Zhou Juan choked. She opened her mouth to explain and became even more embarrassed, “At that time…Mingzheng was in their house, and he was holding their kitchen knife…”

Shu Ning took a step closer, “Then how was he able to get into that man’s house?” 

Zhou Juan replied, “They said that they forgot to shut the door properly.”

Shu Ning nodded, “So what you’re saying is, Yin Mingzheng guarded their front door every day just waiting for the one time they forget to shut the door and rob them?”

“This…” Zhou Juan didn’t know what to say.

Shu Ning sneered, “Don’t you think that’s ridiculous? Why does he have to steal from that man specifically? You said just now that the stuff he stole was just a phone and camera. Literally everybody has one, so why did it have to be that man’s house? If he wanted to steal from him, Yin Mingzheng would have to wait by his door every day. Did Yin Mingzheng wait by his door every day?” 

Zhou Juan was at a loss.

There were loopholes everywhere in this story, but, at that time, why did no one bring it up?

Was it because everyone had already decided that Yin Mingzheng was guilty?

“But, why was he in the man’s house?”

“You’ll have to ask yourself that.”

Shu Ning’s original intention was for her to say what Yin Mingzheng had told her out loud. Instead, Zhou Juan stuttered, “I…I don’t know.”

Shu Ning almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He took a deep breath and asked, “So, Yin Mingzheng really did steal from someone?”

Zhou Juan hurriedly made excuses, “Mingzheng was still young at the time. He knows that he was wrong now…” 

The veins on Shu Ning’s forehead jumped. He asked, “What did he say?”

“Huh?”

Shu Ning felt annoyed when he saw her submissive and spineless appearance. He raised his voice, “I want to know how Yin Mingzheng explained it to you.”

Zhou Juan was taken aback and timidly answered, “He said that the man secretly took a lot of photos of him and wanted to kiss him. He got angry, so he went into his house to take the photos. Then, they started fighting…” 

Shu Ning took a deep breath, “Why didn’t you tell people the truth?”

If she had spoken out even a little bit, public opinion wouldn’t have been so one-sided against Yin Mingzheng.

Zhou Juan shook her head, “Who would believe this kind of thing? Besides, making such a shameful thing public…how would we face our neighbors in the future?”

Shu Ning was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned. 

Then, he started to laugh. The more he laughed, the louder his laughs became. He was nearly doubled over in laughter.

Zhou Juan was bewildered by his laughter, as well as a little angry. “What are you laughing for?”

Shu Ning shook his head, “Shameful? I really didn’t expect you to say such a thing.”

Zhou Juan’s face flushed, “What do you mean?” 

Shu Ning spoke scathingly, “Between you and Yin Qiang, which one of you isn’t shameful?”

Zhou Juan was dumbstruck. Her entire body trembled with anger. “D-don’t look down on us! Yes, we’re poor now, b-but, it’s going to get better in the future! It definitely will!”

Her expression was staunch and resolute, as if what she had just said was a dead certainty.

If other people had heard her, they would just laugh and call her delusional, but Shu Ning, who had read the novel, suddenly shuddered. 

Zhou Juan was planning to meet her biological son.

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No, he couldn’t let her succeed.

Yin Mingzheng needed to return to the Wei family as soon as possible to build up his relationship with them. The fake that this woman had stuffed into the Wei family needed to hurry back and accept his original life.

Without saying a word to Zhou Juan, Shu Ning hurriedly walked into the elevator. Once he reached the seventeenth floor, he went back home and opened up his computer to search for the Wei family’s address

However, no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find it at all. 

Shu Ning collapsed in front of his computer out of frustration.

Mrs. Cai knocked on his door, “Ning Ning, I’ve made some soup. It’s nutritious, good for your brain. Come and eat.”

Ever since he injured his head, Mrs. Cai made him drink a bowl of soup every day. It was full of walnuts, jujubes, wolfberries and other supplements.

As he was drinking Mrs. Cai’s soup, Shu Ning thought to himself: Has the villain ever been able to drink soup made by Zhou Juan? 

At school the next day, Shu Ning arrived at his desk and started putting his things away. Just as he stuffed his school bag into the desk, he suddenly heard a commotion.

Shu Ning raised his head subconsciously and discovered a boy walking in from the back door of the classroom. He had a mop of electric purple hair atop his head. The color was almost blinding to look at.

“What the hell is wrong with Yin Mingzheng’s aesthetics?”

A lot of junior high students watched anime, cosplayed, and wore wigs. However, no one had ever worn such a strange-looking wig to school before. Yin Mingzheng was definitely a first at Longpanshan Middle School. 

Plus, you could tell the hair was fake with a single glance, and the hairstyle wasn’t any good either. If it wasn’t for his beautiful face, he probably would’ve been kicked out of the classroom.

“It’s too ugly. Even if his face is pretty, I can’t stand this kind of aesthetic.”

A girl in the front row whispered.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. 

“I thought he cut his hair because his taste went back to normal, but…”

Their classmates sighed.

Shu Ning didn’t look down on him. When he thought of the man from yesterday, he suddenly understood why the little villain presented himself the way he did.

He stared intently at the villain. The villain ignored everyone’s comments and walked to his seat with his school bag slung over his shoulder. He pulled out his chair, sat down, and organized the things at his desk.  Then, he suddenly raised his head and gave Shu Ning a glare. 

Shu Ning hurriedly looked away.

The villain wouldn’t even let him look at him now.

Sigh.

He just wanted to know if the villain drank his milk and took his supplements. 

He didn’t get enough calcium and nutrients before. What if he isn’t able to grow taller in the future?

Shu Ning was genuinely worried about it, like a parent.

The little villain unzipped his school bag. He brought out a box of milk, a bag of nuts, and a bag of nutritional powder supplements, and he placed them all on his desk.

Wang Shenshen, who was in the row in front of them, turned his head and saw the food on the desk. He said with surprise, “Woah, these are all super nutritious!” 

The little villain seemed to have been waiting for someone to comment. The corners of his mouth raised slightly before he quickly schooled his face back into its usual expression. He said, “My mom prepared it for me.”

My mom prepared it for me.

He was like an impoverished child who couldn’t help but show off as soon as he got a piece of candy.

Shu Ning suddenly felt a little sad when he saw the villain’s bright face. 

What kind of emotionally constipated family was this?! How was preparing a breakfast worth showing off?!

“Your mom treats you so well!” Wang Shenshen said, “My mom’s also like that. She makes me drink Joysborn every night, saying that it’ll increase my IQ. Isn’t IQ something you’re born with? Honestly!”

Shu Ning tentatively interjected, “My mom’s been making me drink supplemental soup every night. She’s been super worried about my head ever since I got injured.”

Wang Shenshen laughed, “Then, we really are in the same boat.” 

The little villain stopped talking when Shu Ning joined in. He went stone-faced, drinking his milk and eating nuts.

Wang Shenshen asked curiously, “Is that all you’re eating?”

The villain said, “This is enough.”

Shu Ning was startled. He suddenly realized that he had never seen the villain eat breakfast in the classroom. If he was able to bring his breakfast to the classroom today, why didn’t he bring any before? 

Could it be that…

He slowly tightened his fists. He didn’t want to believe it.

Wang Shenshen said, “How come I never saw you bring breakfast before?”

The villain said, “I don’t like to eat breakfast.” 

Shu Ning exploded and suddenly slammed his fist onto his desk.

The students around him were startled, “W-what? What is it?”

Shu Ning clenched his fists and slowly sat back down.

The little villain didn’t eat breakfast before. There was a time where he didn’t even eat lunch. He probably subsisted on one meal a day. No wonder he often slept at his desk. He didn’t have any energy because he didn’t eat. How could he not sleep? 

Shu Ning already knew what kind of person Yin Qiang was, but he had always thought that Zhou Juan treated the villain alright. However, after meeting with her a couple of times, he came to realize just how stingy this woman was. It wasn’t very likely that she would open her pockets for the villain.

Yin Mingzheng was still starving, even in this day and age.

Fuck.

Shu Ning gritted his teeth. It looked like he needed to buy some more bread. 

When he went home that evening, he waited for Zhou Juan again. He handed her a package of bread rolls and told her to give them to Yin Mingzheng for breakfast. Then, he went back home.

The next day at school, Shu Ning paid special attention to the villain. When he saw that the little villain’s breakfast had a bread roll with it, he was relieved.

He thought that the little villain’s nutrition could be improved this way. However, after a week, he noticed that there were less and less items on the little villain’s desk.

At the beginning, there was bread, milk, nuts, and nutritional powder supplements. Then, there was only bread, milk, and nuts. Even later, there was only bread and milk. Finally, the only thing left was the milk… 

Shu Ning couldn’t take it anymore.

He had bought a box of 24 milk cartons, three bags of bread rolls, nuts, nutritional powder supplements, etc. He had calculated everything on a monthly basis. Regardless, it should’ve lasted at least 24 days. It had only been a week, and yet the only thing left was milk. What was going on?

Wang Shenshen was also a little curious, “How come you only have milk today?”

The little villain was silent for a moment. Then, he said, “I ate the bread at home.” 

Shu Ning knew that he was lying. Although the villain didn’t talk to him anymore, he understood the villain better now. He could tell what the villain was thinking from subtle changes in his expression.

The kid obviously didn’t have anything to eat.

Shu Ning couldn’t help but ask, “What about the nuts and nutritional powder?”

The little villain gave him a cold look and ignored him. 

Shu Ning was anxious. That night, he bought a ton of things and gave them to Zhou Juan again. Then, he asked her, “Yin Mingzheng only had milk for breakfast today. What’s going on? What happened to the bread, nuts, and nutritional powder?”

Zhou Juan looked embarrassed.

Although she didn’t say anything, Shu Ning could already guess what had happened. He was incredulous, “You ate it?”

It was then that Zhou Juan explained, “That child’s very filial. He refused to eat it all by himself and insisted that we eat it together. Plus, if his father sees the food, he’ll definitely snatch it away for himself…” 

Shu Ning’s head was buzzing with anger.

“What about the nutritional powder? What do two adults need nutritional powder for?”

Zhou Juan’s expression became even more awkward, “W-we gave it away.”

“Gave it away?” Shu Ning’s eyes widened. 

Zhou Juan quickly tried to justify, “Mingzheng’s grandmother is sick. We couldn’t go back to see her, so we could only send a gift. Mingzheng said that we didn’t need the nutritional powder, so we sent it to his grandmother…”

When she saw Shu Ning’s ashen face, she hurriedly defended herself, “I didn’t want to eat it, but didn’t you tell me to hide the fact it was a donation? So, I said I bought it while it was on sale. They even got upset with me and scolded me for uselessly spending money…”

She felt a little aggrieved as she spoke.

There was only a single thought in Shu Ning’s mind: Fuck. 

He said through gritted teeth, “You’ve got the freaking nerve…”

Zhou Juan said helplessly, “To tell you the truth, it’s okay for me not to eat it, but you know what his father is like. If I bring it back home, there’s no way he’s not going to eat it.”

Shu Ning stood there for a moment. Then, he gradually started calming down. Although Zhou Juan’s words pissed him off, they were still true.

With Yin Qiang’s broken moral compass, how could he possibly watch his son eat well without getting in on some of it himself. 

It was his fault for not being attentive enough.

After he had calmed down, Shu Ning said, “I’ll double the stuff I give you from now on…I’ll also give you an extra two hundred yuan a week. Make sure to buy some meat dishes and improve the food at home.”

Zhou Juan was very happy to hear this. Then, she hesitantly asked, “Will the donor agree?”

Shu Ning said, “I’m in charge of the allocation of funds. I have the final say on how much to allocate.” 

Zhou Juan was over the moon. She held her grocery bag in her hand and said, “But two hundred doesn’t seem to be enough.”

Shu Ning was angry enough to vomit blood. Was she trying to extort him?

At this point, Shu Ning isn’t just raising the villain, he’s raising that whole damn family.