Adopting/Raising The Male Lead and The Villain

46

"Cousin?" said Zhong Yuhuan as she sat down with her back to the couch. Her voice had a hint of crispness that could only belong to a young girl.

Xu Yushan, sitting across from her, almost immediately sat up straight and stared intently at the cellphone in Zhong Yuhuan's hand as if she really wanted to trade places with her and be the one on the phone with Lang Jinzhi.

Other the other end, Lang Jinzhi replied, "Yeah, what is it?"

Zhong Yuhuan was already used to his very business-like, don't-bother-me-unless-you-have-something-to-say tone so she just went on, ".... Xu Yushan."

As soon as she heard her own name, Xu Yushan was about to blow up.

What was Zhong Yuhuan thinking? Did she want to tattle to Lang Jinzhi?

Are you a child? Tattling at your age?

Then, through gritted teeth, Xu Yushan thought to herself, at Zhong Yuhuan's age, she was still a child.

Zhong Yuhuan slowly looked over Xu Yushan and just when she was about to say something else, Lang Jinzhi had already beat her to the punch, "Was it Xu Yunhui and her daughter bullying you again?"

Zhong Yuhuan swallowed what she was about to say and responded with a "Mm".

It was just a "Mm" with no undertone, but it was done in a young girl's voice, and it was low and weak through the phone, so it really sounded like she was wronged and emotional.

Lang Jinzhi immediately said to her, "I will send Secretary Cheng right away."

Then, immediately after that, he changed his mind, "Forget it, I'll make a trip myself. Better if Zhong Chi is home."

Zhong Yuhuan stood up and said slowly, "No, that won't be necessary, cousin...."

On the other end, Xu Yushan was tensed.

She was somewhat interested in Lang Jinzhi and wanted to see him, but she didn't want to see him under this situation.

"Zhong Yuhuan...." Said Xu Yushan in a weak voice.

Zhong Yuhuan just walked passed her and headed up the stairs.

She had to do that. She didn't want Xu Yushan to keep thinking that she could do anything she wanted to her whenever Zhong Chi wasn't around.

But, the real reason that Zhong Yuhuan called Lang Jinzhi wasn't to threaten Xu Yushan, that was just icing on the cake.

Zhong Yuhuan walked up to the third floor. Leaning over the banister, she said to Lang Jinzhi in a low voice, "Really, cousin, there's no need to come over. Even if you stop Xu Yunhui and her daughter from doing anything today, that's just a temporary fix. People are willing to give up their lives in front of a large sum of money. As long as I am still around, I will be like a fishbone stuck in Xu Yunhui and her daughter's throats."

Lang Jinzhi didn't think he would hear these words from her.

And she was right.

Even if he went over to back up her, that wasn't a long-term solution. And with his status, he wouldn't be able to really make Xu Yunhui and Xu Yushan stop with what they were doing. He didn't represent the Ding's; he represented the Lang's.

"So your thought was...."

"I am going to have to rely on myself sooner or later. I want to set a landmine for Zhong Chi before I can be independent."

Lang Jinzhi wasn't surprised at all that Zhong Yuhuan referred to Zhong Chi by his name, "What do you have in mind?"

He figured that if there were holes in her plan, he could help her patch them.

"Zhong Chi enjoys having control over others' fate, but he never thought about whether Xu Yunhui and her daughter wanted to be controlled by him as pawns that could be tossed away any given moment. Back then Xu Yunhui was the third person in my parent's marriage, so she didn't have a lot to lose and always served Zhong Chi wholeheartedly. But, things have changed. She has a different title now and she already had doubts in her mind. As long as she felt that her and her daughter would be abandoned by Zhong Chi at any given them, then she'd take actions," said Zhong Yuhuan in a soft and slow tone.

Anyone who didn't know better would think she was just whining to the person on the other side of the conversation.