Han Ruochen glanced at her half-sister, then at the woman who had given her birth. She wondered what kind of magic tonic Master Yun had given to Meng Yunhan that even after acting like a sucker all his life, Meng Yunhan still doted on him and treated his daughter so well. But her father, who treated Meng Yunhan like she was his sun and moon, was treated as if he were a bug under her feet. She wondered if her mother was suffering from Stockholm syndrome or something of the sort. Because nothing else could explain why she would want to stay with a man like Master Yun.

"This is my hunt," said Han Ruochen in a low and dangerous voice. "And the money is my own. If you want to get your hands on the golden moray, then you can go ahead and catch your own."

When Meng Yunhan heard that Han Ruochen would rather watch their family struggle than give the money to her and Han Ziyan, she turned furious. She raised a finger and pointed at Han Ruochen before saying to her, "You are an unfilial bastard. I should have killed you when I gave birth to you. Your family is suffering and struggling, and you would rather buy a piece of cold iron and a motor than help your family?"

The tension in the courtyard rose swiftly. It was thick enough to choke someone.

Han Ziyan took a step forward and said to Han Ruochen in a sweet voice, "Sister, I know that mom’s words are harsh, but she is only looking out for you. You do not even have the right connections. Where will you sell this thing? It will be better if you give it to me." As she spoke, her hand was already reaching out for the lid of the aerated box; it was as if it did not matter whether Han Ruochen agreed or not; she was not going to let Han Ruochen sell the golden moray and buy a motorboat.

Han Ziyan knew very well that if Han Ruochen were to buy a motorboat, and that too in such a short time, then no one would respect or idolise her. She had finally got the chance to show off in front of others and did not want Han Ruochen to snatch the chance from her. That would be a real shame. She might as well snatch the thing from Han Ruochen and keep it with her.

"Whose fault is it that the family is suffering? Who was the one who gave away more than ten thousand yuan to her cousin without asking Dad or the family? Was it me? No!" Han Ruochen sneered. Her voice was as cold as the deep trench waters. "It was Mom. She is the reason why our family is suffering. So why should I pay for the mistake that she has made? And if she doesn’t want to work, then she can always ask her cousin to give her the money back. Why is she bullying me?"

Han Ruochen did not wait and snatched the aerated box away.

As she stepped back, Han Yong stepped forward and stood between her and Han Ziyan. He glanced at his mother and adopted sister before saying in a low and dangerous voice, "So, it seems like you are still doing your best to ruin the lives of the rest of my siblings as well, Mother. What’s the matter? Ruining my life and my second sister’s life was not enough that you are now targeting Ruochen and the others as well?"

"You! When did I ruin your life? On the contrary, I helped you." Mother Han was furious and guilty. She couldn’t meet Han Yong’s eyes, but at the same time, she hated the idea of being blamed for something. She knew what she had done in the past was wrong, but it had already happened, and she had taken the money. There was nothing that she could do now that it had already happened.

Han Yong sneered. He said coldly, "I don’t care what you did to me and my second sister. But don’t you try to reach your dirty hands to my younger siblings." He then turned to look at Han Ziyan, who stiffened and stepped back. "And you too. It’s good enough that we have given you a place to stay in our family and food to eat; why are you still not satisfied? How hard it is for you to accept that you are not the Han family’s daughter, and what you have received is more than enough. Learn to be grateful, will you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Han Ziyan’s expression changed again and again. Her eyes started to swim with tears, and she looked like she was close to crying.

She turned around and ran back inside the house, even though she knew that the Han siblings did not like her. Hearing such words made her feel like she was a beggar being raised on alms, and Han Ziyan did not like it even the slightest bit!

"You! How dare you say such things to her? This is her home as much as it is yours!" Meng Yunhan was infuriated. Han Ziyan was her precious darling daughter. How dare this bastard say such words to her?

"This is not her home; it’s my dad’s home," snapped Han Yong. "And I think you should also get this thing in your head. Stop trying to steal our resources to make her comfortable. You might owe something to her and your late sister, but we do not owe shit to Han Ziyan. It’s good enough that she has the Han family name; why do you insist on making us submit to her!"

Han Yong could not understand what was going on in her mother’s mind; she did not care about her biological children but was worried about her adopted daughter.

"Let’s go, Brother." Han Ruochen knew what her brother was thinking. However, now was not the time to let the cat out of the bag, so she pulled her brother out of the courtyard.