Chapter 8: Number One in the World

This child’s situation was a bit complicated.

Her father was a scumbag. He had even sold his own biological daughter once, and it was Mu Yixuan who had scoured countless remote mountains and ancient forests to find the child and bring her back. Due to special circumstances, her mother couldn’t take care of her, and her grandmother doted on the child excessively. In the end, she had spoiled her rotten without realizing it.

Now, only Mu Yixuan could keep her in check. Everywhere else, the child was a lawless little tyrant.

“I don’t expect this child to achieve much or anything like that. It doesn’t matter if I can’t teach her properly. I just hope she can live safely and peacefully. Sorry for the trouble.” Mu Yixuan sighed, her expression carrying an obvious sadness that anyone could see at a glance.

Nian Zhi’an frowned as she listened. Mu Yixuan rarely showed her vulnerability in front of outsiders unless her little sister’s situation was truly dire.

How had that unlucky child Mu Yutian followed in her own mother’s footsteps and hooked up with a scumbag too? Was she okay now?

“Don’t worry, President Mu. I’ll take good care of Tiantian.” She had to straighten out this wayward bear cub and set her on the right path. She couldn’t let down her friendship with Mu Yutian!

The two of them harbored their own thoughts, but their expressions remained perfectly amicable.

The teaching materials arrived almost at the same time as lunch. That bear child keenly spotted the books, so she took advantage of the adults’ momentary inattention to grab them and try to burn them with fire. Mu Yixuan stopped her, and she immediately threw a tantrum, crying and rolling on the floor. She looked so practiced that it clearly wasn’t her first time pulling this stunt.

Nian Zhi’an saw Mu Yixuan’s face turn extremely unpleasant, pale and bloodless. Her migraines were probably acting up again. In this state, she wouldn’t be able to handle the bear child.

Nian Zhi’an glanced at her several times and finally felt a bit soft-hearted. She stepped forward, grabbed the child who was sprawled on the floor by the back of her clothes, and hoisted her up.

Mu Tiantian suddenly found herself lifted into the air and screamed in fright.

“President Mu, why don’t you take a rest? Leave Tiantian to me.”

“No need. I have a meeting right away… What’s wrong with your left arm?” Mu Yixuan noticed Nian Zhi’an’s dangling left arm trembling slightly.

“It’s nothing. Just a crick in the neck.” Nian Zhi’an moved her arm to show that she was fine.

Seeing Nian Zhi’an easily subdue the bear child put Mu Yixuan’s mind at ease. After giving a few instructions, she left without even eating lunch.

Soon, only she and the bear child were left at home.

“Let me go!” Mu Tiantian realized she couldn’t break free, so she bared her teeth and tried to bite.

The consequence was that Nian Zhi’an scooped her up and gave her two spanks on the butt.

Nian Zhi’an wasn’t going to go easy on this little bear cub. The two spanks carried just the right amount of force—small motion, no broken skin or redness visible to outsiders, looking like nothing more than dusting her off. But they hurt like hell.

Mu Tiantian was stunned from the pain. After a moment of daze, she burst into loud wails, blurting out whatever came to mind: “I want Grandpa to kill you, waaah…”

Grandpa?

Nian Zhi’an raised an eyebrow. It seemed there was an unexpected windfall here.

This child’s grandfather was none other than Mu Yixuan’s father. He had originally been a poor boy, but with his glib tongue and sweet nothings, he had charmed a wealthy heiress and ridden her family’s influence to soar to the top.

While his father-in-law and mother-in-law were still alive, the man had restrained himself somewhat. But once those two pillars of support were gone, he revealed his true colors. Cheating outside was one thing, but after his wife gave birth to two daughters and damaged her health, leaving her unable to have more children, he felt his family line was at risk. So he had his mistress bear him a son.

Daughters were for marriage alliances, sons for inheriting the family business. While his wife was gravely ill, he brought his illegitimate son home and threatened her: if she didn’t want a divorce, she had to acknowledge the boy.

Mu Yixuan’s mother had been weak and ineffectual. Fortunately, Mu Yixuan was tough. She had kicked her father and his illegitimate son out of the company, forced her parents to divorce with her father leaving penniless, and had them beaten every time they showed up until that scumbag never dared appear again.

By the timeline, this child shouldn’t have met her grandfather, let alone say something like having him come kill someone.

Mu Yixuan was still too soft-hearted. She had actually given that scourge a chance to get close to her family. If she hadn’t “died” and come back after ten years, would she have to clean up the mess for Mu Yixuan?

Tsk. In the future, she’d have to tease her properly about it whenever she got the chance!

“Go ahead and scream. Scream your lungs out—no one’s coming to save you!” Nian Zhi’an patted the bear child’s head. “Scream all you want, and then we’ll eat?”

“No way! I don’t want to eat that stuff! I want fried chicken and burgers!”

Nian Zhi’an was easygoing about it. If she didn’t want to eat, then they wouldn’t. She proceeded to eat all the food on the table right in front of the child. Mu Tiantian was held in Nian Zhi’an’s arms and couldn’t run around. She watched wide-eyed as this woman truly left not even a drop of soup for her!

“I want fried chicken and burgers!” Mu Tiantian nearly kicked the table over with one foot.

Nian Zhi’an wiped her mouth with a napkin and said to the child with great apology, “Sorry, Big Sis has no money on her. Why don’t you call your aunt and have her order some?”

The child widened her eyes, probably never expecting Nian Zhi’an to be this shameless.

But she also knew Mu Yixuan wouldn’t buy them for her, so calling wouldn’t help.

“You vicious bad woman!”

Nian Zhi’an narrowed her eyes with a smile. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“I’m telling Auntie you abused me!”

“It was your Auntie who told me to be strict with you!”

Right? President Mu?

Nian Zhi’an glanced at a certain red light in the corner of the living room.

“Pfft…” The secretary quietly turned her head away.

The tablet computer Mu Yixuan had opened was displaying the live feed from home, with the sound coming through clear as day.

Guo Yuzhen seemed much more lively when Mu Yixuan wasn’t around. Mu Yixuan’s lips curved up slightly, but the next second, her expression darkened.

Mu Xiong—her father, who hadn’t died out there after all—had actually snuck back without a sound?

This surveillance had been set up to watch the suspicious Guo Yuzhen, but in the end, its real use had fallen on her little niece.

For Mu Xiong to meet Mu Tiantian behind her back, there was only one possibility.

Not only had her father stabbed her in the back, but her own mother—who couldn’t see reality clearly and still longed for her husband to turn over a new leaf—had become an accomplice.

Hah, how ironic. Compared to her own family, Guo Yuzhen suddenly seemed utterly adorable.

The secretary waited quietly for Mu Yixuan to close the computer before saying, “President Mu, Miss Liu has asked to meet you at the coffee shop downstairs at 3:00 p.m.”

“Got it.” Mu Yixuan acknowledged.

The secretary should have left then, but she hesitated for a long moment before speaking up. “President Mu, Guo Yuzhen is a grateful child. These years, she’s studied hard and worked three jobs a day, living frugally just to pay back what she owes you. Someone like her wouldn’t do anything ungrateful. She’s… she’s not like Huang Jing.”

Huang Jing—Song Qi’an’s former college roommate. She had leveraged her friendship with Song Qi’an to seek Mu Yixuan’s help, only to one day drive a car at her in an attempt to kill her.

The secretary had felt uneasy about that woman from the start, but she believed Guo Yuzhen was different. That girl’s eyes were clear and pure, her character impeccable.

“We’ll see what Liu Shanyan digs up.” Mu Yixuan frowned slightly and closed her tired eyes.

She didn’t want to suspect her, but the clues were too many.

Even so, she had to admit that Guo Yuzhen had a knack for teaching children. In less than a week, Mu Tiantian was sitting properly at the table to eat on her own and had even picked up a bit of table manners.

This was a critical period for shaping the child’s personality. Nian Zhi’an had good reason to suspect that her grandfather was largely responsible for her current state. Away from that toxic influence, there was still a chance to set her straight.

Mu Yixuan occasionally ate with them. She still found it somewhat unbelievable when she saw Mu Tiantian sitting quietly beside her and eating properly. The bear child tried to tattle, but Mu Yixuan immediately transferred a bonus to Nian Zhi’an on the spot.

The bear child burst into wails. Her own aunt wasn’t taking her side. From now on, she’d have to suffer under the Big Demon Head’s bullying!

The two adults exchanged a smile behind her back. Regardless of any other grudges or entanglements, they were in complete agreement on educating the child.

Seeing such a change softened Mu Yixuan’s heart a little more. She even thought that if it really turned out this young woman was going to betray her, she’d let it slide for the sake of having taught her little niece so well—forgive and forget.

Soon, Liu Shanyan’s investigation into Guo Yuzhen yielded results.

Her social circle was very simple, with no contact from other factions—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been bullied so badly at school.

As for her habits being identical to Song Qi’an’s…

“Coincidence, right? It’s not like Song Qi’an died unwillingly and crawled back from the underworld to possess her body, is it? I remember that girl was in a pretty serious car accident before. Wasn’t the timing a bit too convenient? Could the soul in that young lady’s body have already been swapped? Hahaha…” Liu Shanyan was a bit drunk and spoke without thinking.

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.

Ten years ago, she had thought the same. If Song Qi’an harbored resentment, she could come back from hell to take revenge. But that woman—whether she’d truly let go or not—had never appeared…

She had long since abandoned such unrealistic fantasies. Yet Liu Shanyan’s words easily shook her again.

Mu Yixuan downed the bitter liquor in her glass. The lights on the ceiling were somewhat dazzling, fragmented and hazy, as if blurred by watery light.