After successfully getting the money from Mr. Su, Ting Wan went to sleep.
She knew that in this family, Mr. Su valued face more than anything and favored Mrs. Su and her daughter. The household servants all thought Su Xiaomo was the best person in the world—soft-spoken and even concerned about their lives.
So, she might as well just take the money and go to sleep.
It wasn’t a place she had to live in for the rest of her life, so why bother with all that?
Being able to get money from Mr. Su and also join the organization to contribute her skills, Ting Wan couldn’t feel better.
She was especially happy when she taught her masterful makeup techniques to other Red Faction members in Liu City. Everyone who witnessed it acknowledged that the organization needed a talent like her and studied with great diligence.
Anyway, it would still be some time before the violent and paranoid male lead made his appearance. Whatever happened in the Su family was a trivial matter!
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Watching Ting Wan count the money in her hands yet again, Sang Yuan finally spoke up.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t stand Ting Wan’s money-grubbing counting; it was that Ting Wan had already counted the money eight times.
“You don’t understand. Although my family is rich, and I nominally possess the dowry my mother left me, in reality, I’m completely broke. None of those things are actually in my hands. Do you get it? This is the only savings I have!”
She had managed to squeeze five or six hundred from Mr. Su over this period, which was already quite good.
In such a chaotic era, countless people struggled just to earn money.
As someone who had started out practically broke, having some financial security made a world of difference.
“Oh, right.” As the day of the Su family’s move to Hong City drew nearer, Ting Wan, who would definitely be taken along, felt she needed to inform Sang Yuan in advance. “Don’t I have a fiancé in Hong City? My father’s business seems to be unstable lately, so he’s planning to move the whole family to Hong City. Do we have a contact person there?”
Since Ting Wan had joined the organization, Sang Yuan naturally knew she had a fiancé.
And she knew that Ting Wan’s fiancé was the Young Marshal of Hong City.
The legendary cold, ruthless, and iron-fisted Young Marshal of the Military Faction.
Hong City was his domain, and quite a few of their own people in Hong City had fallen at his hands.
Although Ting Wan was now a member of the organization and had taught her makeup skills to many within it, in Sang Yuan’s eyes, she was still a delicate young lady. When Sang Yuan tried to teach her a few moves, her progress was slow because she was older and her body had stiffened.
“Your fiancé, Young Marshal Xiao, is cold and ruthless…” Sang Yuan had intended to say a few things about this Young Marshal Xiao, but on second thought, he was Ting Wan’s fiancé. Although Ting Wan had said she wanted to break off the engagement, whether it could be broken was still a question. What if her honest assessment scared this delicate young lady? She opened her mouth but changed the subject. “You’re not very strong. If he dares to bully you, go straight for his weak spots. Hit him hard, then run. Run towards Hongcheng Women’s University. The principal there is our contact person and also a relative of a high-ranking military official, so it’s quite safe.”
Ting Wan, who had just cracked open a walnut with her bare hands, nodded earnestly. “Okay, got it.”
Sang Yuan didn’t notice Ting Wan’s walnut-cracking action and continued to instruct, “You’re only a teenager. You can’t just listen to your father and get married. This engagement isn’t easy to break off either. I’ll write you a letter of recommendation in my mother’s name. Go find the principal of Hongcheng Women’s University, make contact, and take the special admissions exam to enroll directly. Hongcheng Women’s University has a great reputation. If you’re studying there, your family won’t be able to pressure you.”
Ting Wan, who was carefully selecting the walnut meat, continued to nod obediently. “Okay, got it.”
Sang Yuan thought for a moment and added, “After you’ve made contact over there, you can start teaching them makeup. For everything else, focus on your studies and make more friends. That way, you can also gather information. You don’t have any combat skills, so don’t act recklessly.”
Ting Wan, who was planning to “act recklessly” as soon as she got to Hong City, stuffed the selected walnut meat into Sang Yuan’s mouth and threw her arms around Sang Yuan’s waist. “Yuan Yuan, you’re so good to me! It’s a pity we have to part ways! Sob sob sob.”
Even though she was about to leave, she couldn’t let her image as a melodramatic, delicate young lady collapse.
Sang Yuan was most helpless against this tactic and could only let Ting Wan be dramatic.
Seven days later, one night after dinner, Mr. Su gathered the entire family, including the household servants.
“Liu City has been unstable lately, and shipping goods by waterway has become difficult. The silkworms at the sericulture farm are also dying in large numbers, and business is getting harder and harder. As you all know, our Su family made its fortune in the silk business. With the goods unable to be shipped and our own sericulture farm in this state, we simply can’t sustain it anymore. So, after some thought, I’ve decided to take advantage of the assets we still have and move the entire family to Hong City. You are all locals of Liu City, and I imagine you’re reluctant to leave your hometown, so I won’t ask you to stay. I’ll give everyone an extra month’s wages. Let’s part on good terms.”
The Su family’s servants didn’t seem numerous on a daily basis, but now that they were all gathered, there was a considerable number of them.
Who would be willing to suddenly lose their job?
However, the master of the house was moving to another city. Some of them didn’t want to leave their homeland and remained silent. With an extra month’s wages, they could find a new job within that month.
But there were also some who were unwilling to lose this job.
For example, Xiao Cui, who served Ting Wan.
“Mr. Su, Mrs. Su, Xiao Cui wants to go to Hong City with you!” Xiao Cui stepped out from the crowd and knelt on the ground. “Xiao Cui has been serving in the residence since I was a child. If I leave, I’m afraid I’ll never find such a good job or such a good master again!”
As she spoke, she cast a grateful look at Su Xiaomo.
Ting Wan was speechless.
Hey, anyone who didn’t know better would think you were Su Xiaomo’s personal maid.
And Su Xiaomo, naturally, stepped forward. “Father, Xiao Cui is a very efficient worker, and she’s been with our family for so many years, always serving Elder Sister. Why don’t we take her with us?”
Mr. Su hesitated.
He hadn’t planned on taking any of the household servants to Hong City. After all, train tickets weren’t cheap, and one more person meant one more ticket.
Couldn’t he find servants anywhere? There was no need to bring one all the way from here.
Since he was moving to Hong City, he had naturally already purchased a house there. Although he hadn’t hired any servants yet, he knew that he could hire hourly workers in Hong City, and they were readily available anytime.
He didn’t want to pay for an extra train ticket.
In the novel, Xiao Cui was taken to Hong City, thanks to the pleading of both Su Xiaomo and Su Youning.
However, Xiao Cui only remembered her debt of gratitude to Su Xiaomo.
Now it was Ting Wan. Ting Wan had no particular affection for Xiao Cui and certainly didn’t want an extra person who, after feeling indebted to Su Xiaomo, would act as a spotlight, overtly and covertly thwarting her escape from the marriage. So, she spoke up.
“Xiao Cui, isn’t your mother still alive? You’re her only daughter. If you leave, what will she do? The elderly believe in returning to their roots. Surely she wouldn’t be willing to go to Hong City with you?”
Xiao Cui’s mother was in Liu City, and Xiao Cui was her only daughter.
For some reason, the book had completely ignored this point. Xiao Cui had gone to Hong City, but there was no mention of what happened to her mother.
With Ting Wan’s words, Mr. Su felt he had a reason not to take Xiao Cui. “That’s right, Xiao Cui. You can’t just abandon your mother, can you? That would be unfilial. You should stay home and serve your mother properly.”
Mr. Su said his piece, then declared the matter settled and turned to leave.
Xiao Cui turned her gaze back to Su Xiaomo.
Unfortunately, Su Xiaomo gave her a helpless look.