The sneak attack on the armory was no small matter. Before the wedding banquet was even halfway over, Xiao Tang had grabbed his gun and run off.
As for Su Xiaomo, after finally managing to get through the entire banquet, she returned to her room. Thinking that since Xiao Tang wasn’t there anyway, she might as well take the opportunity to organize her dowry. But when she opened the chests, they were all filled with rocks. A scream later, the remaining guards at the Shaoshuai Residence began helping her search for the dowry.
For the entire night, there was no peace in the Shaoshuai Residence.
Under the cover of chaos, someone snuck in and took some things from Xiao Tang’s study.
However, in the midst of the chaotic situation, no one noticed this for the time being.
Early the next morning, what made the newspaper headlines before the Young Marshal’s wedding was their chaotic latter half of the night—one was trying to catch the culprits at the armory but failed, flying into a helpless rage; the other was going frantic at both the Shaoshuai Residence and the Su family home, desperately searching for her dowry.
The one at the armory knew perfectly well who had done it, but without evidence, he couldn’t go knocking on their door.
The one at the Shaoshuai Residence had no idea who had tampered with her dowry. After turning the Shaoshuai Residence upside down investigating everyone, she began to reasonably suspect that her dowry might have been swapped out while still at her parents’ home.
She didn’t suspect Ting Wan, because she felt it was highly unlikely for Ting Wan to swap out so many things by herself in broad daylight.
Therefore, she suspected Mr. Su.
This was because when Mr. Su was preparing her dowry, he had once mentioned that he was truly running out of money and that preparing the dowry was difficult.
Because of this remark, Su Xiaomo felt it was highly likely her dowry had been swapped out while still at her family home.
The thought of this was unbearable. The newly appointed Young Marshal’s wife stormed back to her parents’ home to raise hell.
Although Mr. Su doted on this daughter, who wouldn’t feel aggrieved to be accused of pocketing a dowry that had already been carried out of the house, as if he had been too reluctant to give it to her?
But he was still counting on Su Xiaomo, the Young Marshal’s wife, to get his business back on its feet. So, while they had an argument, it didn’t end in a complete rupture. Instead, after Su Xiaomo had a good cry, he remembered that he still had the deposit slip for the dowry left by the eldest daughter’s biological mother. Since Ting Wan hadn’t come to ask for it, he hadn’t given it to her.
Now that he had broken ties with his eldest daughter, the only one the family could rely on was his younger daughter.
In for a penny, in for a pound. Mr. Su decided to give the dowry left by his first wife to Su Xiaomo.
Holding the deposit slip Ting Wan had given him, Mr. Su took Su Xiaomo to withdraw the items.
Could one withdraw items with a fake deposit slip? The answer, of course, was no!
The staff at the counter told them bluntly, “Your deposit slip is a fake.”
Mr. Su was dumbfounded. Mr. Su was stunned. Mr. Su was ultimately consumed by rage!
Holding the fake deposit slip, Mr. Su rushed to Hongcheng Women’s University to find Ting Wan.
“Fake? What’s fake?” Ting Wan clutched her chest, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at Mr. Su, her lips trembling slightly. “Father, no, we’ve severed our ties, so it should be Mr. Su. Could it be that when you gave me the deposit slip, you intended to give me a fake one, but accidentally gave me the real one instead? Now that you’ve realized your mistake, you’ve come running to slander me?”
Mr. Su and the others glared, their expressions ferocious. Ting Wan clutched her heart like a tragic beauty, tears welling in her eyes.
People are visual creatures. Especially since the Su family had already made a poor impression on everyone due to the betrothal affair, people were naturally inclined to side with Ting Wan.
They began to whisper amongst themselves, and some even laughed out loud at Mr. Su.
This left Mr. Su unable to back down and fuming with even greater anger.
“You! At such a young age, you resort to such despicable means to cheat your own father out of money!” Mr. Su’s face flushed red as he yelled.
Ting Wan continued her act of a tragic beauty, weeping silently while speaking loudly, “Mr. Su, what do you mean, cheat you out of money? You handed it to me yourself, how is that cheating? Besides, that’s the dowry my mother left for me! Don’t tell me Su Xiaomo’s mother can’t even produce a single cent of dowry for her own daughter? All these years she’s been managing the household, she’s certainly lined her own pockets! I gave up the betrothal, I gave up my father, I even severed all ties with you! Are you now going to force me to give up the only memento my mother left for me?!”
Ting Wan’s words opened up a line of thought Mr. Su hadn’t considered. That’s right, Mrs. Su should have some private savings.
But why was it that after all this time in Hong City, when he was short on cash for his business, Mrs. Su hadn’t helped? Even when they were short on money for Su Xiaomo’s dowry, Mrs. Su hadn’t helped?
“To have money and still scheme for the dowry the first wife left her daughter, what kind of people are they!” Bai He wrapped an arm around Ting Wan, helping her calm down, then snapped at Mr. Su.
That shout was just the beginning; someone else immediately chimed in.
Mr. Su had chosen the wrong place for a confrontation. The university gate was a bustling area, the easiest place for a crowd of onlookers to gather.
Seeing the crowd grow larger and realizing it was impossible to get the dowry back, Mr. Su, still mindful of his reputation, stared at Ting Wan for a moment before turning to leave.
Su Xiaomo wanted to say more, but the people from the Shaoshuai Residence who had accompanied her still had their pride to consider and persuaded her to leave.
“They’re gone,” Bai He whispered in Ting Wan’s ear.
Ting Wan gave a slight nod, but a performance had to be seen through to the end. She lifted her head from Bai He’s embrace, a look of utter heartbreak on her face, and staggered through the school gate, clutching her chest.
She had originally planned to go to the Department Store, but running into Mr. Su and his daughter right outside the gate was truly a case of leaving the house on an unlucky day.
She might as well head back to the dormitory first; it wasn’t anything particularly important anyway.
While Ting Wan returned to her dorm in high spirits, Mr. Su, upon returning home, immediately questioned Mrs. Su about the money.
At his core, Mr. Su was an exceptionally selfish person. The previous peace and quiet was only because the family wasn’t short on money and there was nothing he felt was worth arguing about.
But now, the dowry he had painstakingly scraped together for Su Xiaomo was gone, his first wife’s dowry was also gone, the family business had yet to recover, and Su Xiaomo was insisting she had to have a dowry.
Remembering what Ting Wan had said about Mrs. Su having private savings, the cash-strapped Mr. Su naturally went to her for money.
After all, when Mrs. Su had married into the Su family back then, she hadn’t brought a single penny with her.
Mr. Su figured that any money she could have saved must have come from what he earned, which meant it was his.
For the sake of Su Xiaomo’s reputation as the Young Marshal’s wife, and for his own reputation as a businessman, he had to get his hands on that money!
He just hadn’t considered whether Mrs. Su would be willing to give it to him.
Having gone from a penniless mistress to the wealthy and lavish Mrs. Su, what Mrs. Su cared about wasn’t Mr. Su himself, but the comfortable life and ever-fuller purse that came with it.
Never mind Mr. Su; even her own daughter, Su Xiaomo, wasn’t as important in Mrs. Su’s eyes as the money in her own pocket.
Moreover, Mrs. Su was well aware of the Su family’s current situation. She had already given a sum of money for the bottom of Su Xiaomo’s dowry chests. Now that he was asking for more, she was naturally unwilling.
“Where would I have any more money? The money I gave Xiaomo for the bottom of her chests was all of my private savings!” Mrs. Su’s expression was one of extreme grievance. “This is all the jewelry I have left. If you want it, take it. I’m just an old matron anyway, I don’t need to go out or dress up!”
Over the years, Mrs. Su had Mr. Su wrapped around her finger; otherwise, he wouldn’t have only two daughters. Coupled with his concern for his own pride, he naturally couldn’t bear to hear Mrs. Su talk like that.
“You really don’t have any private savings?” He knew how much was allocated for household expenses back in Liu City, and he also had a general idea of the household’s spending. That was why he had come back to ask Mrs. Su for money after Ting Wan’s remark.
Mrs. Su flicked her handkerchief irritably. “Money, money, money! My whole life has been for you and your daughter. If I had money, would I not give it to you?”
After speaking, she looked at Su Xiaomo and said, “And you! You can’t even keep an eye on your own dowry! What I gave you for the bottom of your chests was ten gold bars! I saved that for you by scrimping and saving, and now you say it’s all gone! Your dowry is missing, and instead of looking for it, you come home to cause a scene! Aren’t you afraid of angering your father to death!”
Su Xiaomo knew that her mother, Mrs. Su, embezzled household funds, but since she was a beneficiary, she never paid it much mind.
She hadn’t really paid attention to how much money Mrs. Su had given her for the bottom of her chests; Mrs. Su had packed it at the bottom of the chests herself.
Hearing it now—ten gold bars—made Su Xiaomo’s heart ache with regret.
She had raised a fuss at her parents’ home for a whole day and found no trace of her dowry. Now, seeing that it was impossible for Mr. Su to produce another one, Su Xiaomo decided it was better to go back and cry to Xiao Tang, asking him to help her search the entire city.
With this thought, Su Xiaomo left immediately, taking the soldiers she had brought with her and rushing back to the Shaoshuai Residence without another word.