Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 194 So Many Brothers
Du Anrao stared at Brother Du for a long while, then suddenly turned to Jiang Changbin and asked, "Brother, besides my brothers and you two cousins, when did I get another brother? I didn't even know."

Jiang Changbin knew what she was up to as soon as he heard her words, and cooperated by saying, "I'm not quite sure either. Could it be a relative of Ninth Master?"

Du Anrao suddenly realized and turned to ask Awen, "Uncle Awen, are they relatives from Grandpa's side?"

“It used to be, but it’s not anymore.”

Du Anrao didn't ask why it wasn't true, he just calmly nodded: "Oh, if that's the case, sir, let's not try to get too close to each other. My grandfather doesn't like me making up relatives outside."

Upon hearing Du Anrao's words, Young Master Du's face turned green.

Du Weilu was so angry that his hands trembled, and he couldn't utter a word while pointing at Du Anrao.

That's why they say blood is thicker than water; the way the father and son got angry was exactly the same.

Jiang Changbin and Xi Jingyue: "..." So you knew you were driving them crazy.

After hearing Du Anrao's explanation, the onlookers also realized that something was wrong.

"Are those father and son really Ninth Master's relatives? Why do they seem to be treated rather unwelcome?"

"They are indeed relatives, and very closely related by blood. Unfortunately, they severed ties with Master Du a few years ago. Now, they are more like enemies than relatives."

"No...it can't be that bad, we're family after all..."

"How could it not be? You don't know, Ninth Master's relatives used to try to put children in his family, under the guise of ensuring he would have someone to rely on in his old age. But who doesn't know their ulterior motives? They just wanted to take advantage of him because he was old and had no one to support him."

The aunt who said this was clearly a qualified bystander, and she quickly told everyone she knew.

"Because of this incident, Ninth Master directly published a notice in the newspaper severing ties with all his close relatives by blood. This Mr. Du, who I don't know if he is the godfather or biological father of that young master Du from earlier, is one of them."

"Oh my, it's been published in the newspaper, so it can't be fake. Since they've already severed ties, why were these two calling each other 'brother' and 'elder' just now? How shameless!"

"These people have been shameless for a long time. A few years ago, Ninth Master publicly severed ties with them, but these people still shamelessly pretended not to see it and secretly amassed a lot of wealth by using the guise of being Ninth Master's relatives. There are very few people in the entire upper-class circle of B City who don't know about their despicable behavior."

The aunt rolled her eyes dramatically as she spoke: "When they came looking for this girl, I knew exactly what they were up to. They're just jealous because she's won over Ninth Master, and they're envious and have no other choice but to use their seniority to get close to her so they can squeeze more benefits for themselves. I know them all too well. A tree without bark will surely die; a shameless person is invincible!"

Du Anrao almost couldn't help but applaud and cheer for the aunt as she listened to her unvarnished and accurate criticism.

Looking again, Du Wei and his son had ashen faces and trembling hands. Du An was genuinely afraid that the two of them would collapse and try to scam him.

The two of them fumed for a while like Parkinson's patients, then turned and ran away just like Du Tianci had done. Du Anrao: "..."

[That's it?! That's it?! I thought someone's stupidity was a matter of probability, but I never expected it to be a genetic issue. This whole family doesn't seem particularly bright. No wonder they didn't know who killed them in the original story.]

If Du Qichang relied on his ability to read the room and switch sides, remaining a fence-sitter until the end, then Du Weilu and his family were purely propelled into the final rounds by those with ulterior motives, thanks to their blood ties.

When Du Anrao first read the story, he always thought that the reason why someone had chosen his family was because they were the closest to Du Desheng by blood. Even though Du Desheng had a bad relationship with them, from a bloodline point of view, after Du Desheng passed away, they were indeed the most legitimate and most likely to inherit his estate.

Now it seems that the other party may simply think that this family is stupid enough that with a little encouragement they can become a useful knife, easy to control, and incredibly useful.

Just like today, that young master Du thought he was using his illegitimate son to test the waters, but little did he know that his whole family was nothing more than an insignificant pebble used by others to ask for directions.

Thinking about his performance just now, Du Anrao couldn't help but puff out his chest proudly.

[I definitely acted extremely arrogant and domineering just now. After today, the reputation of the Ninth Master's eldest daughter for being arrogant and disrespectful will spread throughout the entire B City. At that time, no one will dare to cause me any trouble. Plan complete.]

Jiang Changbin and Xi Jingyue: "..." However, things may develop very differently from what you expect. At least in their eyes, Du Anrao's series of actions just now were not arrogant or domineering at all. On the contrary, she was like a kitten. Whoever provoked her, she would scratch them with her claws. She was very... cute.

Du Anrao was unaware of the two people's thoughts. After what had just happened, many people in the room had gained some understanding of Du Anrao's identity, and there were more people secretly observing her. However, most people were still unsure of how much favor she received from Du Desheng, so they just observed and did not immediately go up to talk to her. The only one who was unaffected by this was...

"Mr. Xi!" Du Anrao's eyes lit up when he unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance in a foreign land. "What are you doing here? Did you come here specifically to search for treasures?"

When Xi Jingyue met Du Anrao's bright eyes, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

"I happened to be in City B with Manager Qiu to discuss business. He mentioned that there was a rather grand auction in City B recently, so I came to take a look. I never expected to run into you here."

Actually, it was because Du Anrao happened to be right next to Qiu Jichen when he called him that day.

After learning the whole story, and that Qiu Jichen was preparing to send an auction invitation to Du Anrao as an apology, he specially asked Qiu Jichen for an invitation and made a special trip to bump into Du Anrao.

"What's An'an doing here? Is she here with... friends?"

Du Anrao, unaware of the inside story, assumed that the two had truly met by chance. He took Jiang Changbin's hand and said, "I came out with my cousin to broaden my horizons. This is my cousin, Jiang Changbin. Cousin, this is Mr. Xi Jingyue."

Jiang Changbin raised an eyebrow; his first impression of Xi Jingyue wasn't good. There are so many countries in the world, so many provinces in a country, so many cities in a province, and so many places in a city—how could they just happen to run into each other like that?

This man is dishonest!

Xi Jingyue, keenly sensing the other party's hostility: "..." First, there was her own brother, then her cousin, and now there's another cousin. Where did this girl get so many brothers?!
(End of this chapter)