"The rich have it tough," she muttered.
Her adoptive parents, accustomed to poverty, were surprisingly open-minded about material possessions. They fully supported Tang Xiaomin's decision to break off the engagement.
"Dad, Mom, this villa is also a relocation point arranged by the Ye Group. To ensure he can't threaten me with you again, let's move. I've bought a new house."
Zhou Xiaolan considered this and made a decisive choice. "Move, we'll move tomorrow. People thrive when they move, trees die when they're transplanted. We can't stay under their watchful eyes being controlled."
Li Changchun silently agreed.
The next morning, Tang Xiaomin, along with her adoptive parents, moved into the new house Yan Jue had bought for her. It was located in the villa district behind the Xianfu Group. The environment was pleasant, the only drawback being the fireworks from the Xianfu Group's funeral department daily, which were rather noisy. The villa's specifications were even grander than the previous one.
Li Changchun looked around and said, "Xiaomin, this house must have been very expensive."
"Dad, consider this house my filial piety to you both. You raised me with such hardship; it's only right that I repay you now. I'll go cook."
Her words almost brought tears to Li Changchun's eyes. He had no children and had adopted Tang Xiaomin, raising her as his own. He wouldn't deny being heartbroken when Tang Xiaomin was taken back to the Tang family. Tang Xiaomin was so filial and treated them so well. Whether this child was biologically theirs or not, it no longer seemed important.
The moving arrangements were thus hastily completed.
At the Tang family residence.
Several people in uniform arrived. The one in the lead said, "Madam Tang, Dr. Zhou was found in the cemetery today, completely deranged. His family has reported it to the police. Can you tell us if he exhibited any unusual behavior after leaving your home yesterday?"
"Deranged?" Zhang Meiyu's eyes widened in disbelief. "He seemed perfectly fine when he was providing psychological counseling for my daughter yesterday. How could he go insane overnight?"
"So, the last person to be with Dr. Zhou was your daughter, correct?" Zhang Meiyu instinctively looked towards Butler Wang.
Butler Wang stated, "After Dr. Zhou finished his session with Miss Xiaomin, they left together."
Tang Xiaomin was a suspect.
Tang Xiaomin was summoned back by Butler Wang. Facing questions from several uniformed prosecutors, she appeared unruffled. "We went for a drive, and then he said he wanted to go home, so we parted ways. I don't know what happened after that."
"Where did you go?"
"The dashcam footage has it. You can check it yourselves." Tang Xiaomin had already altered it, so she wasn't worried about them finding anything.
After searching for a long time, they found nothing. There was no evidence. Even with their suspicions, they couldn't do anything to Tang Xiaomin. They had initially thought Tang Xiaomin had gone mad and planned to get her a doctor, but it turned out the doctor went mad first after just one night.
Zhang Meiyu looked at Tang Xiaomin with a grim expression, her mind racing. Tang Xiaomin was capable of anything, no matter how extreme.
"Xiaomin... is the matter with Dr. Zhou related to you in any way?"
Tang Xiaomin sneered at Zhang Meiyu's question. "Guess!"
"You..." She didn't even deny it; could it be an admission? Zhang Meiyu was so shocked she couldn't speak. "I kindly found a doctor for you, why would you do this?"
Why? The question was utterly ridiculous. "What did I do? Even the prosecutors have no evidence. I advise you to choose your words carefully."
Hearing this, Zhang Meiyu's face turned ashen. Her perception of Tang Xiaomin had shifted again. Her methods were even more ruthless than she had imagined. "Xiaomin, he was just a doctor you met for the first time. He was innocent..."
"Shut up!" Tang Xiaomin cut Zhang Meiyu off. "He treated me like a lunatic. Was he innocent then?"
This... Zhang Meiyu was completely speechless. Tang Xiaomin was becoming increasingly paranoid and extreme. She was a completely different person from the submissive one who had once lived obediently in the Tang household. Zhang Meiyu even wondered if her initial harsh treatment had driven Tang Xiaomin to this point. She regretted her past actions, but what good was regretting what couldn't be undone?
Tang Xu returned from the hospital. The bruising on his lips had faded considerably. Tang Xiaomin sat with her legs crossed, looking defiantly at Tang Xu, whom she had beaten into the hospital.
Tang Xu's first words were, "What exactly did you do to Dr. Zhou? How did he go insane so suddenly?"
Tang Xiaomin smiled. "You care so much about Dr. Zhou, you must know him well. I'm truly curious, how do you, recuperating in the hospital, know so clearly about Dr. Zhou treating me?"
Tang Xu's expression gradually darkened. Zhang Meiyu also looked at Tang Xu suspiciously. "Tang Xu, do you know Dr. Zhou?"
Sensing he had said too much, Tang Xu replied dismissively, "We happened to know each other." He added, "But I'm more curious why Dr. Zhou went mad after just one session of psychological counseling with her?"
The entire family fell silent, their gazes fixed on Tang Xiaomin, filled with suspicion. But if the prosecutor's office couldn't do anything to her, what could the Tang family do, no matter how much they suspected?
"Tang Xu, have you heard the term 'cannon fodder'? That Dr. Zhou was just cannon fodder. We're all old foxes; what are you trying to pull with me?" Tang Xiaomin's words left everyone else bewildered. Only Tang Xu understood. He knew this Dr. Zhou, whom he had arranged to treat Tang Xiaomin through his connections as a doctor. He just hadn't expected Dr. Zhou to go mad before he could do anything to Tang Xiaomin. Tang Xu felt a chilling sense of being seen through by Tang Xiaomin, and he didn't like it at all.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Heh." Tang Xiaomin let out a cold laugh. "Everyone says Tang Ye is inferior to you, but I think in terms of character, Tang Ye is much more straightforward. At least he admits his wrongdoings. You, on the other hand, are like a turtle hiding in its shell."
Tang Xiaomin's insults were truly cutting. Zhang Meiyu couldn't help but say, "Xiaomin, he's your brother. You beat him up for no reason, why are you targeting him like this?" Not only Zhang Meiyu, but everyone else was puzzled.
Just then, Tang Xu suddenly declared, "I don't want to live under the same roof as her. Either she leaves, or I leave." Tang Xu's sudden demand was equally incomprehensible to the rest of the family.
Zhang Meiyu frowned. "Tang Xu, if Xiaomin is being unreasonable, why are you joining her in this tantrum?"
Tang Xu retorted, "She hit me. In your eyes, whose fault is it?"