What?
Favoring a stepdaughter at the expense of your own daughter?
Giving the stepdaughter five hundred without hesitation while giving nothing to your own daughter headed to the countryside?
In an instant, the nerve of the bystanders was struck.
Lin Youwei and Yi Yong are sworn enemies; Yi Yong's position as production director was snatched forcefully from Lin Youwei.
Because of this, the previously amicable relationship between the two completely soured, resulting in constant competition and the seeking of leverage against each other at work.
Upon hearing Yi Chichi's words, Lin Youwei saw an opportunity.
"Old Yi, this is too much. You give five hundred to the stepdaughter without a word, but nothing to your own daughter headed to the countryside. People might think Yi Jing is your own daughter."
He said this in a mocking tone, but the party involved couldn't help but feel guilty.
Nor could the bystanders, who excel at imagining and assuming.
Things that didn't happen could spread as though witnessed firsthand, and they alone knew what the existing situation would be imagined into.
Besides, there were quite a few stirrers on the third floor.
Sure enough, Aunt Lan Hua, who lived by the stairway, stepped in. She glanced at Yi Jing, then at Yi Yong, and said thoughtfully, "I always found it strange. What kind of idiot man treats someone else's child like a treasure while treating his own daughter like dirt?
I once thought Mr. Yi had something wrong in his head, like it was caught in a door. It turns out it wasn't his brain caught in a door, but rather that Yi Jing is his own daughter."
"Now that you mention it, these two do look alike, especially their eyes, nose, and mouth. They look like they were carved from the same mold. My goodness, could Yi Jing really be Yi Yong's own daughter?!"
"Xiao Jing, have you gone back to see your biological grandparents?"
Seeing Yi Yong's face darkening as if he could drip water, someone shifted the topic to Yi Jing.
The topic changed so quickly that Yi Yong didn't have time to react. Being mentioned, Yi Jing, who was inherently impatient, also failed to react.
Additionally, while searching for the place Yi Yong had instructed to keep the five hundred that she had forgotten, her mood was already irritated.
And so, upon hearing the question, her mouth spoke faster than her brain, "My real grandparents have been dead for a long time."
This response was akin to a self-detonation.
Everyone knew that Yi Yong lost his father at a young age, and his elderly mother passed away a few years ago.
Zhang Lanxiang's ex-husband's parents, on the other hand, were still alive and well.
When Yi Jing said her real grandparents had long been dead, her statement dropped like water into boiling oil, leaving everyone dizzy.
Yi Yong's vision darkened, and he backhanded a slap across Yi Jing's face, "What nonsense are you talking?! You..."
"Old Yi, why are you hitting Jingjing? She didn't say anything wrong."
Zhang Lanxiang, initially detached from the matter and waiting to see Yi Yong's reaction, was inflamed to see him lay a hand on Yi Jing, feeling the fire suppressed in her chest flare up.
She pushed Yi Yong away, embraced a disbelieving Yi Jing, and lamented tearfully, "Do you have any conscience? I've borne your children, allowed Jingjing to bear the identity of stepdaughter all these years, and now you hit her? On what grounds do you hit her? Do you know you're in the wrong?"
Thinking about the years of serving Yi Yong like a master, how life was just that way, she felt increasingly aggrieved.
No longer able to hold back, she hugged Yi Jing and cried.
Tears streamed down like raindrops on a pear blossom.
"I didn't, I wasn't, it's all nonsense from Chichi."
Yi Yong, in his anxiety, began to sweat from his forehead. Seeing everyone's increasingly strange expressions, he opened his mouth to explain, but his mind went blank, and all he could do was attribute it to Yi Chichi's nonsense.
Today is your day!
Seeing him anxious as a hot ant on a frying pan, Yi Chichi sneered in her heart, but outwardly appeared as if she had lost her parents, looking pitiful and despairing.
"So what I heard back then was true; Yi Jing really is your daughter. No wonder, no wonder..."
With a look of sudden realization, she appeared startled as if recalling something, "So, the fire that sacrificed my mom was actually set by you and Zhang Lanxiang?"
"What?!"
Granny Zhang, who lived farthest inside, changed her expression and rushed over, her face twisted, grabbing Yi Chichi's hand, "Chichi, where did you hear that from?"
"Yi Chichi, stop talking nonsense."
Yi Yong panicked and reached out to grab Yi Chichi, looking ferocious enough to eat someone.
Madam Liu and the others, eager to hear the big scandal, exchanged a glance and collectively blocked Yi Yong.
Madam Liu's husband, Liu Shuigen, even stood in support of Yi Chichi, declaring firmly, "Chichi, rest assured and speak up. We'll seek justice for you."
There were only so many positions in the textile factory; if Yi Yong weren't taken down, others stood no chance of promotion.
Besides, Yi Yong was really unpleasant, acting more pompously than the factory director. Not just Lin Youwei, Yi Yong's sworn enemy, but even the workers like Liu Shuigen found him objectionable.
So, after stopping Yi Yong, everyone encouraged Yi Chichi to speak up and complain.
Yi Chichi cautiously glanced at Yi Yong, then pointed straight at Zhang Lanxiang and Yi Jing, "They were the ones who said it."
The mother and daughter pair seemed a bit bewildered, faces showing confusion.
"Yesterday, I heard her say with my own ears that if she could burn my mom to death with Yi Yong, it wouldn't be difficult to do the same to me..."
At this point, Yi Chichi collapsed, seemingly unable to bear it anymore, crouching on the ground and covering her face, sobbing.
After this, she didn't need to appear again; that fire back then didn't just take her mother's life.
It took nine lives in total.
That included Granny Zhang's son.
Aunt Lan Hua's husband from next door was also among them.
When they found out this terrible news, one having lost a son, the other a husband, the women went mad with rage.
"Zhang Lanxiang..."
Granny Zhang scolded fiercely, darting forward and grabbing Zhang Lanxiang's hair, slapping her hard.
She cursed as she scolded, with words so vile they needed censoring.
"Get off, old woman, let go of me, smack..."
Seeing his mother getting hit, Yi Jian Country couldn't tolerate it, charging forward to rescue Zhang Lanxiang, only to get slapped in the face.
"Your mom set fire and killed people, and you think that's justified?!"
The one who hit him was Aunt Lan Hua, and upon learning the truth about her husband's death, a tide of grief and hatred surged within her.
Yi Jian Country's appearance gave her an outlet for her anger.
And so, Yi Chichi watched in surprise as she and Granny Zhang pressed down the mother and son, beating them.
Yi Yong and Yi Jing glared with rage, shouting curses, demanding their captors release them.
But no one paid them any mind, and Lin Youwei even instructed someone to call Director Zhang JianShe.
Over ten minutes later, Director Zhang arrived with his people.
"Yi Yong, there are reports accusing you and your wife Zhang Lanxiang of having improper relations before marriage. And also accusing you of starting a fire 14 years ago, murdering your ex-wife Zi Shuyu, Zhang Jun, and Lu Tieniu—nine people in total. Now, please come with us for investigation!"
Director Zhang's arrival quieted the noisy corridor.
Yi Yong's legs went weak, but his mind started working, thinking about how to evade the investigation.