What appeared before Song Jinyue was a vast stretch of empty land and a small courtyard enclosed by a bamboo fence. Beside the courtyard ran a small stream, wisps of white mist drifting above its crystal-clear water. The entire place looked like a secluded paradise untouched by the outside world.
Song Jinyue stared at everything before her in delight.
“This is… a space?!”
She had just been worrying about where she could store her enormous family fortune. This space had come at exactly the right time!
Take it all! Pack everything up and take it away!
Song Jinyue immediately forgot about the cut on her finger and headed toward the fenced courtyard.
There were two trees inside, with a swing hanging between them. The rest of the courtyard was empty, leaving plenty of room to plant flowers and other greenery.
After just one look around, Song Jinyue could already imagine how comfortable it would be once flowers covered the bamboo fence and she could sit on the swing, leisurely admiring the scenery.
The little courtyard alone had already left her extremely satisfied, but when she stepped into the bamboo house, she received an even greater surprise.
It had everything—a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. More importantly, the kitchen even had an automatic cooking function. As long as she had the ingredients, it could prepare whatever she wanted to eat.
This was practically a blessing for someone who couldn’t cook!
Song Jinyue walked around the bamboo house, nodding repeatedly in satisfaction.
When she stepped outside, the gently flowing stream immediately caught her attention. The water was so clear that she could see straight to the bottom, and it looked exceptionally fresh and sweet.
After arguing with her scumbag father and the others for so long, she really was a little thirsty.
Song Jinyue returned to the bamboo house to get a cup, then walked over to the stream.
She first used the stream water to rinse the blood from her finger. She had expected such a long cut to sting badly when it touched the water, but the moment the stream water washed over the wound, the pain disappeared.
The cut had actually healed!
Song Jinyue’s eyes widened in shock.
Could this possibly be the spiritual spring water that appeared so often in novels?!
She hurriedly filled a cup and gulped it down in one go.
As soon as the water entered her stomach, all the exhaustion in her body vanished instantly.
There was no doubt about it.
This was spiritual spring water capable of strengthening the body!
Song Jinyue happily drank another two cups until her stomach was full of water.
Now that she had somewhere to store her enormous fortune, she eagerly left the space and tried using her mind to move the bed and wardrobe from her room into it.
Her eyes lit up when the bed and wardrobe vanished into thin air.
Then, with another thought, she commanded them to come back.
The bed and wardrobe instantly reappeared in their original positions.
It really was a storage space!
Thinking about how her finger had been cut by a shard of glass earlier, Song Jinyue suddenly had an idea.
Could it be…?
She rolled up her sleeve and only then realized that the heirloom jade bracelet she had been wearing was gone.
In its place, a small red birthmark had appeared on her originally flawless wrist.
In the original story, Lu Manman had stolen this jade bracelet from her.
No wonder Lu Manman had been able to thrive in Hong Kong!
So this had been her golden finger all along.
But now that the golden finger belonged to Song Jinyue, Lu Manman could forget about relying on the heroine’s halo to become the darling of the entire world like she had in the original novel.
She could keep dreaming!
After obtaining the storage space, Song Jinyue was in an excellent mood and continued cleaning up the mess on the floor.
She carefully picked up the shattered photo frame and removed the photograph inside.
In the picture, Lu Weiguo and Song Wanqing looked like a handsome, well-matched couple, while the young Song Jinyue looked innocent and adorable. The family of three appeared incredibly happy together.
But who could have imagined that behind this seemingly happy family lay betrayal before marriage and infidelity afterward?
Song Jinyue gently touched the smiling woman in the photograph.
This was the mother who had given birth to her and loved her in this world.
For a moment, complicated emotions filled her heart.
“Mom, don’t worry. Whether it’s Lu Weiguo, who wants to seize our family fortune and leave me with nothing, or Shen Yurou, who knowingly became his mistress and destroyed our family, I won’t let either of them off. I’ll make sure they pay for what they’ve done.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she picked up a pair of scissors and cut Lu Weiguo out of the photograph.
Then she tore his image into pieces and tossed them into the trash.
Pah!
That damned scumbag didn’t deserve to stand beside her mother!
By the time Song Jinyue finished cleaning her room, Shen Yurou had also finished preparing dinner.
There was shredded pork in garlic sauce, braised pork belly, sweet-and-sour ribs, stir-fried shrimp, and several other dishes—a total of six dishes.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was extremely strange.
Shen Yurou’s eyes were red, making it obvious that she had been crying.
Lu Weiguo’s face had remained gloomy because of the twenty thousand yuan.
Lu Manman, who had just finished applying medicine to her injuries, had a face swollen like a pig’s head. It hurt terribly whenever she opened her mouth, making it impossible for her to eat.
Only Song Jinyue ate with great relish.
She had to admit, Shen Yurou was actually a pretty good cook.
It was obvious that she had put a lot of effort into improving her cooking skills to win over Lu Weiguo through his stomach.
“Dad, Mom, I’m back.”
Just as the sky was beginning to darken, Lu Guangzong returned home.
Lu Weiguo had always placed high hopes on his son. Ever since the national college entrance examination had been reinstated, he had constantly pressured Lu Guangzong to study, hoping that his son would eventually get into university and make something of himself.
Lu Guangzong left early and returned late every day, claiming that he went to a classmate’s house to study together.
“Guangzong, you’re back. Hurry and wash your hands, then come eat.”
Shen Yurou sniffled, her voice still thick from crying.
Lu Guangzong immediately sensed that something was wrong. Without even putting down his schoolbag, he walked over.
“Mom, why were you crying? Did Song Jinyue bully you again?”
As soon as Lu Guangzong reached the dining table, he froze when he saw Lu Manman’s horribly swollen face.
“Little brother, you’re back.”
Lu Manman looked up at him.
It wasn’t until Lu Guangzong heard her voice that he finally recognized her.
He rushed over to Lu Manman in several quick strides and exclaimed, “Sis, what happened to your face? Who beat you up like this?”
“I’m fine. Jinyue was in a bad mood and just took her anger out on me. I don’t blame her.”
Lu Manman spoke in a pitiful, manipulative tone before lowering her head and sobbing weakly, looking utterly innocent and wronged.
Lu Guangzong gritted his teeth and shot a murderous glare at Song Jinyue, who was still calmly eating.
“Song Jinyue! You’ve got some nerve! How dare you beat my sister like this? Do you really think there’s no one in this family who can put you in your place? Hurry over here, kneel down, and apologize to my sister!”
The moment he finished speaking, Song Jinyue frowned.
She slammed her chopsticks onto the table, stood up, and slapped Lu Guangzong hard across the face!
Smack!
“What are you barking about? You spend the Song family’s money and live in the Song family’s house, yet you dare shout at me like that? Who gave you the nerve?”
“You… hit me?”
Lu Guangzong stared at Song Jinyue in disbelief.
Song Jinyue sneered.
“What? Was that not satisfying enough? Fine, I’ll reward you with a few more.”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“Stop hitting him! Stop!”
“Dad, hurry and do something about Song Jinyue! She even dares to hit Guangzong!”
No matter what Shen Yurou and Lu Manman shouted, Lu Weiguo remained seated without moving, coldly watching everything unfold.
For some inexplicable reason, seeing Song Jinyue beat Lu Guangzong actually made him feel somewhat pleased.
It must be because this disappointing brat had angered him countless times before.
Perhaps a good beating would do him some good.
After all, strict discipline was necessary to raise an obedient son.
Song Jinyue was a champion in sanda martial arts. If she wanted to beat Lu Guangzong, there was no way Shen Yurou and Lu Manman could stop her.
In the end, they could only watch helplessly as Lu Guangzong received several hard slaps before Song Jinyue kicked him to the floor.
“How annoying. From now on, you’d better keep your tail between your legs whenever you’re around me. Otherwise, every time I see you, I’ll beat you.”
Song Jinyue looked down at Lu Guangzong lying on the floor, her face filled with disdain.
Who would have thought that despite looking like such a big, sturdy fool, he was actually incredibly weak?
He couldn’t take a beating at all.
“Guangzong! Your mouth is bleeding! Does it hurt? Hurry, get up. Mom will put some medicine on it.”
Shen Yurou was beside herself with heartache as she rushed over to Lu Guangzong in tears.
Her good mood ruined, Song Jinyue no longer felt like eating.
She turned toward Lu Weiguo.
“Oh, right. Since I’m going to the countryside, how am I supposed to manage without ration coupons? Prepare another hundred jin worth of grain coupons, along with meat and cooking-oil coupons, thirty chi of cloth coupons, one bicycle coupon, and one sewing-machine coupon… Have everything in my hands tomorrow before we go to the factory to complete the paperwork.”
Song Jinyue rattled off another long list, ruthlessly squeezing another fortune out of her scumbag father.
After finishing, she ignored the four people glaring at her as though they wanted to tear her apart and turned around to head upstairs.
Lu Guangzong stared darkly at her retreating figure.
Song Jinyue, just you wait.
For the humiliation I suffered today, I’ll make you repay me tenfold—no, a hundredfold!