A few days later, Chen Yue arrived carrying a box.
Su Chuiyun was currently consulting with the staff from the Su family’s design department regarding the furniture series to be launched in the second half of the year. During their conversation, the staff saw Chen Yue approaching from a distance and fell silent.
The staff member, Bai Li, had worked for the Su family for many years. She had always heard rumors of this eldest Miss Su but had never met her in person. She had expected an arrogant and willful heiress, but to her surprise, the girl actually possessed some professional skill.
“General Manager Chen,” Bai Li whispered, “This is the design sketch Miss Su just finalized. Please take a look.”
Chen Yue pushed the sketch aside. “Ming Shu just sent over a necklace. You should try it on first.”
Inside the grey velvet box lay an intricate antique diamond necklace that looked like lace. At its center hung a pearl the size of a finger joint.
Chen Yue habitually ignored the fact that Su Chuiyun was blind. Su Chuiyun accurately felt for the diamond necklace, opened the clasp, and pressed it against her collarbone. The cold diamonds touching her skin sent a shiver through her. The heavy antique diamonds weren’t as flashy as those in mall display cases; instead, they carried the quiet weight of history.
“Does it look good?” This was the first time in Su Chuiyun’s life she had touched something so expensive. “It’s a bit too grand.”
Chen Yue: “…” Bai Li: “…”
The two exchanged a look, their expressions complex.
Su Chuiyun felt strange. “Is it not pretty?”
Chen Yue replied, “Not exactly.”
Su Chuiyun’s gaze (habitually) swept over a metal measuring ruler on the small table. The metallic surface reflected the dense cluster of red marks beneath her collarbone. One look was enough to know they were bite marks sucked and bitten intensely.
Su Chuiyun’s brain suddenly overheated, her entire face turning a more vivid red than a pomegranate hanging from a branch.
Why didn’t anyone tell her!
Su Chuiyun unnaturally poked at her collarbone. “It seems a bit sore. Was I bitten by a bug?”
Chen Yue: “Ah, yes, yes. Right.” Su Chuiyun: “Bring me some ointment then.” Bai Li: “?”
One is bold enough to ask, and the other is bold enough to answer.
In the cool autumn breeze, Chen Yue leaned back in a small bamboo chair, fanning herself. Wearing rubber gloves, she applied a mint-scented ointment to the area just below Su Chuiyun’s collarbone.
“Miss Su, it might not be appropriate to accept such a precious gift from Ming Shu,” Chen Yue started to say something, but eventually settled for a tactful approach. “Do you really plan on spending your life with her?”
Based on Chen Yue’s understanding of Su Chuiyun, she didn’t seem like the type to settle down and live a quiet life.
Su Chuiyun thought Chen Yue was referring to Ming Shu’s status as an adopted daughter and was about to explain, but Chen Yue spoke again: “Then what about the wedding dress in your closet, the one you had custom-made to marry Song Xi? Do you not want it anymore?”
Su Chuiyun: ?
What on earth?
She was tired of saying it: the original host of this body truly deserved a miserable end for leaving such landmines behind.
Aaaaah! she screamed internally.
Su Chuiyun’s face, which had been as red as a monkey’s butt, instantly froze. She murmured dreamily, “What wedding dress?”
Chen Yue: “Have you forgotten? You withdrew 230,000 from the company accounts back then to customize it. The money hasn’t been paid back yet.”
Su Chuiyun: ?
She even took money from the company accounts?
She didn’t have any cash to pay back the dress money now. Even if she sold herself, she couldn’t make 230,000. Suddenly, the necklace around her neck felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, constricting her throat like a collar.
Fine, fine. She could only continue being a “kept woman.” She could “repay in kind” to borrow the money from Ming Shu. If Ming Shu ever found out the truth, she’d probably chop her into pieces.
Before transmigrating, Su Chuiyun owed a million in mortgage; after transmigrating, she still owed a mountain of debt. She covered her face, screaming in agony in her heart.
This transmigration thing isn’t worth it. Truly… a debt for her soul (and body).
At the hospital.
Ming Shu’s grandfather took his final breath in the hospital bed.
Ming Shu, dressed in white, went through the entire process. She kept her eyes downcast, showing neither sorrow nor joy, as if everything happening had nothing to do with her.
In the past, as an adopted daughter, she would have had no voice at the funeral. But thanks to the money she made abroad and the mall project she prepared with her adoptive father, she had quietly become the focal point of the crowd.
Sending the body to the funeral home for refrigeration, the cremation, and the vigil after the funeral, Ming Shu completed it all silently.
Her adoptive mother picked at her constantly. “The moment you come back from abroad, your grandfather dies. You’re truly a harbinger of death.”
Ming Shu knelt on the soft cushion, staring expressionlessly at the woman accusing her.
The wounds on Ming Wei’s face hadn’t healed yet, looking as hideous as a ghost from hell. Ming Wei’s anger flared up under Ming Shu’s gaze, but a few seconds later, fear took over, and he didn’t dare look at her. His face stung with pain, and he muttered a curse under his breath.
When her time kneeling was up, Ming Shu patted her knees and stood up. “I’ll take my leave now.”
The Ming family hadn’t been doing well in recent years. Ever since the old man stopped managing things, her adoptive father had run the company into a mess. The building was tilting, ready to collapse.
Her adoptive mother chased after her. “You disfigured your brother; you have to take responsibility for this. Otherwise, I’ll take you to court…”
The mourning hall was noisy, and people in the distance pricked up their ears, curious to get a taste of some wealthy family gossip.
Ming Shu interrupted her frantic words. “The company has been owing a lot of money lately, hasn’t it?”
This non-sequitur caused the mother’s face to change. “What do you mean? Are you plotting to take over my family’s company?”
Then the mother glanced at her son inside. “I’ve said it before, you and your brother are a match made in heaven. If you marry him, we’ll be family twice over. It’ll bring some good luck to the company to get us through this crisis, wouldn’t it?”
Ming Shu’s cold, thin lips parted slightly. “You’re dreaming.”
The mother’s face twitched. “…”
“However, I can lend you the money. Give me a figure. I’ll have a lawyer come over and we can sign the promissory note now.”
“After all, we are family, aren’t we?”
The mother’s expression shifted. “Family shouldn’t need a promissory note…”
The company was indeed not what it used to be. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have risked the judgmental looks and gossip of others to try and marry Ming Shu to her son. It didn’t sound good to anyone, did it?
“Will you borrow it or not?”
Ming Shu, dressed in white, leaned coldly against a pillar in the light rain. “As for collateral, we’ll use the company’s equity.”
Ming Shu’s phoenix eyes were clearly smiling, yet they held a bone-chilling coldness. “Anyway, our family will always get through the hardships, won’t we? I also believe you’ll be able to pay this money back.”
The company recently owed a large sum to downstream factories. Materials were being cut off, and the joint-venture construction projects were about to become unfinished “ghost buildings.”
The mother’s guarded expression relaxed slightly. “Yes, yes, we can pay it back. Just a formality, then.”
On the father’s side, the mall construction used substandard materials and involved corruption, while the mother was using company equity as a bargaining chip. The company was crumbling.
Ming Shu silently calculated the amount she could get her hands on. She took out a lens cloth and wiped the rainwater off her rimless glasses.
This money for her “little sister’s” dowry still didn’t seem like enough. Her sister deserved better; she needed to make more money. Not just for the dowry, but she also needed to save up for doctors.
Life is hard, Ming Shu sighed.
Su Chuiyun (actually Ming Shu) walked into the restroom. She took off her gloves, turned on the faucet, and washed every finger. She let the bone-chilling water wash through her finger gaps and up over her wrists and forearms.
The water flowed over the plum-blossom-like red marks on the inside of her forearm, bringing a tingle of sensation. Ming Shu’s fingers gently brushed over the traces of pleasure.
“Her teeth are really sharp,” Ming Shu complained half-heartedly.