Wu Hongfei looked at Lu Shiman with mixed emotions, then shook his head.“I don’t want the money.”
It was nothing more than a trivial matter. What puzzled him was why the young miss would suddenly want to replace everything with second-hand, worn-out furniture.
His gaze fell on her hands. Red rashes had already appeared on them, glaringly obvious. A delicately raised young miss—how could she possibly be suited to such shabby furniture?
The two simply didn’t match no matter how one looked at it. Could it be that the young miss had lost her mind?
“Are you looking down on me? I lack many things, but money is not one of them.”
“I’m ordering you to take this money. After buying the furniture, whatever’s left is yours.”
She pulled the money out of her pocket and stuffed it into Wu Hongfei’s hand, then shot him a look full of disdain.
“Bring people here to work tomorrow morning at nine. Got it?”
“I’m never coming back to this hellhole again. It’s disgusting…”
Lu Shiman put on a show of disgust, didn’t spare Wu Hongfei another glance, and walked straight out.
She didn’t lack money—but Wu Hongfei clearly did. His cheeks were sunken, and he dragged one leg; even if he wanted to take on work, it would be difficult. Thinking about it, he was truly pitiful.
Letting money benefit Li Shichuan was unacceptable, but she was willing to spare a little for the unfortunate.
The thick roll of money in his hand still carried a trace of warmth. It was supposed to be filthy, copper-scented cash, yet the money the young miss had tossed to him was clean and pristine—just like her.
Though the young miss was indeed rather arrogant and domineering, she was still very much like Old Master Lu: warm at heart.
Having finished this task, Lu Shiman felt refreshed and clear-headed. Tomorrow, using the excuse of replacing furniture, she could thoroughly scour the house again, making sure not a single valuable item was left behind.
The household register was in the study—she could take that out as well and get the important business done.
“Manman, you didn’t cause any trouble today, did you?” she ran into Li Shichuan as soon as she got home.
“What trouble could I cause?” Lu Shiman replied. “I just think the nanny we hired is no good—crying all day long, crying away my good fortune. Why don’t we replace her with a few others?”
She crossed her arms and cast a critical glance at Li Weimian, paused, then added, “Oh right, I want to buy a piano. Give me ten thousand yuan.”
“And I ran into Wu Hongfei. After all these years, he’s still living so miserably. Since he used to play with me when we were young, I, being such a good person, have decided to help him out. Give me another ten thousand so he can get his leg looked at.”
She held out her hand, demanding money without the slightest politeness.
Li Shichuan’s head was about to explode. Two sentences in, and she was already asking for twenty thousand—as if money grew on trees!
“We can’t buy a piano right now,” he said with a troubled look. “Our family is in a precarious situation. I had to pour in half my assets just to stabilize things, just to avoid being sent down!”
“And treating a leg doesn’t cost ten thousand. I’ll give you a hundred—go wander around the streets with it.”
He spoke as if he truly couldn’t spare a single cent.
Lu Shiman’s expression changed instantly. “Bullshit! Li Weimian said you gave her several thousand. What’s wrong with me asking for twenty thousand?”
“Isn’t this all my family’s money anyway? Grandpa said I could take money and do whatever I want with it.”
“No wonder people say you’re unusually close to Li Weimian. Is she your little lover?”
“I’m going to the Revolutionary Committee. I’m going to report you for having an improper relationship. I’ll make sure she can never hold her head up again for the rest of her life.”
She blurted it all out, fabricating accusations with ease. Since they were all rotten anyway, she might as well fling some dirty water. Besides, under the ‘door-in-the-face’ effect, once something even more unacceptable was brought up, he would compromise after weighing the pros and cons.
Li Shichuan’s face turned ashen. He clenched his fists and glared at Li Weimian.
Useless idiot—he’d given her money just so she wouldn’t be too embarrassed, and she actually went and told Lu Shiman about it. What a fool.
“I just felt sorry for her, the same way you feel sorry for Wu Hongfei,” he explained hurriedly. “Don’t overthink it, Manman. There’s only one woman in my heart my whole life—your mother, Lu Shiyin. Remember that.”
“You want money? Fine. I’ll give it to you.”
Since Lu Hansheng’s death, the Lu family’s businesses had steadily declined. After selling them off, they only fetched a little over a hundred thousand. Converted into gold bars, he had just over thirty thousand in cash left. This wretched girl was demanding twenty thousand in one go—it hurt terribly.
But to avoid trouble before leaving, he had no choice but to give it to her.
If this idiot really went to the Revolutionary Committee spouting nonsense, he wouldn’t even be able to run away. Money would be useless then.
He took a deep breath, went upstairs, opened the safe in the study, and took out the passbook—only for Lu Shiman to snatch it away before he could say anything.
“Dad, since it’s all my family’s money anyway, just give it all to me. I definitely won’t spend it recklessly.”
Lu Shiman casually took the passbook. When she saw the amount recorded in it, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
As a wealthy merchant family in Zhe City, the Lu family’s foundation was indeed substantial. Thirty-five thousand yuan in this era was equivalent to millions in later times.
And at this time, withdrawing money with a passbook didn’t even require a password—how convenient for her.
“I’m heading out to look at pianos. I won’t be home for dinner. Bye-bye.”
She waved the passbook and bolted away. If she didn’t run now, was she supposed to wait for Li Shichuan to snatch it back?
She needed to hurry and withdraw all the money while she could—secure it first.
Once outside, she got on her bicycle and rode straight to the bank. Thanks to Lu Hansheng’s reputation in Zhe City, Lu Shiman was well known to everyone.
As soon as she entered the bank, someone came up to greet her.
“Comrade Lu, what business would you like to handle?”
“Withdraw money. All of it.”
She handed over the passbook, her tone bold and domineering.
The clerk glanced at the amount and wiped the sweat from his face. “Comrade Lu, this is a rather large sum. It might be difficult to handle…”
“Oh? Then what should I do?” Lu Shiman muttered softly, looking troubled. “My dad said the money absolutely has to be withdrawn today. I don’t even know why he’s in such a rush for so much cash.”
“He never tells me what he’s doing,” she continued, “sometimes I really wonder if I’m his biological child. So annoying.”
As she spoke, she watched the clerk out of the corner of her eye. Seeing the indignant look on his face, she raised her brows in satisfaction.
She was the one asking for the money. She was the one withdrawing it. But the blame had to fall on Li Shichuan.
She had to remain spotless—she couldn’t let even a hint of suspicion cling to her.
Once everything was settled, she planned to publish a notice in the newspaper to sever ties.
“I’ll think of a way. Wait here,” the clerk said.
After two hours of effort, all the money Lu Shiman wanted was finally withdrawn. Looking at the thick stack of cash in front of her, she was immensely satisfied.
“I really don’t know what Dad wants so much money for,” she said again. “Could it be that his business is in trouble?”
“Or maybe he wants to give it to some woman outside?”
She continued planting seeds of doubt as she spoke.
Seeing that plenty of people had already heard the news, she finally left. Once outside the bank, she rode her bicycle into a narrow alley.
She put all the money into her space, then wandered around outside for quite a while. Only when night fell did she return home.
When she got back, she didn’t greet anyone—she went straight into her room, locked the door, washed up, and went to sleep contentedly.
The next morning at 8:45, Wu Hongfei arrived at the Lu family residence with the worn-out furniture Lu Shiman had asked for, along with the people he had brought to help.