453 Ze’en’s Fight for Favor
In the morning, Ze’en came to the kitchen in the Li family’s villa and made a pot of mung bean soup. Then, she brought it to Li Tingfeng’s room.
“Dad, I woke up early in the morning to make your favorite mung bean porridge. You have to drink it.” Although Ze’en did not like Li Tingfeng, she had been riding her horse on the road to flatter Li Tingfeng ever since she tasted the sweetness of pleasing Li Tingfeng and agitating her stepmother.
Li Tingfeng was very surprised. In his opinion, Ze’en’s change in attitude was just a sign of currying favor.
Among the four children, Ze’en was the least promising. From the bottom of his heart, he did not dote on her. However, now that the other children had alienated him, he would gladly accept it if Ze’en could ignore the past and please him.
“Ze’en, you’ve worked hard,” Li Tingfeng said calmly.
Ze’en placed the mung bean porridge on the coffee table and even blew on it considerately. She smiled and said, “Dad, drink it while it’s hot. I’ll leave first.”
With that, Ze’en turned and walked out. But she didn’t leave. Instead, she hid in the door, ready to watch a big battle.
As expected, when her stepmother came out and saw that there was only a bowl of mung bean porridge on the coffee table, she immediately felt unbalanced.
“Tingfeng, Li Ze’en treated you as an enemy some time ago. When she saw that you were rich, she came to please you. I keep feeling that this girl is not as innocent as she looks. Perhaps she took the opportunity to get close to you and is trying to catch your shortcomings to deal with you?”
When Li Ze’en heard her stepmother hit the nail on the head, she was so frightened that she broke out in cold sweat.
Fortunately, the obstinate Li Tingfeng did not believe her stepmother’s words. He said arrogantly, “That girl suffered a lot some time ago and knew the importance of money. She was so happy when I gave her some money. It’s not as complicated as you say.”
Seeing that she could not sow discord, her stepmother said sourly, “Don’t use your money so generously. Don’t forget that you don’t only have Li Ze’en as a daughter. You still have Zefeng and Zeyu.”
Li Tingfeng originally liked Zefeng and Zeyu, very much. However, these two had been running away from home recently, angering Li Tingfeng.
“Don’t mention them to me. How old are they? They can’t take any grievances. They quarreled with us at every turn and ran away from home. If they have the ability, don’t go home for the rest of their lives.”
Li Ze’en’s stepmother immediately felt a sense of crisis.
She was afraid that Li Ze’en’s bottomless flattery would cause Li Tingfeng to transfer his fatherly love to Ze’en. Immediately, she promised Li Tingfeng, “Don’t worry, I promise to let them come back to see you this weekend.”
Only then did Li Tingfeng give in.
“As long as they come back obediently, most of my assets will still be left to them.”
Ze’en’s face froze at her father’s words.
She knew that in Li Tingfeng’s eyes, she was worthless.
Her father’s bias stung Li Ze’en again.
She clenched her fists as she became even more determined to take revenge on him.
Qiao An and Ze’en’s detective agency was renovated as quickly as possible. The place Qiao An rented was originally a detective agency that had closed down.
The interior had been modified to a certain extent and expanded through buying over the surrounding office spaces. Soon, a new detective agency was established.
The employees were the hires of the previous agency, but the names of the bosses were quietly changed to Li Ze’en and Qiao An’s aliases.
On the day of the opening, Qiao An and Li Ze’en gathered the employees and focused on the business investigation of Li Tingfeng’s funding.
The detective agency sent someone to follow Li Tingfeng 24 hours a day and investigate his business circle.
Ze’en continued to play the role of a filial daughter and tried to break through Li Tingfeng’s mental defense so that he would reveal some business matters.
With a two-pronged approach, they had to nail this case as soon as possible.
As for Qiao An, she tried to capture the connection between the gang behind Li Tingfeng and the drug smuggling organization.
With an order, the people in the detective agency did their jobs and everyone got to work in high spirits.
Two days later, Qiao An received a message from Ze’en. “Aunt, Zefeng and Zeyu have returned home. If nothing goes wrong, the old man will leave the business to Zeyu. At that time, perhaps he will definitely reveal a portion of the business to Li Zeyu. After all, he dotes on this son the most.”
Qiao An replied, “Wait for me. I’ll be right back.”
Qiao An bought many supplements for the old man and returned to the Li family.
When the third branch saw Qiao An, their expressions darkened.
The new wife mocked Qiao An bluntly, “Qiao An, haven’t you been returning to the Li family a little too often recently? Don’t tell me you want to earn a lot of inheritance from the Li family by acting in front of the old man?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the first and second branches looked over warily.
Qiao An said bluntly, “Didn’t Old Master split the Li family’s assets long ago? I came home to show my respects on behalf of my Brother Xiaoran.”
Third Madam snorted. “I only know that when a weasel pays his respects to a chicken, it has ill intentions.”
Qiao An sat there dejectedly. At this moment, she knew that the more she said, the more mistakes she would make. It was better to be silent.
When Li Zeyu saw Qiao An’s sad expression, his heart ached for her. He said to his mother, “Whether Aunt comes home or not is her business. Why are you so nosy?”
The mistress was so angry that she scolded her son, “What do you know? Other than angering me every day, what else can you do?”
Li Zeyu muttered, “I knew I would quarrel with you when I return. I should never have come back.”
The woman was also afraid that her son would run away from home, so she forced herself to be quiet.
Qiao An gave Ze’en a knowing, unspeakable look before entering the house.
Li Ze’en looked at Li Tingfeng. His gaze lingered on Li Zeyu and Li Zefeng; he rarely looked so gentle and loving.
Then, she heard Li Tingfeng scold Third Madam sternly, “Don’t shout at them. It’s rare for Zefeng and Zeyu to come back. Do you want to drive them away again?”
The mistress was immediately isolated and wanted to cry.
Li Tingfeng said to Zeyu and Zefeng, “You siblings, come over and sit with Dad.”
Li Ze’en felt stifled looking at their act of a loving father and filial children.
She simply picked up the teapot and walked toward them.
Then, she called Li Tingfeng sweetly, “Dad, you’re thirsty, right? Have some tea.”
Li Tingfeng glanced at Li Ze’en and blushed.
He had been busy greeting Zefeng and Zeyu and completely ignored Ze’en. This made him seem too unfair.