ASPWL Ch37: Kin or Not

In the banquet hall, glasses clinked, but outside the villa, police sirens soon wailed.

Gossip spreads fast, and it wasn’t long before what happened on the fourth floor spread.

At this moment, upon hearing the commotion outside, the guests’ eyes gleamed with gossip.

Yang Kun and Yang Yuan were the first to go out.

The guests were eager to see what was happening, but in the end, they didn’t go out to add trouble for Yang Kun.

Ye Leyao wanted to sneak out, but was stopped by Huo Jing.

With no other choice, Ye Leyao could only obediently stay in the hall.

Soon, Yang Yuan came back, but Yang Kun did not return until the banquet ended.

With such an incident happening at the host’s place, the banquet naturally didn’t last long. Before it ended, Ye Leyao found Yang Yuan and exchanged contact information with him.

After returning home, Ye Leyao was wondering how to ask Yang Yuan about the afternoon situation when he saw that Yang Yuan had posted a long update on his Moments (social media). The content of the Moments post was a summary:

First, he cursed Yang Jie and his family, and then he briefly explained the follow-up.

Only then did Ye Leyao realize that he really had missed seeing Yang Jie hit Yang Tian before the door closed.

Yang Jie was really furious, especially when he realized that Yang Tian even dared to hit him. In that moment, his anger reached its peak.

Almost without thinking, he turned and started fighting with Yang Tian.

Jiang Fang couldn’t bear to see her precious son being bullied and immediately went to help Yang Tian beat Yang Jie.

Zhong Kang stood by, not knowing who to help, for a while. Later, seeing Yang Tian using real force, he was so scared that he stepped forward to separate them and called the police and an ambulance.

When Yang Kun and Yang Yuan went out, they saw Yang Jie, covered in blood, sitting on the ground, cursing Yang Tian.

Yang Tian was also injured, but he didn’t shed a tear and even started hitting Jiang Fang and Zhong Kang.

Yang Kun followed the ambulance to take Yang Jie to the hospital.

After Yang Jie’s wound was treated, the police came to take statements.

Seeing that Yang Jie was fine, Yang Kun prepared to leave, but Yang Jie grabbed him and tearfully begged for forgiveness.

In the past, Yang Kun and the Yang family had given Yang Jie many chances over the years. It was Yang Jie himself who pushed them further and further away.

People’s hearts are made of flesh; when hurt, even if the wound heals, the scar remains.

So, no matter how much Yang Jie repented, the harm he caused to Yang Kun’s family could never be erased.

But after all, Yang Jie was still Yang Kun’s younger brother, and Yang Kun couldn’t just turn a blind eye.

Before leaving the hospital, Yang Kun contacted a lawyer for Yang Jie.

Yang Jie was very grateful for this.

[Looks like Yang Jie is determined to get a divorce.]

Ye Leyao shook his head and sighed.

[What a pity. For such a morally corrupt family, I was hoping they would stay together.]

Papa and Mama Huo agreed with Ye Leyao, but after all, it wasn’t their family matter, so they couldn’t intervene too much.

After the first episode of the variety show was filmed, Ye Leyao didn’t have any shooting tasks for a while, so Li Li arranged some acting classes for him.

But every time he was in class, Ye Leyao felt like he had forgotten something important.

But he couldn’t recall it immediately.

After a week of classes, Yang Yuan posted another update on his Moments.

Yang Jie finally decided to divorce Jiang Fang.

But one of the conditions for the divorce was that Yang Tian’s custody must go to Yang Jie.

Ye Leyao was momentarily dumbfounded upon seeing this:

[What? Yang Tian isn’t even your son, so why do you want his custody?]

[And Zhong Kang knows Yang Tian is his biological son. Didn’t he come to fight for custody?]

Papa and Mama Huo were also surprised.

“Could it be that, after raising him for more than ten years, Yang Jie developed feelings for him?” Papa Huo asked puzzledly.

Mama Huo frowned, “Not likely, right? If there were real feelings, how could he have beaten him so hard at the banquet that day?”

Papa Huo agreed.

They both felt that Yang Jie’s actions weren’t simple and that he was probably planning something bigger.

Sure enough, the next moment, they heard Ye Leyao’s laughter:

[Hahaha, I didn’t expect it to be like this! I must say, Yang Jie is really something!]

[If Jiang Fang wants money, she must give up custody of Yang Tian. But if she insists on keeping Yang Tian, she won’t get a penny…]

[After all, these years, neither Yang Jie nor his wife had proper jobs. Yang Jie had been living off his family, particularly his brother. All his money came from the Yang family. If Yang Jie insists on not giving money, Jiang Fang really won’t get a penny!]

[Jiang Fang’s actions surprised me too. I thought she really loved her precious son… But just two days later, she signed the divorce agreement and took the money from Yang Jie to go abroad. As for Zhong Kang—]

[He was probably scared by Yang Tian’s attitude. He didn’t fight for custody, didn’t even do a paternity test, and cut off contact with Jiang Fang.]

[Finally, about Yang Tian…]

What happened to Yang Tian in the end?

Ye Leyao couldn’t hold back, lying on the bed laughing for a long time.

[Yang Jie thinks Yang Tian is mentally ill, took him to the hospital for a check-up, got the doctor’s diagnosis, and then sent him to a psychiatric hospital!]

[It seems he really minded being beaten by Yang Tian!]

Papa and Mama Huo couldn’t help but laugh too.

An evil person will eventually meet someone who can deal with them. It’s not surprising that Yang Jie treated Yang Tian this way.

Mama Huo said, “That kid seems too ruthless. Frankly speaking, he lacks humanity… To be so cruel to the parents who raised him for over ten years.”

Papa Huo nodded in agreement, “It’s better to send him to the hospital for treatment early. Otherwise, as he grows up, he’ll be a threat to others… Yang Jie did at least one good thing.”

After reading the entire post, Ye Leyao laughed for a long time. But while laughing, he suddenly thought of a problem:

[So what about Jiang Fang’s two daughters?]

“That’s right,” Mama Huo also thought about it, “Jiang Fang wouldn’t have left the two daughters behind, would she?”

One of those kids just turned sixteen, and the other is only fifteen.

If Jiang Fang really abandons them, how will they live afterwards?

Yang Yuan’s Moments didn’t mention the daughters’ whereabouts, and Ye Leyao was really curious. So, he opened the chat with Yang Yuan, hesitating on how to ask when a message popped up on his phone.

Ye Leyao saw that it was from Qin Yao.

Qin Yao: {Interested in visiting the set?}

Ye Leyao: “?”

[What set?]

Qin Yao seemed to know what Ye Leyao was thinking: {Don’t you want to check out the set of the drama you invested in? The other male lead has already been chosen, and they started filming today.}

Ye Leyao immediately perked up: {Which actor did you choose?}

Qin Yao played coy: {Why don’t you come and see for yourself?}

As someone who stays home whenever possible and having been attending acting classes for the past few days, Ye Leyao finally had a day off. Did he really want to go out?

On second thought, Ye Leyao decided he had to go check it out to be at ease.

After all, he was an investor in this drama and had actually put money into it!

If Qin Yao picked another terrible actor, Ye Leyao’s money would be wasted!

This money was supposed to be the Yang family’s future money; Ye Leyao couldn’t allow that to happen!

So, Ye Leyao quickly replied: {Alright, I’ll come today!}

Qin Yao soon sent over the address.

Just as Ye Leyao was about to get up and change clothes, he suddenly remembered his earlier question. Since Qin Yao was related to the Yang family, he should know some inside information, right?

So, Ye Leyao simply sent the question over.

Soon, Qin Yao replied: {My uncle contacted their biological father, and now they’ve been taken in by him.}

Ye Leyao was completely relieved to see this message.

{The two sisters were neglected by Jiang Fang and Yang Jie for so many years. Being taken in by their biological father is a good outcome.}

Hearing this, Papa and Mama Huo were also completely relieved.

Finally, they had the full story and were satisfied!

…

After changing his clothes, Ye Leyao hurried downstairs, informed Papa and Mama Huo, and got into the car to head to the set, feeling slightly apprehensive.

On the way, Ye Leyao kept looking through his notes, trying to remember the names of a few problematic actors to protect his investment.

But Ye Leyao never expected to see a familiar face when he arrived at the set—Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan didn’t expect the investor Qin Yao mentioned to be Ye Leyao either. He quickly approached and warmly hugged Ye Leyao.

Before Qin Yao could explain, Yang Yuan enthusiastically told Ye Leyao why he joined the crew.

Yang Yuan had studied acting abroad.

This time he returned not only for Grandpa Yang’s birthday banquet but also to develop his career.

It happened that Qin Yao’s production still hadn’t found a suitable actor, so Yang Yuan volunteered.

Hearing this, Ye Leyao glanced at Qin Yao.

Qin Yao had a confident smile.

Rather than searching for an actor without any scandals in the entertainment industry’s complex landscape, it was better to choose a well-known newcomer.

There shouldn’t be any mistakes now, right?

Qin Yao looked at Ye Leyao with some expectation.

Ye Leyao thought to himself:

[It seems Qin Yao has finally become aware of his own judgment.]

[Good, knowing and correcting mistakes is a good thing.]

Qin Yao: “…”

Well, he couldn’t really go against his own money, could he?

Then Ye Leyao excitedly said:

[But since Yang Yuan is here, I can ask him more about Yang Jie’s family gossip!]

Qin Yao: “…”

Does Ye Leyao still remember that he’s here to see the actors?

However, Qin Yao was also a bit curious about the follow-up.

Just as Yang Yuan finished shooting in the afternoon, the three of them sat down together to chat until the evening, even having dinner together. Ye Leyao only reluctantly got into the car to go home.

Back home, Ye Leyao was still sighing:

[I didn’t expect Jiang Fang’s lover to run off with her money…]

[So her lover was after her money too?]

Papa and Mama Huo were chatting in the living room and were stunned by this.

So, there was more to the story?

And then what happened?

What happened after Jiang Fang’s money was taken by her lover?

[Well, without money, Jiang Fang had no choice but to return to the country and look for her two abandoned daughters.]

[Unfortunately, the two daughters were already heartbroken and didn’t want to see her at all. As for the daughters’ father—]

[They were just fish in Jiang Fang’s pond. Each of them thought they were Jiang Fang’s only true love. But after the scandal with Yang Jie, they realized they all had been deceived.]

[What man doesn’t care about face! Moreover, they are all prominent figures in the business world. How could they possibly rekindle their relationship with Jiang Fang?]

[She wasn’t even allowed to visit Yang Tian in the hospital.]

Papa and Mama exchanged glances, both feeling Jiang Fang deserved it.

If Jiang Fang had been faithful after marrying Yang Jie, given Yang Jie’s lovestruck nature, he would never have divorced her.

Now, not only was her family gone, but she also lost both her love and her wealth.

It could only be said that Jiang Fang brought this upon herself.

But how is Yang Jie doing now?

The Yang family should have cut off contact with him, right?

Then they heard Ye Leyao laugh:

[But the funniest thing is still Yang Jie, hahaha. He went to the Yang family’s old residence again a few days ago, and this time, before Yang Kun could come out to drive him away, Grandpa Yang actually came out himself with a cane!]

[Yang Yuan even recorded a video. Just thinking about Yang Jie being hit with a cane by Grandpa Yang makes me want to laugh, hahaha—]

Papa Huo and mom couldn’t help but chuckle as well.

Ye Leyao finally finished changing his shoes and leisurely walked toward the sofa.

Mama Huo was the first to ask, “Leyao, have you eaten?”

Ye Leyao nodded, “Yes, I have.”

Mama Huo said, “Remember a while back when your brother helped me auction off a ring? Do you remember that?”

Ye Leyao instantly remembered and nodded quickly.

[Is it the pigeon egg taken from Second Aunt’s stomach?]

Mama Huo: “…”

There is no need to remember it that clearly.

Talking about it is quite unpleasant.

“The ring has been sold, and the money just arrived yesterday. I transferred five million to you. It should have arrived, right?” Mama Huo said.

Ye Leyao’s eyes widened instantly, “But didn’t you just give me five million a while ago?”

As he spoke, Ye Leyao took out his phone. He had been so absorbed in listening to Yang Yuan’s family gossip this afternoon that he hadn’t checked his phone. Now, looking at the notification for the incoming transfer, Ye Leyao couldn’t help but grin:

[Five million! A whole five million! Woohoo, I’m rich again!]

Ye Leyao had invested all his money with Qin Yao to make more money. Although Mama Huo still gave him pocket money and the program “Let’s Go Traveling Together” had transferred some of the remuneration a few days ago, Ye Leyao still felt uneasy looking at his bank card balance of just over a million.

Mama Huo chuckled, “Just take it. There’s another auction coming up soon, and there’s an item I’m very interested in. Will you come with me to check it out?”

With the money in hand, Ye Leyao couldn’t refuse, so he nodded repeatedly, “Sure, no problem!”

[Where else can you find such a good deal, just accompanying Mama Huo to an auction and getting five million!]

Ye Leyao was delighted.

Two days later, Ye Leyao accompanied Papa and Mama Huo to attend the auction dinner.

The dinner and auction were separate events.

Since it was still early and not yet time for the auction, the guests were gathered in the banquet hall.

Wherever Papa and Mama Huo went, they were surrounded by people socializing. Ye Leyao, who disliked socializing, sneaked away without hesitation.

Today’s auction dinner was a charity event and invited some popular celebrities from the entertainment industry.

So when Ye Leyao arrived at the inner hall, he wasn’t surprised to see Qin Yao again.

“What a coincidence,” Qin Yao greeted proactively.

Ye Leyao nodded.

[Who says it isn’t? Why does it feel like I’ve been running into President Qin everywhere lately?]

Could it be that he was too much of a homebody before? If he had often attended banquets with his parents, he would frequently see him?

Qin Yao chuckled helplessly.

“By the way, President Qin, I suddenly remembered that the recording of our second episode is coming up. Have we found the missing guests?” Ye Leyao asked.

Qin Yao took a sip of champagne and smiled, “Yes, we have.”

They even contacted him proactively.

Ye Leyao became curious immediately, “Who is it? And Sister Li told me a few days ago that Du Yueqin wouldn’t participate in the upcoming recordings. Does that mean we need two replacement guests?”

Qin Yao nodded, “Yes.”

“Have both been found?” Ye Leyao was surprised.

Qin Yao: “Yes.”

Ye Leyao stared at Qin Yao.

[So, who are they? President Qin, can you not keep us in suspense?!]

Qin Yao found Ye Leyao’s expression amusing and didn’t tease him further, revealing a name: “Wen Xiangyue.”

Ye Leyao blinked.

[This name sounds familiar?]

Qin Yao smiled without saying anything.

Ye Leyao’s eyes suddenly widened, “She’s Wen Huai’s mother, isn’t she?”

Qin Yao nodded with a smile and said, “Yes.”

[Ahhh—so Brother Zhou is planning to bring his girlfriend onto our show?!]

[This is so exciting! Does this mean our travel show is turning into a love reality show?!]

Ye Leyao’s smile grew wider, “The second episode should be very interesting!”

Who wouldn’t agree?

Qin Yao was pleased with Ye Leyao’s reaction and looked forward to the audience’s response when the guest list was announced.

Ye Leyao suddenly thought of something and asked, “Who’s the other guest? It’s not Wen Huai, is it?”

Ye Leyao’s eyes sparkled.

[Ahhh, if they invite Wen Huai too, our show would become a top-tier drama!]

[I can’t even imagine how exciting it would be!!]

Qin Yao took a slight step back from Ye Leyao.

Mainly because his ears were starting to hurt a bit.

“It’s not Wen Huai,” Qin Yao said.

It wasn’t that they didn’t invite Wen Huai, but he refused the invitation without hesitation.

According to the staff who contacted him, they initially reached out to Wen Huai’s agent, but Wen Huai himself ended up responding.

Although Wen Huai was polite, they could sense his strong disapproval of Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue appearing together in the next episode.

Wen Huai even asked the staff to try not to pair his mother with Zhou Zijian.

The staff nearly burst out laughing.

Qin Yao shared these amusing details with Ye Leyao, who laughed so hard he almost couldn’t straighten up.

The young man had fair skin, and his face was makeup-free, smiling with crescent-shaped eyes.

Qin Yao found it hard to take his eyes off Ye Leyao’s face.

A voice came from behind: “Leyao.”

Qin Yao snapped back to reality.

Ye Leyao stopped laughing and waved at Mama Huo.

Seeing Qin Yao, Mama Huo greeted him and then said, “The auction is about to start. Would you like to join us, Xiao Yao?”

Qin Yao nodded, “Sure.”

The three of them walked towards the auction venue together.

Before they reached the entrance, a loud voice came over—

“Junyi! You’re still as popular as you were when you were young. The handsome young man next to you is really eye-catching!”

The remark was particularly unpleasant. Ye Leyao turned around and saw a stylishly dressed woman walking towards them, followed by two men. One was about the same age as Papa Huo, and the other looked even younger than Ye Leyao.

[Why does this person speak so unpleasantly? Did she eat something rotten?]

Mama Huo’s smile faded when she saw the woman, but she burst out laughing when she heard Ye Leyao’s comment.

The woman, Zhuang Lin, was Mama Huo’s college roommate, and they never got along.

There was no real conflict between them; it was just that Zhuang Lin saw Mama Huo as her imaginary rival and always tried to show off in front of her.

In college, she flaunted her grades.

After marriage, she boasted about her husband.

In any area where Zhuang Lin felt superior to Mama Huo, she would flaunt it.

But Mama Huo never intended to compete with her, yet Zhuang Lin always sought validation in front of her, which Mama Huo found tiresome.

This time was no different. Since Zhuang Lin had initiated the greeting, Mama Huo couldn’t just walk away rudely.

But she wouldn’t give her a pleasant face either. Holding Ye Leyao’s arm, Mama Huo glanced at the two men behind Zhuang Lin and then nodded slightly, “Yes, you’re right.”

Zhuang Lin’s expression changed slightly, “What do you mean?”

“My son is indeed very handsome.” Mama Huo’s gaze quickly swept over the two men behind Zhuang Lin, then she returned, the meaning clear.

Ye Leyao nearly grinned from ear to ear.

[I really need to learn the art of language from Mama Huo!]

Qin Yao also found it amusing and used his wine glass to hide his smile.

Zhuang Lin’s face twisted momentarily at Mama Huo’s retort. After a while, she forced a smile and said, “So he’s your adopted son. I misunderstood. Sorry about that; don’t be mad at me!”

Mama Huo’s expression remained indifferent, neither saying she was angry nor not.

She just quietly watched Zhuang Lin, waiting for her next move.

Mama Huo knew Zhuang Lin well.

Zhuang Lin’s husband, Zheng Xiu, also approached them at this moment. Zhuang Lin quickly turned and grabbed his arm, “Husband, you were so slow! Don’t you want to go to the auction with me?”

Zheng Xiu smiled, “How could that be?”

Zhuang Lin feigned annoyance, “You must think I’ve been spending too much lately!”

Zheng Xiu said, “How could that be? I’m afraid you’re not spending enough!”

Zhuang Lin gave a coy smile, then turned to Mama Huo, deliberately raising her hand to reveal a dazzling diamond on her ring finger, smiling elegantly, “It seems I misunderstood him. He’s such a quiet person. He made me angry a while ago, and I ignored him for days. In the end, he secretly bought this huge diamond ring to apologize! Such a waste of money!”

Ye Leyao’s eyes widened at the sight of the ring.

[Huh? This… this ring looks like…]

Ye Leyao and Mama Huo exchanged a glance, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.

Ye Leyao confirmed:

[So it’s really the same ring?]

Then Zhuang Lin extended her hand to Zheng Xiu, who took her hand and kissed the ring.

[Ahhhhh—although the ring has been cleaned, but! But! But ahhhh—help! My eyes!]

[I can’t take it anymore!]

Qin Yao looked puzzled.

What’s going on?

He just kissed a ring, right?

Or is there something special about kissing a ring?

Qin Yao looked utterly confused.

Mama Huo looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.

She couldn’t help but take a small step back.

Ye Leyao was holding back laughter so much that tears were about to fall:

[So they really bought the ring taken out from Second Aunt’s stomach? But why are you kissing the ring if you’re just wearing it?]

[Second Aunt, you’ve really done all the bad things you could!]

Qin Yao: “!”

What?

Did you say the ring was taken out from where?