Power and Wealth

Chapter 1653

Afternoon.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The courtyard door kept being knocked on. The rhythm of the banging and the tone of the woman's voice indicated that this woman's temper was definitely not good.

Fang Shuiling was very anxious. "What should we do?"

Xie Ran frowned. "Why is she here?"

"I don't know." Fang Shuiling took a deep breath.

"Did you tell her we were coming to Haishan?" Xie Ran asked.

"No," Fang Shuiling said. "Even if I told my parents, I wouldn't tell my aunt. Everyone knows her bad temper. This is not good. She should know that we're in a relationship from the sound of her voice. But how did she find out, and how does she know I'm here?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The person outside continued knocking on the door.

"Xie Ran, open the door for me," the woman's voice was very domineering. "How dare you abduct my family members?"

Xie Ran smiled bitterly. Who did he abduct?

Xie Hao couldn't stand it and stared, "Who is she to come and create a scene at my brother-in-law’s place? This is disrespecting us. Brother, don't bother, I'll go out." He rolled up his sleeves aggressively as if he was going to do something. "Watch me deal with her."

Xie Ran pulled him back. "Enough, don't cause trouble."

Xie Hao said, "If we don't teach her a lesson, she won't know our family name."

Fang Shuiling hurriedly said, "Xiao Hao, hey, don't mess around."

But Xie Jing asked, "Could your aunt be Fang Wenping?"

Fang Shuiling hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Yes."

Xie Jing slapped her forehead. "Oh no, why is it her?"

Dong Xuebing looked at them. "Xie Ran mentioned it before, and I said this name sounded familiar. Fang Wenping."

The previous topic had been diverted, so Xie Ran didn't answer Dong Xuebing. Upon hearing it again, Xie Ran sighed and said, "You must have heard of her. Fang Wenping also works in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. She's the director of the First Supervisory Office."

Dong Xuebing was startled. "The head?"

"Ministerial level, the head." Xie Ran affirmed.

Dong Xuebing finally understood why the name sounded familiar. So she worked in the same unit. The First Supervisory Office was right next to their office building. No wonder he had heard her name before, even though Dong Xuebing hadn't attended any plenary meetings or met this woman. But he must have seen the name and probably heard people talk about her. So, she was Fang Shuiling's aunt from the Fang family. That would make things complicated. Well, it's not necessarily complicated. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was a big department with many factions.

But what puzzled Dong Xuebing was the expressions of Xie Ran and Xie Jing, and Fang Shuiling's behavior was also somewhat strange. "Xiaoling's aunt is very special."

Xie Jing said helplessly, "She's more than special. She's just..." After saying that, she glanced at Fang Shuiling and stopped speaking. She didn't want to speak ill of her aunt before Fang Shuiling.

But Dong Xuebing was curious. "Tell me more."

Xie Ran spoke up. "Xiao Ling's aunt's status in the Fang family is... Well, it's similar to yours in our family."

Dong Xuebing didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

Fang Shuiling had already gone to the door, but she didn't open it. Instead, she wanted to observe the situation.

With her gone, Xie Jing had nothing to hide. She deliberately avoided mentioning Fang Shuiling, speaking to Dong Xuebing, "She's special, and her personality is especially... you know. Once, three leaders from different factions within the Fang family offended her. At that time, she was already a Central Commission for Discipline Inspection leader. Within a year, she investigated and removed all three of them. Those who needed to be removed were removed, those who needed to be suspended were suspended, those who needed to be transferred were transferred."

Dong Xuebing blinked. "But weren't they from her family factions?"

Xie Jing smiled bitterly. "Yes, that's why I said she's quite something."

"What did the Fang family say?" Dong Xuebing suddenly became curious about this person.

Xie Ran glanced outside frequently and added, "I don't know the specifics, but I heard that the Fang family scolded her harshly. However, although Fang Wenping is not particularly old, she's still Fang Shuiling's senior, a second-generation member of the Fang family with a high status. In the end, Fang Wenping didn't listen at all. Despite being criticized by her own family, she still went ahead and investigated and removed the third person. The Fang family couldn't do much to Fang Wenping because she's a direct relative. They couldn't just cast aside their family member for a few outsiders who leaned toward their faction. So, it ended there."

Dong Xuebing nodded. "Well, there shouldn't be any problem. She's from the Discipline Inspection Commission, so she's impartially enforcing the law. If the other side is clean, she wouldn't find anything."

Xie Ran said, "Those were trivial matters, internal conflicts. Although it's hard to understand, it's not a big problem. The key is what happened next."

"What happened next?" Dong Xuebing asked.

Dong Xuebing didn't notice that Xie Hao, who had just been clamoring to confront someone, had already lost his momentum. At the mention of it, Xie Hao slumped into his chair. "I've heard about it. Brother-in-law, you don't know. She later sent her husband to prison."

Dong Xuebing glared at him. "Don't talk nonsense."

Xie Jing pondered for a moment. "Xiao Hao isn't talking nonsense. It's true."

"What happened?" Dong Xuebing asked.

Xie Jing explained, "Not long after that incident, her husband cheated on her and was caught in bed by her. In a big family like ours, when something like this happens, usually it's kept low-key, or maybe they separate, but divorces are rare because they need to consider the impact. You never know how many pairs of eyes are watching them. But Fang Wenping didn't care. She did something that shocked the Fang family and everyone else. Just a few days later, she took the evidence of corruption and had her husband investigated and arrested. Although the Discipline Inspection Commission has principles of avoiding conflicts of interest and avoiding investigating relatives, the whistleblower was Fang Wenping herself, the wife. So she led the investigation into her husband, which was clean and thorough. In the end, her husband was sentenced to prison and hasn't been released since. This incident caused a huge stir at the time. Almost every one of significance knew about it. The Fang family was affected and remained low-key for a while, but things gradually calmed down. Fang Wenping then divorced her husband. They had no children, so Fang Wenping became a divorcee and stayed in the Discipline Inspection Commission. Everyone learned about Fang Wenping's temper through this incident; since then, no one has dared to provoke her. Someone who can personally investigate and arrest her husband, what else wouldn't she do? Fang Wenping has since been labeled as someone who disregards family ties and is quite a colorful character."

Dong Xuebing finally understood why Xie Ran said he and Fang Wenping were somewhat similar and why Xie Hao, who was just full of momentum, suddenly softened.

Fang Wenping.

So, this aunt of Shuiling was also a tough one.

And she was even more exaggerated than Xie Huanlan. Disowning relatives might describe her temperament, but Fang Wenping from the Fang family truly disowned her relatives. No wonder Xie Ran and Xie Jing had such a headache expression. Facing such a legendary woman banging on the door, it was strange for them to relax.

Dong Xuebing also felt a headache. "It's not good to let her keep banging on the door like this."

Xie Ran didn't know how to handle it either. He kept clicking his tongue. While anyone from the Fang family would have been okay, why must it be Fang Wenping?

This woman was a real troublemaker.

Who didn't know about her temper?

Communicating and reasoning with her was impossible.

But at this moment, Xie Ran still showed his increasingly decisive side after grassroots experience. Previously, Xie's family had always treated Xie Ran like a treasure, which resulted in his weak personality. Unlike Xie Huanlan's toughness and coldness, Xie Ran became different after some grassroots training. He thought to himself that whatever had to happen would happen eventually, and avoiding problems wasn't the solution. So, Xie Ran gritted his teeth and made a decision. He loudly said to Fang Shuiling near the door, "Shuiling, open the door."

Fang Shuiling hesitated. "But..."

"We have to meet your family eventually," Xie Ran insisted.

Fang Shuiling nodded vigorously. "Okay."

Dong Xuebing wasn't planning to get involved, but seeing Xie Ran's decision, he nodded inwardly. Sometimes, one had to be decisive to achieve something within the system and rise higher in the organization. Fear would only hold one back.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The banging on the door continued.

"Shuiling, are you disowning even me now, your aunt?" Fang Wenping shouted.

Fang Shuiling pursed her lips, hesitated momentarily, then finally opened the door. "Auntie, why are you here? If you have something to say, tell me, Auntie."

From where Dong Xuebing stood, he couldn't see the courtyard; a screen wall was in between. However, just as he heard the door opening, a few seconds later, he heard the crisp sound of high heels landing on the ground, followed by the sight of a woman striding in confidently, with Fang Shuiling following behind, holding the woman's arm.

Dong Xuebing had just learned about this person, Fang Wenping, from Xie Ran and Xie Jing's conversation. But when he finally met her face to face, he found that her image completely differed from what he had imagined. Dong Xuebing was momentarily stunned because he saw a woman who was as beautiful as anyone, with a figure that could rival anyone's. She was probably not even forty, or it was hard to tell. She had meticulously arranged long hair wore a midi skirt and, black high heels, and a small sweater on top. She exuded an elegant aura and had a touch of fashion in her attire. Coupled with her voluptuous figure, she was simply a textbook example of an Eastern beauty. Dong Xuebing was the type who couldn't help but stop and stare when he saw a beautiful woman, so naturally, he looked at her a few more times.

So, this was Fang Wenping.

The woman from the Fang family who dares to disown her relatives.

He never expected her to be this beautiful; he thought she would be a sharp-tongued auntie.