Wang Hao had overthought it.
No matter how shameless Wang Meijuan was, she wouldn't actually mess with her own biological brother.
She just took off some clothes and snapped a few photos on the hotel bed.
Then she sent them to Wang Hao: "Give me two thousand, or I'll send these to Lin Wanyi."
Wang Hao was about to explode. "Sis, you're my older sister, how could you screw me over like this?
"Even though you're using a burner WeChat account, you could clearly tell it was me.
"You knew it was me and you still did it. You did this on purpose.
"This is too shameless."
Wang Meijuan leaned against the bathroom doorframe.
"Wang Hao, I have no choice. I really have no other way.
"Li Jun told me to make money, but I can't. I can't find a good job."
"What do you mean you can't find one?"
Wang Hao roared from inside the bathroom.
"Washing dishes, sweeping floors, working as a cashier in a supermarket—you're not that old, how is it possible you can't find a job?
"How could you resort to doing this?"
"Those jobs don't make any money. They are exhausting and pay nothing.
"Even though doing this is humiliating, no one here knows me anyway, so what am I afraid of?"
Wang Meijuan's matter-of-fact attitude made Wang Hao want to vomit. Suppressing his disgust, he gave her the two thousand yuan.
Unexpectedly, Wang Meijuan was still not satisfied.
"No, two thousand is too little, Haohao. I'm renting a place outside now, and the rent alone is eight hundred a month.
"Those damn old men are so stingy. I work myself to the bone every day and can't even make a hundred bucks. Give me a little more."
Wang Hao refused. "Sis, don't push it."
"Hmph!"
Wang Meijuan just stood at the door.
"Lin Wanyi will be back soon, right? I know you must be regretting it. You definitely don't want to divorce her anymore.
"Tell me, what would she think if I showed her all of this?
"If I told her you stay in hotels playing around with different women every day, would she still forgive you?
"Haohao, use your brain."
Wang Hao pulled the bathroom door open. "Wang Meijuan, what exactly do you want?
"You're my sister. Are you really going to ruin me like this?"
Wang Meijuan held out her phone. "Give me twenty thousand, and I'll take this secret to my grave. Absolutely no one else will ever know."
"Twenty thousand?"
Wang Hao refused to give it. He wouldn't give her a single cent.
Why should he?
He didn't even get to fool around with a woman, and instead, he got himself covered in a mess of trouble.
But Wang Meijuan gripped her phone tightly. "If you don't give it to me, I'll just wait at your house for Lin Wanyi to get back. You figure it out."
Wang Hao finally compromised.
Fuming, he transferred twenty thousand to Wang Meijuan.
He demanded she delete the photos, but instead, Wang Meijuan quickly leaned against him and snapped a selfie.
Before Wang Hao could stop her, Wang Meijuan had already run out the door.
She was ecstatic.
Twenty thousand yuan. A whole twenty thousand.
She could finally give Li Jun an answer, and finally go see her son.
When she handed all twenty thousand over to Li Jun, she was allowed to catch a glimpse of Li Borui for the first time.
But to her chilling dismay, Li Borui actually refused to see her.
She cried and shouted, "Son, it's Mom. Mom came to see you.
"Let Mom in, okay? Mom misses you so much."
Li Borui wouldn't open the door.
"I don't want you! You're not my mom! Grandma said you're the one who made me lose a leg. Get out, get out!"
Wang Meijuan was heartbroken.
"Son, your leg isn't Mom's fault. You ran out on your own and got hit by a car. It really isn't Mom's fault.
"When your leg broke, Mom's heart hurt more than anyone's. Believe Mom, just let Mom come in and look at you."
No matter how much she cried and begged, Li Borui simply wouldn't open the door.
Wang Meijuan couldn't take it. She confronted Li Jun.
"You were the one talking nonsense in front of him, weren't you? You were the one badmouthing me, right?
"I am his mother. I am the person who loves him most in this world. How could you say those things to him?"
Li Jun slapped her across the face.
"Wang Meijuan, look at the wretched state you're in now. Look at what you're wearing!
"Do you really have the nerve to let your son see you like this?
"But I don't care. As long as you can make money, I wouldn't care even if you were stark naked.
"Keep going, keep making money for my son. He's missing a leg now and needs even more money.
"If you love him, bring money back. Don't say anything else."
Wang Meijuan arrived at the Wang family home, looking like a lost soul.
Liu Chunlan looked as if she had seen a ghost.
"Juan'er, what happened to you?"
Wang Meijuan didn't understand. "What's wrong with how I look? I'm making money."
"What kind of money requires you to dress like this? Juan'er, you aren't doing that kind of shameless business, are you?
"No, Juan'er, we can't make that kind of money. It's humiliating, an absolute disgrace."
Hearing Liu Chunlan say this, Wang Meijuan broke down.
"What right do you have to say that to me? I had no other choice!
"I needed money, but you wouldn't give me a single cent. Mom, you forced me to do this.
"You forced me!"
Furious, Liu Chunlan splashed a basin of cold water onto her.
"Wang Meijuan, wake up!"
Lin Wanyi looked at the calendar, her heart fluttering with anxiety.
In two days, it would be exactly a month. She didn't know if Wang Hao would go back on his word.
Just as she was about to book a high-speed train ticket, Lin Jiajun hurriedly found her.
"Sis, come with me, hurry up and come with me."
She quickly asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Lin Jiajun spoke as he drove, "Tang Guixiang brought Chen Qiang to seize the house.
"Huihui can't hold them off on her own."
Sure enough, when they arrived, Chen Qiang was swaggering on the sofa playing video games, while Tang Guixiang was pointing at Chen Hui's nose and cursing:
"You ungrateful wretch, an absolute ingrate.
"You have such a big house and you didn't even tell us. If I hadn't secretly followed you, we would still be kept in the dark.
"Spit it out, where did the money to buy this house come from?"
Chen Hui's face was red with anger.
"This is Jiajun's house. It's his, not mine.
"Why should I tell you?
"Get out, I didn't invite you here. Go, leave right now."
How could Tang Guixiang possibly leave?
She looked around the house greedily, nodding continuously.
"Not bad, not bad at all. This house is really nice. Such a great layout, such a large space.
"Look at this big balcony. When the sun shines in, it completely changes the mood.
"Good, very good. If we use this as Qiangzi's marital home, the in-laws will absolutely have nothing to complain about.
"Isn't it great? It's wonderful."
"Great my ass!"
Chen Hui was so furious she swore.
"I told you, this is Jiajun's house. It's not mine, and it's certainly not yours.
"Using it as Chen Qiang's marital home is absolutely impossible!"
"What's impossible about it?"
Tang Guixiang pointed at Chen Hui's nose.
"Where is Lin Jiajun? I'm not talking to you, I'll go talk to him."
Lin Jiajun walked in.
"Talk to me about what? Let me tell you, this house isn't mine either.
"I don't have the final say."
"What?"
Tang Guixiang and Chen Qiang both cried out.
"Chen Hui already said it's yours. Lin Jiajun, don't even think about playing tricks.
"What's yours is Chen Hui's, and what's Chen Hui's is Chen Qiang's. So this house must be given to Chen Qiang."
Lin Jiajun twitched the corner of his mouth and, right in front of them, sent a voice message to Liu Siyue:
"Siyue, someone is trying to steal your house. Come here quickly!"
