Ever since I was little, I felt that chili peppers and I were fundamentally incompatible by fate.

As a child, watching my sister eat bowl after bowl of chili sauce mixed with rice, I naturally couldn’t stand the thought of all the delicious food Mom made going to my sister alone. I tried countless times, but without exception, every attempt ended with me crying from the spiciness.

Finally, after I once again cried like an idiot and angrily declared I’d never talk to my sister again, Mom made me a cream cake for the first time to comfort me.

Looking back now, that might have been the only beautiful memory chili peppers ever brought me.

Later, when Dad secretly stole Mom’s recipe and put the Bai family name on it, ever since I saw Mom secretly crying in her hospital bed, the four words “Bai Family Chili Sauce” became a tremendous shame for me. From childhood to adulthood, I disdained mentioning it to anyone, and had no intention whatsoever of returning to take over this “enviable” big business from my father’s hands.

Who could have imagined that one day, this identity as the Bai family’s second son would actually bring me trouble.

Song Nanshi broke down before I could even question her further, crying: “Brother Han told me… he wanted to make this place seem more like a haunted house to attract customers, but he was afraid you wouldn’t agree so he didn’t tell you, so…”

Taking a deep breath, I waved my hand to stop her from continuing.

“Anyone else who wants to confess and seek leniency better speak up now, otherwise I really don’t know what I might do next.”

I must say, when a person reaches a certain level of anger, the pain they feel is quite similar to eating spicy food – reason disconnects, head spins and aches. For a few seconds, I even felt I couldn’t speak, or I might randomly spew out samadhi true fire.

I had to lean against the counter and catch my breath for a few seconds before I could make a sound: “Sister, if I had known this would happen, I should have just taken the money you gave me and gone off to be a proper rich second generation. That way, you might already have a sister-in-law by now… Now tell me, what’s the point of all this? Am I doing this to live in a haunted house and worry constantly, or to be deceived and led around by the nose?”

After I finished speaking, Song Nanshi’s face went pale and she sobbed even more miserably.

But I thought to myself, what do you have to cry about? I’m the one who should be crying.

Apart from not missing a kidney, how is my current situation any different from being swindled out of money and affection? The beauty I care about deceives me, my trusted subordinates also deceive me, and the key point is, even being deceived aside, I’m still paying to hire them to deceive me.

Could there be a more tragic capitalist under heaven than me?

“Sister… I might really not be able to fulfill Mom’s wish.”

When my anger reached its peak, all I could see before my eyes was Mom’s pale face. When she passed away, I couldn’t even whip cream properly. The last birthday cake Mom ate was half-baked, both collapsed and fishy, incomparable to what Mom made for me, yet she still finished it all.

Later, when I learned to make better cakes, Mom was no longer there.

When I returned from France and started my business for the first time, I thought: the Bai family had already stolen Mom’s chili sauce, but this time, no one could steal Mom’s cakes from me again.

It’s just that… for a full six years, no matter what I did, I seemingly couldn’t get more people to taste Mom’s cakes.

That’s why I truly fucking hate chili peppers.

As a child, eating spicy food always made me cry, so much so that as an adult, whenever I cry I feel like I’m eating something spicy. Until my sister pulled my teary-eyed self into her arms, I still had the illusion that I was eating hot pot base, sniffling as I said: “Sister, why don’t you help me sell cakes instead, and I’ll go back and try selling chili sauce for a few months… Since it’s all suffering anyway, I might as well sell chili sauce.”

“You wish. You think my million-yuan business is some street stall?”

Bai Liu patted my back and whispered softly in my ear: “You’re just this pathetic. What’s the difference between crying halfway through an argument and directly kneeling down to someone?”

“Sister, I even treated them to cake, made it myself…”

“Alright, alright, I know you’re devastated. I already ordered milk tea for you, but you need to calm down and listen to what people have to say next, because the next one who needs to confess and seek leniency is me.”

“…”

“Huh?”

This time I even forgot to sniffle, pulling away from her in shock: “Sister, even you did something wrong to me?”

“You little brat, spending my money, using my connections, expecting me to back you up when trouble comes, and now you dare say I wronged you.”

Bai Liu slapped a tissue onto my face and let me go: “It’s just seeing how pitiful you are… some things aren’t appropriate to keep hiding from you anymore. Let’s resolve everything together today.”

Having said that, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, walked over to Han Sha who had an inscrutable expression, offered him one, and said flatly: “You’ve seen my brother’s personality too. I must say, you’re quite good at picking the soft persimmons of our Bai family to squeeze.”

Han Sha lit up with the lighter in Bai Liu’s hand, looking at her coldly: “What do you want to say?”

Bai Liu lit her own cigarette and squinted: “I just think you’re quite classless. Actually, I really want to press this cigarette on your face right now, so every person who sees you afterward will know you’re a fraud.”

Han Sha sneered: “Try it? Forgot what your brother said – hitting people gets you detained.”

“You think I wouldn’t dare?”

The next second, Bai Liu grabbed Han Sha’s hair, her tone cold: “My brother treated you sincerely, yet you fucking dare to mess with him. Surname Han, since I could dig up your family background over the years just from photos, you really think I don’t know you have a daughter currently hospitalized?”

“You…”

Han Sha’s expression changed, and I was also startled by Bai Liu and stood up directly: “Sister, we can’t be planning a family team-building trip to the police station!”

“Of course not. I just want to tell this Daoist that I’m not as easy to talk to as my brother. You’d better watch your words when speaking to me below… Don’t spread your wings on my bottom line, or I might make you drink chili sauce through your nostrils.”

Bai Liu smiled, released Han Sha, and took a drag of her cigarette like a true boss: “I’m very curious, what exactly is your purpose? I’ve investigated carefully. I know you have a grudge against my father. I think you shouldn’t be so worthless as to accept the conditions my father offered to mess with my brother, right? That doesn’t fit your character.”

“…”

I must say, the amount of information in Bai Liu’s statement was too much. Not only did Han Sha’s eyes widen instantly, but my brain also crashed in that moment.

What do you mean by… what do you mean by accepting the conditions my father offered to mess with my brother?

Huh?

I don’t understand, but I’m greatly shocked.

I stared at Bai Liu: “Sister… what are you saying…”

Bai Liu exhaled smoke, seeming to have found her answer from Han Sha’s shocked expression, and said helplessly: “So I was overcomplicating your position. You’re not my father’s person, you really just came to pick on the soft persimmon…”

By the end, Bai Liu was even holding her forehead and laughing: “Han Laosan, I don’t even know what to say about you. You really calculated everything but found the wrong person, almost fulfilling your real enemy’s wish.”

This time, the expressions on Han Sha’s and my faces were finally completely unified – more confused than a black man question mark. Before Han Sha could speak, I couldn’t sit still first: “Sister, what do you mean, what does this have to do with Dad?”

Bai Liu sighed bitterly with a smile: “Yang Zi, you’re my brother after all. Do you really think you have no business sense whatsoever and could randomly go bankrupt with seven stores? You talk about paying to change fate but not succeeding, but look at how much you’ve spent. With your previous stores’ locations plus your taste, if no one was sabotaging you, you should have dominated Xiaohongshu long ago.”

“…”

Now even Song Nanshi stopped crying. Everyone stared blankly at Bai Liu, and I went completely dumbfounded.

What is she… talking about?

I widened my eyes, slowly connecting the words “Dad,” “sabotage,” and “conditions” in my mind.

Finally, they formed an obvious answer.

“He would go to such lengths just to make me come back?”

My head heated up. I never expected that after going in circles, it would end up being a family problem again.

I may not get along with my dad, but I never fucking thought he’d be so ruthless as to harm his own son!

Bai Liu rubbed her temples like she had a headache: “Don’t you have any idea what kind of person he is? He stole his wife’s chili sauce recipe for business but wouldn’t even give her the credit as founder. How could he possibly feel safe putting the brand in my hands now?”

I frowned: “You’ve been his right hand for so long, and he still doesn’t trust even you?”

Bai Liu sighed: “Yang Zi, fun fact: I’m also a woman. In our dear father’s eyes, I’m just like Mom – no matter what, I can’t support this brand. In other words, there’s only ever been one legitimate heir to the Bai family, and that’s you.”

Having said that, Bai Liu smiled bitterly with self-mockery. I almost instantly saw the shadow of Mom on her hospital bed in her, and a surge of anger rushed to my brain: “He dares treat you the same way he treated Mom! Where does that bastard get the nerve!”

Without thinking, I pulled out my phone to settle accounts with that old bastard. Bai Liu pressed down on my hand with amusement: “You little brat can’t even argue with a fraud without breaking down in tears. Do I really expect you to go head-to-head with our family boss? Give it a rest. Instead of wasting time on that, you might as well focus on keeping this store running and not give him what he wants by finding an excuse to make you come back.”

I calmed down: “So… Sister, you knew all along that my previous stores failing was Dad’s doing?”

Bai Liu shrugged: “Of course. You were spending my money, so naturally I had to do market research when you lost money… It’s just, if I had told you outright, wouldn’t that have meant directly turning against the old man? Of course I could only drag it out on both sides and let you keep trying. After all, as long as we try until he gives up, we win.”

Meeting Bai Liu’s helpless gaze, I finally understood why my sister didn’t beat me to death even after I went bankrupt seven times in a row. I said guiltily: “So this time you’re telling me directly…”

“If I don’t tell you now, you might really give up, and I can’t give you the chance to come back and compete with me for the CEO position.”

Bai Liu pinched my face and lowered her voice: “We agreed before… I want to get Mom’s chili sauce back. Yang Zi, you have to help me.”

As long as I can keep this store running…

I gritted my teeth, then thought of the mess in my hands.

Who could have imagined that opening an internet-famous store could be this dramatic – it’s a horror film, a family ethics drama, and a legal education program all at once.

I took a deep breath and looked at Han Sha: “You just said he’s not my dad’s person, and he has a grudge against my dad…”

Han Sha’s expression was very complex at this moment. Obviously, Bai Liu’s words just now weren’t hidden from anyone in this room, or rather, they were meant for them to hear.

Bai Liu smiled: “Daoist, I’ve been completely honest with you. You should now understand what kind of loving and filial family our Bai family is… There’s no need to keep being stubborn, right?”

I still hadn’t figured it out: “What grudge do you have against my dad that you’d come after me? You can’t possibly have had unrequited love for my mom…”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Bai Liu unceremoniously gave me a knock on the head: “I estimate this Daoist probably thought the Bai family was always paying your bills. After all, opening seven failed stores and still continuing – no matter how you look at it, it seems like someone who appears to be at odds with family but is actually a rich second generation spoiled by Daddy.”

Damn it.

I rolled my eyes. Could there be a more tragic rich second generation under heaven than me? I got none of the benefits but all the trouble came my way.

Thinking about being deceived for so long, I said irritably: “Also, Sister, why are you still calling him Daoist? Isn’t that giving him face?”

“He’s a fraud, but he’s also a fraud with real skills. For example, he really did practice Taoism for ten years – he didn’t lie to you about that.”

Bai Liu crossed her arms and leaned against the table: “Daoist Han is a smart man. With things said to this extent, you should understand why I haven’t dragged you to the police station yet, right?”

Hearing this, Han Sha fell silent for a moment. After a long while, he suddenly asked me a question in a calm tone.

“Boss, do you believe there are ghosts in this world?”