Morningstar Group had a partnership with the Shen family, and Liang Yousheng had once seen Shen Zhiyi at a banquet.
The matter of the Shen family's real and fake daughters was hardly a secret. Word had it that Shen Zhiyi's biological parents ran a small restaurant, and after the Shen family brought back their true daughter Shen Nianqing, they had directly kicked Shen Zhiyi out of their circle.
Now that she was cut off from the comfortable life of the Shen family, this Miss Shen had started resorting to swindling and cheating?
Shen Zhiyi glanced at Liang Yousheng.
Who was this guy?
She ignored Liang Yousheng and said to Yu Qing, "I'm heading back."
Yu Qing nodded.
"Hey! Miss Shen, don't leave so soon."
Liang Yousheng was quick on his feet and reached out to grab Shen Zhiyi's wrist.
The young woman took half a step back, dodging his hand.
"Something you need?"
"Shen Zhiyi, I know exactly what kind of situation you're in right now." Liang Yousheng rested his hand on his belly and grinned. "You're not bad-looking. Stick with me, and I guarantee you won't be any worse off than you were with the Shen family."
Who was this guy? With a face like that, he actually had the nerve to ask Shen Zhiyi to take him in?
Yu Qing's tone turned hostile. "Who the hell are you?"
In Liang Yousheng's eyes, Yu Qing was just some snot-nosed kid. He paid him no mind at all, only squinting his already small eyes at Shen Zhiyi with a smug, self-assured expression.
Unprovoked by his words, Shen Zhiyi replied politely, "Sorry, I'm not interested."
Wh-what?
Liang Yousheng's expression froze on his face.
Yu Qing couldn't help it and let out a snort of laughter.
Zhang Quan's mouth twitched, and he immediately turned his face away.
"Did you not understand?" Shen Zhiyi said earnestly. "You're too ugly, so I'm declining your offer."
From her tone, she had genuinely given the man's proposal some serious thought.
"Also, your glabella is darkened and you have accumulated resentment aura. Once disaster strikes, you'll either die or be crippled." Shen Zhiyi said. "Stop thinking about women and start thinking about how to stay alive, you stallion."
The moment Shen Zhiyi finished speaking, Zhang Quan shuddered in fright.
Dear lady, you can't just go around cursing people like that!
Especially—this Boss Liang was notorious for being petty and lawless. Everyone who crossed him ended up in miserable straits.
Not knowing what kind of man Liang Yousheng was, Yu Qing stared at him for a long while without figuring him out, unsure for the moment whether Shen Zhiyi was warning him or just insulting him.
The Liang family was one of the top prominent clans in Jiangcheng. As the old master Liang's only son, Liang Yousheng was addressed respectfully as "Boss Liang" at every occasion. No one dared speak to him like that.
At Shen Zhiyi's words, his face darkened. He wanted to lose his temper, but remembering the man waiting in the car, he only licked his back teeth and sneered, "Miss Shen certainly has a sharp tongue. You've really opened my eyes."
The moment she heard his response, she knew he didn't believe her. Shen Zhiyi shrugged.
"I'm leaving."
As the saying goes, you can't save someone who's determined to court death.
Besides, she'd only said it offhandedly. She hadn't really intended to save him.
Liang Yousheng took out a cigarette and put it between his lips. "Stop her."
Without the Shen family backing her, what capital did she have to defy him?
At the order, four bodyguards stepped forward to block Shen Zhiyi's path.
Seeing things about to take a bad turn, Zhang Quan broke out in a cold sweat from anxiety. He instinctively looked at Yu Qing—and froze.
Yu Qing blinked, showing not a trace of nervousness.
He had only one thought.
These people dared to provoke this dear lady—were they tired of living?
A warm, gentle male voice drifted through the moonlight, dissolving into the night air, successfully halting the bodyguard's next move.
The man stood by the roadside, his tall, slender figure as straight as a pine. Backlit, his features were blurred, but the imposing silhouette outlined by the moonlight was full of pressure.
His voice was clear and mellow, like snow in the deep mountains or the bright moon in the heavens—cold and untouchable.
"Why bother picking on a child?"
That one plain sentence was enough to calm Liang Yousheng down.
He quickly replaced his expression with an almost fawning smile and called out, "Mr. Lu is right. I've had a bit too much to drink and got confused. I won't argue with a child."
He waved his hand, signaling the bodyguards to step back.
Not sparing the bodyguards a single glance, Shen Zhiyi kept walking, stepping off the muddy path onto the asphalt road. She stomped her feet, shaking the mud off her shoes.
"Thanks."
She looked at the man a few steps away, squinting slightly. She rummaged around in her jeans pocket for a while before pulling out a yellow talisman.
"You're a good person. This is for you—it'll keep you safe."
He had helped her and saved her a lot of trouble, so she didn't mind giving him something in return.
The crumpled talisman paper was marked with strange patterns drawn in cinnabar red. The man lowered his gaze to look at it, then took it casually.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Shen Zhiyi lowered her voice. "A friendly warning—don't ride in the same car as him anytime soon. You'll die."
After saying that, she didn't wait for his reaction. She waved and got into the taxi that had been waiting for her.
Without changing his expression, the man folded the talisman and slipped it into his suit pocket. He gave Liang Yousheng a slight nod, then got into his car and left.
"Back to the hotel."
…
The two cars drove off one after the other.
Liang Yousheng took a deep drag of his cigarette and glared at Zhang Quan. "Old Zhang, I don't care about ghosts or monsters. This orphanage is getting demolished tomorrow, no matter what."
Zhang Quan looked like he was about to cry. "But…"
The master had said it couldn't be demolished.
"Only you'd believe that nonsense!" Zhang Quan shot a sideways glance at Yu Qing and sneered. "A master? I've known Shen Qin for years, and I've never heard that his daughter knows fortune-telling."
Knowing the remark was aimed at him, Yu Qing rolled his eyes and couldn't be bothered to argue.
Both masters had left one after the other. Zhang Quan opened his mouth, as if to say something.
"Enough, enough." Liang Yousheng waved his hand impatiently. "If you don't have the guts, I'll just switch to another construction crew. The result will be the same."
Zhang Quan: "…"
Why won't you listen to reason?
…
The black sedan cut through the night, driving along the winding mountain road.
The assistant in the passenger seat kept checking on his boss through the rearview mirror.
Sensing his gaze, Lu Shiyue lifted his eyelids. "Something on your mind?"
"Sir, that young man who appeared at the orphanage earlier—he's the young master of the Yu family in the capital."
"I know."
The assistant muttered under his breath, "One Xiao family is already enough. Since when did the Yu family start playing at being mystics too?"
The man didn't bother answering such a pointless question.
The assistant added, "That Miss Shen Zhiyi—should I arrange for someone to look into her?"
He looked out the window and curved the corner of his mouth. "No need."
The assistant glanced at the rearview mirror again.
He could have sworn he heard a hint of amusement in the man's voice.
"Ahem, then about the Liang family—"
"Tell Liang Qun that I'll give him an answer on the cooperation next week."
One week.
He remembered that was what the girl had said.
If the information he'd gathered was correct, then a week from now, the Liang family's affairs would be settled.
"Yes, sir."
"Don't get too close to the Liang family these days."
The assistant was taken aback for a moment. "Oh, alright."
But inwardly, he wondered: Surely the master doesn't believe that little girl's nonsense?
…
On the way back, Shen Zhiyi took out her phone and opened the Daily Forum, spotting a headline on the trending list—"TRG 2:3 WYG."
A small "hot" tag followed behind it.
Those two names looked somewhat familiar.
Shen Zhiyi tapped on it and saw the red and blue teams. It suddenly hit her—this was the match result that the streamer who came to check on her room tonight had asked her to calculate.
Letting two slip, then taking three.
Just as expected.