Chapter 385 — Wang Xinyan's Family Troubles
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Though puzzled, Wei Zhao still answered the call. "Hello, who's this..."
But no sooner had he picked up than the line went dead at the other end.
What did that mean? A wrong number? Or something else? Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, then called back. After all, this was the first time Wang Xinyan had ever phoned him; he could hardly just ignore it.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off or out of the service area. Please try again later..."
The mechanical recording told him the other party had turned off her phone.
Wei Zhao frowned. Could it be that Wang Xinyan had been about to call him and her battery had simply died at that very moment?
He shook his head and slipped the phone back into his pocket. Since he could not reach her, there was nothing more he could do. He was worried, yes, but they were, after all, only chance acquaintances, and Wang Xinyan was far away in Yanjing. Distant water cannot quench a fire nearby—he had no idea where she was at all.
In Yanjing, inside a *** mansion, a man with a murderous look on his face snatched the phone from Wang Xinyan's hand and dashed it violently to the ground. Not content with that, he stamped on it several times and cursed, "You little wretch! Trying to call for help, were you? Who would have thought you'd have a phone hidden on you! Good thing I didn't dare stray far and kept my eye on you the whole time, or you'd have ruined everything!"
Wang Xinyan silently glanced at the phone, its casing smashed to pieces under his heel, then raised her head coldly. "I'm your cousin. Is this how you treat me?"
"Cousin? Hah! First spit out the property of the Xiao family you've swallowed, then we'll talk!" The man gave a cold snort. "By Grandfather's will, you've already been married off to someone else. Until that man comes to deliver the betrothal gifts, don't even think about leaving this room!"
With that, the man slammed the door shut with a bang, and the sound of the lock turning came right after...
Wang Xinyan gave a helpless sigh. Had she known the Xiao family's situation was this dire, she would never have come back. Now not only were her parents under house arrest at the hands of these people, but she herself had, for no reason at all, been promised in marriage to a man she had never met—all because of her grandfather's will!
Only after arriving at the Xiao household did Wang Xinyan learn that the Xiao family was not nearly as prosperous as it appeared. Her two uncles were still fighting over the family fortune, but the Xiao family had long since been rotten at the core, strong only in appearance.
Her grandfather had suffered from senile dementia, and in the last few years of his life he had signed a series of muddled contracts that not only lost the company a great deal of money but buried it under a mountain of debt. Even if the company were sold now, it would barely be enough to cover what was owed.
Her two uncles, who had been at each other's throats over the inheritance, became—once they had a clear picture of the family's finances—strangely united. They could not even pay off the debts now; what was the point of fighting over the estate? What estate was there left to fight over?
All that remained were a few properties the old man had bought while he was alive. But a handful of properties you could count on your fingers was not worth quarreling over—a rough, even split would do.
To ordinary people, these villas and properties were already a fortune worth its weight in gold; the rent alone would support a comfortable life for a lifetime. But for the two Xiao brothers, long accustomed to lavish, free-spending luxury, it was unbearable.
And so they set their sights on their sister, who had been away from home for years—Wang Xinyan's mother, Xiao Qinlin.