Shi Sheng didn’t even lift her head. “This year’s two pieces have already been released. If the auction house wants one, they can wait until next year.”
He Qiuqiu wasn’t surprised by the answer.
Ever since Shi Sheng’s works became famous, she had strictly maintained a pace of two pieces a year, never making an exception for anyone.
Because of that, the value of her works had only been driven higher and higher.
“And the design drafts for next season should be out too. Those socialites are all waiting eagerly.”
Shi Sheng tilted her chin. “The drafts are all in that USB drive. Take it with you.”
He Qiuqiu immediately recognized it as the USB drive Shi Sheng had been holding when she arrived. She picked it up. “Alright. I’ll deliver it to the studio first. Leave the rest to me.”
Shi Sheng gave a lazy hum and said nothing more.
After the meal, once He Qiuqiu left the courtyard with a bright smile on her face, her expression instantly turned cold.
She had known Shengsheng for so many years she knew exactly how shameless that couple from the Shi family was. They always loved to put on a show.
So growing up, although Shengsheng looked no different from other wealthy young ladies, the torment she endured was no less than that of He Qiuqiu herself, who had grown up in an orphanage.
Now Shengsheng seemed indifferent to everything, as if she had no feelings left for the Shi family.
But that indifference had been worn down bit by bit.
How much grievance Shengsheng had suffered over the past decade even He Qiuqiu didn’t know the full extent of it.
That thick, seemingly invulnerable shell of coldness Shengsheng now wore, keeping everyone at arm’s length wasn’t it formed from the scabs that grew over wounds inflicted by that couple?
Thinking of this, He Qiuqiu’s fists clenched.
Since that family of three dared to treat Shengsheng like that, they’d better be prepared to accept retaliation.
After all, Shengsheng wasn’t the only one with a grudge against the Shi family.
As for whether He Qiuqiu’s earlier act had fooled Shi Sheng of course not.
But it didn’t matter. Leaving aside He Qiuqiu’s abilities, even if something did go wrong, Shi Sheng would back her up.
So Shi Sheng returned to her room without a worry and fell straight into bed.
She had barely rested for three days while rushing her design drafts.
This time, she slept like the dead.
Meanwhile.
In a traditional courtyard house in the capital, the atmosphere was extremely solemn.
Old Master Shi sat at the head of the room, a string of Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, rolling them one by one between his fingers.
Ever since his daughter’s family met with disaster, he had personally gone to a temple to pray for these beads. He prayed daily and chanted nightly, but…
He sighed softly. “After all these years, is there still no clue?”
He was asking his son.
Shi Huaichuan, chairman of Huanyu Group in the capital normally a man whose mere appearance could stir up the entire elite circle now sat in silence, his eyes filled with gloom.
His life had always been smooth sailing. He had never tasted failure.
Yet eighteen years ago, fate struck him hard.
First, his beloved younger sister and brother-in-law vanished, their lives and deaths unknown. Later, even his eldest niece met with an accident.
For eighteen years, they had never stopped investigating. But his niece had seemed to evaporate from the world, without a single trace.
A family of four now only one lone branch remained. And even that one, they hadn’t raised well.
He didn’t even know how he could ever face his sister and brother-in-law.
“Dad, don’t worry too much. My sister-in-law’s family is blessed. They’ll be fine. We’ll definitely find them,” said Fu Tingwan, Old Master Shi’s daughter-in-law.
“Yes, Grandpa. We’ll find Aunt’s family,” the eldest grandson, Fu Wenyuan, added as he handed over a cup of ginseng tea.
The second grandson, Shi Wenyan, sat with one leg crossed over the other and chimed in lazily, “Old man, stop sighing already. If you don’t trust my dad, at least trust my brother. Otherwise you’ll end up with more white hair than that old man from the Lu family, and people will laugh at you.”
At that remark, Old Master Shi had to steady himself for quite a while to stop from splashing the ginseng tea onto the brat.
But thinking of his youngest granddaughter upstairs, who shut herself in her room all day, he couldn’t help but sigh again.
Jiangcheng.
At seven the next morning, before Shi Sheng had even opened her eyes, He Qiuqiu’s chattering filled her ears.
“Get up, Shengsheng! We have to go register early today. I’ve already made breakfast go wash up…”
Shi Sheng struggled out of bed, half asleep, and staggered to the bathroom.
Today was the freshman registration day at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
If it were just registration, she wouldn’t have needed to rush.
But today she had also scheduled a placement exam to skip grades something she had negotiated for as the top scorer in the national college entrance exam.
After washing up, Shi Sheng went to the table, casually took a few sips of soy milk, grabbed a boiled egg, and prepared to leave.
Seeing this, He Qiuqiu felt a pang of heartache.
It wasn’t that Shi Sheng had a small appetite or disliked good food it was that her body simply didn’t allow her to eat too much.
She said nothing, pretending not to notice, but was already thinking about what kind of nourishing soup to stew for her that evening.
Since they lived far from the university, He Qiuqiu decided to drive.
Over the years, doing work for Shi Sheng and taking on occasional side jobs herself, He Qiuqiu had accumulated considerable wealth.
So the car she drove was a flashy purple Porsche Panamera.
As she liked to say what’s the point of making money if not to enjoy it?
Half an hour later, the car stopped outside the university gates.
He Qiuqiu suddenly received a call. After hanging up, she said, “Shengsheng, can you go in alone? Something came up at the studio…”
Before she could finish, Shi Sheng quickly opened the door and got out.
He Qiuqiu was great in every way except she talked too much.
The moment Shi Sheng stepped out, countless gazes shot toward her admiring, shocked, jealous, malicious. She was long used to it.
So she didn’t notice that among those looks was someone who shouldn’t have been there.
Shi Yiyan stared in shock as Shi Sheng stepped out of the luxury car, mouth slightly open, unable to say a word.
Shi Sheng’s performance yesterday had not only exceeded her expectations it had been outrageously arrogant. So arrogant that it took her half an hour after Shi Sheng left the villa to even react.
But no matter how arrogant Shi Sheng had been, with that attitude yesterday, her parents definitely wouldn’t give her a single cent. Shouldn’t she be miserable after leaving the Shi family?
How could this be what she was seeing now?
A luxury car picking her up and dropping her off?
Even better than the one she herself had arrived in?
Who was in that car? What was their relationship with Shi Sheng?
The questions swirled in her mind, stirring her into agitation.
Since yesterday, her only comfort had been imagining Shi Sheng driven out like a stray dog.
But the scene before her shattered that pitiful comfort into pieces.
She couldn’t accept it. She simply couldn’t.
Unfortunately, when she looked again, Shi Sheng had already disappeared, so fast she almost suspected she had imagined it.
Meanwhile, Shi Sheng had arrived at the counselor’s office.
More than a dozen teachers sat neatly inside, men and women alike, looking at her with indulgent admiration reserved for a top student.
After all, Shi Sheng was not only this year’s national top scorer, but the top by a landslide over thirty points higher than second place. Even compared to the past five years, her score would still rank the highest.
If the admissions office hadn’t acted quickly, such a talent might have been snatched away by another university.
A brilliant student having a bit of pride was normal. She wanted to take a placement exam? Let her. It wasn’t much trouble.
Shi Sheng remained polite toward the teachers. “Teachers, when can the exam begin?”
Yes, she intended to jump directly to her junior year.
As for freshman and sophomore coursework, she had long since self-studied it.
She had known since childhood that she was intelligent. Studying had never been difficult for her.
She hadn’t skipped grades before because her spare time had gone into her side career. Moreover, whenever she showed even a hint of excellence, that couple from the Shi family would find ways to punish her.
The punishments never fell directly on her. Instead, classmates she was close to, or teachers who favored her, would encounter various mishaps.
Some classmates’ families would suddenly have business troubles. Some parents would get into minor car accidents. Teachers would be reported, or targeted by online harassment over selectively edited videos and articles.
Over time, she understood they didn’t want her to excel. These were warnings.
Before she knew the truth, she didn’t understand.
After she learned it and after investigating Shi Yiyan’s situation she finally did.
They simply didn’t want a fake daughter to outshine their biological one.
A female teacher took out a prepared exam paper. “This is the sophomore final exam. If you meet the standard, you won’t need to take the freshman one.”
Shi Sheng nodded. “Okay.”
The teacher smiled. “Will so many of us here distract you? If you feel uncomfortable, we can step out and come back to grade your papers after.”
Shi Sheng flipped through the exam. “Please make yourselves comfortable. It won’t affect me.”
The teachers had deliberately cleared their schedules for the day planning to test a few subjects in the morning and a few in the afternoon.
The exam was a small matter. Wearing out the hard-won top scorer would be the real loss.
Who knew that once Shi Sheng received the paper, she said nothing and simply began writing.
Halfway through, her phone suddenly beeped with an alarm.
She turned it off calmly and took out a pile of bottles and containers from her bag.
One pill from this bottle, two from that until she had a full handful.
The female teacher froze at the sight. “Student, are those all medicines? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need to take a break?”