With the decision made, Zhao Xinyi turned and left the hall.
She combed through more memories as she walked. This was not a part of the country she had explored in her previous life.
Also, five years had passed since her death. She was sure that some significant changes would have happened in the country and the world in general.
Using the residual memory, Xinyi finally got the address to where she lived.
She stood in front of the hall and waited for a taxi. However, a cream car parked in front of her.
A middle-aged woman poked her head out through the front window, "Yi'er, get in."
While the current Zhao Xinyi didn't know her, this woman was not a stranger to the owner of the body.
She was her adopted mother and Yu Lan's biological mother!
"What are you waiting for? Let's go home and settle matters." A man replied from the driver's side.
Zhao Xinyi looked around at the empty streets that didn't look like a place with plenty of activity. Her mind weighed her options very quickly, and she opened the door and entered.
Yu Lan was in the backseat, resting her head on the window. As soon as she entered, she raised her head to glare at Zhao Xinyi. "Bitch,"
Zhao Xinyi's eyebrows arched upwards as she heard her words. However, she said nothing.
In a situation like this, she was planning to remain silent until she knew whom their family was planning to support.
Almost as though she had heard her thoughts, her adoptive mother turned back to face her.
With a self-righteous expression, she started, "Xiao Mei, what you did today wasn't exactly proper. Zhu Fan isn't a stranger, he is your future brother-in-law. At most, the both of you can become joint owners later and you work behind the scenes,"
Xinyi sneered as she heard her words. Partners?
What contribution has Zhu Fan added to the project all these while?
"Partners? 'Mother', you must mean that I can sell the technology that the family uses in making more money in our District and let him become my partner, right?"
The car screeched to a stop at her words, and Yu Gang banged his hand on the steering wheel.
"What are you saying? You want your daughter to marry a man that can steal his sister's work like that?" Yu Gang yelled, making the other women in the car flinch.
"Daddy!" Yu Lan cried out, clearly not expecting her father to support Zhao Xinyi.
"If you can't support your sister, then you are no daughter of mine. Do you know how much she has done for the family business? What have you done other than to spend lavishly?" Yu Gang pressed on.
He looked at Zhao Xinyi through the rearview mirror.
"Zhao Mei, don't mind your mother and sister. They have been blinded by Zhu Fan. No matter what, Father will assist you till the very end!" He promised while patting his chest.
Zhao Xinyi nodded and gave him a faint smile. Although his words were promising, the air in the car didn't change and up until they got back to their mansion, no one said a thing.
As soon as they got back, Zhao Xinyi rushed upstairs to her room, leaving the other three alone in the living room.
Yu Lan lunged into her mother's embrace.
"Mother, Zhu Fan finally got an offer from Loki Systems! If she collects the rights to the work, all of this would no longer belong to him," she cried out while clutching onto her mother's dress.
Cai Yang looked at her husband while waiting for him to say something.
"The both of you have ruined things by supporting Zhu Fan openly. Now, I'm the only one that can talk to her to know what evidence she has. Also, both of you should have deleted all the evidence in the first place,"
He said the last part with gritted teeth as he felt that they had done a sloppy job.
After discovering her talent in a local competition, Yu Gang decided to adopt Zhao Mei. After all, in their own district, access to technology was only at the basic level and a lot of people were more concerned about survival in the 1st District.
In the new world that was created, the 1st and 2nd districts, which housed the 1st to 6th levels, were filled with people that had no martial art or cultivation technique. They were considered lower-level citizens, and in comparison to the luxury that existed in the other two levels, they could be described as just struggling to get by.
People like them, without any martial art skills, didn't even have the right to enter some places, and the only way they could dream was through technology.
So for the sake of his daughter, he adopted Zhao Mei, who had a flair for it. It had been a gamble, but over the years, she had proved that his decision was a good one.
More than anyone, Yu Gang had no intention of letting Zhao Mei spread her wings since she would no longer be of any help to him.
Instead of feeling bad for ruining things, the mother and daughter duo felt even more unpleasant.
"Tch, all this time, you only pay attention to Zhao Mei, who isn't your daughter. Do you think that Xiao Lan would have the confidence to confide in you?" His wife argued back, her hands folded across her chest in a defiant manner.
However, her excuse only made Father Yu even more displeased. He had to hold back from hitting the woman before him and just sneered at her.
"If you had raised her properly, I wouldn't have to be currying favour with a child that isn't mine!"
"Both of them are the same age and are at the age where they should try to raise their Value Points. Say if your daughter had any hope, should her boyfriend be the one laying claim to the technology?" He spat rudely.
Yu Gang was a shrewd person. Even if he didn't want to let Zhao Mei go, he also wanted to maximise any benefits from her.
This time, he regretted that his daughter lacked the basic skills that could have made her lay claim to the technology Zhao Mei created. Instead, they had to watch some unrelated boy take it away.
"Father!" Yu Lan whined, her mouth forming into a spoiled pout. "Zhu Fan is family. He cannot betray me,"
Her father rolled and kissed his teeth, his eyes at her childish belief.
"I'll handle Zhao Mei, but first, the two of you must make sure that Zhu Fan thinks she has some evidence that can prove her ownership…."
After that, he went on to explain his plan to them.
He was prepared to play both parties by making sure that Zhu Fan signed over sixty per cent of the work right and profit to him while also playing Zhao Xinyi so that any evidence she had would be destroyed by them!
In this situation, he was the winner and just by using his wits, he was going to have both parties under his control!
Upon hearing his thoughts, the mother and daughter pair were excited and agreed quickly.
"Father, don't worry. I know what to say to brother Fan," Yu Lan assured him, her eyes already gleaming with schemes.
Father Yu nodded, glad that she was finally being sensible. "With a secret over his head also, he would not dare to fool around later in the future,"
Originally, a relationship like theirs couldn't last because Zhu Fan was about to enter college while Yu Lan was still in her second year of high school.
But if the technology was handed over to him, Father Yu knew that the college that Zhu Fan would attend would be a much higher one.
Although he was in the 1st District, Zhu Fan and his family were all in Level 3. If Loki Systems considered hiring him, he would have enough value points to enter Level 4 and be in the 2nd District.
It might seem like just a level jump. However, it would make a huge difference in his entire life.
By having leverage over him, he wouldn't have to worry about him wasting his daughter's time.
From Father Yu's perspective, everything was perfect and working in the right direction!