Ming Shu noticed the movement near Su Chuiyun and glanced back.
The foster mother, assuming Ming Shu was reluctant to speak further, said, “Xiao Shu, could you… lend us a little more?”
The corners of Ming Shu’s lips curled slightly. “Can you even pay it back?”
“We can, of course we can,” the foster mother said hurriedly. “As long as this installment is invested and construction begins on the site, there’s no need to worry about money.”
Ming Shu gave a faint “Mm,” leaving her thoughts unreadable.
With her grandfather’s passing, Ming Shu had inherited several times more property than originally allocated to her; she was already loaded.
The foster mother no longer possessed her previous arrogance. Who could have predicted that the authorities would suddenly inspect the building materials? Out of ten samples, nine failed. The project was halted immediately.
Ming Wei was pulled behind his mother’s back, his eyes practically glued to Ming Shu.
“Why did Dad give my shares to my sister? What does a woman need that much money for? Isn’t it just benefiting another family in the end?” Ming Wei’s lips muttered, only daring to whisper his complaints.
The foster mother’s eyes were also full of loathing, but since she was begging for help, she was forced to let a hint of weakness show through her harsh gaze. “Xiao Shu, he doesn’t know how to speak properly. Don’t mind him.”
In just a few days, the foster mother had transformed from being furious at Ming Shu for hitting her son to practicing “family” harmony.
Ming Shu narrowed her eyes, savoring the advantages that money brought.
Ming Shu: “A lawyer will be coming over in a while. You can talk to my lawyer.”
The foster mother had heard of that Mr. Yang before. In S City, he had fought his way up from a struggling intern at the bottom to a top-tier law firm, handling only the most prestigious cases. However, he had moved abroad in recent years and stopped taking new clients.
To think he was working for Ming Shu…
“Good, good. Xiao Shu is still the most considerate.”
Ming Shu sneered, one hand in her pocket, remaining silent.
The foster mother tugged at the corner of her mouth. “We came to offer incense to Dad. Xiao Shu, do you think it’s convenient now?” Having obtained Mr. Yang’s contact information, she felt half-assured.
Ming Shu nodded. “A-Yun is almost finished over there. Go ahead.”
The foster mother originally disapproved of the two girls being together, what kind of behavior was that? It was a disgrace to the family. The harsh words were on the tip of her tongue, but the sharp edge of the business card in her hand pricked her self-esteem. Finally, she forced a smile. “Chuiyun has grown up; she’s become quite beautiful.”
The woman who once locked Ming Shu in a basement for three days and nights because she liked Su Chuiyun was now going against her heart to praise the two as a good match.
Ming Shu felt a strange, twisted sense of pleasure.
Ming Shu: “She is indeed beautiful.”
Just as the three of them were about to reach the old man’s gravesite, a sudden bolt of thunder cracked across the sky.
The words Su Chuiyun was whispering were interrupted.
Su Chuiyun: “…”
Ming Shu frowned and took a folding umbrella out of her handbag. “It shouldn’t rain today.”
Su Chuiyun didn’t notice the newcomers and continued her quiet muttering: “Grandpa, don’t disbelieve me. The person I love most in this life is Sister Ming Shu. If I ever treat her badly, may Heaven strike”
Before she could finish, rumble, rumble..
Lightning streaked across the sky, vanishing into the heavy clouds.
Su Chuiyun: “…”
Is he actually manifesting?
Ming Shu: “…”
A light laugh came from behind Su Chuiyun. “What wish are you making?”
Ming Shu opened the umbrella, but the sky showed no sign of actually raining.
Su Chuiyun: “I wasn’t making a wish. Your grandfather is manifesting.”
Foster Mother & Ming Wei: “?”
Ming Shu: “Whose family manifests by using lightning?”
Su Chuiyun: “Probably trying to strike your family’s unfilial son to death.”
That was a personal attack.
Su Chuiyun had never liked the Ming family; she felt they were all vampires trying to suck the blood of her “sugar mommy.” The foster mother’s well-maintained face looked to Su Chuiyun like a painted skin mask, monstrous and frightening.
The girl in the wheelchair swept her unfocused eyes over them. “What, are you still planning to marry Ming Shu off to your son?”
In the silent cemetery, the expression on the foster mother’s face was sour, but the Su family was not someone she could afford to offend. Several high-ranking government officials were known to be fond of the rare stones and garden designs produced by the Su family.
The foster mother’s smile was strained. “How could we? Just a family joke.”
Su Chuiyun nodded. “Your son certainly looks like a joke.”
Ming Wei had been spoiled by his family, he was “fat-headed and big-eared.” It was hard to tell the difference between him and a pig’s head. One might worry that if he walked into a slaughterhouse, he’d never come out.
The scars on Ming Wei’s face looked hideous. Hearing Su Chuiyun’s words, he almost erupted in rage, but his mother held him down firmly.
Neither dared to look Su Chuiyun in the eye. Being stared at by those unfocused, smoky-gray eyes made the hair on the back of their necks stand up.
Ming Shu stood behind Su Chuiyun and said softly, “It’s getting late. We should head back.”
Su Chuiyun: “Did they bully you?”
Ming Shu fell into a suspicious silence for a few seconds, practically giving a silent admission.
Foster Mother: “…” You can’t go against your conscience like that!
Su Chuiyun acted protectively: “I remember Ming Shu has already paid back all the money the Ming family spent raising her. Her household registration is now separate. If you have business with her, please make an appointment with Sister Chen first. I will pass the message to Ming Shu.”
Su Chuiyun opened her thin lips. “Ming Shu is taking care of me personally right now. As you know, I cannot do without her care.”
Standing behind Su Chuiyun, Ming Shu suddenly felt a very strange sensation: she was being protected by her “sister.” Her “sister” truly believed she was being bullied and was issuing a warning on her behalf.
Ming Shu feigned weakness: “A-Yun, don’t… My foster mother is my relative after all. We shouldn’t let things between family members get so tense.”
The foster mother looked at Su Chuiyun as if she were seeing a ghost.
Su Chuiyun vaguely smelled the “scent of tea” (manipulation/white lotus behavior). She warned the two again and urged Ming Shu to push her wheelchair.
On the cemetery driveway, the girl in black in the wheelchair asked anxiously, “Do you owe your foster parents money?”
Ming Shu: “Hmm? Why do you ask?”
Su Chuiyun said urgently, “I just heard the three of you talking under the pine tree about debts and IOUs…”
Ming Shu remained uncharacteristically silent. Su Chuiyun smelled the “tea scent” again.
Su Chuiyun muttered to herself, “I still have a few projects to finish. I’ll finalize the product designs in the next two days. The liquid capital I can take out right now is limited…”
While Su Chuiyun was mumbling, Ming Shu boldly let her gaze sweep over Su Chuiyun’s black outfit. The “little blind girl” had no idea she was being coveted in such a way, she was still counting on her fingers how much cash she could scrounge up to pay off the debt.
In the original novel, Ming Shu did go through a very difficult period before becoming incredibly successful. Su Chuiyun treated this as an “angel investment.”
Ming Shu’s gaze moved slowly from Su Chuiyun’s beautiful eyes to her cherry-colored lips. As she spoke, a layer of moisture coated her lips, and her tongue unconsciously flicked against the corner of her mouth.
In the solemn cemetery, Ming Shu really shouldn’t have been having such romantic thoughts.
Ming Shu’s throat was dry. She wanted to say immediately that she didn’t owe her foster parents a cent on the contrary, those fools owed her. The money Ming Shu had given them was like a poisoned pill, luring those idiots into swallowing it only to have it rot their insides.
Ming Shu knelt on one knee. She pulled a glove off with her fingertips. Her lustrous, snowy white fingers seemed to radiate warmth in the sunlight. Those hands touched Su Chuiyun’s leather shoes to fix a loose lace.
“How much do you need? Just say a number,” Su Chuiyun calculated on her fingers. “If it’s not urgent, can you give me a few days?”
Her Ming Shu leaned over to tie her shoelaces, her fingers brushing against Su Chuiyun’s knee, squeezing lightly twice.
“A-Yun is worried about me.”
Su Chuiyun felt awkward. “The ancestors are watching you.”
Behind them was a sprawling cemetery. Some people were burning joss paper before graves, others were bowing and chanting. A gust of wind blew the smell of burnt paper toward them.
Ming Shu’s lips wanted to touch the ring on Su Chuiyun’s ring finger, she wanted to take those fingertips into her mouth. She murmured: “I don’t have ancestors. My parents abandoned me long ago.”
Did this little girl know how kissable she looked right now?
Su Chuiyun reached her limit: “I mean other people’s ancestors. They mind!”
Ming Shu: “…”