20 Task one

Hu Pingheng looked around the house curiously and then came to the realisation that his cousin may have been living a difficult life in comparison to his. Of course, he didn't say anything about that since he didn't want to make her embarrassed. 'Really a pity that she is my relative!' He thought as he looked at her beautiful face.

After Bai Lianhua showed him a seat and he sat down, she asked whether he wanted anything to drink but he refused. "I'm not going to stay for long - I'm here to talk about whether or not you wanted to go and see your relatives."

She hesitated for a bit: "This...l don't think l should go. My mom and dad obviously did some bad things and l don't think they would be comfortable with me going. I also don't want to endure scorn and hatred because of the things that happened before." Hu Pingheng grabbed her hands and tried to reassure her: "Actually, yesterday, l went to talk to my father about meeting you at the banquet and he seemed not to mind you. Besides, you're the younger generation - they wouldn't harm you because you didn't do anything."

Bai Lianhua sighed and took a seat next to him. "You would think so but you don't know what your father is actually thinking. I don't want to be used against my parents and l don't want to make my relatives any more uncomfortable than they are right now. It's fine as long as you know I'm your relative."

Hu Pingheng slowly placed his hands on his mouth in shock. Then he cleared his throat and spoke: "I wasn't expecting this answer. Do you want to think about it more and then you can contact me? I'll give you my number."

Bai Lianhua gave him her phone. He quickly typed in his number and saved it as a new contact.

"Actually, if you're free, do you want to hang out sometime? I have some free time next weekend!" Bai Lianhua played with her fingers nervously while she asked.

"Sure! What did you want to do? I think-"

But Mom Hu shouted: "Huahua? I made some fruit juice! Come to the kitchen and get it!"

Being interrupted, Hu Pingheng blushed and Bai Lianhua laughed. "Ma! I'll come to get the juice later - just put it in the fridge." She then pointed to her phone and made a call sign which she hoped Hu Pingheng understood and then she kicked him out of the house quickly. She didn't want Mom Hu to know that Hu Pingheng visited seeing as she still felt guilty about her actions before.

The rest of the day was spent in her room studying and brushing up on her hacking and acting skills.

--

Meanwhile, at the Yue family villa, people were rushing in and out of the house - police officers, secretaries, workers, extended family members, you name it, they were all coming and going in a hurry. The only one forgotten was Yue Linlan who was trying to make herself scarce in the house. There was a monitor around her arm and ankle to prevent her from leaving the house and two policewomen on either side of her.

She sat down on the floor with her arms around her thighs and her face down. 'How did this happen? What is going on now?' All she was told was that she had to stay in the house while the police did further investigations. Her parents were nowhere to be seen because they were avoiding her and her sister had also disappeared. She was downstairs in the sitting room whilst her parents were upstairs seemingly arguing about the disappearance of certain documents.

Suddenly, a policeman started dragging the head of the Yue family out of the house saying that he was also under arrest for bribery, forgery, money laundering and intention harm against a person. Dad Yue shouted at Yue Linlan as he was being dragged out: "You broom star! You scourge! We should never have let you in our house from the beginning!" He was so angry that the veins on his forehead were bulging and his eyes were red. He also kept struggling out the policeman's hands in an effort to escape.

Another policeman put a hand around his mouth and continued dragging him out of the house. Dad Yue tried to hold onto a chair but because his hands were handcuffed, his efforts were for nought.

Mom Yue also came down the stairs in tears after seeing her husband dragged out of the house. She glared at Yue Linlan fiercely and went into the kitchen. Following behind her were the company secretaries who were asking for advice.

"Madam! Madam! The stocks have all crashed and people have been rushing to sell our stocks - what should we do?"

"Madam! Madam! Half of all the employees have resigned and they are asking for compensation!! What should l do?"

"Madam! Madam! The police have raided and taken all the documents of the company - the directors are calling for a board meeting to decide on strategies. When will you be leaving?"

"Madam! Madam -"

Mom Yue really felt like this was literal hell on earth. She also wondered how everything had come to this. Her husband was going to jail, her daughter would probably go to a correctional facility, she would be poor and penniless. Not only could she not ask others for help, she herself didn't know what to do. Her natal family would not help her - no one would help her at all. She was on her own.

She took a deep breath, reassured herself and stood up tall. From the decadent, hopeless woman, she became stronger - a fighter. Her eyes shone with determination and she smiled in the face of these difficulties. 'Aren't l well trained? Don't l have a PHD from H university? Is that for decoration? We can do this! I can do it!'

Mom Yue went back upstairs and wore got dressed to go to the company. She wore a black suit, did her makeup and made sure she looked youthful. 'Who says that my husband has to run the company? Let me do it!' She got all the necessary documents she needed and told the secretaries to follow her. During this whole process, she refused to even spare Yue Linlan a glance. Yue Linlan was on her own just as she was on her own.

Yue Linlan refused to look up until the click clacks of Mom Yue's heels finally faded. She fumbled for her phone and checked her phone app. No one called her to ask how she was. No one cared.

She only had three contacts - her sister and her parents. She decided to call Hu Lianhua.

--

At the Wu family's new apartment, everybody in the main family sat down to discuss how to go forward. In fact, this apartment wasn't new, it was the apartment that was first bought once the company was listed and the only apartment that the Wu family now owned.

All the other apartments were sold off, cars were taken away, nothing remained except this 3 bedroom house. Once those mistresses knew that the Wu family fell, they took everything valuable and made a run for it. No one claimed to be part of the Wu family anymore and people were quick to cut their losses.

The only one who appeared youthful was Wu Chenren. Everyone else looked like they'd aged 20 years. It was even pure luck that Grandpa Wu hadn't been hospitalized due to his heart problems. Wu Ling held a glass filled with brandy in his hand, he had dark almost black circles under his eyes and his lips were chapped and dry.

If you were in the room, you would have noticed that there was only one of Wu Ling's sons there. Everyone else was missing. Why was that?

They were the ones that hollowed out the Wu family's company and took all the remaining funds for their own personal projects. They still had a place within the rich and elite at the expense of the main branch of the family.

How chilling!