’In the future, those relatives might go to the provincial capital to look for them, but there’s no need to worry. After so long, their familial bonds had faded. Anyone would feel differently than before.’

’This was the most amicable and effective solution. After all, if things had really turned ugly, her dad would have been the one most hurt in the end.’

Seeing that her parents were fine, Qin Jiao went upstairs. She had hung some laundry on the small balcony earlier and was intending to bring it in. But when she pushed open the balcony door, she saw Shen Yi on the one next door.

He had shot up in height to over six feet and was much more solidly built than in her past life. The big kid had, without her realizing, shed his boyishness and taken on the appearance of a mature man. His expression was hard to make out as he leaned against the railing, gazing up at the stars.

’He wasn’t even wearing a padded jacket. Didn’t he feel the cold? He must be really resistant to it.’

Qin Jiao had no intention of exchanging pleasantries, or even greeting him, because she had come out to the balcony to retrieve her drying panties.

’In this day and age, a novelty like a clothes dryer didn’t exist, and even washing machines were a luxury only the wealthy could afford.’

Spring, summer, and fall were fine. The northern climate was dry and had little rain, so laundry dried quickly. Winter, however, was miserable.

After being washed and hung outside, clothes would freeze solid in just a few minutes!

At that point, if you tried to bend them, the clothes might just snap!

Qin Jiao gathered her laundry and turned to leave. But Shen Yi, who had been mostly facing away, suddenly turned toward her and saw the pink panties in her hand.

Qin Jiao: "..."

’Fine. It’s not like she was particularly bothered; they had been husband and wife in their past life, after all. But just because she wasn’t bothered didn’t mean Qin Jiao was willing to stand there and chitchat with Shen Yi while holding *this*.’

She offered a quick greeting and was about to head back inside.

But Shen Yi suddenly spoke. "Going back this time might get a little messy, because I’m going to fight for my share of the family assets."

Since he had spoken, Qin Jiao had no choice but to stop.

’Hearing him talk about fighting for the family assets, though, was certainly a surprise.’

In her past life, the young master had never been short on money. He viewed it as worthless, having no idea how much was on the books for the Shen Family’s companies and factories. He was even more clueless about how much money his own father had secretly funneled to other people.

To put it bluntly, Shen Yi had no concept of money. By the time he finally developed one, Du Liya was dead, the Shen Family’s assets had all fallen into Chen Feng’s hands, and he had gone from a pampered young master to a commander with no troops.

At that point, Shen Yi had wanted to fight for his inheritance, but it was already too late.

’This time around, he’d wised up quite a bit. If he started fighting for it early, he might be able to squeeze a little more money out of Shen Zhengfeng.’

’That way, Chen Feng would get a lot less in the future.’

But Qin Jiao suddenly remembered something. She said to Shen Yi, "I heard from Grandpa Du that your family’s company owns two large factories—one that makes clothing and a paint factory."

"That’s right."

"The paint factory is the most profitable, but when the time comes, you and Aunt Du shouldn’t take that one."

The light on the balcony was dim, obscuring one half of Shen Yi’s handsome face. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

’Actually, that’s what he had been planning as well.’

’When his grandfather had Shen Zhengfeng sign the agreement, he had only asked for half of his assets. If he had demanded too much, that man probably wouldn’t have agreed to the divorce at all and would have done something desperate.’

’So, one half was a sum that Shen Zhengfeng could reluctantly accept, but it was an amount that still stung badly.’

’Now, Shen Zhengfeng was in an impossible situation. He had to go through with the divorce whether he wanted to or not. Otherwise, things would get extremely ugly, and he might never be able to marry Li Xiaomei.’