Chapter Sixteen: Family Scandal

Le Dong pressed his ear firmly against the door, the cool texture of the wood spreading along his ear to his spine.

The female voice outside the door made both him and Cai Kun hold their breath. It was sharp and entitled—the voice of Madam Yu Fen, the wife of Boss Hu.

Cai Kun, hiding in the narrow gap of the wardrobe, widened his eyes in the darkness and silently mouthed, “Mrs. Hu?”

Le Dong nodded, turned off the phone’s screen light, and adjusted his posture to listen more intently.

Though the sound through the wooden door was somewhat muffled, they could clearly make out Madam Hu’s suppressed sobbing.

“Hu Xiansheng is already like that. You’ve made enough money. How much longer will you keep tormenting him?” Yu Fen’s voice choked with emotion, each word squeezed painfully through clenched teeth.

Le Dong and Cai Kun exchanged a shocked glance. Hu Xiansheng was Boss Hu’s full name, but what did “already like that” mean? Was it referring to the purpose behind the grave relocation, or was there something else hidden?

A brief silence fell outside, punctuated only by the faint rustling of clothes and soft pats, seemingly the butler Ma comforting her.

“Endure a little longer, just a little longer,” Ma’s voice was low and restrained, yet carried a strange intimacy.

“I really can’t take it anymore!” Yu Fen suddenly raised her voice, filled with resentment. “If you keep this up, don’t blame me for betraying our relationship and telling Hu Xiansheng everything!”

Listening to the voices outside, Cai Kun shifted quietly beside Le Dong, squatting with thoughtful eyes.

They were both pondering the same question: What kind of relationship did Butler Ma and Madam Hu share? And what exactly would Yu Fen reveal by “telling everything”?

“Hmph!”

Ma’s voice turned cold in an instant. “Tell him? Ask him who he listens to now—Zhao Zhenren or you?” His tone was mocking. “You’ve changed, haven’t you? That bastard took you away from me back then, and I thought you were unwilling. But now it seems you were quite willing. Can you tell me why? Was it because of his domestic violence? Or that he abused his own daughter-in-law? Or are you just used to the luxury and comfort of these decades?”

The words sent a chill racing down Le Dong’s spine.

The Hu family was hiding such ugly secrets—domestic violence, incest, and a relationship violently torn apart.

He instinctively reached into his pocket for his phone, opened the recording, sensing that this matter was very important.

“Slap!”

Suddenly, the sharp sound of a slap cut through the door.

“I’m doing this for Dawei!” Yu Fen’s voice dropped, filled with pain.

Butler Ma sneered, “But that bastard is already dead.”

The lightness of that sentence made Cai Kun’s hand grip Le Dong’s arm tightly. Le Dong wiped the sweat from his temple and signaled for Cai Kun to relax.

“What’s with that expression? I’ve long suspected you killed Dawei, haven’t I?” Yu Fen’s voice broke with sobs.

Another silence followed. When Butler Ma spoke again, his tone suddenly became pleading. “Yu Fen, stop arguing. You and Hu Xiansheng are not on the same path. We are. The three of us together are!”

“That’s enough!” Yu Fen interrupted hysterically. “My husband is Hu Xiansheng forever. My son is Hu Dawei forever. You’re just a dog for the Hu family. What right do you have?”

After her words, hurried footsteps faded away, leaving only Butler Ma’s cold whisper: “Heh, I really shouldn’t have brought you to this city… Since you’re so heartless, we’ll see how it plays out…”

Le Dong and Cai Kun held their breath until they confirmed the footsteps disappeared down the corridor.

They looked at each other, seeing shock and confusion mirrored in each other’s eyes.

“This… this is a lot to take in,” Cai Kun whispered, sweat beading on his forehead. “So Butler Ma and Madam Hu were a couple before? Then Boss Hu stole Yu Fen?”

Le Dong nodded, his mind racing. “And Yu Fen suspects Butler Ma killed Hu Dawei. If that’s true, then…”

He paused, switched off the recording, and glanced at Zhao Zhenren sleeping on the bed. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Then it’s very likely that Butler Ma set this trap for us.”

“And those noises downstairs… the commotion in Old Master Hu’s mourning hall…” Cai Kun’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Ma just said, ‘Who does he listen to now, Zhao Zhenren or you?’ Could Zhao Zhenren be arranged by Butler Ma?”

Le Dong felt a chill. “Very likely. This whole thing could be Butler Ma’s revenge. Boss Hu stole his woman, so he’s been lurking in the Hu family for years, waiting for the right moment…”

In the pitch-black bedroom, the two pieced together the event’s outline word by word.

At that moment, the sound of a door lock turning came from next door. Both fell silent immediately.

After a moment of stillness and no further sounds, Le Dong signaled to search the room again.

They tiptoed around, checking every corner, but aside from some talismans and ritual objects covered in cryptic symbols, they found no new clues.

“No, we have to check Butler Ma’s room,” Le Dong whispered. “But it’s too risky now. That old man likes to lock his door from the inside. We’ll find another chance in the next few days. Don’t alert him.”

Cai Kun nodded knowingly. After sending him off, Le Dong opened his own door to find Xiao Zhang lying on the desk, staring at his phone screen.

The moment Le Dong entered, Xiao Zhang quickly switched screens with unnatural speed.

“Le Ge, where did you go?” Xiao Zhang smiled, but Le Dong noticed a flicker of unease in his eyes.

“Uh… thirsty. Went downstairs to get some water,” Le Dong replied casually, his gaze landing on Xiao Zhang’s phone. “Isn’t there no signal? How can you access the internet?”

Xiao Zhang shook the phone. “I suddenly got inspired for my novel earlier and wanted to jot it down. Just now, there was a signal.”

Le Dong didn’t doubt him; after all, even he sometimes received sudden creative impulses. He pulled out his own phone to check and saw three bars of signal.

He hurriedly composed a message summarizing his suspicions and findings. Since Ma Wenwen was blind, he handed a business card to Fan Biao, hoping Fan Biao could convey some instructions.

After finishing this, he glanced at Xiao Zhang on the bed, opened Douyin, and noticed an unread message shared by his wife.

But as the loading circle spun, the three bars of signal vanished into an X…

“Tsk… I forgot to ask how my wife’s day was…”

He scolded himself and casually tapped on the video his wife shared. The title read: “A Murderer on the Loose in This City—Civilians Please Stay Away and Report to Police Immediately.” The photo below partially loaded but clearly showed the profile of a bald man.

More strikingly, on the left side of the bald head was a dark, striped birthmark…

Le Dong didn’t think much and swiped past it, lying on his side to nap. But the next second, an image flashed through his mind…

He snapped awake, heart pounding wildly.

That bald man… he had seen him today!