“Shangyu, why are you awake? Didn’t you take…” Qi Ruobing almost blurted out that she had slipped sleeping pills into his food, but caught herself halfway through.
“Qi Ruobing, did you steal the gold bars buried at home?” Mu Shangyu walked wrathfully toward where their wealth was hidden.
Looking at the freshly turned soil, his face turned as black as the bottom of a wok.
He bent down and counted—two crates were missing!
Qi Ruobing offered a humble, subservient explanation from the side. “Shangyu, hear me out. My mother forced my hand. If I didn’t give her the money, she threatened to cause a scene at my workplace and even report us. If that happened, we’d lose a lot more than just two crates of gold bars. We’re moving to Hong Kong soon, far beyond their reach. Once we’re there, they won’t be able to find me, and I’ll never give another cent to my maiden family. Please believe me, Shangyu.”
Mu Shangyu was almost coaxed around by her soft words—after all, the Mu family wasn’t hurting for this bit of money.
Just then, Mu Zhaozhao walked out of her bedroom rubbing a yawn. She asked, “What happened? Uncle, you didn’t lose the gold bars, did you? You’d better check inside the crates to make sure nothing else is missing.”
Spurred by her reminder, Mu Shangyu instantly grew nervous. He crouched down and opened a wooden crate, nearly passing out from sheer rage.
The crate was filled with neatly arranged stones!
Seeing this, Qi Ruobing reacted like a rat that had eaten poison—jumping up and down, looking left and right, completely unable to defend herself.
“This… how could this be? …It wasn’t me…”
Furious, Mu Shangyu flipped open the remaining crates one after another. Every single one contained nothing but stones. Eleven crates of gold bars had been stolen right from under his nose.
Panicking, Qi Ruobing slapped her thighs in distress. “Heavens, we’ve been robbed!”
SLAP! SLAP!
Before her voice had even faded, two heavy slaps landed on her face.
Dazed and disoriented, Qi Ruobing looked at Mu Shangyu with a face full of sorrow. “Shangyu, you hit me?”
“You’re the thief shouting ‘stop thief!’ You heartless creature—speak! Did you secretly ship all those gold bars back to your parents’ house?” Mu Shangyu roared in thunderous fury.
“I didn’t, I really didn’t! I only let my parents take two crates!” She covered her face, crying hysterically.
Mu Zhaozhao hastily stepped forward two paces, feigning shock. “Auntie, that’s not right of you. You gave two crates to your maiden family, but did you pocket all the rest for yourself? Don’t tell me you gave them to some side man you’ve got on the sly?”
Her words successfully planted seeds of suspicion in Mu Shangyu’s mind. Raising his hand, he landed two more harsh slaps across Qi Ruobing’s face.
“Speak! Do you have a wild man on the side?”
“Shangyu, how could you say that about me?!” Pushed to the brink, Qi Ruobing shrieked like a rabid dog. “Mu Zhaozhao, it was you! You stole the gold bars to frame me, didn’t you?!”
Mu Zhaozhao waved her hands with a look of pure innocence. “Why would I steal my own family’s money? Besides, Uncle checked everything when he came back this afternoon—I didn’t touch a single gold bar. You, on the other hand, Auntie… you were acting suspiciously in the kitchen after coming home this afternoon. Then in the middle of the night, you colluded with your maiden family, and now you want to throw mud on me? Did your lover teach you to do and say all this?”
Hearing this, Mu Shangyu’s eyes turned blood-red. SLAP! SLAP! Two more vicious slaps sent blood leaking from the corner of Qi Ruobing’s mouth.
Qi Ruobing sobbed and screamed hysterically, “Mu Shangyu, are you fucking done yet?! You hit me every time Mu Zhaozhao opens her mouth, but I didn’t do anything!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Mu Zhaozhao added fuel to the fire. “Uncle, it looks like Auntie is a cornered dog desperate to jump the wall. You’re hitting her too lightly! If you don’t give her a thorough beating, I doubt she’ll ever confess where she moved those gold bars.”
Hearing that, Mu Shangyu felt it made sense. When he had come back to check this afternoon, the gold bars were definitely still there.
Furthermore, Qi Ruobing had spiked the porridge with sleeping pills. The dosage must have been off—his head still throbbed, but he had been awakened by the sound of her brazen, fearless footsteps.
Since she had just transferred two crates of gold bars to her parents, she was without a doubt the prime suspect.
After a split second of reasoning, Mu Shangyu didn’t hesitate. He grabbed a flat shovel resting by the door and charged at Qi Ruobing.
Screaming in terror, Qi Ruobing scrambled and bolted around the courtyard with him in hot pursuit. “Aahh! Murder! Help!”
Watching the scene unfold, Mu Zhaozhao could barely keep from laughing out loud. What a glorious show.
The next morning.
Qi Ruobing’s face was swollen like a pig’s head from the beating, yet she still had to wake up early to prepare breakfast for Mu Shangyu.
Stretching her arms, Mu Zhaozhao strolled out of her bedroom and sat down at the dining table with casual nonchalance. “Auntie, what delicious food are you making this morning? It smells so good.”
Qi Ruobing turned around and glared at her venomously.
Mu Zhaozhao instantly burst out laughing. “Auntie, where did you learn to do your makeup? Dressing yourself up so uniquely with all those blue and purple spots!”
After chuckling, she put on an expression of sudden realization. “Oh, it’s not makeup! Did my uncle beat you up? Tsk, tsk~ Auntie, I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but living with my uncle, why are you still keeping secrets? Why don’t you quietly tell me—which secret lover did you give my family’s gold bars to?”
Mu Shangyu was walking toward the dining table when he overheard her words. His face instantly turned dark—blacker than the bottom of a wok.
With a cold snort, he glared at Qi Ruobing, walked over to the table, and slammed his hand down hard. “Is breakfast not ready yet?!”
Qi Ruobing flinched in fear, hastily offering an apologetic smile. “It’s coming right up, it’s already done!”
Last night, she had been beaten so badly that she ultimately had no choice but to take the fall, admitting that she had allowed her parents to steal the gold bars.
After kneeling and apologizing for half the night—using a mix of coaxing, pleading, and guilt-tripping him over her twenty years of faithful service—Mu Shangyu finally spared her. He agreed not to pursue the missing gold bars any further, treating it as the price to buy out her entire life, forcing her to work like an ox or horse for him from then on.
Mu Zhaozhao didn’t know the details of their late-night agreement. Had she known, she would have spit right in their faces and mocked: Pui! Shameless bastards, those gold bars are MY property!
Qi Ruobing served up a plate of freshly wrapped, hot pork dumplings she had woken up early to make, her face full of servile flattery. “Shangyu, you mentioned days ago that you craved dumplings but couldn’t find the time. I made them for you today—hurry, give them a try.”
Before Mu Shangyu could even move his chopsticks, Mu Zhaozhao picked up hers and reached straight for a plump, white dumpling.
Just as her chopsticks hovered over the plate, Qi Ruobing displeasedly snatched her own chopsticks and slapped Mu Zhaozhao’s hands away. “There’s none here for you! If you want breakfast, make it yourself!”
If not for the fact that Mu Zhaozhao was still useful, she would have loved to strangle her on the spot.
Had it not been for the girl chiming in mindlessly last night, would she have been beaten this badly?
Seeing this, Mu Zhaozhao looked at Mu Shangyu with a aggrieved expression. “Uncle, you promised Grandfather that you’d take good care of me. Are you not even going to let me eat now?”