Tan You took a small step back. "I haven’t set foot in the Li family home for over a decade. I thought it would be perfectly clear by now that we have no relationship. She, however,"—referring to her mother—"is the one who always remembers that my surname is Tang, not Li."

Li Lanzhen’s face burned. "Li Zi... that’s your grandmother. How can you speak to her like that?"

Tan You replied, "I’m already being more than civil. Otherwise, do you think Li Wanjun would still be standing here? Does he want me to list out everything he’s done, right here in front of everyone?"

"Don’t!" Zhang Fen immediately stopped her. "Li Zi, this isn’t a good place to talk. Why don’t we find somewhere else..."

Tan You said, "Let’s go to the nearby teahouse, then." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Tan You continued with a faint smile, "Let’s find a public place. You have the numbers on your side. It’s just my grandparents and me over here. If you suddenly get violent, we’ll be the ones at a disadvantage."

Li Chaohua had a quick temper and immediately glared. "What kind of way is that to talk?"

"Li Chaohua, if that’s your attitude when you’re asking for a favor, then we have nothing to talk about." As she spoke, Tan You dialed a number on her phone. "I know perfectly well why you’re here."

"Grandpa, Grandma, the Li family is here. Let’s find a place outside to meet."

"Don’t let them come up. We’ll go out. If we can’t come to an agreement, we’ll just go our separate ways. What if something happens here at home?"

Tan You said all this right in front of the Li family, showing Li Lanzhen no respect whatsoever. ’Face is something you earn, not something you’re given. Does Li Lanzhen think she’s still dealing with Tang Li?’

After hanging up, Tan You looked at the silent Li Wanjun. "I assume you’ve received my gift?"

Li Wanjun’s head snapped up. "It... It was you?"

Tan You raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Since you made the first move, don’t blame me for escalating. This older cousin of yours might not be fabulously wealthy, but I haven’t been wasting my time all these years."

Li Wanjun lowered his gaze slightly. ’As expected, she isn’t the type to take a beating without fighting back.’

Zhang Fen was a little anxious. "What are you two talking about?"

Just as Li Wanjun was about to speak, the elderly couple from the Tang family came down. The moment the elderly couple from the Li family saw the Tang grandparents, they started apologizing profusely. The gist was that their grandson had done something wrong, but they kept their mouths shut about the motives behind his actions.

Ultimately, they still had some face to save. Even though they could plot such things, they could not speak of them aloud.

The Tang grandparents were no pushovers, either; both wore smiles that didn’t reach their eyes. They skillfully deflected and dodged the topic the whole way, and the elderly Li couple never got a single word in about their true purpose.

After they arrived at the nearby teahouse and got a private room, Li Wanjun finally spoke. He had received a termination notice from his company that morning, and it wasn’t until he saw Tan You just now that he finally put two and two together.

"What do you want?" His gaze was gloomy, but considering they were in a public place, Li Wanjun didn’t dare get physical with Tan You.

Tan You blew on her tea. "What I want is simple: disappear from my sight. I don’t care if you want to leech off your aunt, but on what grounds should our Tang family’s property be given to your Li family?"

"If you two are truly so devoted to each other, then take her back to the Li family home. But for her to stay in my house while her heart is completely with you all... no one can accept that."

Li Lanzhen’s expression changed drastically. "Are... are you disowning me as your mother?"

"Should I repeat what you said in front of that business group yesterday?" Tan You put down her cup. "You said my surname is Tang, not Li, that we were never family to begin with. You said that you and Li Wanjun are the real family. I’m not wrong, am I?"

Li Lanzhen’s face went completely pale. "You... How do you know?"

Tan You found it amusing. "Walls have ears, Li Lanzhen. I’ll give you two choices. The first is you cut ties with them completely. If you do, your financial support and everything else will continue as before."

"The other choice is you go back with them. I’ll still send your support payments, but you can never set foot in the Tang family home again. Make your choice."

Li Lanzhen retorted, "Those are my own parents, and you’re making me choose? What kind of daughter are you?"

Tan You smiled. "Then go back with them. Our humble home can’t accommodate someone like you. But let me make one thing clear: if you suffer or get sick while living with the Li family, don’t come to me for money for a doctor. After all, you won’t be doing any of it for my sake."

"I’m not going back," Li Lanzhen said, unexpectedly rejecting Tan You’s proposal. ’I’d have to be crazy to go back. How could my parents’ home possibly be as comfortable as the Tang family’s?’

Tan You said, "So you don’t want to choose either option? Do you think I’m a pushover you can just manipulate?"

The moment Tan You lowered her eyes, Li Lanzhen flinched. "I’m not going back, no matter what."

"Fine. I’ve already picked out a house. If you’re not going back, you can live there from now on." Tan You didn’t bother arguing with Li Lanzhen. "Like you said, my surname is Tang and yours is Li. There’s no reason for us to live under the same roof."

Li Lanzhen grew anxious. "Are... are you kicking me out?"

"I wouldn’t call it ’kicking you out’," Tan You said calmly. "I’m arranging a place for you to live, and I’ll cover the rent and utilities. ’Being homeless’ means you have nowhere to go. Is that your situation?"

Tan You normally hated arguing, but Li Lanzhen was the type of shameless person who was impossible to deal with—give her an inch, and she’d take a mile. Tan You certainly wasn’t going to let Li Lanzhen control her.

Seeing how Tan You was treating even Li Lanzhen, the members of the Li family knew they weren’t going to get anything good out of today.

Zhang Fen forced a smile. "Li Zi, has there been some kind of misunderstanding between you and Wan Jun? Wan Jun is still young..."

"He’s not that young. He’s mature enough to go on the dark web and hire a professional scammer." Tan You interrupted Zhang Fen. "Just because he’s younger than me, I have to give in to him? The nerve."

"You sent Fang Xiang a total of 50,000, all told. In fact, I’m curious. If Fang Xiang had succeeded, how much would he have split with you? The Tang family’s house is worth about eight million on the market. What was your split?"

Li Wanjun kept his eyes down and didn’t say a word. Tan You sneered, "Useless trash."

She glanced at Zhang Fen. "He, Li Wanjun, started it. So naturally, I’m finishing it."

Seeing all the members of the Li family staring at her, Tan You gave a light laugh. "I didn’t do much. I just sent a report of Li Wanjun’s actions to his company. Or rather, the entire industry knows about him now."

"How did it feel to get that termination notice from your company?"

Tan You propped her chin on one hand, suddenly giving off the vibe of a villainess.

Zhang Fen was the first to lose her composure. "That’s your cousin! How could you do that? How is he supposed to make a living in this society now?"

Tan You was completely unconcerned. "He made the first move. Besides, what does his ability to make a living have to do with me? Was I the one who told him to find a scammer? Was I the one who told him to plot against the Tang family’s house?"

Tang Li’s grandmother said, "But Wan Jun worked so hard to get into that company... If you do this, what’s he going to do in the future?"