Slap.

The sound echoed in the small corridor but—

"Han Yichen!" Meng Yunhan raised her head and looked at the man while clutching her cheek, which was still burning. "How dare you slap me?"

"How dare I slap you? How dare you slap my daughter?" Han Yichen roared. He was listening to everything that was going on outside. He had been holding his anger because he was worried that he would do something really harsh to Meng Yunhan. Who would have thought that just because he did not lose his temper with her, she would dare to act up in front of his daughters? This woman was truly someone who had no qualms or understanding of her own situation. How dare she touch Han Ruochen, and how dare she call Han Xuehan a jinx? Did she really think that he was dead?

He raised his finger and pointed at Meng Yunhan. With spit flying all over, he scolded her angrily. "You call her a jinx? On what basis? If there is a jinx in this family, it’s you. From the day I married you, my family has never been at peace! First, you caused my mother to leave, and if that is not bad enough, you have ruined our children! First, Ah Yong and now Xuehan! I haven’t even dealt with you, and you are already jumping around. Do you think that I cannot deal with you?"

Han Yichen did not want to raise his hand at Meng Yunhan in front of his children. But who would have thought that Meng Yunhan would be so restless that she would cause trouble as soon as he decided to talk things through with her?

"You—how dare you call me a jinx?" Meng Yunhan could not believe what she was hearing. This man actually called her a jinx! A jinx? Her breathing turned stagnant as she looked at the man in front of her with raging fire in her eyes. "I have been married to you for more than twenty years! And this is how you look at me? What do you mean by that? You actually said that I have ruined your life? The one who left the house was your mother. I never kicked her out!"

"And as for Ah Yong—that boy has no passion or skills. He cannot even earn a decent sum of money, who would be willing to marry him? I did him a favour by marrying him to one of my nieces. What did I do wrong? And Xuehan, this wretched girl—"

"You all go to your room." Han Yichen interrupted Meng Yunhan. He turned to look at his children; he had a good idea that there was no talking sense to Meng Yunhan. Since there was no point in talking sense with her, what was the point of discussing anything with her? He might as well deal with her in his own way! Of course, his course of action was not something that he could use in front of his children.

Meng Yunhan sensed something amiss and immediately said to Han Ziyan and the rest, "No! None of you are going to your room. You say whatever you want to say — you say it in front of them."

She was scared that if the children went back to their room, this man would scold her bloody. What was more, from the looks of it, Han Yichen did not seem like he was going to let her off easily. She was worried just thinking about the dark expression on the face of the man in front of her. From one look alone, she could see that Han Yichen had nothing good to say to her.

"Go to your room!" Han Yichen repeated again, and this time his voice was even firmer than before.

Han Ruochen and Han Xuehan glanced at their father and knew that they couldn’t stay any longer. So even though their mother kept demanding that they stay where they were, they still turned on their feet and returned to their room. Even Han Ziyan, who seemed to be hesitating, turned on her feet and escaped. But she did not return to her room; instead, she went to look for Han Ruochen.

"Sister," Han Ziyan stood at the door of Han Ruochen’s room and called her softly. She usually did not use this tone with Han Ruochen unless she wanted something, and Han Ruochen knew this as well.

She slowly turned her attention to look at the woman behind her and arched a brow. "What is it?"

"Sister Ruochen, I have a favour to ask of you."

"I cannot help you."

Han Ruochen refused at once. When Han Xuehan saw how harshly Han Ruochen was treating Han Ziyan, she did not say anything. In fact, she, too, did not have any good feelings toward this adopted sister of hers.

"Sister, you don’t even know what kind of favour I am going to ask of you. Yet you rejected me before you even listened to my request. Are you still my sister? Don’t worry, you will definitely be able to help me with this. Did you not catch some good things at the shore before? Can you lend me three thousand yuan? When I receive my pay, I will start returning a part to you. What do you think? Sister... my good sister. Please do me a favour. I am your only little sister. Please help me out this one time."

"I cannot help you. Why do you need such a big sum of money? Do you think that our family is so rich that we can just casually take out three thousand yuan?" Han Ruochen shook her head and refused Han Ziyan upfront. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"That’s right! Why do you need three thousand yuan? It is not a small sum." Han Xuehan frowned hard as well. What did this woman do that she needed three thousand yuan for?

Han Ziyan cursed Han Xuehan a thousand times in her heart. But she still smiled at Han Ruochen flatteringly and said to her, "Sister, my dear sister, my good sister, I beg you, please help me. From a young age till now, you have always doted on me. Please help me out this once as well. I promise that I will not ask you for anything after this."