Chapter Seventeen

  Cheng Hai and Li Lan both remained silent, their faces looking extremely unpleasant.

  Lai Ying sneered, "Hmph, you still have the face to ask what's going on? You know best what you've done! At such a young age, you're already stealing things! What will become of you when you grow up?"

  Cheng Zihan's face changed slightly upon hearing the words, but she quickly understood what was going on. She guessed that Li Lan had returned home to find the money missing and had gone out early in the morning to work. By the time Cheng Zihan got up, Li Lan had already left the house, so she had no choice but to take the money herself. She hadn't expected Li Lan to discover it so soon.

  If it were just five yuan, I wouldn't be so angry. Has the whole family come back? Even Cheng Hai, who went out to work, has returned.

  "Grandma, you're being serious? You say I stole something, then I'd like to ask, what did I steal? Did anyone see it? Where's the evidence?" Cheng Zihan coldly swept a glance at Lai Ying and said with annoyance.

  Lai Ying was taken aback for a moment, and she couldn't believe that Cheng Zihan would dare to defy her in front of so many people. For a moment, she was speechless.

  Cheng Shi Hao also glanced at Cheng Zi Han with a faint gaze, feeling that there was something different about her, but he didn't think too much of it. He simply said coldly: "When your mom came back, she found out that 358 yuan was missing from home. There's no one else in the house except for you, so who took it?"

  "What?" Cheng Zihan was shocked! She had only taken five dollars, how did it become three hundred and fifty-eight? Was it that someone saw her putting the money away when she took it, then snuck into the room to steal the money after she left?

  Cheng Zihan thought about it more and more, feeling that this was possible. She carefully recalled what had happened that day, wondering who might have seen her when she went out.

  That day, no one else should have seen her taking the money, but if there was no sign of a break-in at home and the money was still lost, it must be that someone had discovered where the money was hidden and secretly took it. It's possible that only a few people knew about this place, but Cheng Zihan looked at Lai Ying with suspicion, remembering that she seemed to have seen her when she left the house. Could it be that she stole the money and wanted to frame herself?

  "Zi Han, if it's really you who took it, then honestly say so and hand over the money. Dad won't pursue it." Cheng Hai's face looked unpleasant, he glanced at Cheng Zi Han with a hint of disappointment in his tone.

  Cheng Zihan felt a pang in her heart upon hearing this, never expecting that Cheng Hai would distrust her.

  She took a deep breath. "I didn't take it. The money was still there when I went out this morning, and I only took five yuan. Zixi also saw it."

  Cheng Zi Xi finally had the chance to speak, and she hastily nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Dad, Mom, my sister and I took five yuan and then earned a lot of money."

  Cheng Zixi suddenly blurted out, and Cheng Zihan wanted to stop her but couldn't, so she could only silently watch as Cheng Zixi continued to boast.

  "Who are you kidding? You dare to say such big lies, humph, Cheng Zihan, your guts are getting bigger and bigger, and you even teach Zi Xi to lie." Lai Ying couldn't help but sneer when she heard this, continuing her cold mockery.

  Cheng Zihan gave her a cold glance, too lazy to talk to this sharp-tongued old woman. Instead, she spoke to Cheng Hai, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression: "Dad, I went to Wangcheng with Zixi today and sold some of the single-legged gold we brought back. You said last time that the land by the river is going to be auctioned off in one piece, right? I want to bid on it, so I wanted to earn some money myself. I didn't take any money from home."

  Cheng Hai's face finally eased up a bit after hearing this, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Lai Ying say disdainfully: "Tsk, tsk, still want to deceive people? Those things are worthless, how can they be sold in the city?"

  "Is that so? If it's not worth the money, why doesn't Auntie want to buy it herself at the pharmacy in town, but instead brings back so much every time she returns home? What do you need me and Zixi to help you pick for when you have nothing better to do? Can't you just buy some yourself if it's not worth the money?" Lai Ying's repeated provocations had finally reached the bottom line of Cheng Zihuan, who gave her a cold glance and asked sarcastically.

  "You! You little savage! How dare you speak to me like that? Just watch me not beat you to death!" Lai Ying had never been so angry in her life, seeing Cheng Zihans attitude and tone, she was really furious, raised her hand and slapped Cheng Zi Han's face.

  Cheng Zihan dodged with a quick movement and turned back to make a face at Lai Ying.

  "You! You dare to hide from me! Watch out, watch out or I'll beat you to death!" Lai Ying was furious and directly took off her slippers to chase after Cheng Zihan.

  "That's enough!" Cheng Hai could no longer bear it and coldly shouted.

  Lai Ying stopped her actions and glared at Cheng Hai with indignation.

  "Zi Han, you said you didn't take the money from home, and that the money on you was earned by yourself. Then take out the money on you, I just need to take a look to know if you're lying or not." Cheng Hai didn't even bother to look at Lai Ying, he knew this so-called mother had never looked favorably upon his family, especially towards Cheng Zi Han and Cheng Zi Xi, she was simply too stingy. It was only out of gratitude for raising him that he didn't argue with her about it.

  "En." Cheng Zihan nodded and took out the money hidden in his clothes, unwrapping the layers of newspaper outside to finally see the money inside.

  Because there were many people buying things, most of the money was in tens and fives. There were only two 50-yuan bills, which were given by the boss when shopping at that store. Inside, there was a large handful of change, including one-yuan coins, fifty-cent coins, and even a few cents.

  Cheng Zihan wrapped it carefully, wrapping a big package. Lai Ying saw the money and her eyes widened in shock.

  "How is it possible to have so much money?"

  She subconsciously wanted to pounce over and grab the money, but thinking that Cheng Hai was still there, she could only covetously look at the money in Cheng Zihans hand, not daring to make a move.

  Cheng Zihan gave her a cold look before handing the money over to Cheng Hai, "Dad, let's put in a bid for the land by the river. I have 2,112 yuan and 50 cents here, it should be enough."

  Cheng Hai looked at the money handed over by Cheng Zihan, his eyes slightly moist, and finally nodded heavily, "Alright, let's invest."

  Lai Ying perked up her ears and listened to Cheng Hai's words, and when she heard that he had actually agreed to invest all the money in that worthless land, she was so distressed that she shouted loudly, "That piece of land can't even grow anything valuable! And it's almost flood season, putting so much money into that land isn't like throwing it into the sea?! Ah Hai, your daughter has a problem with her brain, you can't follow her and be foolish too! Besides, it's only 2,000 yuan, it's not certain if it can even be invested!"

  Cheng Zihan was about to speak when Cheng Hai said coldly, "Whatever my daughter wants, even if it's a star in the sky, I'll pluck it down for her. As for not having enough money, don't bother worrying about it, I'll make up for it!"