Chapter 27 - A Performance

Ye Qiao understood why Qin Lan refused to look after her foster parents. The lady could never have expected that her husband would one day show up with a daughter that he had with another woman. Obviously, Qin Lan had seen better days before Ye Qiao's arrival; after all, she was unwillingly given the role of a stepmother. After all, having an illegitimate stepdaughter was not exactly honorable to their family name.

Who could have possibly treated someone else's daughter as if her own child? Such selfless dedication was impossible.

Nevertheless, what irritated Ye Qiao the most was Qin Lan's barefaced lie to take credit for something she had never done. She had neither personally helped nor sent anyone to help her foster parents at all.

Sadly, the apple did not fall far from the tree. As the saying goes - like mother like daughter. Ye Zhenzhen turned out to be another realistic portrayal of her mother.

When they were alone, Ye Zhenzhen treated her with biting sarcasm, mockery, and all sorts of name-calling. However, in their grandfather's presence, she showed only her good side. "Sister," she politely said.

Qin Lan must have implanted a great deal of political ideals in her daughter's head, especially concerning their family conflict and tensed relationship.

"Qiao Qiao, why did you suddenly decide to visit your hometown? I was told that you'd set J University as your goal, which is why I asked Zhenzhen to come along with me. She can be of great help with your revision during the summer holiday."

"I don't mean to offend you by saying this, but your results are a little below the admission requirement of J University. You should really start working on it now!"

As usual, Qin Lan played the role of a loving mother in front of others.

Deep down, she wondered why Ye Qiao would suddenly be interested in visiting her hometown. She had not been this eager to go back for the past six years, anyway. Did something go wrong?

What if she found out about the abject condition of her foster family?

"Madam Qin, I gave them a call just two days ago and was told about their difficulty. I find it quite unbelievable because you've been taking care of them so well. I feel obliged to visit them; otherwise, I won't actually know their condition, right?"

Ye Qiao purposely made up a story, which immediately caught Grandpa Ye's attention. Qin Lan, on the other hand, seemed to have panicked a little.

"Who told you that? There must have been some misunderstanding."

"Money is regularly remitted once every six months to the finance department of the village council, and they'll hand over the money to your parents. Have there been any corrupt practices?" Qin Lan's eyes kindled with agitation. Admittedly, the act that she put on was on-point, allowing her to shift the blame to others with just an easy excuse.

"Why didn't you remit the money directly to the family?" Grandpa Ye was disappointed by what he heard.

"Father, I was only trying to establish a good name for our family. Qiao Qiao's foster parents have been taking care of our child for more than a decade. People must know that their kindness has been reciprocated from our side."

"I thought that it'd be easy for people to find out about our kind gesture if we involved a third party." Qin Lan then added, "I never knew that the people from the council are so corrupt!"

Just stop acting already, Madam Qin. Ye Qiao let out a snort of disgust and watched in incredulity as Madam Qin kept her show going.

"Madam Qin, corruption is very common in rural places. It's not a surprise that they stole the money from you every six months of those six years. How much money in total have we lost?" Ye Qiao responded to her lies by getting more details.

Needless to say, nothing in the version of her story was true. The finance department of the village council was non-existent. However, the head of the village was really an unscrupulous man who only achieved his status by deceit; Ye Qiao was sure of that.

She remembered in the past that there was one corrupt incident where water supply was not provided for over a year, even after payments had been made. She could not do anything back then because she was imprisoned. This time, the opportunity presented itself to punish the head of the village.

Also, another part of her plan was to squeeze some money out of Madam Qin's pocket.

"I know, right! I remitted 2,000 Yuan each time!" Qin Lan eagerly seconded Ye Qiao, not knowing what she was about to do to her next.

2,000 Yuan was a big sum of money back then. Over the six years, 12 remittances would add up to a total of 24,000 Yuan.

"Grandpa, the head of the village is clearly a deceitful man. Will you help me punish the council? Also, we must ask them to return Madam Qin's money!" Ye Qiao immediately turned to her grandpa for his support.. She knew very well that he would be on her side.