After wandering aimlessly in the corridor for a while, Jiang Sui finally spotted a tall, slender figure in the distance. She was wearing a black T-shirt and cargo pants, her hair tied in a ponytail—neat, sharp, and effortlessly cool.
At a glance, that aura screamed female lead.
Jiang Sui adjusted her expression and walked over.
“Sister Shuangxue,” she greeted first.
Jiang Shuangxue stopped and looked at her, smiling slightly in return. “Sister Jiang Sui.”
Jiang Sui started with small talk—asking when she arrived, how she had been recently, and even, very in-character, about Lu Jianzhou’s situation.
Jiang Shuangxue remained polite but distant, answering only briefly.
Jiang Sui wasn’t surprised. After all, the original owner wasn’t exactly a good person, so it was expected she had left no good impression on Jiang Shuangxue. As the heroine of a爽文 (satisfying power fantasy novel), it was already good enough that she didn’t immediately slap her.
They were about to reach the banquet hall entrance when Jiang Sui called her again.
“Sister Shuangxue… about the past, I want to apologize. I was immature. I said a lot of unpleasant things and did a lot of wrong things.”
She put on a sincere attitude, trying to salvage some goodwill.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness. I just want you to know I’ve changed. I won’t be like I was before—ignorant and reckless.”
Jiang Shuangxue looked at her in mild surprise, studying her for a moment. Her expression softened slightly, but not by much.
“Alright. I understand,” she said calmly.
Then she turned to enter the banquet hall.
Jiang Sui stopped her again.
Jiang Shuangxue remained patient. “Anything else?”
“There’s a lot of chaos recently,” Jiang Sui said seriously. “On my way back today, I saw wild animals going crazy and causing a very serious chain-reaction car accident. People said it might be a bad omen—like before a major disaster, animals always behave strangely. First animals go crazy, then humans, and then… the end of the world.”
She didn’t directly say “apocalypse,” worried she’d sound insane, and chose a more subtle phrasing. The system didn’t stop her, so it seemed acceptable.
“Sister Shuangxue, you should stock up on supplies and weapons at home. Just in case.”
Jiang Shuangxue looked at her deeply. Jiang Sui’s expression was serious, not like she was joking or lying. Her instincts also made her slightly inclined to believe her.
“I will. Thank you for the reminder,” she replied earnestly.
The rest of the family banquet was just eating.
Jiang Sui wasn’t interested in socializing and focused entirely on food. When she had to, she raised her glass and went with Shen Hanyan to toast the main table and the grandfather of the Jiang family.
The old man, who was already nearing death, was unusually kind this time. He even gave both Jiang Sui and Shen Hanyan red envelopes and wished them a long and happy marriage.
Jiang Sui happily accepted the slightly thick red envelope. “Thank you, Grandpa. We will.”
Shen Hanyan glanced sideways at her, eyes dark and unreadable, his lips tightening slightly.
When they returned, they passed Jiang Shuangxue’s seat.
Jiang Shuangxue was eating, but her gaze first landed on Jiang Sui, then shifted to Shen Hanyan. Unexpectedly, Shen Hanyan suddenly looked up and caught her gaze.
Cold, emotionless eyes met hers directly.
After a moment, they both looked away.
Jiang Shuangxue frowned slightly while eating. Her instincts told her this Shen Hanyan was dangerous—like a coiled venomous snake, waiting for the right moment to strike.
But then again, it had nothing to do with her. She had long moved out of the Jiang family. If not for the inheritance issue, she would have already cut ties completely.
As for Jiang Sui… Jiang Shuangxue took another bite of rice, frowning in confusion.
She felt Jiang Sui had changed. Her intuition told her she had become “better,” but could someone really change so suddenly? She didn’t dwell on it further. If they met again, she would observe more. If not, then it didn’t matter.
At 9:30 p.m., the shopping mall was about to close.
Some stores had already started cleaning up, including the ocean-themed bookstore on the fifth floor.
While the employees were tidying up, one of them suddenly noticed someone was missing.
They usually slacked off a bit, but no one really skipped work early.
“Let me call her,” said Employee A, joking, “don’t tell me she fainted somewhere again.”
No one answered the phone.
Employee A walked toward the break room, guessing she was probably still messing with that blue mushroom thing.
At the door, he heard a faint phone ringtone.
She was indeed inside.
He pushed the door open—and froze in shock.
A faint blue glow drifted out like aurora light, translucent and eerie, like tentacles made of clouds brushing across his terrified face.
Inside the room, everything was bathed in dim blue light.
The missing female employee lay on the floor on her side—her body grotesquely swollen like a balloon, covered entirely in glowing blue mushrooms.
Her abdomen had swollen until it looked ready to burst. Organs and intestines were scattered on the floor like tangled plant roots, each strand covered in mushrooms of different sizes.
Clusters of caps kept swelling and bursting, releasing blue spores into the air.
They floated like auroras, drifting freely through the space.
Employee A finally snapped back to reality and let out a piercing scream of pure terror.
Jiang Sui just wanted to leave after eating.
She glanced around, then at Shen Hanyan, who was slowly drinking soup with his head lowered.
He really ate very little—probably half of what she did. Yet somehow he was so tall.
“You’re full?” she asked quietly.
“Mm.” He set down his spoon.
Seeing he still hadn’t finished his soup, she said, “Drink it all. Don’t waste food. Then we’ll go.”
He silently finished it.
On the way out, a few relatives made sarcastic remarks, but Jiang Sui ignored them completely. She probably wouldn’t see them again anyway.
After leaving the hotel, she felt something slightly off in the air—but couldn’t tell what.
“Can you take me to Central Park?” Shen Hanyan suddenly asked.
He looked at her briefly, then away again, as if hesitating for a moment.
“It’s on your way.”
Jiang Sui felt uneasy and wanted to head straight back to Chongcheng, but the route did pass Central Park.
“…Alright.”
Shen Hanyan stared at her for a moment, his dark eyes deep and unreadable.
“Thank you,” he said.
They got into the car and headed toward Central Park.
Looking at the familiar road, Jiang Sui realized this was the same direction as the Great Century Mall—so the mall was actually next to Central Park.