Chapter 822 — Gu Mengyao's Identity

"Then I'm just supposed to swallow it all this time? I've barely arrived at the villa district and I'm already being bullied. What will people think of me!" Gou Huli had no intention of waiting. She was about to explode, wishing she could teach Wei Zhao and the others a lesson right then and there.

"Then what do you want to do?" Xiao Ji said with some helplessness.

"I can't stand it. Do you know anyone in Songshan City? If not, find some thugs or ruffians to teach them a lesson!" Gou Huli said.

"You don't even know what kind of background they have, and you want to teach them a lesson?" Xiao Ji frowned.

"What background could they possibly have? Just a few brats!" Gou Huli said contemptuously. "Even if their families have some backing, could it be a match for the Xiao family? We're a noble house from Yanjing! In a small place like this, who would dare not show us face?"

"Don't say that. Doing business out in the provinces, we still have to rely on the local gentry. If we offend everyone, then even if the Xiao family is a noble house, we're strangers here — if people refuse to give us face, what are we supposed to do?" Xiao Ji said in a low voice.

"Hmph! They wouldn't dare! Let Uncle Pi wipe them out! The Xiao family has a Xuan-rank guardian standing behind us — do you think we'd be afraid of a few local upstarts?" Gou Huli sneered, her tone arrogant.

"You know Uncle Pi is our family's guardian. If Father were still here, having him do things would be no problem. But now, Xiao Ben and I are a step removed from him. With Father gone, his feelings for our family have cooled. He only stays on out of regard for Father. Otherwise, do you really think that pittance we pay every month could hire a Xuan-rank master? You must be dreaming!" Xiao Ji said.

"Well... then what do you suggest? I'll just bear it, then. Your wife might as well become a Ninja Turtle! Soon enough people will be saying that after the old master of the Xiao family died, the family went to pieces — can't even win against some little local upstart!" Gou Huli pressed on relentlessly.

"Enough! First go and investigate their background, find out exactly who they are, and then we'll talk! No matter what, I have to wait until after I've visited Old Master Kang!" Xiao Ji said impatiently. "You know the situation of our family, too. In other people's eyes, we're still one of the glorious Four Great Families and Five Lesser Families, but these days we're not even the Kang family's equal! Look at our assets in Yanjing — after this sell-off, how much is left? It's fair to say the Xiao family coming out here to start a new venture is starting from scratch! The Xiao family is in dire straits right now. If we lose the Kang family's support, we could be facing an even bigger crisis! Do you understand that, you wasteful woman?"

"I..." Gou Huli fell silent at Xiao Ji's words. It wasn't that she didn't know all this — she just didn't want to accept it. She had become a daughter-in-law of the Xiao family less than two years ago and had only just begun enjoying the thrill of marrying into a wealthy household and living like a pampered madam. The sudden decline of the Xiao family was something she couldn't take in all at once. So the more it galled her, the more she wanted to flaunt the Xiao family's prestige — to borrow whatever reputation they still had to save face for herself and put on airs. Otherwise, she really couldn't bear the fall.

Before Gou Huli had even finished speaking, Xiao Ji hung up the phone.

Gou Huli angrily wanted to hurl her phone away, but then she remembered that this was the newest iPhone, costing her several thousand yuan. After a moment's hesitation, she tucked it away. With the Xiao family fallen on hard times, Gou Huli's monthly allowance was even less than what she'd gotten back in her days as a mistress. But there was no helping it. She knew the Xiao family was declining day by day, so there was no point in complaining.

Gou Huli made up her mind: when she got back, she would ask the property management about the owner of that villa. With a nature as domineering as hers, if she didn't teach them a lesson, how could she live up to her status as a daughter-in-law of the Xiao family?

So, at that thought, Gou Huli hurried downstairs, went to the parking lot, got into her car, and sped back to the villa district. She found the property management office and swaggered straight in.

The property office kept files on all the owners in the district; as long as a file wasn't explicitly marked confidential, anyone could look it up directly.

So without any trouble at all, Gou Huli found the name of the villa's owner — Gu Mengyao.

Gu Mengyao? Gou Huli was slightly startled, and then it suddenly hit her: the little maid who had flashed the membership card earlier seemed to have the surname Gu, and the little maid beside her had called her "Sister Yaoyao." Could it be... she was Gu Mengyao? No way! She was the owner of this villa?

Gou Huli was stunned, and no wonder. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu hadn't dressed very well — just ordinary tracksuits — and Wei Zhao was wearing a coarse cloth tunic, as plain as could be, looking like a migrant worker in a standard gardener's getup. That was why she'd mistaken them for servants. But as it turned out, these people were actually owners of the estate?

No wonder they had diamond membership cards — they were three rich second-generation heirs! But the more Gou Huli thought about it, the angrier she got. If you're the owners here, why didn't you argue back when I called you servants? Were you playing possum and deliberately making a fool of me?

"Hey, you — tell me, what's Gu Mengyao's background?" Gou Huli beckoned a security guard over and demanded.

Though Gou Huli had only been to the property office the day before to change the name on the villa, almost everyone there had already come to know this overbearing woman. She went around proclaiming herself a grand lady from a wealthy Yanjing family, pointing fingers at people and strutting about as rampantly as a crab.

When she'd come the day before to handle the paperwork, it happened to be the lunch break, but Gou Huli had simply tossed an employee's boxed lunch aside and had him process her paperwork on the spot.

Against such a domineering owner with powerful backing, the property staff were utterly helpless. They couldn't afford to offend her, so all they could do was swallow their grievances.

"Gu Mengyao is the eldest daughter of the Gu Group..." That was common knowledge throughout the estate, so the security guard made no secret of it and told Gou Huli directly.

"What? She's the eldest daughter of the Gu Group?" At the guard's words, Gou Huli's eyes went wide at once. "Are you telling the truth?"

"It's true — plenty of the owners in this estate know about it..." The guard had no idea why Gou Huli was reacting so strongly, but he didn't dare ask.

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