11. Dirty Tricks

Starving, the best friends' stomachs grumbled incessantly, and Zhou Yuanyuan could no longer endure, pulling out her phone to make a suggestion.

"How about we order some takeout?"

Yang Yuran agreed, "Sure, I'll treat."

It didn't seem right to trouble the boss so much, especially since most of the expenses in the future would be on the boss.

Just as they finished ordering spicy rabbit heads and crayfish, Mrs. Yang sent a message: Ranran, Mom has some things to take care of, I'll bring your clothes and daily necessities the day after tomorrow.

Yang Yuran's heart tightened, an ominous premonition arose—something had happened on Mrs. Yang's end.

In the afternoon Mrs. Yang had clearly said she would send someone to deliver the things, but now she couldn't come herself. Even if Mrs. Yang was considering that it was rather late and she didn't want to disturb her rest, she could have sent them tomorrow. Mrs. Yang's choice to delay until the day after tomorrow—could there be something more important happening tomorrow?

Or perhaps, due to some accident, Mrs. Yang wouldn't be able to see her tomorrow.

Considering the latter possibility, Yang Yuran became too anxious to sit still, hastily blurting out, "Yuanyuan, you eat on your own, I need to return to the old Yang Family house on Yuntai Mountain."

Zhou Yuanyuan, having guessed that something was wrong with Mrs. Yang based on the evening's events and their empty wait, grabbed Yang Yuran as she got up to leave.

Pulling out her key card from her pocket, she insisted, "I'll take you there."

The best friends hurriedly set out, with Zhou Yuanyuan not showing off by driving with one hand.

After a period of travel that allowed for some calm, upon arrival at the Yang Family home, Yang Yuran had regained a bit of composure. She had Zhou Yuanyuan ring the doorbell.

The butler, under pressure, had no choice but to open the door, and the car drove straight up to stop in front of the main building.

As soon as the best friends entered the vestibule, they heard a hypocritical argument emanating from the living room.

"Mrs. Yang, the master is already exhausted from coming home, we need to fulfill our role as good wives. Let's settle these minor issues privately and not give the master more trouble," someone was saying.

"My mother is quite right, Mrs. Yang. You say that we marginalize you, but that is not the case. We can swear to heaven that we've never harbored any ill will towards you. Take this afternoon's incident, for example. I can understand you were eager to see your daughter, but I need my dress for tomorrow. If you take it to your sister, what will I wear for my birthday party?"

"Exactly, that dress is a spring-summer limited edition from Master Enki, the only one in the world. I bought it specifically as a birthday present for Feifei,"

The best friends exchanged glances and hastened their steps.

Upon reaching the chaos of the living room, it wasn't hard to imagine what had transpired. They immediately spotted a light green dress thrown at Mrs. Yang's feet; its hem and shoulder were torn, lying in tatters near Yang Fei's feet.

Mrs. Yang, noticing the sudden appearance of the two, had a flash of panic in her eyes and blurted out with accusation, "What's wrong with you, child? Why don't you listen? Why are you running back here?"

Yang Yuran felt a piercing pain and blockage in her heart. Her own mother was being bullied yet still thought to protect her. She felt so useless, so filled with hatred for this sense of powerlessness.

With a hoarse voice, she cried out, "Mom," but before she could say "come with me," a piercing voice intervened.

Yang Fei, pretending to be the victim, sobbed with grievance, "Wuu~ Mrs. Yang, you even called your sister back. If you really liked the dress, you could've just told me. Why take it secretly? The butler was simply checking the delivered items as usual, Mrs. Yang got angry, said she wanted to fire the butler—the butler must feel so pitiful."

Mrs. Yang glared furiously at Yang Fei and scolded sharply, "Hold your crocodile tears. Don't put on a sad face every time you see someone. Your mother is going to make you cry to death one day. I've said it many times this afternoon, all I did was help Ranran organize some of her clothes. I've never even seen your worthless dress. As to how it ended up with Ranran's clothes, you better ask your house's traitor about that."

Mrs. Yang was a lady born into the prestigious Jiangzhe household, and with her upbringing and quality, she wouldn't utter vulgarities unless driven to extremity.

"Let's call the police. The innocent has nothing to fear from their own shadow."

Zhou Yuanyuan pulled out her phone from her pocket, unlocked it, and dialed a familiar police number. Just as she was about to connect, three voices interrupted her.

"Don't."

"Don't call."

Zhou Yuanyuan had anticipated that the mischievous mother and daughter would try to stop her, but she couldn't understand why Yang Yuran would do the same.

She looked at her best friend with confusion and received a 'wait' gesture with a shake of her head.

Zhou Yuanyuan was short on patience and leaned closer to her best friend, whispering so only the two of them could hear, "Trust me, even if your dad knows people, I can find a way to detain the green tea mother and daughter for 24 hours. To sound the alarm for them, at least make them more wary of your mom in the future."

"Thank you, let me take care of it for now. You're my backup, to be used when necessary."

Yang Yuran expressed her gratitude fondly; her best friend's understanding of Bai Yan and her daughter was merely superficial, seeing only their bad and foolish facade, unaware of the lengths Bai Yan would go to achieve her goals.

"May I make a call to a friend, to verify the document matter?" Yang Yuran pulled Mrs. Yang behind her and with a forced smile, inquired of Bai Yan.

Bai Yan didn't reply immediately; she glanced at the housekeeper and, upon receiving an almost imperceptible nod, replied casually, "Go ahead and make the call, but remember to verify the truth of the matter and apologize to Feifei on behalf of your mother."

Yang Yuran raised her hand to stop Mrs. Yang from rushing out and calmly agreed, "Okay, those who are in the wrong should apologize. I hope they won't deny it when the time comes."

Bai Yan let out a strange laugh, leading Yang Fei back to the couch and began to act out a show of maternal and filial piety, taking turns comforting Mr. Yang.

Yang Yuran, holding on tight to the two people she was closest to, moved toward the dining room, pulling out chairs and making them sit down, one by one.

"Yuran, listen to me, this time we must make a big deal out of it, let them learn a lesson. Your home was under surveillance anyway, I'll have my friend bring the city squad over, and we'll know everything once we check."

Zhou Yuanyuan spoke in an elevated tone, planning to intimidate the other side with verbal threats first.

"It's no use; they surely chose the dead angle of the cameras to carry out their deed."

Yang Yuran's words deepened the sense of defeat on Mrs. Yang's face. Before her daughter came, she had asked to check the surveillance, but unfortunately, they had found no substantial evidence.

"That's so despicable!"

Zhou Yuanyuan, infuriated, pounded on the marble dining table twice, and while glancing toward the living room, she caught a glimpse of a smug smile on Yang Fei's face, but it vanished in an instant.

"Don't rush, I'll give a friend a call first."

Yang Yuran gave Mrs. Yang a look, and Mrs. Yang softly consoled Zhou Yuanyuan on her behalf.

Yang Yuran opened the back garden door of her home and walked into the quiet garden, searching for the name Wu Yingzi before making the call.

As she listened to the dial tone, memories flashed back to her childhood. Once, she had an argument with Yang Fei, who hit her several times. She merely pushed Yang Fei lightly, but following Bai Yan's cue, Yang Fei fell to the ground. By the time Mr. Yang came home in the evening to judge the dispute, Yang Fei's arms and body bore many more bruises than before.

Back then, her character was rather arrogant and wilful. Falsely accused, she immediately went to hit the lying wrongdoer, firmly believing that since Yang Fei had framed her, she had to produce an equal amount of injuries on her opponent.

Her forthright way of dealing with the situation was extremely foolish, leading Mr. Yang to conclude that she was wrong.

But at least there was one consolation back then: at least Mr. Yang was biased in her favor.