Continuing from the last time, Grandpa Chu Shan, who had been in seclusion, suddenly came to the funeral. Without saying a word, he took out a notarized will and told me and my uncle what he meant when he said that morning that we would be lifelong enemies.
He put all his life's efforts on me, but people like my second uncle and younger uncle, who were illegitimate children from the womb, who didn't fight all their lives to prove themselves? It's a pity that my grandfather was at the end of his rope. He would not let his enemies go, even if the enemy was his own son. If he didn't admit his mistake, he would definitely completely ruin all his descendants.
Grandpa Chu Shan had no choice but to bow with a group of old officials he brought with him: "Miss Xishi, the master had made up his mind when he was alive. He told me a long time ago that the world will eventually unite after being divided for a long time, and the family is no exception. However, the two words "separation" are too much of a blow to a family. The Fu family was divided into three branches just because he was soft-hearted and couldn't bear to let any promising child be inferior to others. The mistake has been made, and I'm asking you to make up for it a little. You are the only direct descendant of the eldest branch, and you should be the person in charge of the entire Fu family. The deceased is gone, so please make a decision early after you are sad, and don't refuse. The original third branch Miss Zening and her group are still young, you must take on the posture of the eldest sister, protect your younger brothers and sisters, guard the family assets, and pave the way for their future. Otherwise, the outside world will be greedy, and the children alone will not be able to withstand the pressure."
I felt like there was a blockage in my chest, and it was very difficult to exhale. I could see everyone's expectant eyes. "I, I have no interest in being the head of the household, nor do I have the ability to do so. I can't take it over. Besides, this is my uncle's property, it's his hard work! How can I not leave it to his children? His will clearly states..."
Grandpa Chu Shan sighed softly, "The master's will also clearly states that Ke Xuan Group was founded when he was alive. From any perspective, he belongs only to the master. The master only gave the management rights to the third master, and the third master only has the right to spend during his lifetime. Miss Xishi, you can actually give up your inheritance rights and return the property to Miss Zening. Just sign your name."
I quickly interrupted him: "Then sign it!"
"Sister!" Chengcheng lowered her voice and pulled me, but I remained indifferent and had to face the faces of the third room's relatives. They were going to be abandoned, and at this moment they were like ants on a hot pan, united in a rare way, and started shouting non-stop.
"Uncle Chu Shan! You can't say that! Our Third Master has worked hard all his life, how could he leave all his property to his niece?"
"Yes, and Miss Xishi is going to marry someone else. Does that mean she should take all the family property to the Gao family and change her surname to Gao? Even if, even if she already has Miss Jiang Ling and Miss Jiang Yun with the surname Fu, who knows what the future will be like!"
"You are such a fool! How can you contradict yourself? Uncle Chu Shan, don't listen to him. Miss Jiang Ling and Miss Jiang Yun must be promising children, but Miss Xishi just said that she has no interest in the family property! Even if we take a step back, we have to respect Miss Xishi's ideas, right? She is in poor health and can't stand Ke Xuan's trivial matters! It's better to give her back to Miss Zening. The future path planned by Miss Xishi is clear and detailed enough."
"Grandpa Chu Shan, why would my great-uncle leave such a will? We have worked hard for the Fu family, he can't just say he doesn't want us anymore! Didn't my brother go to jail for the family's crimes..."
"Shut up! How dare you say such nonsense! Shu Yai just believed the words of the traitor carelessly. What does his imprisonment have to do with the Fu family...Uncle Chu Shan, our family will never blame anyone for this matter, but please, for the sake of our relationship, give me some fair words! My cousin is not so heartless! Did someone make a mistake?"
Grandpa Chu Shan was upset and waved his hand to suppress the resentment of the third house. "There is no misunderstanding. I was by the side when the master made the will. There are handwritten, audio and video recordings. If anyone does not believe it, you can come forward and see it, or you can ask the government to certify the authenticity of the documents. But first I want to remind Miss Xishi that if you want to give up your inheritance rights, you must listen to the premise clearly, that is, the third house exists, but it exists like the rules of the Gao family. Any descendant of the Fu family has the right to compete for the right to be the head of the third house, just like the current Gao family, choosing the most powerful descendant as the head of the family, with the eldest house as the head, can also make the Fu family advance by leaps and bounds."
The voices of complaint just now disappeared again, and everyone looked at each other. Such words were good news that only come once in a thousand years. In the past, people relied on others to survive because their relatives were too distant and fighting for them would not yield any results. They endured humiliation and received humiliation. Now, if everyone can follow the example of the Gao family, they can rise to the top. Who wouldn't cheer up? Although the opponent has a deep foundation, he is just a sixteen-year-old child.
Grandpa Chu Shan left the coffin, quietly wiped away his tears, and bowed to me again: "Miss Xishi, let me say something selfish. You are indifferent to fame and fortune and no one dares to argue with you, but I ask you to consider Miss Zening and at least wait until she comes of age before putting her in the Colosseum..."
I gradually couldn't hear clearly what he said. I just saw Zening weighing the pros and cons and bending down with his younger brother and sister. He was unwilling but helpless: "Cousin, please help me and my younger brother and sister, even if you only take on this burden and give me more guidance when I encounter problems. In the future, I will not let my father and cousin down..."
Zening's heart sank completely, and the way she addressed me instantly changed from sister to cousin. It was not that she did not believe me at this time, but the situation forced her to believe me, just like me at the beginning. Because of my weakness, I had to rely on a big tree reluctantly and could not see the way forward at all - oh, she has seen my way. When my second uncle first adopted me, he was also a very friendly and loving person. So how could Zening guarantee that I would not change for the sake of benefits over time?
Cheng Cheng kept pulling me, he was the most active, I looked over, the hard-to-disguise urgency and greed in his eyes were tearing my heart apart, I wondered if I would have a chance to escape? Looking down one by one, everyone in the third room saw that Zening had surrendered to me, and now they could not care about my uncle, they quickly used the mats at their feet to kneel down for me, those who were too old or had to be proud also bowed, begging me not to abandon their parents, they did not make any mistakes, and they would be used by me in the future.
The Third Grandma was filled with desolation. She slowly raised her eyes and stood up, casting her gaze towards Pei Zhen: "Little Pei, is Fu Wenke really so cruel that he didn't leave anything for Mingyan? What about Mingyan himself? Didn't he make any preparations for himself?"
Pei Zhen had been thinking about it, and now he finally sighed and nodded: "The will that Fu Mingyan showed everyone, which was planned for Zening, was the second one he signed. The first one was what Uncle Chu Shan said. He really only had the management rights of Ke Xuan Group, and he didn't have any extra property left. When Shu Yi was rescued a few days ago, he privately told me about the distribution of the will. He said that as long as Shishi was alive, he was willing to give all his property to Shishi, and his only request was that Shishi raise his younger siblings to adulthood."
"That's his own daughter! He has always regarded Zening as the apple of his eye. How could he bear to let her live a life of dependence on others? He actually gave all his property to such a niece..." The Third Grandma burst into tears and no longer had the energy to question. She collapsed on the armchair in agony.
I had nothing to say, so Pei Zhen came over and put his hand on my shoulder painfully but firmly: "But now, the Fu family will obviously only take care of Zening's property without any distractions, right?"
He seemed to support me, but he only seemed to support me. He really trusted me and would not reach out to push me down. I knew in my heart that this was a thankless job that I couldn't give up. After all, I was still tied up by the elders' serial trap. I also tried to figure out other things in a coherent manner, such as my second uncle's plan and why he suddenly rushed over to take my young uncle's life.
My uncle and I working together to deal with him was only one aspect. The most important thing was that when Mada faced Gao Xinci and William for the first time, the opponent's strength suddenly reached a level that he could not resist at all. He was at a dead end and had to surrender to survive. The second issue was the issue of family property.
He doesn't love money, at least he won't use the most despicable means to get money like he did to me. He asked my uncle to commit suicide with me, and the reward would be that the old man's will would be written off because of my accidental death. He would not compete with the younger generation for the third branch's property, and would smoothly pass all the third branch's property to Zening to inherit. If he retreated, the Fu family would be completely divided and each would go their own way, otherwise he would definitely start with more children and end up in a desperate situation. This should be the best outcome for my uncle who has already despaired of life, but if he softens his heart and lets me live, the third branch's assets will automatically be transferred to my name. Even if I would feel sorry for my younger brothers and sisters, with Chengcheng, who values money more than his life, all my uncle's life's work would fall into Chengcheng's hands, and his children would be left on the streets.
He thought that my uncle would comply with this seemingly harmless request. For him, if he was a little ruthless, he could get rid of the two pillars of the eldest and third houses, and solve the biggest threat to my inheritance of the second house. This is what my uncle meant by "enemy". He was the one who caused all the pain in my life, and there is no possibility of reconciliation. He was afraid that he could not fight anymore, and a hundred years later, I would take my hatred out on my brother.
In his previous life, he tried his best to love me, but he just reversed the form and made up his mind that I would give up my inheritance rights. By then, my brother would have grown up and had the ability to manage the household. Even if the Fu family became an arena like the Gao family, my brother would be able to stand out and keep the second branch firmly in his hands.
In comparison, the previous life was more merciful.
It's a pity that the world has changed, I took the wrong path, and my second uncle was also wrong. He didn't expect that my younger uncle didn't care about his "hard work" and would rather believe me, let me survive, and let his children take the risk of just having enough food and clothing, just to prove to my second uncle that he was wrong.
Fu Mingtang was wrong.
The suicide note sneered in the cruelest way: "I don't care about the so-called money, power, and fame that you have fought for and maintained all your life. They are not as important as my wife and children, nor are they as important as ever. Fu Mingtang, you are really too pitiful. Do you think that you are holy and innocent just because you are wrapped up in these external things? You are still a pitiful and helpless mouse."
The uncle was a brave and stubborn man. Perhaps the only thing that made him sad was that he didn't expect that even his sacrifice was part of Old Fu's plan. His son's death was also part of Old Fu's plan.
Lao Hou's smiling face from beginning to end reminded me of this. Lao Fu knew the contents of my grandfather's will. Like my uncle, they were all trying to remove all obstacles so that I could merge the third branch and fight against my second uncle.
No one thought whether this was too cruel for me.
My deceased uncle and Shu Yi are my closest relatives, and my second uncle and brother on the opposite side are also my closest relatives. We all once smiled at the same table and lived closely together under the same roof.
The moment I figured it out, I laughed heart-wrenchingly, but also cried at the same time. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. After laughing, I finally fainted from exhaustion. My already weak body might have been made worse. Before I closed my eyes, I saw Lao Hou finally frowned, and he came over in two steps to ask everyone to send me back to the hospital.
I woke up after an unknown period of time and heard Chengcheng and Lulu muttering that my third grandmother had set herself on fire in the ancestral hall of the old house. She was fine when she was just sent back and was cooking for her grandchildren. But when Zening and the others were at the dinner table, she suddenly rushed into the hall with gasoline and set it on fire like crazy. She squeezed herself in the middle of the fire, showing no pain or fear, and just pointed at my grandfather's tablet and yelled.
"You ruined me!"
"Fu Wenke, you will not die well, that is your retribution!"
"People like you don't deserve to have children. You regard your own flesh and blood as enemies. You are worse than a beast!"
After venting her emotions, the blazing flames burned her dark blue cheongsam, and she cried bitterly in front of the tablet of her second grandmother.
She started saying “it hurts”, “it hurts”, but we all knew that it was not the pain of being burned by fire.
Time has passed so long, and Third Grandma has adapted to the Fu family so quickly that everyone has forgotten that she was initially kidnapped into the family. Grandpa fell in love with her after watching a play by chance, and without saying a word, he kidnapped her and took her home. Third Grandma initially thought about refusing to obey and wanted to run away, but it was when she saw from afar the radiant and stunning Second Grandma sitting under the plum tree in the backyard that day when she was wearing her wedding dress that she changed her mind and stayed to become the third wife of the Fu family. In the end, she and her children were sucked dry by Grandpa, and the last bit of pure heart left for her was taken away by Second Grandma.
She died in that crying fire.
Zening and the others were outside crying "Grandma" frantically, but no one could rush in to save her, and Third Grandma didn't even look at them.
After my uncle and Shu Yi's funerals, I handled my third grandmother's funeral in a half-awake state. The third branch of the family had originally been the most populous, but now three of them died, and the whole yard became quiet.
My aunt's condition took a turn for the worse, and soon she was bedridden, coughing constantly.
Zening became silent.
Ze Xin cried all day long.
Shutong suddenly became sensible. After apologizing to me, he started to study hard, reading and writing day and night. He would ask Chengcheng questions whenever he found him and annoyed Chengcheng.
Finally, there is the most pitiful Zelu. She is only six years old and has no clear understanding of death. No one has the heart to explain it to her, so they can only tell her that her grandmother, father and brother have all gone very far away.
Xiao Zelu then went back and forth between the rooms of these three people day after day, until one day he finally understood that death would never come back...
Oh, and what about my second uncle? After falling into the trap, he immediately took away the property and disappeared with my brothers, leaving behind the empty shell of Ying Qi and Kelin Group who were completely unaware of what was happening in the outside world. So I inherited Kelin soon after, and while repaying the foreign debt and resuming work, I instructed everyone to help me find my second uncle.
Tell him that I really miss him very much.
A year passed in this hazy state.