Inheriting a Farm Made Me an Internet Sensation - Chapter 24

Perhaps it was due to possessing all of the original owner’s memories, or perhaps it was out of sympathy for her, but Tan Xiao didn’t particularly want to see this “bargain-bin” mother of hers.

Consequently, she stuck to her original plan, inspecting the yellow skin fruit, Shatian pomelo, and lychees in the orchard before finally heading back to the small courtyard.

As she reached the center of the yard, she came to a halt. She felt a wave of resistance toward the situation she was about to face.

Ring, ring, ring…

She pulled out her phone and saw that Chen Cuihua was calling. Turning her back to the courtyard to face outward, she swiped the screen and pressed the phone to her ear.

“How is it? Are they ripe?”

She gave a soft “mm-hm.” “They’re ready for harvesting.”

The fruit-growing area couldn’t receive prolonged sunlight in the same way the tomatoes and honey sweet potatoes did. This had delayed the ripening period of these three types of fruit, causing them to hit the market a bit later than those grown in sunnier spots.

“Then I’ll arrange for a few people to go pick them right away. The fruit merchants are pressing for them.”

After ending the call, Tan Xiao turned around. Standing at the entrance of the first-floor living room was a middle-aged woman wearing a loose silk set, her hair permed into tight woolly curls, watching her.

Tan Xiao scoured her memories and finally managed to find this woman’s silhouette from the time her “cheap” father had died. She confirmed it: this woman was indeed her bargain-bin mother—Zhang Wenxia.

Upon seeing her, Zhang Wenxia froze for a moment. Within two blinks of an eye, however, she hurried forward, a hand pressed to her chest and a look of eager anticipation on her face. “Xiao xiao,” the woman said, reaching out both hands as if to grasp Tan Xiao’s.

Tan Xiao quickly took several steps back, putting distance between herself and Zhang Wenxia. With an expressionless face, she asked, “Why are you here? Is there something you need?”

Zhang Wenxia’s brow furrowed, her face darkening with indignation. “I am your mother! You—are this how you treat your own mother?”

“Then let me ask you: have you fulfilled a single motherly responsibility over these years? If not, please do not beg me for a good attitude.” As she spoke, a trace of anger flared within Tan Xiao. Realizing she was losing her composure, she brushed past Zhang Wenxia and headed toward the living room.

The moment she stepped away, the expression on Zhang Wenxia’s face was quite a sight to behold.

Remembering her purpose for coming today, Zhang Wenxia hurried to follow her. “Regardless of everything, I am your mother. Now that you have the ability to support yourself, it is only right that you show me filial piety.”

Hearing this, Tan Xiao found it laughable. This woman had abandoned her five-year-old daughter and didn’t reappear until her ex-husband died. Was it out of concern for her daughter? No, it was only to swindle the insurance compensation out of her daughter’s hands. Now that she knew her daughter could make money, she came crawling back, demanding filial piety.

How could someone be so thick-skinned?

Lin Muhan, who had just returned to the dining room after taking a phone call, arrived at the doorway just in time to hear Zhang Wenxia’s words and see Tan Xiao’s proud, stiff silhouette.

She didn’t know what kind of mindset Zhang Wenxia possessed to say such things; she only knew that any mother who truly loved her daughter would never easily utter such heart-wrenching words.

Thinking back to the information she had read about Tan Xiao—if she remembered correctly—Zhang Wenxia had left when Tan Xiao was five. Later, when Tan Xiao’s father died in an accident, Zhang Wenxia did show up, but she hadn’t taken Tan Xiao with her.

She hadn’t known before whether Zhang Wenxia had cared for Tan Xiao afterward, but now, based on that single sentence, she knew that Zhang Wenxia felt neither guilt nor love for her daughter.

As an outsider, even she felt utterly speechless hearing this.

What about Tan Xiao? Would hearing this leave her heart chilled to the bone?

She wanted to go forward and stand by Tan Xiao’s side, but logic told her that Tan Xiao might not want her to be there at this moment.

After hesitating for a moment, she decided to turn back into the dining room, leaving Tan Xiao a shred of dignity.

Provoked by Tan Xiao’s mockery, Zhang Wenxia walked quickly to stand in front of her and said loudly, “Don’t think I don’t know. This farm was left to you by your uncle. I am his sister-in-law and your mother; I have a share in this farm too. If you aren’t willing to give it to me, I’ll sue you.”

Lin Muhan stopped in her tracks; her brows knit tight. Zhang Wenxia was being far too unreasonable.

Uncle Su had long since severed ties with the Tan family. The only reason he was willing to give Tan Xiao an opportunity was that she shared his bloodline.

Tan Xiao could only inherit the farm if she proved she had the ability; otherwise, the farm would still belong to Huantian International.

Currently, Tan Xiao hadn’t won the bet with Su Han yet and hadn’t officially obtained the inheritance rights, so the farm still belonged to Huantian International. Even setting that aside, what did the property Uncle Su left for Tan Xiao have to do with Zhang Wenxia?

From a legal perspective, the gifted property belonged to Tan Xiao. As a biological mother who had failed to fulfill her duty of support, Zhang Wenxia had no right to forcibly take a share of the inheritance without Tan Xiao’s consent.

Lin Muhan wanted to speak up and refute her, but felt it was inappropriate, so she halted her steps and remained silent.

Tan Xiao turned her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Lin Muhan standing by the dining room door. A surge of embarrassment instantly rose in her heart. If possible, she didn’t want Lin Muhan to know about her nonsensical relationship and past with Zhang Wenxia. But there was no helping it; since she had taken over this body, she had to face what needed to be faced.

She took a deep breath, trying her best to suppress the rage in her heart, though her voice still trembled slightly. “Then you can go and hire a lawyer right now.” With those words, she moved around Zhang Wenxia, intending to go upstairs.

Zhang Wenxia wasn’t about to let her off that easily. She grabbed Tan Xiao’s wrist. “Don’t push me.”

These words caused Tan Xiao to finally snap. She sneered, “Ms. Zhang, please realize one thing: from beginning to end, you are the one indulging in pipe dreams.” She turned her head away and let out a cold “Heh.” “In all these years, you haven’t fulfilled a single ounce of a mother’s responsibility. On what grounds do you think you can naturally demand filial piety from me?”

She pointed toward the courtyard exit. “You are not welcome here. Please leave.”

Zhang Wenxia was shaking with rage, nodding her head. “Fine. You’re the one who forced my hand.”

After saying that, she stormed out of the courtyard in a fit of fury.

She had lost all her money playing mahjong again yesterday. When she called her daughter, Huang Mengyao, that night to ask if she had any money, she heard her daughter say sarcastically that she should ask her other daughter—that the other daughter had plenty of money.

Only then did she remember she had another daughter.

Back when Tan Xiao had just debuted, she had been short on money and wanted to ask Tan Xiao for some. However, she was afraid Tan Xiao would bring up the fact that she had taken the compensation money back then, so she had simply endured it. This year, the man at home had lost his mind for some reason and refused to give her any money at all.

She was currently up to her neck in debt, and those people refused to lend her another cent. She only targeted Tan Xiao because she had no other choice.

Before coming, she had looked things up online and knew that the farm had been left to Tan Xiao by some brother-in-law who had appeared out of nowhere.

Thinking that her daughter’s money was her own, the last shreds of guilt she felt vanished at that moment.

If Tan Xiao thought she could just brush her off like this, she was dreaming. No matter what, she was going to tear off a piece of the pie; Tan Xiao wasn’t going to keep it all for herself.

When she no longer heard footsteps, Lin Muhan turned around immediately, but she only saw Tan Xiao’s back.

She followed cautiously, looking at Tan Xiao’s back and hesitating to speak.

Knowing she was behind her, Tan Xiao said softly, “I’m fine.” She paused briefly in the second-floor living room before going straight back to her room.

That same afternoon, Tan Xiao was once again a trending topic.

Tan Xiao Refuses to Recognize Her Mother, Ignores Mother’s Well-being

Tan Xiao Wants to Hog Inheritance

Tan Xiao Has No Morals, Has Ignored Mother for Years

The appearance of these hashtags successfully caused Tan Xiao to be attacked and cursed by the entire internet once again.

In just two short hours, an interview featuring Zhang Wenxia tearfully attacking Tan Xiao on camera reached nearly a million shares.

Having composed herself, Tan Xiao arrived at the fields only to notice that the students were looking at her with strange expressions. Having learned from previous experiences, she knew that she had, without her knowledge, become a trending topic again.

She stopped, pulled out her phone, and logged into Weibo. Without even having to search, she immediately saw the video of Zhang Wenxia attacking her.

Lin Muhan, who had also just found out about this, rushed over. Seeing several nearby people looking their way, she took a few more steps forward, grabbed Tan Xiao’s wrist, and pulled her back a few meters before whispering, “I’ve already contacted an experienced lawyer. She will handle this matter for you entirely.”

The law firm had temporarily assigned her a case, and she had spent nearly three hours untangling its complexities. Thinking of the Zhang Wenxia situation, she had knocked on Tan Xiao’s door but received no response. Guessing that Tan Xiao was in the fields again, she had come to find her.

On the way, she had checked her phone and seen that Zhang Wenxia was talking nonsense to reporters, twisting black into white. In addition to her anger, she had immediately contacted an experienced lawyer, determined to see this through to the end.

This situation was different from before. If her reputation weren’t defended in time, this matter would follow Tan Xiao for the rest of her life, and she would never be able to clear her name.

This time, Tan Xiao didn’t refuse. She squeezed out a smile. “Thank you.”

“Lawyer Xie is already on her way.” Lin Muhan glanced at her wristwatch. “She should be arriving soon. Let’s head back first.”

As soon as they left, the students planting in the fields gathered together.

“I still don’t believe Sister Xiao is that kind of person. There must be a hidden story.”

“I hope this isn’t true.”

“Are you guys stupid? If Sister Xiao were really that kind of person, she wouldn’t help us whenever we have problems. The way I see it, that mother of hers is no saint. What kind of mother talks about her own child like that? We’ve known Sister Xiao for so long, and we haven’t seen her mother come to the farm even once.”

“I saw online that Sister Xiao lost her father in high school and never mentions her mother. There’s definitely more to this.”

While the students were discussing heatedly, Tan Xiao rode her small electric scooter back to the courtyard with Lin Muhan.

A short while later, the lawyer, Xie Qi, arrived.

Having settled her emotions, Tan Xiao, in a relatively calm tone, recounted the two incidents Zhang Wenxia mentioned in the video and how Zhang Wenxia had swindled her father’s compensation money away from her back then.

Lin Muhan, who was present the whole time, couldn’t help but tighten her hands at her sides after hearing Tan Xiao’s words.

After ignoring Tan Xiao for all these years and even taking her college tuition, how did she have the face to stand before so many reporters and accuse her?

Xie Qi was also somewhat surprised by Tan Xiao’s ordeal. She regained her composure in an instant and, while putting away her recording pen, said, “After I return, I will first send a lawyer’s letter to Ms. Zhang. I will also contact the reporters and those bloggers one by one.” She paused. “Given your high level of fame, if you want to settle this matter quickly, my suggestion is to use the media to resolve it.”

Lin Muhan turned to look at Tan Xiao, waiting for her decision.

If Tan Xiao decided to use the media to settle this, she could contact them immediately.