Wei Duohai made a few sarcastic remarks, but with no one playing along, he soon gave up the act and left. Before departing, he deliberately brushed off the hem of his clothes twice, as if afraid the smell of barbecue might cling to him.
The moment Wei Duohai disappeared, Zhong Ziyan tossed aside her bamboo skewer and said to Wei Hanyan, "I'm going to the restroom."
Wei Hanyan, eyes fixed on the sweet potatoes roasting on the grill, waved an absent-minded "OK" without turning around. "By the time you're back, the sweet potatoes should be ready!"
Zhong Ziyan glanced at the charred, unappetizing sweet potatoes and decided she’d rather stick to the skewers…
Just like last time, Zhong Ziyan easily caught up with Wei Duohai, who was on his way to smear Second Brother Wei’s academic reputation and plant doubts about Wei Hanyun in Old Master Wei’s mind. She cast a forgetting spell on him.
The spell was a subtle one.
It had almost no direct offensive power—its effect was to make a person "forget the things they most wanted to remember, completely and utterly."
Used well, it could even turn the tide in a desperate battle.
Once, Zhong Ziyan had relied on it to make a boss forget its most powerful incantation, barely escaping with her life.
Given the vast difference in their mental strength, casting the spell on Wei Duohai was easier than drinking water.
Wei Duohai’s deepest obsession was stripping Second Brother Wei and Wei Hanyun of their power and status as the Wei family’s legitimate heirs. The moment the spell took effect, his eyes glazed over briefly.
From a distance of three to five meters, Zhong Ziyan finished casting the spell without any visible reaction, then headed to the restroom. By the time she returned, Wei Duohai was nowhere in sight.
She calmly walked back to the outdoor kitchen and glanced at the sweet potato Wei Ziqian had just split open.
The sweet potato lay in a tragic state—mostly charred black, with only a small patch of golden yellow at its core.
Wei Ziqian stared at it in silence for a moment before tossing the failed experiment into the trash.
...
Wei Duohai knocked and entered Old Master Wei’s study directly.
Though he had briefly spaced out on the way, he dismissed it as a momentary lapse in memory and didn’t dwell on it.
Old Master Wei was holding a tablet, engrossed in something, and only set it down when Wei Duohai entered. "What is it?"
Wei Duohai thought he glimpsed a fleeting image of a sweet potato on the screen, but he quickly dismissed it as his imagination. He smiled. "Father, there’s something about Second Brother that’s been bothering me. I wasn’t sure how to handle it, so I wanted your advice."
Unlike his brothers, Second Brother Wei was an odd one out.
As the eldest legitimate son, he had zero interest in family affairs and instead pursued archaeology, eventually becoming a renowned professor at home and abroad.
When Second Brother Wei was younger, people had whispered that Old Master Wei’s power would inevitably fall into the hands of his illegitimate children.
But then Wei Hanyun appeared, and Second Brother Wei was freed.
Hearing that his most reliable son might be in trouble, Old Master Wei frowned. "What’s wrong with him?"
Wei Duohai smirked. "Second Brother, he—"
He stopped abruptly after just three words, his expression blanking.
Old Master Wei waited patiently for a few seconds before slamming his hand on the desk. "Speak properly!"
"No, I swear I remembered something about Second Brother… Huh? How did I…?" Wei Duohai tried again but found himself utterly unable to recall why he had been so confident when he came here.
"You little brat, are you messing with me?!" Old Master Wei grabbed his tablet and hurled it at Wei Duohai. "If you’ve got nothing to say, get out!"
Wei Duohai yelped and dodged, flailing. "Wait, Father! I swear I’ll remember—Second Brother really is in trouble!"
"Out!!"
...
Zhong Ziyan glanced toward the main house before handing Wei Hanyan a bowl of fruit salad. "Is Second Brother publishing a new paper?"
Wei Hanyan accepted the bowl with her soot-stained hands and nodded. "Yeah, Dad’s been working on it nonstop lately, staying up till three or four in the morning. Mom’s scolded him about it a bunch."
"Plagiarism and academic fraud have been in the news a lot lately," Zhong Ziyan remarked casually. "Tell him to keep his drafts secure."
"True. Dad leaves his computer and notes lying around all the time. I’ve told him off before." Wei Hanyan thought for a moment before deciding, "Easy fix—I’ll password-protect his computer and buy a safe for his study to lock up his drafts and research."
Recalling Wei Duohai’s scheme, Zhong Ziyan nodded. "Good idea."
"Damn it, this sweet potato has a personal vendetta against me!!" Wei Ziqian’s furious roar cut off their conversation as he faced his sixth failed roasted sweet potato in helpless rage.
Old Madam Yu and Wei’s Mother hadn’t produced perfect results either, but at least theirs were edible—unlike Wei Ziqian’s kitchen disasters.
Wei Hanyan sighed sympathetically. "Will this brother of mine ever find a girlfriend? I’m not asking for someone as perfect as you, Auntie, but just someone willing to put up with him…"
Zhong Ziyan figured that with his family background, finding a girlfriend would be easier than eating or drinking.
"Everyone used to think that aside from Uncle Hanyun, Ziqian was the least likely to settle down," Wei Hanyan revealed, airing her little brother’s dirty laundry. "Even when he did have girlfriends, none lasted more than a week before dumping him."
Zhong Ziyan: "…"
"Even Uncle Hanyun had a whirlwind marriage—and to someone as amazing as you," Wei Hanyan lamented. "When will my poor brother get his own miracle?"
Zhong Ziyan did a quick mental calculation. "Soon. He’ll have a long-term girlfriend before he’s thirty."
Wei Hanyan took it as mere consolation and gloomily ate a spoonful of salad. "If only. Heaven, please make it happen."
The family sweet potato-roasting activity ended in failure—no one had successfully made a perfectly soft and sweet one. Thankfully, the head chef had foreseen this and saved the day with a full BBQ spread.
Old Madam Yu sighed dramatically and vowed to train under the chef for a week until she mastered the art of roasting sweet potatoes.
Zhong Ziyan: "…" That’s really unnecessary.
As the group gathered around the table to enjoy freshly chilled golden cherries, a butler hurried over. "Sir Wei has returned."
Zhong Ziyan always found the Wei family’s internal titles odd—they didn’t follow normal familial conventions.
For example, despite having half-brothers, Wei Hanyun was called "Uncle" by Wei Hanyan and Wei Ziqian.
Even the household staff avoided clear generational titles, simply addressing Wei Hanyun as "Sir," blurring his place in the family hierarchy.
Zhong Ziyan concluded that this mess was entirely Old Master Wei’s fault—what else could you expect from a man who kept mistresses and played feudal lord?
Wei Hanyun soon appeared, impeccably dressed in a three-piece suit and carrying an insulated box. He set it on the table, greeting everyone in turn.
"What did you bring, Uncle?" Wei Hanyan asked eagerly. "Is it food?"
Zhong Ziyan had already caught the sweet aroma wafting from the nearly sealed thermal container.
—It was piping hot roasted sweet potatoes!
“I heard your attempt at roasting sweet potatoes failed at noon,” Wei Hanyun said, flicking open the lid of the thermal box. “So I picked some up on the way back.”
As soon as the lid was lifted, the rich, caramelized scent grew even more pronounced—a fragrance a whole group of people had failed to recreate despite their efforts all afternoon.
Wei Hanyan peeled a sweet potato grudgingly. “Next time, we’ll definitely succeed!”
Zhong Ziyan placed a neatly peeled sweet potato in front of Old Madam Yu, then took over the half-peeled one from her. She tore off a piece casually and took a bite.
“How’s the taste?” Wei Hanyun asked.
Zhong Ziyan nodded, savoring the honey-like sweetness melting on her tongue. “Thank you.”
Even though roasted sweet potatoes from a chain store wouldn’t cost much, the ones Wei Hanyun had gone out of his way to buy carried an entirely different value now.
That was what you called added worth.
Just as they finished distributing the sweet potatoes, several professional armored transport vehicles rolled into the Wei estate.
Zhong Ziyan, sensitive to such vehicles, immediately turned her head.
“It’s about time to head to the airport, isn’t it?” Old Madam Yu remarked. “These are here to help transport things—the clothes we bought today, the musical instruments promised to Yanyan yesterday… I figured the instruments are too bulky, so let’s put them on another plane to avoid crowding yours.”
At this, Zhong Ziyan mentally pictured the spacious, luxurious interior of the private jet: “…” Just how much did you pack?
As they spoke, Wei Duohai appeared in the distance, accompanied by Old Master Wei’s elderly butler.
Wei Duohai had changed into a fresh outfit, but his expression still bore traces of frustration, clearly indicating some unpleasant ordeal.
Wei Ziqian spotted him first and rolled his eyes openly, his disdain completely unconcealed.
No one at Zhong Ziyan’s table showed any intention of greeting Wei Duohai. When he hurried over, his gaze landed on Wei Hanyun, and he forced a smile. “Fourth Brother…”
He barely started before faltering, his face momentarily blank, like a villain who had forgotten his lines mid-confrontation.
Wei Hanyun didn’t even glance at him, instead refilling Zhong Ziyan’s cup with water.
Wei Duohai: “…!!” Fuming silently.jpg
The old butler smoothly intervened. “Young Madam, Old Master asked me to deliver this farewell gift to you.”
Only then did Zhong Ziyan notice the heavy, elongated box in the butler’s hands.
“What did Grandpa give Auntie this time?” Wei Hanyan peeked over, brimming with curiosity.
The butler smiled. “A set of four jade Ruyi scepters—the ones Young Madam admired before. All packed and ready.”
Zhong Ziyan: “…” But I only mentioned them in passing!
“Old Master said since you liked them, you should take them. He’s never stingy with his daughter-in-law,” the butler added with a slight bow. “Shall I have them loaded onto the transport?”
“Go ahead, but handle them carefully,” Wei’s Mother instructed coolly.
She certainly wouldn’t feel sorry for that idiot’s money.
…
When Zhong Ziyan arrived in Yan Capital, she had brought nothing but gifts for Wei Hanyun’s closest family members.
But when leaving for H City, even one private jet wasn’t enough to carry everything back.
Once aboard the plane, Wei Hanyun handed her two red envelopes. “You forgot to open these.”
One was from Old Master Wei, the other from Wei’s Mother.
With the excitement of unwrapping a surprise, Zhong Ziyan opened Wei’s Mother’s envelope first—inside was a key.
A small metal tag attached to it bore an address, which Zhong Ziyan recognized immediately: a high-end apartment complex near the city’s prime commercial district.
Though labeled as “apartments,” the units were sprawling luxury flats, each spanning over 4,000 square feet.
Zhong Ziyan made a rough estimate—this property alone was worth tens of millions.
Now officially part of the property-island-jet-yacht elite, she couldn’t help but marvel.
—And it had only been a month.
With Wei’s Mother’s extravagant gift setting the bar, Zhong Ziyan opened Old Master Wei’s envelope with tempered expectations.
Probably a check, she thought, pulling out the slip with two fingers. The words [National Bank] stood out boldly.
What Old Master Wei had given her was a genuine large-denomination certificate of deposit, issued under her name and dated the day before her trip to Yan Capital.
The amount column displayed a string of eights, accompanied by the spelled-out Chinese characters.
Zhong Ziyan: “…” She double-checked, distrusting her own superhuman memory.
Eight eights before the decimal point. Nearly one hundred million. In cash.
No wonder those concubines and illegitimate children refused to let go of their claims!!!!
