si Mu and went downstairs.

The entire novel was just 90,000 words.

She types quickly and could finish it in a single day.

She was typing at the back, Wang Muxun was at the front.

Wang Muxun frowned more intensely as he read, "Are you sure Si Mu is the pseudonym of a renowned writer?"

Lin Yufan slightly raised an eyebrow: "Who knows. What do you think?"

"Hard to describe. The wording is very unique. It’s like having all the ingredients for a grand feast, but ending up with a stew."

Wang Muxun knew how to describe.

Lin Yufan nodded with a smile, "Stew can be pretty tasty too."

Wang Muxun explained, "Stewed dishes are delicious, but not worth this price. A 20% royalty would mean at least 1000 yuan! When I submitted my work 'The Mantis,' getting 50 yuan in fees was already quite good."

Lin Yufan finished typing "The Plump Woman" on the same day and handed it over to Director Chen. She was the first, aside from Yang Pinwen, to read the entire novel.

To her, the novel’s quality paled in comparison to a stewed dish.

At least a stewed dish has flavor, but this novel was bland and tasteless throughout, just a pile of flowery words and a common man’s voyeuristic fascination with an upper-class woman.

She didn’t mind Qunqing Press publishing the novel, since it wasn’t her money on the line. However, she couldn’t let anyone use Si Mu’s name to scam people and ruin the reputation.

She couldn’t just sit idly by.

*

Cui Yuan was at home, drinking soy milk and munching on beef pies, occasionally peeking at the building across the street.

His window had two layers of curtains—a sheer outer one and a blackout inner one.

Hidden behind the sheer curtain, he was nearly invisible from the outside.

He’d bought binoculars just to spy on Zhen’an Apartments across the street.

Lately, there hadn’t been many people coming and going—one was a squad leader surnamed Zhuang, two unfamiliar faces, and a chef who went out daily for groceries.

Judging by the chef’s purchases, at least seven or eight people lived on the third floor.

Maybe even more.

Cui Yuan bit into his pie and suddenly spotted a familiar face across the street.

He stood up.

Liu Pangzi?!

Liu Pangzi walked with his head down, hat on, glancing around as he rushed to the staircase.

Was Liu Pangzi with the Confidentiality Section? Or had they bought him off?

That bastard.

Cui Yuan snatched his binoculars and scanned the third and fourth-floor windows across the street. Unfortunately, the curtains were drawn, blocking any view of what was going on inside.

He wolfed down the pie and chugged the soy milk.

Cui Yuan kept his eyes glued to the building across the street.

After about twenty minutes, Liu Pangzi came down from upstairs, holding something, though it was hard to tell what.

As he was about to head downstairs to check it out, a man in his forties, dressed in a suit, arrived at the building.

The man didn’t pause to look around but made a beeline for the staircase, as if he had already observed from afar and was familiar with the place.

Who was this man?

Cui Yuan quickly retrieved the special imported camera he had used during a mission in Nanjing. After waiting for about half an hour, the middle-aged man came downstairs, and Cui Yuan snapped two photos.

The man looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

*

Back home, Lin Yufan sat at her bedroom desk and spent an hour writing "Travel Notes from Hong Kong," planning to submit it under the pseudonym Si Mu.

After finishing, she polished the entire manuscript and then copied it onto a draft paper.

When she heard voices in the living room, she quickly shoved the manuscript into the drawer, took out a notebook, and pretended to jot something down.

Zhao Zhiao had just returned from work. He’d bought her a bottle of rose essential oil and brought it in just for her.

The sun hadn’t set yet outside, but the room was clearly too dark.

"Why didn’t you turn the light on?" he asked as he entered and switched it on.

Lin Yufan said, "It’s still light by the window. What’s that in your hand?"

"French rose essential oil. Winter’s coming; you might need it." He didn’t know much about this stuff; he simply bought it for her because the packaging looked nice.

"What’re you writing?" he asked.

Lin Yufan casually replied, "Plans."

"What plans?"

"Plans for starting a publishing house."

So she’s really going for it?

The thing Zhao Zhiao disliked most about her was, "Always hanging around with the literary crowd."

Lin Yufan remembered his previous comment, "Most writers are scoundrels," and couldn’t help but retort, "You’re not a writer, so you’re not a scoundrel?"

"Me? A scoundrel?" Zhao Zhiao placed the rose essential oil on the side cabinet and walked over to her, unbuttoning his shirt as he went.

She sat at the desk, her porcelain skin and crimson lips looking slightly tired but still alluring.

Lin Yufan quickly closed the notebook. One word flashed in her mind: escape.

But it was already too late.

Zhao Zhiao, the scoundrel, had her pinned against the desk in a second.

"Dinner’s almost ready," she whispered as a reminder.

Zhao Zhiao didn’t care, "I’ll take you first, then dinner. Scoundrel enough for you?"

Lin Yufan lightly kicked him, "Scoundrel!"

So he turned up the scoundrel act, immediately turning her around to face the window, with her back to him.

Lin Yufan urgently reminded him, "Gui Xiang’s gonna come in any minute."

"You’re worried about being seen, but a scoundrel doesn’t care."

He was practically bragging about it!

Lin Yufan was speechless.

She wished she hadn’t provoked him.

She had been on her period for the past few days, and he’d been holding back for a week. Now he was all fired up.

In front of her was the desk, which was against the window, and outside the window was the garden.

Right then, Lin Mingzhe was downstairs playing fetch with Zhao Jingxiu’s dog.

Lin Yufan seemed to have spotted a savior. She was about to call out when a heavy bump from behind nearly made her scream.

In the past, he always lifted the front of her traditional Chinese dress, but today was different—he lifted the back. Without any warning, the intense sensation nearly made him pass out.

"Auntie! Auntie!" This time, Lin Mingzhe saw her from downstairs without Lin Yufan needing to call out.

The table thudded rhythmically against the wall, and Lin Yufan could hardly make a complete sound. She weakly waved to show she had heard.

From his angle, Lin Mingzhe only saw his aunt leaning out the window, unaware of Zhao Zhiao behind her.

"Auntie, come down and play ball with me."

She would have liked to go down and play ball with her nephew, but with two little balls bouncing against her from behind, she couldn’t possibly manage.

"Auntie! Come down quickly!" Desperate for playmates, Lin Mingzhe would latch onto anyone in sight.

Perhaps it was more exciting with someone watching from outside. They had never tried it from behind before, but now they uncovered a new experience. Zhao Zhiao had read about it in foreign books—from behind, it was both deep and reached the right spot.

The loud, wet sounds confirmed to him that this was indeed the best way.

The table thudded rhythmically against the wall, producing a dull sound.

Under the sunset, her cheeks were flushed as if she were flushed with wine.

The joy was so intense that dinner seemed unnecessary, and they could go for another round.

"Auntie! Auntie, come here!" Lin Mingzhe was still jumping and calling from below. Zhao Zhiao quickly reached out to close the curtains, shutting him out.