The name that the Jiang Family could never forget.
Even after ten years have passed, the Jiang Family’s hostility and hatred toward Jiang Ning have not diminished in the slightest; instead, they have grown day by day.
Xue Lan stared intently at Jiang Ning on the phone screen while finding her mother-in-law Zhao Shu, who was busy in the backyard vegetable garden.
"What are you screaming about?" Zhao Shu said angrily.
She had always disliked her lazy and idle daughter-in-law. If it weren’t for the fact that she contributed to the Jiang Family by having two sons and a daughter, she would have made her son divorce her.
"Mom, look at this!" Xue Lan dragged her aside, ignoring Zhao Shu’s discontent, and pointed at the paused silhouette on the phone screen: "Look! Little bastard! She’s now a big star!"
"What little bastard." Zhao Shu stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something, and quickly reacted by glaring: "You, you mean..."
"Yes! That’s right! Jiang Ning! The fraudster who swindled Dad’s entire estate years ago! She’s become a star!" Xue Lan confirmed Zhao Shu’s suspicion decisively.
Zhao Shu was so angry she felt dizzy: "That little bastard! She dares to show up! Where is she now?"
"Well... I just saw it on my phone." Xue Lan was momentarily lost for words.
Just then, Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran, who had been resting in their room, heard the commotion and came out, asking, "Mom, grandma, what’s going on? Did something happen?"
Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran were high school students, much better at using phones than Xue Lan.
Seeing them, Xue Lan felt as if she had seen her saviors and immediately said, "You came just in time! Come help me find out where this person named Jiang Ning is now!"
"Jiang Ning?" Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran were somewhat surprised to hear the name from their mother.
The two exchanged a glance and immediately stepped forward.
They looked at Xue Lan’s phone screen and quickly recognized who was on it: "Mom, you’re actually a fan of Jiang Ning? Jiang Ning is recording a show now; if you want to find her, it’s nearly impossible."
Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran also liked watching videos and were familiar with Jiang Ning, who was currently at the peak of popularity.
Speaking of which, they were somewhat casual fans of Jiang Ning.
Unexpectedly, hearing their words, Xue Lan’s expression turned resentful: "What fans! Such a bitch! Fraudster! People who like her are blind!"
Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran were shocked: "Mom, what did you say?"
Xue Lan snorted coldly: "You forgot about the little bastard who lived at your grandpa’s house when you were kids?"
With this remark, Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran didn’t need to strain their memories to know who their mom was talking about.
Back then, they were still small, only seven or eight years old, but they were old enough to remember.
They didn’t understand divorce at such a young age. From their earliest memories, grandpa and grandma never lived together.
Grandpa lived alone, while grandma lived with the whole family.
But the grandma’s family lived in the countryside, while grandpa lived alone in the town.
Their biggest wish as kids was to live with grandpa because his house was big and spacious. More importantly, grandpa was wealthy and bought them lots of treats.
Until one day, a little girl several years older than them appeared in grandpa’s house.
In their memory, grandma had led the parents to cause a ruckus many times, but eventually, the entire family was driven away angrily by grandpa.
That little girl always stayed at grandpa’s house.
Not only did grandma and mom and dad loathe her, but the young Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran also disliked her, secretly calling her "little bastard."
Until grandpa passed away, that little girl disappeared too.
But what left the deepest impression was not this; instead, they had frequently heard from the adults over the years that the little bastard had taken off with grandpa’s entire inheritance!
Otherwise, the Jiang Family wouldn’t be so poor!
Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran never expected that the person their family had constantly cursed was actually Jiang Ning!
"Mom, are you sure you’re not mistaken?" Jiang Wen still couldn’t believe it.
"How could I be wrong! Her name was even given by your grandpa! It’s your grandpa’s last name!" Zhao Shu said furiously.
Even after all these years, whenever this topic was mentioned, she was so angry it hurt her heart.
The old man’s considerable wealth!
It all fell into the hands of that little bastard!
Xue Lan also thought about this and held Zhao Shu’s hand, saying, "Mom! We can’t let Jiang Ning off so easily! We didn’t know where she was before, but now that we do, she must return the portion of the estate that’s rightfully ours!"
"How much was it?" Jiang Wen asked.
He was quite young then and couldn’t quite remember.
"Back then, your grandpa had several properties just in the town, and he had other underground assets as well! He was practically the richest man in town. Only Jiang Ning knows exactly how much!" Xue Lan said resentfully, thinking about all that money slipping away to Jiang Ning, and she felt a painful ache.
Jiang Wen and Jiang Xiaoran were astonished: "That much!"
Afterward, hatred and dislike rose in their eyes directed at Jiang Ning.
Growing up hearing the resentment towards the little bastard grandpa had taken in as a foster child, it was only natural that this hatred now turned towards Jiang Ning.
"Mom, grandma! We have to get that money back!" Jiang Xiaoran said greedily.
With that amount of money, if it could be reclaimed from Jiang Ning, she could become a rich second-generation heiress!
"That’s probably impossible to get back. This was so many years ago... Plus, Jiang Ning is a celebrity now; lots of people online like her." Although Jiang Wen was also tempted by the money, he was still sensible and muttered: "She has over 20 million followers just on TikTok. So many people; a single spit from each could drown us."
"What’s there to fear! It’s not our fault!" Jiang Xiaoran wasn’t afraid at all: "She’s an outsider holding our Jiang Family’s assets. If this gets out, she’ll be the one being blamed!"
Jiang Xiaoran was even starting to get excited.
These days, everyone wants to be famous; Jiang Xiaoran had long dreamt of something happening to boost her to the trending list, gaining attention and traffic, and becoming wealthy.
She suddenly realized that this was a golden opportunity!
It must be fate answering her wishes!
Jiang Xiaoran’s breath quickened, eyes full of ambitious desire and determination to bring Jiang Ning down.