After Getting Married to My Obsessive Older Sister - Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Chu Yiqiao’s legs were sore, so she took another day off. She already only had two specialized classes a week, yet she was constantly missing them for personal reasons. Honestly, she felt pretty bad about it.

Tan Ze had rested for a day at home, but was going back to the office the next day. When Chu Yiqiao shuffled out in her soft slippers, Tan Ze was sitting at the dining table drinking coffee.

Chu Yiqiao was half-asleep. She chewed a crystal shrimp dumpling, then let her head droop, only for Tan Ze to lift her face up by cupping her cheeks.

In a daze, Chu Yiqiao heard Tan Ze’s voice: “What are your plans for today?”

Chu Yiqiao mumbled as if talking in her sleep: “Little Guai needs a vaccine… then I’m going to the studio to paint… the gallery needs a series… have to submit…”

Chu Yiqiao drowsily swallowed the dumpling she was chewing and reached for another, but her hand was immediately taken by Tan Ze.

Tan Ze forcefully took the chopsticks from Chu Yiqiao: “Don’t eat yet if you’re not fully awake. I’ll order something later when you wake up and have my assistant send it over.”

Chu Yiqiao simply slumped onto the dining table. The loose neckline of her pajama top tilted to the side, revealing scattered hickeys on her neck and shoulder. Tan Ze tugged at it a couple of times, but it didn’t help, so she left it alone.

“We’ll go together to get Little Guai’s vaccine next week,” Tan Ze downed the coffee in her cup. She washed the cup and came back to say: “Don’t go out these days. I’ll have someone move your canvases here. You can paint at home.”

Tan Ze asked: “Did you hear me clearly?”

Chu Yiqiao nodded.

Tan Ze initially thought Chu Yiqiao was listening, but as she gave more instructions, she realized Chu Yiqiao nodded to everything.

Don’t go out, nod; Send me a message when you wake up, nod; Tell the assistant if you need anything, nod; I’m locking the door, nod; Are you even listening?, nod; When I get home I’m going to… you, nod.

Tan Ze carried Chu Yiqiao back to her room, added cat food to the sleeping Little Guai’s bowl next door, and then left for work, having settled the big and little ones at home.

Fang Yihe clocked in on time that morning and sat in front of her computer, doing a little bit of slacking off.

She opened WeChat. Her conversation with Fang Yizhen was silent. Fang Yihe thought for a few seconds and typed: “Zhenzhen, are you awake? How was the team-building? Was it fun?”

The night before last, Fang Yihe cooked dinner and waited for Fang Yizhen to come home, but a few calls were hung up.

It wasn’t until 7 PM that Fang Yizhen came home. She sat down and immediately started devouring the food Fang Yihe had saved for her.

Fang Yihe sat across from her, scooping a bowl of soup for the ravenously eating Fang Yizhen: “Why are you home so late? You didn’t answer your calls.”

Fang Yizhen: “I worked overtime at the company. I was too busy. Sorry, Sis.”

“What’s there to be sorry about,” Fang Yihe laughed: “Eat slowly.”

Fang Yizhen quietly finished all the food in front of her.

While washing dishes with Fang Yihe, Fang Yizhen suddenly brought up that the company was organizing a team-building event. Even interns could go.

Fang Yihe had her hair in a low ponytail and was washing dishes, looking down: “Okay, when is it?”

Fang Yizhen looked down, taking a plate from Fang Yihe’s hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fang Yihe’s arm, whitened from the water. She said: “Tomorrow. I have to leave very early. It’ll probably be for a few days. The company is paying.”

“Mhm,” Fang Yihe nodded, indicating she understood: “Have fun. You’ve been working so hard lately. I told you you don’t need a part-time job. Just focus on enjoying your graduate life once you leave for school. Your sister can support you…”

Fang Yizhen blinked. Their family had faced a disaster when Fang Yihe was 21 and about to finish university.

Because of their financial situation, Fang Yihe gave up her guaranteed spot for graduate school. She studied hard during the day to earn scholarships, and worked part-time at night to earn a living for herself and Fang Yizhen.

Fang Yizhen was precocious. She saw her sister’s sacrifices and tried to lighten the burden on the family, attending a regular middle school in the district and then a subsidized, full-scholarship international high school with boarding.

Fang Yihe wouldn’t let her work, but Fang Yizhen made money by helping wealthy classmates with their homework and tutoring. She was also able to secretly contribute to the household every month.

Their life was tight until Fang Yizhen graduated high school. Her top score in the city’s science track brought a lot of unexpected income to their small family. They finally paid off their debts and were on their way to a better life.

That night, Fang Yihe made a huge table of food. Fang Yizhen ate until she couldn’t move. While clearing the table, she strangely “picked up” an unopened phone box from the floor.

It was the latest model, top-spec, a gift for Fang Yihe.

Three years passed in a blink, and Fang Yihe was still using that phone. The phone’s Bluetooth name was still “Gift from Little Sister.”

In Fang Yizhen’s eyes, Fang Yihe was her entire world, without a doubt.

So, even after learning about her true parentage from Chu Lingtong, and later receiving enough money from Tan Ze to buy a villa in the city center, Fang Yizhen still considered Fang Yihe to be her only sister, and the house they bought with a loan their only home.

Fang Yihe took out the washed dishes, gave them one last rinse, and put them in the cupboard. She casually brought up: “Zhenzhen, I’ve thought about it. I’ll stay in China. Didn’t I just get promoted to team leader last month? You’re not disappearing when you go abroad. We can video call often…”

Fang Yihe’s words were cut short as Fang Yizhen hugged her from behind. There was no sound, but a wet patch slowly spread over her shoulder blades.

“What’s wrong?” Fang Yihe turned around and patted Fang Yizhen’s back, just as she used to when she was little.

Fang Yizhen was strong-willed and rarely cried. When she was little, she fought with a neighbor’s kid and had to get stitches, but she held back her tears, burying her head in Fang Yihe’s stomach. Fang Yihe’s whole shirt was soaked, but Fang Yizhen wouldn’t let anyone mention it when they got home, or she would throw a tantrum.

“Sis,” Fang Yizhen’s voice was soft, leaning against Fang Yihe like a young bird: “I don’t want to study abroad anymore.”

Fang Yihe laughed: “You’ve been thinking about it for so long. Are you still scared to live alone?”

Fang Yihe wiped the tears off Fang Yizhen’s face with her wet hands, wetting her whole face: “Do you want to hug for a bit longer? You’ll be fine after you cry.”

Fang Yizhen nodded. She let go ten minutes later and continued to help Fang Yihe with chores.

At 12 AM that night, after making sure Fang Yihe was asleep, Fang Yizhen went downstairs with her canvas bag, got into Tan Ze’s car, briefly explained the situation, and was driven to a hotel.

However, the second Fang Yizhen left, Fang Yihe emerged from her room in her pajamas.

From the balcony, Fang Yihe watched with her own eyes as Fang Yizhen got into an unfamiliar car.

In the blink of an eye, a day and a night had passed since Fang Yizhen lied about going to the company team-building.

Fang Yihe received photos from Fang Yizhen at every mealtime.

They had one video call in between. Fang Yizhen was eating a buffet at the hotel restaurant and chatted casually with her for half an hour.

Fang Yihe recorded the call. After hanging up, she imported the recording into CapCut and watched it frame by frame at 0.5x speed. On the third pass, she finally caught a frame showing the hotel’s decor.

She then went online, pretending to be a food blogger, and asked for the restaurant name. She checked the returned photos from over twenty reviews and locked onto a single hotel. The address was surprisingly in the next district.

A five-star hotel.

Fang Yihe was bewildered. She had also taken a photo of the car the night Fang Yizhen left. It looked familiar, but she just couldn’t place it.

She worked as usual and even found the official website for the car. The astronomical price on the screen shocked her.

Fang Yihe looked at the car model in front of her. The sense of déjà vu grew stronger…

Footsteps approached. Fang Yihe closed the webpage and continued working, but the department manager stopped right at Fang Yihe’s desk, his attitude almost eager: “Yihe, Mr. Liu is looking for you.”

Mr. Liu was the general manager of Fang Yihe’s branch company, technically not even her +3 boss. She couldn’t imagine what he wanted with her.

Fang Yihe reluctantly opened the general manager’s office door. Inside, there were three women: one sitting and two standing.

Sitting in the main seat was Tan Ze. The woman closest to her was a stranger to Fang Yihe, and the other was Mr. Liu, whom Fang Yihe had seen at the annual meeting.

Mr. Liu decisively turned and left when Fang Yihe entered.

Fang Yihe’s confusion was answered the moment she saw Tan Ze: Fang Yizhen must have been taken by Tan Ze.

“Ms. Tan,” Fang Yihe got straight to the point: “Is Yizhen with you?”

As Fang Yihe assessed her, Tan Ze was also assessing Chu Yiqiao’s biological sister.

They did look a bit alike, but their personalities were completely different.

Fang Yihe had known the truth for so long but never thought to contact Chu Yiqiao. They had almost zero communication. Now, she hadn’t even sat down, and she was asking about Fang Yizhen.

Unlike Chu Yiqiao, who transferred money to Fang Yizhen every now and then, always saying, “Wishing you and Sister Yihe a happy life.”

“She is indeed with me,” Tan Ze admitted directly.

“She will be sent back after you’ve looked over these,” Tan Ze said, signaling Zhao Jingxing to hand over the prepared documents.

Fang Yihe was nearly thirty and much more mature. Her face grew paler as she read through the documents, but she remained seated. Only her lips trembled uncontrollably. Her voice was no longer calm as it was at first: “Ms. Tan, Yizhen…”

Fang Yihe swallowed hard and continued: “Ms. Tan, this is Yizhen’s fault. I’ll try my best to compensate for the money…”

Tan Ze interrupted her: “The money is Fang Yizhen’s rightful inheritance. The money from Chu Yiqiao was a voluntary gift from her.”

“And you don’t need to call me Ms. Tan. I’m just Chu Yiqiao’s sister.”

“It’s just that it doesn’t look good for Fang Yizhen to take money and then turn around to help Chu Lingtong,” Tan Ze said gently in a friendly tone, but she was naturally unsuited to gentle words, making the threat sound even stronger.

Tan Ze added: “Chu Yiqiao transferred over a hundred thousand to Fang Yizhen in three months. With Fang Yizhen doing this, Chu Yiqiao is heartbroken.”

Fang Yihe felt dizzy. Fang Yizhen had promised her not to get involved in this matter. How could this have happened?

Was Fang Yizhen’s story about getting sponsorship from a kind person to study abroad in March also a lie?

Tan Ze watched Fang Yihe look like she was about to faint. She felt both relieved and not relieved.

If she could, she wished Chu Yiqiao had never gone through any of this.

“I’m sorry.”

The apology Tan Ze hadn’t heard from Fang Yizhen, she heard from Fang Yihe.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Tan Ze said: “And you shouldn’t be apologizing to me.”

Forget it. The happy one should back down.

Tan Ze felt quite happy now. Perhaps influenced by Chu Yiqiao again, she had truly become kinder.

Besides, what if Fang Yihe really fainted in front of her?

Tan Ze was so righteous; she could easily be framed for an injury.

“Chu Lingtong also knows Fang Yizhen received a reasonable share of the inheritance. Her double-dealing has been exposed. Chu Lingtong probably won’t give her any more money,” Tan Ze took a deep breath, speaking compassionately: “She already has the offer. If she still wants to go abroad, I can pay for it.”

“No need,” Fang Yihe bit her lip until it was about to bleed: “Thank you, but there’s no need…”

So scary. Tan Ze stood up, ready to leave with Zhao Jingxing.

Tan Ze felt she had been more than generous. She hadn’t asked for any of the money back, hadn’t messed with Fang Yizhen’s offer, and had even offered to pay for her education.

Tan Ze genuinely didn’t understand why Fang Yihe was so devastated.

Was she the one who got extorted?

Was she the one who sent money every week only to be betrayed?

She was only doing to Fang Yizhen what Fang Yizhen had done to Chu Yiqiao, and it was this much trouble. Tan Ze inexplicably missed Chu Yiqiao.

Before leaving, Tan Ze added: “You can always contact me about the sponsorship.”

“Of course, the money Fang Yizhen has on her card now is more than enough to pay for it, so there really is no need.”

At the same time, in a suite at a five-star hotel 20km from the branch company, Fang Yizhen was sitting in the living room. The liquid crystal TV in front of her was live-streaming the scene in the office.

The room was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Cao Wenxin stood nearby, carefully observing Fang Yizhen’s expression.

She had been watching Fang Yizhen for this day and a night. The night she received the assignment, Cao Wenxin rushed to watch ten crime movies, telling herself that getting paid was worth the hassle.

However, once she arrived, the imagined bloody scene of imprisonment was completely absent.

Fang Yizhen was staying in a Presidential Suite that cost four figures a night. She had everything except her phone. If she wanted to play a video game, someone would bring her the cartridge.

Cao Wenxin felt she was the one who was suffering more by comparison.

In the live stream, Tan Ze had already left half an hour ago. Cao Wenxin had been standing there doing half an hour of overtime.

She had other plans. Ignoring Fang Yizhen’s expression, she slipped the hotel room key card into Fang Yizhen’s hand, nodded slightly, and turned to leave.

Finally, she didn’t have to do illegal things for the boss anymore!

Thinking of this, Cao Wenxin happily danced a little tap dance in the hallway.

Half an hour later, Cao Wenxin held the key to the boss’s house and came to deliver lunch to the “imprisoned” young madam again.

First, unlock the door, then ring the doorbell.

The entrance door opened, and Cao Wenxin saw a face radiant with health.

Chu Yiqiao had been up for a while. Tan Ze hadn’t expected Chu Yiqiao to remember what she said this morning, so she had typed it out on WeChat and sent it.

Chu Yiqiao finally saw the message after waking up from her nap and obediently stayed home, waiting for someone to deliver her painting supplies.

She was wearing her painting clothes: a white T-shirt with denim overalls, and over that, the pink Hello Kitty apron that Tan Ze occasionally wore when cooking. It was purely for comfort; the white T-shirt and overalls were still covered in smudges of paint, both old and new.

“Sister Wenxin, you’re here!” Chu Yiqiao subconsciously wiped her palm on her pants, instantly covering an old paint spot with a new layer of blue paint.

Cao Wenxin handed over the takeout food. Chu Yiqiao took it with a big smile and said: “Thank you, Sister Wenxin.”

Cao Wenxin was about to leave when Chu Yiqiao suddenly stopped her: “Could you wait for just a moment? I have something I want to ask you to take with you.”

The door was ajar. Cao Wenxin waited where she was. About half a minute later, a fuzzy black-and-white little head poked through the gap in the door, staring curiously at Cao Wenxin with a pair of beautiful green eyes.

“Meow~”

In that instant, Cao Wenxin thought she was seeing things.

Why did this little cow cat look so much like the one in the boss’s WeChat profile picture?

In Cao Wenxin’s eyes, Tan Ze had always been the embodiment of efficiency and shrewdness. Moreover, she had just come from Fang Yizhen’s side, having witnessed Tan Ze’s utterly crushing way of operating.

From any angle, the soft, little kitten in front of her did not match Tan Ze at all.

Of course, that didn’t mean Tan Ze changing her profile picture to a kitten was easily acceptable.

But she was raising it herself!!! How was that possible?

Cao Wenxin had friends who owned cats and had witnessed the terror of cat lovers. It was even harder for her to imagine someone like Tan Ze owning a cat. Did Tan Ze also get high on cats… ?

“Sorry for the wait!”

Chu Yiqiao’s voice pulled Cao Wenxin back from her increasingly strange fantasies.

She lowered her head. The young madam handed her a sketchbook and said: “Please give this to Sister. It needs to be scanned into a digital version. I’ve already told her on WeChat.”

Cao Wenxin nodded in a daze and left with the sketchbook.

After a few steps, she turned around and saw Chu Yiqiao waving at her while holding the little green-eyed cow cat.

Oh no, run.

But she couldn’t run yet. Cao Wenxin had to lock the door again.

She waited for three minutes in the elevator area. She heard the sound of the entrance door closing. Cao Wenxin returned to the boss’s door, inserting the key into the small lock.

Twisting it twice, she locked it.

But just as she was about to walk away, a “click-clack” sound came from behind the door, an attempt to turn the handle.

Cao Wenxin immediately understood the situation. Struck by lightning, she hurriedly squatted down, trying to avoid the camera at the door.

But it was too late. Chu Yiqiao’s astonished voice came from the doorbell speaker.

“Sister Wenxin!!! Why are you locking my door!”

“I’m sorry!”

Cao Wenxin ran off. When she reached the elevator, she gave herself two thumbs up for her exceptional performance. She hadn’t sold out the boss. Her future looked promising.

Support