Chapter 25: Every Cause Has Its Effect, and I Am Your Retribution

Nan Yuanman truly could not comprehend it. She tilted her head and asked him again, "Jiang Lixuan, why do you all always say that my mother committed a crime? Did she murder someone or set a fire back then? Or did she do something heinous and unforgivable?"

"Even if she did make mistakes, you are her own family—couldn't you have been more tolerant of her?"

"Is she not your own sister? Why are you able to be tolerant of outsiders, yet cannot tolerate her, your own sister who shares your blood?"

Faced with Nan Yuanman’s bewildered and somewhat cruel questioning, Jiang Lixuan felt a lump in his throat. He couldn't utter a single word, and his head buzzed as if it had been struck hard by a hammer.

He couldn't help but ask himself: That’s right, why were they so heartless toward Bai Wenyin back then?

Nan Yuanman looked at him and continued, "Besides, did she really do those wrong things? Were those misdeeds truly her doing?"

Jiang Lixuan’s pupils trembled slightly. He hastily looked away, not daring to meet her eyes, his thoughts in turmoil. He opened his mouth, then closed it, and after biting his lip hard, he said with a lack of conviction, "If she... if she hadn't done those things, why didn't she defend herself at the time?"

"If she hadn't done anything wrong, why did she leave you alone in Batang Village and not dare to return to the Jiang family with you? Doesn't that prove she was feeling guilty?"

"If she truly did nothing wrong, then have her come to the Jiang family in person, prove her own innocence, and seek justice for herself."

"She cannot come. I told you, she is dead." Nan Yuanman’s small face tightened, her voice cold and hard. "I will seek justice for my mother myself."

"I don't believe it." Hearing those words—"she is dead"—again, Jiang Lixuan finally revealed a flicker of hidden panic and fear. He struggled to find excuses for Bai Wenyin, "She used to love using such tactics to vie for attention, just to make us worry about her."

"She must be doing this on purpose this time as well." Jiang Lixuan intentionally stiffened his face. "Yuanman, you shouldn't curse your mother like that."

Nan Yuanman: "..." What a lunatic.

Nan Yuanman looked at him with an expression reserved for the mentally disabled: "Aren't you the richest people in S City? Surely you have the manpower to investigate, right? Just like in the shows on television."

"If you just send people to investigate, wouldn't you know whether my mother is alive or dead?"

Jiang Lixuan was rendered speechless; he remained silent.

He... didn't dare.

He was terrified that the results of such an investigation would be exactly as Nan Yuanman had described, a reality he could not bear.

"Why are you two standing at the doorway?" Jiang Hengzhi's voice came from behind Jiang Lixuan.

Nan Yuanman looked up at the sound, gazing at this man who was her uncle in name only.

The Jiang family members were all good-looking, and because Jiang Hengzhi worked in the fashion industry, his attire was more refined than the rest of the family. With his exquisite, superior features, cold peach-blossom eyes, and a tall, slender, model-like physique, he was the most striking person in any crowd.

Nan Yuanman blinked, unexpectedly realizing that this second uncle looked... remarkably like her mother.

Jiang Hengzhi lowered his eyes slightly, observing Nan Yuanman with a detached gaze. Because of the incident with Jiang Xinxin, the slight bit of favor he had initially felt for her had vanished.

There was no affection in his eyes for Nan Yuanman, nor any hatred; he treated her as if she were a total stranger. "Since you're back, come in. Xinxin is still waiting for your apology."

Nan Yuanman furrowed her small brows and stubbornly said, "I will not apologize."

As soon as she finished speaking, a small figure appeared behind Jiang Hengzhi.

Jiang Xinxin clutched Jiang Hengzhi’s leg nervously. She peeked at Nan Yuanman and said with a guilty conscience, "Forget it, forget it. Second Uncle, Little Uncle, Big Sister didn't mean it, she doesn't need to apologize to me."

She... she had only wanted to put on an act at first to get the uncles' attention back on her; she hadn't intended to target Nan Yuanman... Seeing Nan Yuanman being pressured by her uncles to apologize, she inexplicably felt that the girl was a bit pitiful.

"I didn't do anything wrong, and I don't need to apologize to you," Nan Yuanman said. "I also understand now that I shouldn't help you people casually in the future, otherwise, as Grandpa says, some people are just dogs."

"And I am like Lu Dongbin." [Translator's Note: A reference to the idiom "Lu Dongbin bites the hand that feeds him," implying one who treats a benefactor with ingratitude.]

She shouldn't have stepped in to help when she saw the flames on Jiang Xinxin's head fading. She should have just let the fire on her head go out and let her be haunted by malevolent spirits instead.

Grandpa was right; she was still too kind.

Jiang Xinxin didn't understand the subtext, but Jiang Hengzhi and Jiang Lixuan did. Their faces instantly darkened.

She was subtly calling them dogs!

Jiang Hengzhi’s face was black. "You are just like your mother—ill-bred and unreasonable!"

"My mother is also a member of the Jiang family. If she is ill-bred, isn't it because you didn't teach her?" Nan Yuanman bared her teeth. Her expression was incredibly innocent, but her words were enough to infuriate anyone: "You didn't teach her well, so she didn't teach me well. What do you call that?"

"It’s called 'every cause has an effect,' and you are getting your comeuppance through me!"

Jiang Lixuan: "..."

His mouth twitched. He reached out to cover her mouth, helpless. "Little ancestor, please stop talking."

If she kept going, he feared his second brother would be angered to death.

Jiang Hengzhi had never encountered a five-year-old with such a sharp tongue and such aggressive speech. He was indeed both embarrassed and furious. His upbringing prevented him from truly exploding at Nan Yuanman, so he could only lead the bewildered Jiang Xinxin away with a dark expression: "Let’s go, Xinxin. We don't play with bad children."

Hearing this, Jiang Lixuan subconsciously turned to look at Nan Yuanman, fearing she would be hurt by the remark.

Upon looking, however, he found that Nan Yuanman’s expression was calm, showing no signs of sadness at all.

Jiang Lixuan paused, vaguely realizing that although Nan Yuanman had returned to the Jiang family, she... did not like the Jiangs, or perhaps, she did not consider herself one of them at all.

To be precise, she simply didn't care about them.

This discovery left Jiang Lixuan feeling unsettled.

He opened his mouth and instinctively tried to defend Jiang Hengzhi: "Your second uncle is just like that; don't take it to heart."

"I wouldn't dream of taking it to heart," Nan Yuanman shrugged, saying with total indifference.

In her heart, her only family was her grandfather and her mother. The words of the Jiang family could not cause her any harm.

Jiang Lixuan was rendered speechless.

The two didn't linger outside and entered the hall. Jiang Hengzhi was accompanying Jiang Xinxin in the children's play area. Jiang Yueyao and Ge Peiyao were not around, likely out shopping.

Hearing Nan Yuanman’s footsteps, Jiang Hengzhi didn't even look up, completely ignoring her presence.

Jiang Xinxin still felt a bit guilty. Trying to make amends, she asked weakly, "Big Sister, do you want to play?"

"No." Nan Yuanman cast a glance at Jiang Hengzhi with her clear, round eyes and huffed, "There’s a retard over there. My grandfather told me not to play with retards; it’s easy to become stupid."

After saying this, she trotted upstairs on her short legs.

Jiang Hengzhi: "..."

Jiang Hengzhi: (╬ಠ益ಠ)

He looked at Jiang Lixuan in disbelief. "Did she just call me a retard?"

Jiang Lixuan nodded, suppressing a laugh.

The current Nan Yuanman was like a little cannonball, attacking them indiscriminately.

After the laughter faded, Jiang Lixuan recalled Nan Yuanman’s question earlier. His face showed hesitation and conflict. "Second brother... do you think... should we send someone to look for traces of Bai Wenyin?"

"Just in case... I mean, just in case."

"What if she really is... dead, just like Yuanman said?"