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

Is Chapter 73 also an unlucky guy?

Du Yuxi chuckled to herself for a moment, then followed up with, "Besides relatives and friends, you're also planning to invite the company's business partners, right?"

"That's the plan."

Du Yuxi's eyes darted around, and she instantly understood what the Du family meant.

"You're planning to take this opportunity to introduce An Rao to our family's network of contacts in S City."

Du's mother smiled and nodded, not surprised that Du Yuxi could guess this, but Du Anrao frowned slightly, not quite agreeing.

"Just invite relatives and friends, but no need for business partners. It's just a small birthday celebration; there's no need to make such a fuss."

Du Anrao wasn't very interested in these so-called networks of connections. She couldn't help with business matters, and people might not even value her in terms of social interactions.

In this case, whether or not her existence is announced doesn't seem to be very important.

As long as those relatives and friends who will still be able to talk to me in the future inform me, at least I won't not recognize them when we meet again, and that will be enough.

Of course, the most important thing is...

[The matter with the Li family is still unresolved. If I reveal my identity, there will definitely be a few gossipy bastards spreading rumors. What if they accidentally expose Wang Xuehe's affair, making people mistakenly believe that Fourth Sister is really the daughter of a human trafficker? Fourth Sister is already quite sensitive about this matter. I don't want what should be a happy occasion to turn into a mess that can't be cleaned up. That would be a huge loss.]

Du Yuxi was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Du Anrao to prioritize her feelings.

It seems that what she said at the Li family banquet that day caused her to misunderstand, making her think that she did not know the truth and still harbored resentment towards Wang Xuehe's existence.

But no matter what, it always feels good to be cared for and treated with sincerity.

Du Yuxi felt a warmth in her heart and lowered her head to hide the corners of her mouth that couldn't help but turn up.

Du's mother was naturally happy that both her daughters were doing well and could rely on each other, so after hearing Du Anrao's concerns, she did not insist any further.

"Alright, alright, you're the birthday person, so you decide. It's settled then. You should also take these next couple of days to think about any classmates or friends you'd like to invite and let me know in advance so I can make preparations."

Needless to say, Du Anrao was the one she wanted to invite, but she did want to invite her master.

But the old man had gone on a pilgrimage somewhere recently, and Du Anrao couldn't find him to ask about the library and the changes in his eyes, let alone invite him to his birthday party.

Du Yuxi does have a few close girlfriends, but they are basically friends who grew up together.

In the past few months of university, I don't know if it was because of Li Qianxi's interference, but when I think about it carefully, I don't think I've made any friends. The only one I can talk to seems to be... Ye Mengzhen?

Du Yuxi: ...That's outrageous!

But after careful consideration, Du Yuxi ultimately added Ye Mengzhen to the invitation list.

"By the way, will Third Brother be coming back then?"

Du Anrao was taken aback.

Oh right, I also have a third brother.

She hadn't seen this person for over a month since she returned, and she had almost forgotten that she had a third brother.

Du Yuxi: I knew it! Du's mother's lips twitched slightly. Thinking of her third son who would disappear at the drop of a hat, her head started to ache.

“Your third brother went abroad for a competition last month. I heard that he had a flash of inspiration during the competition, and when he came back, he went straight to the school laboratory and hasn’t come out yet.”

Du Junyan found out about this from Du Yihan's classmates at school.

He noticed something strange about Du Yihan not returning home after the competition time, and he couldn't get through to her by phone.

Upon further inquiry, it was learned that Du Yihan had gone into the lab as soon as she returned and hadn't come out yet, which almost made me laugh out loud.

He probably hadn't read a single one of the messages he sent to Du Yihan about Du Anrao and Du Anrao's background.

[Is he a romantic interest or a research whiz?]

Du's mother wanted to save face for her third son and salvage his unreliable image in her younger sister's eyes, but little did she know that Du Anrao was thinking about something else entirely.

[Since returning, I've only met a few people. My eldest brother is the scapegoat in a melodramatic, old-fashioned romance novel where he chases her but she can't escape; my second brother is the deceased substitute, the original's white moonlight, and a walking blood bank for the male lead in a Mary Sue romance novel; my fourth sister is the real scapegoat/fake villainous female supporting character in a popular fake heiress novel who gets blocked from the female lead's path and unfairly labeled with countless accusations; I wonder what kind of script this third brother has? Is he also a scapegoat and unlucky soul?]

Upon hearing Du Anrao's words, both Du Yuxi and her mother felt a pang of unease.

The two women exchanged a glance, both seeing fear and apprehension in each other's eyes, because in their view, it was entirely possible!
Du Anrao was somewhat worried. If that were the case, she had never met this third brother, nor had she met anyone around him, so even if she wanted to help, she couldn't.

Du's mother and son were naturally aware of this, and the words that were about to come out immediately became: "I'll have your eldest brother contact his tutor in a bit and ask him to come back as soon as possible. How can he, as the older brother, not be there for his two younger sisters' coming-of-age ceremony? It's outrageous!"

Du Yuxi chimed in, "Yes, we absolutely have to bring him back."

Du Anrao blinked, looking surprised.

Is our 18th birthday really that important? Oh well, if Mom and my sister think it's important, then it must be. It's also a good opportunity for me to see what my third brother is really like.

Although Du An and Rao's birthdays are next weekend, all the invitations need to be sent out in the next couple of days. After all, people need to make arrangements in advance, especially since many of them live in different cities.

However, what Du's mother didn't expect was that, despite their belief that they had kept Du Yuxi and Du Yuxi's affair a secret, someone still found out in advance and came to their door before their birthdays.

"What exactly happened?" Du Lianshuang had just returned from another province with her husband and children. They were exhausted from the journey and hadn't even had time to go home before rushing to the Du family home.

Mrs. Du was also surprised to see them: "When did you get back? Have you had lunch?"

"Who cares about lunch now? Tell me what's going on!"

"What do you mean, what happened?" Du's mother was also confused by her seemingly random question.

"What else could it be? As for Yu Xi, how could she not be your child? Could there be a mistake?"

Du's mother's expression changed drastically, and after a long while, she said, "Where did you hear about this?"

Although they intended to make Du Anrao's matter public, they also hoped to keep it under control. However, if the matter had already become a hot topic outside...

"Don't worry about where I know this, just tell me if it's true or not?"

Meeting Du Lianshuang's intense gaze, Madam Du finally sighed in resignation: "Yu Xi is indeed not our biological daughter; An An is."

(End of this chapter)