By the roadside, Zhang Maocai and Zhou Meijuan chased after them in fury, but the figures had vanished. All they could do was stand there with hands on their hips, panting heavily.
The two of them noticed that in the pitch-black corner of a wall, there seemed to be two silhouettes pressed close together.
Zhou Meijuan spat angrily. “Bah! Shameless! Making out in the middle of the night!”
Then she looked elsewhere.
Just then, a figure flashed past the intersection. Zhou Meijuan’s eyes lit up. “After them!”
Zhang Maocai followed and ran off into the distance.
In the darkness, the two separated, but the warmth lingering on their lips remained.
This was, counting both lifetimes, her first kiss with Lu Chenyuan.
Rushed—yet sweet.
Su Wanxing’s heart was pounding wildly. She lowered her head, suddenly not knowing what to say.
Would Lu Chenyuan misunderstand her and think she was too casual?
If she told the truth, would he think she was scheming?
The air was frighteningly quiet, broken only by their awkward breathing.
“Um…”
Su Wanxing still wanted to say something, but before she could, Lu Chenyuan interrupted her.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
Su Wanxing couldn’t help but smile secretly.
Lu Chenyuan was really straightforward to the point of being adorable. Had he forgotten? They were about to get married anyway.
She gathered herself and looked at him. “By the way, why were you here?”
Lu Chenyuan said, “I wanted to ask if there’s anything you want to buy for the wedding. I’m off tomorrow, so we could go together. But the Su family said you went to the textile factory. It was already dark, so… I came to look for you.”
“You were worried about me?”
“Yes.”
Lu Chenyuan nodded, his ears turning red.
Normally, what Su Wanxing did was none of his business, but thinking of what just happened, he couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Why was your stepmother chasing you?”
Su Wanxing told him honestly, “Because I discovered she’s having an affair with the accountant and is trying to empty out the Su family assets. Luckily, they didn’t see my face.”
“Lu Chenyuan, help me with something tomorrow. I’m planning to do something big.”
The next day.
Lu Chenyuan arrived at the Su family home.
To the Su family, this unexpected visitor was both alarming and intimidating. They all instinctively looked at Su Wanxing, afraid she was about to stir up trouble again.
But Lu Chenyuan said he’d come mainly to have a heartfelt talk with the Su family—after all, he and Su Wanxing were about to get married and would soon be heading to the northwest.
Su Hongyi finally relaxed. As long as it wasn’t related to the “capitalist” issue, anything was fine.
However, Lu Chenyuan suggested that the entire Su family go to a state-owned restaurant to talk it over— even the housekeeper had to come along.
Seeing how happy Su Wanxing looked, Su Hongyi’s legs started trembling again. This wouldn’t be settling accounts with him, would it?
On the way, Su Wanxing suddenly claimed she had a stomachache and returned home to rest.
Only then did Su Hongyi finally feel at ease.
After returning home, Su Wanxing headed straight for the underground storeroom.
Because of the recent “capitalist” scare, Su Hongyi and Zhou Meijuan had hidden all the antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain from the living room down here, even building a false wall as a cover.
If it weren’t for her past life—when she once got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and heard rustling noises—she wouldn’t have discovered Su Hongyi and Zhou Meijuan, covered in dust, secretly building that wall.
Su Wanxing lifted a hammer and smashed away—bang, bang, bang!
With her strength now greatly increased, a dozen blows were nothing to her.
She kicked open the storeroom door, and the sight inside was dazzling.
Rows of antique porcelain were lined up, hastily covered with red cloths from when they were moved.
Su Wanxing casually examined a few pieces. Ha—good heavens, they were all Song dynasty items!
Leaving everything else aside, just these pieces alone—if they’d been discovered back then, the “capitalist” label would never have been removed, and the Su family would’ve been smashed into bankruptcy.
With a thought, Su Wanxing said, “Collect.”
The porcelain vanished instantly.
She then walked toward two large stacked chests in the corner.
Inside were rows upon rows of gleaming “little yellow bars,” neatly arranged and beautiful to look at.
She picked one up to weigh it—converted to later standards, each was about a hundred grams.
A rough count showed that a single chest held over two hundred of them!
“Collect!”
Su Wanxing clapped her hands and moved on to three black sacks taller than a person.
She opened one. On top was a thick layer of wood shavings, like renovation waste.
But why would trash be stored here?
She dug a little deeper.
Beneath the wood shavings were jewelry pieces.
Ruby bracelets, jade necklaces, diamond brooches, Hetian jade, pearl necklaces…
They looked familiar.
After thinking carefully, she realized—weren’t these her mother’s belongings?
She remembered her mother loved buying jewelry and often said these would all be left to Su Wanxing as dowry.
After her mother passed away, the jewelry disappeared, and Su Wanxing, buried in grief, had forgotten about them.
So they were all hidden here!
She carefully stored them in her space, then looked at a large camphorwood chest nearby.
Inside was a pure-gold phoenix crown, styled like a Song dynasty empress’s coronet. The red and green gemstones on it were modern, clearly later additions, but they were all genuine and heavy—extremely valuable.
Along with it was a matching modified wedding outfit adorned with pearls and diamonds, plus matching shoes—obviously prepared as dowry.
At the bottom of the chest was a note.
In Zhou Meijuan’s handwriting: For my precious daughter Qingqing.
Thinking of how Zhou Meijuan had tried to dismiss her with just eight hundred yuan, Su Wanxing’s anger flared.
So this was Su Xueqing’s dowry?
Now it was hers.
With a wave of her hand, she collected it all.
Turning around, she took in the rest—gold-thread nanmu grand chairs, carved rosewood beds, ginseng, bird’s nest, fine liquor… everything went into her space.
Looking at the now-empty storeroom, Su Wanxing clapped her hands in satisfaction.
But the Su family’s assets didn’t stop there. She remembered her grandfather loved horseback riding and had once bought a ranch with over a hundred horses.
Each horse cost over 1,400 yuan—converted to later prices, that was more than 300,000!
After some thought, Su Wanxing went to Su Hongyi and Zhou Meijuan’s bedroom.
The room was neat and proper. Aside from a Simmons bed and a dressing table that were somewhat valuable, nothing else stood out.
Su Wanxing propped her chin and paced back and forth.
That didn’t make sense. Given Zhou Meijuan’s nature, she’d definitely hide money nearby.
Suddenly, Su Wanxing stopped.
Her high heels tapped twice on the wooden floor, then she walked a few steps toward the corner by the wall.
Sure enough—the sound was different. The floor in the corner was hollow!
After fumbling around for a while, she finally found a gap just big enough for her fingernail. With a pry, a section of the wooden floor popped up.
It revealed a palm-sized hollow.
All that effort… for something so small?
And empty?
Feeling annoyed, Su Wanxing stood up, but accidentally stepped into the hollow. With a loud rumble, the wardrobe against the wall rotated, revealing a hidden door.
Damn—Zhou Meijuan really knew how to hide things!
Su Wanxing slipped inside.
Inside was a small room of a few square meters, filled with luxury watches, cash, foreign exchange certificates, property deeds, and—what she was looking for—the horse ranch contract.
At the very bottom was something unexpected…
A will?
She hadn’t seen this in her past life, so she opened it out of curiosity.
The will stated that all Su family assets, as well as the jewelry left by Su Wanxing’s mother, were to be given entirely to Su Xueqing and Su Yaozu. The textile factory would also go to Su Yaozu. It expressed hope that the siblings would live peacefully and prosperously.
Not a single word mentioned Su Wanxing.
Su Wanxing clenched the will, her fingers turning white.
What a wonderful father she had.
Not only did he give the original wife’s belongings to others, he didn’t even leave a single cent for the original wife’s own daughter!
She’d originally planned, out of filial sentiment, to leave Su Hongyi something.
Now it seemed completely unnecessary.
The Su family only needed her, Su Wanxing, after all!
She collected everything into her space, then tossed a lighter identical to Su Hongyi’s—taken from Zhang Maocai—behind the curtains.
Then she headed for the state-owned restaurant.
The show… was about to begin.