After saying that, Shen Hanning left without looking back.
Pan Jiaxing found himself caught in an awkward position, unsure whether to stay or leave.
“Brother Jiaxing, please save me. Someone must have framed me.” Shen Tiantian clung to him as though he were her last lifeline, gripping his white shirt so tightly that several wrinkles formed across the fabric.
Pan Jiaxing gently pried her fingers off one by one.
“Tiantian, calm down and think carefully. Was there anything unusual that night? Did you see anyone suspicious or hear any strange noises?”
Wiping away her tears, Shen Tiantian muttered,
“Let me think… let me think…”
“Could it have been Shen Xiaoyuan? She usually goes to bed by ten, but that night she was still awake at eleven. And the study door had been locked from the outside.”
A crazed look flashed across her face.
“Yes! It had to be her!”
Pan Jiaxing frowned.
“Xiaoyuan isn’t that kind of person. Tiantian, don’t drag innocent people into this.”
Stunned, Shen Tiantian collapsed onto the floor and stared at him.
“You’re defending her?”
“That’s not what I mean,” Pan Jiaxing replied. “Xiaoyuan is timid. She wouldn’t dare do something like this, and she doesn’t even have the strength.”
Hearing him defend Shen Xiaoyuan again, Shen Tiantian’s eyes immediately reddened.
Her voice trembled as she asked,
“Brother Jiaxing… do you think she’s better than me? Do you regret switching our marriage arrangements?”
For the first time, there was unmistakable insecurity in her voice.
Pan Jiaxing froze.
Then, in a voice just as uncertain, he answered,
“Tiantian… don’t say that. Our feelings can withstand this test. I’ll wait for you to come out.”
Shen Tiantian nodded.
“What about Uncle and Auntie?”
Pan Jiaxing lowered his head, avoiding her gaze.
“They… they don’t mind either. Just behave yourself in here and reform well. We’ll wait for you.”
As evening fell, Shen Hanning dragged his exhausted body home.
Before he even reached the front gate, he heard Pang Dongling’s cries in the distance.
As he approached, he saw a crowd gathered outside the house.
“How did the Shen family become such a magnet for thieves? They’ve been robbed two days in a row.”
“Yesterday it was one of their own family members, but they were all arrested. How did they get robbed again today? The whole house has been emptied.”
“What else could it be? The Shen family used to be capitalists. Who knows how many shady things they’ve done behind people’s backs? They’ve made plenty of enemies. It was only a matter of time before someone targeted them.”
“Exactly. Even though they’ve fallen on hard times, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. There were plenty of valuable things left in that house.”
“I feel sorry for that girl Xiaoyuan. She’s about to be sent to the countryside, and now this happens. She doesn’t even have any money left. Such a pretty young girl is bound to be bullied out there.”
The crowd sighed sympathetically.
Amid the murmurs, Shen Hanning rushed into the house and slammed the front door shut.
Looking at the completely empty living room, he felt even more helpless and exhausted.
“Hanning, what on earth happened? This time the entire house was emptied! They even cleaned out the kitchen! We have to report this to the Public Security Bureau!” Pang Dongling cried.
Shen Hanning shook his head.
“It’s useless. Reporting it will only create even bigger problems. If it’s gone, it’s gone.
Everything that’s happened lately is too strange.
Someone seems to be targeting the Shen family.”
He carefully organized his thoughts.
Although the neighbors had been gossiping excitedly, some of what they’d said actually made sense.
Over the past few years, in order to improve the factory’s profits, he had indeed done some questionable things.
Some narrow-minded workers could very well have held grudges and decided to take revenge on the Shen family.
Those lowly workers really deserved to die.
What boss didn’t do the same things?
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was the truth.
And the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
But given his current political situation, there was nothing he could do to them.
Still…
If he couldn’t fight them, he could at least run away.
“C-Could it really be… haunted?” Pang Dongling asked, her voice trembling.
Shen Hanning immediately scolded her.
“What nonsense are you talking about?
The neighbors haven’t gone far yet. Be careful who hears you.
Superstitious talk can get you denounced.”
Women really were short-sighted.
Lowering his voice, he continued,
“It looks like we need to leave Shanghai as soon as possible.
Let’s check what belongings we still have.
We’ll have to move up our plans to leave for Hong Kong.”
He was genuinely frightened now.
If they stayed any longer, even the clothes off their backs might be stolen.
Meanwhile, Shen Xiaoyuan was in the kitchen, reheating steamed buns while secretly listening to their conversation.
She couldn’t help marveling that this body’s hearing and eyesight were far sharper than those she had in her previous life.
Figuring the timing was about right, she walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of hot steamed buns.
“Dad, Mom, the neighbors just gave me these steamed buns.
Let’s make do with these for dinner tonight.”
Shen Hanning looked surprised.
“When did you become so close with the neighbors?”
Pang Dongling told him about how Shen Xiaoyuan had gone door to door that afternoon thanking everyone.
A trace of approval appeared in Shen Hanning’s eyes.
“You understand social etiquette better than I thought.”
Looking at the buns in his hands, he asked,
“You gave all the buns to us.
What are you going to eat?”
Shen Xiaoyuan smiled shyly.
“I… I’ve already eaten. I’m not hungry.”
As she spoke, she deliberately glanced at the buns in his hands and secretly licked her lips.
Shen Xiaoyuan thought: I deserve an Oscar for this performance.
Pang Dongling suddenly broke one of her buns in half and stuffed the smaller piece into Shen Xiaoyuan’s hand.
“I can tell you haven’t eaten. Here, have half.”
Accepting the bun with teary eyes, Shen Xiaoyuan choked out,
“Thank you, Mom.”
Suddenly remembering something, Pang Dongling’s face changed instantly into a bright smile like a chameleon.
“Xiaoyuan, you still have that three thousand yuan on you, don’t you?”
Shen Xiaoyuan was far too clever not to know exactly what Pang Dongling was about to say.
She nodded.
Pang Dongling let out a sigh of relief.
“Good, good.
Jiawei left for the Northwest in such a hurry that he couldn’t bring anything with him.
Your father and I have had all our money stolen.
Why don’t you help buy him some supplies?”
“I’ll make a list tonight of what he needs.
Tomorrow you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative, buy everything, and mail it to him.”
Her tone made it sound like this was the most natural request in the world.
She didn’t think there was anything wrong with using Shen Xiaoyuan’s money to provide for Shen Jiawei.
Shen Xiaoyuan smiled coldly.
“All right. I’ll go upstairs and rest first.”
With that, she headed upstairs.
Buy supplies for him? In your dreams.
The nerve of that woman.
The moment she entered her room, she threw the steamed bun aside and concentrated.
In the next instant, she entered her storage space.
She opened the Taojing Mall.
After achieving a major victory against her awful relatives, she decided it was time to reward herself.
She happened to have three thousand yuan in cash.
Scrolling through the interface, she quickly noticed one shortcoming of the shopping mall.
It wasn’t connected to modern food delivery services like instant delivery platforms.
So while there were plenty of convenience foods available, there were no hot, freshly prepared meals.
On the other hand, it had one enormous advantage.
There was no waiting for deliveries.
Whatever she bought appeared instantly.
She added two jin (about one kilogram) of imported Chilean cherries to her cart.
Price: one hundred yuan.
She took one hundred yuan out of the envelope and tapped “Confirm Payment.”
The money instantly vanished from her hand.
At the very next moment, as if by magic, the two jin of cherries appeared in her arms.