Song Enya buried herself under the covers.
Soon, she heard the sound of the door opening and the dragging of a suitcase, but the door quickly closed again.
Silence returned to the room.
Song Zhenxian had quickly left after putting her things in the room, but her limp meant that even at her fastest, she could only hobble along.
The four teenagers sat on the sofa, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Most of the items on the table had been swept to the floor in one careless motion, leaving only a few snacks and desserts behind.
Song Zhenxian quietly began cleaning up the mess.
Jin Mingzhu fiddled with the playing cards in her hand and glanced discreetly at the middle-aged woman bending over to clean. A faint smile curled at the corner of her lips.
With a grin, she reached out, picked up a small piece of mousse cake, and in full view of everyone, blatantly threw it onto the floor.
Song Zhenxian paused for a moment before immediately bending down, kneeling on the floor to clean it up.
Before she could stand up, another dollop of cream landed on the ground.
This time, some even splattered onto her hair.
“Pfft.” Li Chengshuo couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Bai Huina kept her eyes fixed on the playing cards in her hand, smiling sweetly as if she hadn’t seen a thing.
Without looking up, Song Zhenxian repeated the motion of wiping, cleaning the floor until it was spotless.
After what felt like a long time, Han Shixu finally put down his cards and calmly called out, “Jin Mingzhu.”
Jin Mingzhu immediately withdrew the hand that was about to grab another piece of cake, smiling brightly as she said, “Sorry, maybe I’ve had too much to drink and my hands aren’t steady. I won’t eat anymore.”
She didn’t detect any anger in Han Shixu’s tone, nor did she believe he would be angry.
In their circle, only Jing Yuanxi would intervene if she grew tired of such behavior. Everyone else simply watched the show, and Han Shixu was especially indifferent.
Not only was the current situation something even Jing Yuanxi wouldn’t bother with, but these two had provoked them first. They were merely venting their frustration.
Hearing the half-hearted apology, Song Zhenxian remained silent and continued cleaning up elsewhere.
After Han Shixu’s warning, Jin Mingzhu finally settled down.
Without her interference, Song Zhenxian cleaned up quickly.
“Li Chengshuo, you lost, right?” Bai Huina asked, pretending to be unsure.
“Oh… I really did. Such bad luck.”
Li Chengshuo picked up a glass of wine, downed it in one gulp, and then casually tossed the glass onto the floor.
The shattered glass refracted colorful ripples under the light, and the small amount of liquid left in the glass spilled all over the floor.
“How careless of me,” Li Chengshuo said with a grin, looking at the maid who was about to leave. “Could you bring me another glass? And while you’re at it, bring up two bottles of wine from the cellar. Sorry for the trouble.”
Jin Mingzhu exchanged a glance with him, her eyes crinkling with a smile.
“…Yes, please wait a moment.”
…
Through the crack in the door, Song Enya watched Song Zhenxian bustling back and forth like a paper doll with no temper.
Those people sat elegantly and loftily on the sofa, their expressions mocking and triumphant, as if they had won a battle.
She had truly become a servant!
Song Enya breathed rapidly, feeling both furious and exhausted.
Why did she never know how to fight back!?
Whether it was her alcoholic husband or anyone else, she only knew how to endure, over and over again.
She was incompetent, spineless, devoid of dignity, and disabled—dragging her down and making her suffer humiliation alongside her!
Tears suddenly streamed down Song Enya’s face as she leaned against the door and wept.
She had been working odd jobs since childhood, and now she couldn’t even continue her education. She didn’t know what the point of all her hard work was.
Song Zhenxian—a woman who loved her but couldn’t give her anything, a pitiful yet detestable mother!
Song Enya buried her face in the bed, crying her heart out, though she didn’t make much noise.
…
At eleven o’clock, Han Shixu finally couldn’t take it anymore and sent everyone away.
He hadn’t told them that this was actually a nanny hired for the Han family, not a housekeeper for the villa.
The reason he brought them over was that he needed a few days to find an excuse to dismiss one of the nannies at home.
In families like the Han family, even nannies had to sign long-term contracts—there was no such thing as an expiration date. Li Chengshuo and the others knew this well.
Moreover, when he bought the villa, he had explicitly said he didn’t want his family to know. Li Chengshuo was aware of this too. Yet now, he had brought over a nanny who was supposed to work for the Han family… In short, explaining it in detail would only make things more complicated.
Bai Huina was also close to Jing Yuanxi.
Adhering to the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble, Han Shixu ultimately didn’t explain in detail.
But this meant Song Zhenxian would face difficulties in the coming days.
Song Enya had offended Li Chengshuo, and he was sure to come over frequently to cause trouble these days.
Thinking of this, Han Shixu found it strange.
He knew Li Chengshuo had mentioned hosting a welcome party, but he hadn’t said it would be at the villa.
They had both tacitly agreed not to tell anyone before. So why had Li Chengshuo suddenly brought Bai Huina and the others over today?
Han Shixu wasn’t the type to hold back, so he immediately sent a message to Li Chengshuo, who had already left, demanding an explanation.
If Bai Huina knew, Jing Yuanxi would surely find out too.
Han Shixu frowned. He didn’t want to dwell on this matter, but he also didn’t want to let it slide entirely.
A reply came quickly:
【Sorry, I thought you just didn’t want your family to know. Since Yuanxi was a bit upset last time, I thought this could be an opportunity for you two to reconcile. But I don’tt know why she didn’t come… This is my fault. I’m sorry.】
Han Shixu didn’t know that when Li Chengshuo sent this message, he was sitting in the same car as Bai Huina.
“The Bai family isn’t short of drivers, right?” Li Chengshuo couldn’t understand why she insisted on riding with him. The Bai and Li residences weren’t even on the same route.
Bai Huina leaned back in the seat, leisurely admiring her manicure.
She smiled and asked, “Do you really want Yuanxi to know about the villa? You’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, haven’t you?”
Since the engagement between the Jing and Han families, the incident at the pool was the only time Jing Yuanxi had openly expressed her displeasure with Han Shixu.
“What do you mean? I didn’t expect Shixu to be unwilling to let you all know either.”
Han Shixu had only explicitly stated that he didn’t want the elders to know about the villa. Li Chengshuo felt emboldened by this.
Bai Huina scoffed. “Li Chengshuo, do you think I’ll tell Yuanxi about what you did?”
“I don’t think you will,” Li Chengshuo replied with a smile. “Even if you tell her, she won’t take it to heart. Why bother going through the trouble?”
What could she say? That he was deliberately trying to sow discord between the two families?
But everything he had shown was the truth.
This was a conflict between Han Shixu and Jing Yuanxi. He was just trying to keep her from being kept in the dark. In a way, he was helping her.
As for his reasons for doing this, he didn’t have to worry about being exposed because Jing Yuanxi wouldn’t bother delving into his motives.
Bai Huina suppressed her smile, staring at him intently.
“What is your purpose? You know, even so, the Jing family won’t cancel the engagement with the Han family.”
The engagement between the Jing and Han families was arranged by the elders of both families. This marriage was never intended for earth-shattering love.
Moreover, while Han Shixu secretly made things unpleasant for Jing Yuanxi, she could do the same. So, this wasn’t even a conflict.
In matters of arranged marriages, as long as both sides don’t make things too ugly in public, it’s considered enough goodwill—an unspoken rule in high society.
Even Jing Yuanxi couldn’t escape such a fate.
Li Chengshuo still wore a cheerful smile. “No reason, just an unintentional move.”
Bai Huina gave him a meaningful look, then turned to pick up her phone and send a message.
At that moment, Li Chengshuo’s phone also buzzed with a notification.
It was from Han Shixu, and the message read:
[Don’t come over casually in the future. I’ll transfer the money to you.]
Li Chengshuo calmly turned off his phone and looked out the window.
He had originally wanted to observe more, but now he couldn’t go to the villa anymore. He’d have to think of another way.
In the past, he would have been absolutely certain that the engagement between the Jing and Han families was unbreakable, but the appearance of that mother and daughter…
Recalling Han Shixu’s unusual behavior toward them, Li Chengshuo felt both incredulous and somewhat excited.
Jing Yuanxi would never give up the engagement, but Han Shixu was different.
Li Chengshuo watched the scenery receding outside the window, his heart pounding like thunder. After a moment, he forced himself to calm down.
He couldn’t jump to conclusions.
The idea of the Han family heir destroying his engagement with the Jing family for the daughter of a maid sounded utterly absurd no matter how he thought about it.
Li Chengshuo glanced sideways at Bai Huina beside him but ultimately said nothing.
Meanwhile, after sending the message, Han Shixu returned to his room.
As for Jing Yuanxi, whom Li Chengshuo had mentioned… Of course, he had noticed she hadn’t come, and he knew exactly why she hadn’t.
But he didn’t care.
Right now, his focus was more on the fact that the villa had been exposed, though he wasn’t angry about it.
Perhaps it was because even if they knew, they wouldn’t dare disturb his peace, or perhaps it was because he simply didn’t care whether they had any feelings about the truth—including Jing Yuanxi.
He didn’t care, he didn’t mind, so he wasn’t angry.
…