“Since you call me ‘big sister,’ that makes me your elder. What’s wrong with an elder teaching you a lesson? Sticking you with a few needles isn’t too much, is it?”
Pang Dongling struggled to her feet and rushed over, shoving Shen Xiaoyuan to the ground.
“You bitch! Have you lost your mind?”
She immediately turned and gently pulled Shen Tiantian into her arms.
“Sweetie, are you okay?”
Finally able to catch her breath, Shen Tiantian touched her face. When she saw the blood smeared across her fingers, she looked down at her arms, now covered in tiny needle marks. Thin streams of blood seeped out, staining part of her clothes red.
She could no longer hold it in and burst into tears.
“Mom… is my face ruined?”
Pang Dongling comforted her softly.
“It won’t be. They’re just a few needle pricks. They’ll heal very quickly without even leaving scars. Don’t worry, sweetheart.”
Shen Tiantian looked up and glared viciously at Shen Xiaoyuan.
Ever since Grandpa died, that little bitch had lost her protector. In the Shen family, she had never dared raise her voice.
Even when it came to the marriage swap, all she ever did was resort to extreme acts of self-harm in protest.
So what had gotten into her today?
Meeting her venomous gaze, Shen Xiaoyuan folded her arms across her chest and sneered.
“Shen Tiantian, who do you think you are? You only fell for Pan Jiaxing because he’s a steel factory worker with a good political background, which means you won’t have to be sent to the countryside. Do you really think you’re some innocent little princess?”
“And what kind of prize is Pan Jiaxing anyway? His family’s so poor that even rats wouldn’t bother visiting.”
“He took the gifts I bought for him and used them to woo you. Do you seriously think his family has anything worth bragging about?”
“A piece of scrap metal matched with a pile of junk, and the two of you treat each other like treasures.”
Shen Tiantian was so furious she could barely speak.
“Y-you…”
“What’s all this yelling? People downstairs would think you’re catching enemy spies.”
A middle-aged man with a stern expression stood in the doorway.
“Dad!” Shen Tiantian immediately ran over with tears in her eyes. “Big Sister hit us! Look at my face, and Mom’s back!”
Pang Dongling also started crying and cursing nonstop.
Shen Hanning rubbed his aching temples.
“Enough. Shut up.”
His face darkened as he turned to Shen Xiaoyuan.
“It’s just a marriage swap. Did you really have to turn the whole family upside down over it? Don’t you understand that family harmony brings prosperity?”
Shen Xiaoyuan didn’t give him an inch.
“If you truly cared about family harmony, you wouldn’t have so many mistresses outside.”
“One illegitimate child after another keeps showing up asking for money. How much family wealth do you think can survive you wasting it like that?”
Shen Hanning’s face alternated between red and pale with anger.
“You… you’ve really become rebellious. Since when is it your place to meddle in your father’s affairs?”
Seeing his guilty expression, Pang Dongling grew even more miserable.
“Shen Hanning! Look at the mess you’ve made! Even this little brat can laugh at me now. I don’t want to live anymore… sob…”
Shen Hanning hurriedly explained,
“I’ve told you so many times. They’re just workers from the factory coming to collect debts. Why do you keep believing her nonsense?”
He turned back to Shen Xiaoyuan and said coldly,
“There’s something else. Your assignment to the countryside has already been finalized. I’ve submitted your name and called in a few favors to have you sent to the same place where the Xiang family was exiled. At least you’ll be able to look after each other.”
Shen Xiaoyuan raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? You’ve arranged everything so thoughtfully. Should I be thanking you?”
“What kind of attitude is that?” Shen Hanning snapped. “When it comes down to it, the Shen family becoming a capitalist household that everyone wants to tear down has everything to do with you. Ever since you came into this family, your grandfather’s health collapsed, the Xiang family…”
“Shen Hanning!”
Shen Xiaoyuan cut him off sharply.
She stood before him fearlessly, looking him straight in the eye.
“You should have some conscience before you speak. Why was the Shen family suddenly investigated and purged? Others may not know the reason, but don’t you?”
“Or should I remind you?”
“Ever since you took over the textile factory, you’ve constantly docked workers’ wages and hired child labor for dirt-cheap pay. The workers did more and more work while earning less and less.”
“Last April, a warehouse at the garment factory collapsed and crushed a sixteen-year-old child to death. His family only came asking for compensation.”
“Not only did you refuse to pay them a single cent, you had them beaten and thrown out.”
“Then you falsely accused them of stealing from the family and had the police arrest them.”
“Last June, it rained for seven straight days. Floodwater poured into the textile factory and damaged a batch of machinery.”
“You didn’t want to spend money on repairs, so you pressured the workers into donating.”
“They earned less than thirty yuan a month, yet you demanded each of them donate fifty yuan. How could you even ask that with a straight face?”
“When some refused, you heartlessly fired them.”
“When public outrage erupted and the workers organized protests, you hired thugs to beat several of them until they were black and blue.”
“Shut up! Shut up!” Shen Hanning shouted anxiously.
“Everything you’ve done is enough to get the Shen family’s property confiscated.”
“I’m ashamed to admit you’re my father.”
“I bet Grandpa’s poor health was mostly caused by your constant troublemaking. You’re hopeless at making money, but you’re exceptionally talented at causing disasters.”
A mocking smile curled on her lips.
Shen Hanning charged forward, raising his huge hand to slap her.
Again?
Shen Xiaoyuan repeated the same move.
She sidestepped the slap, then lifted her leg high and kicked him squarely under the chin.
“Argh!”
Shen Hanning cried out in pain, clutching his jaw, which felt close to dislocating.
“Hiss… Have you gone crazy? You actually dared hit your own father?”
He couldn’t understand it.
When had this girl become so strong?
Had working in the countryside given her incredible strength?
Rolling up her sleeves, Shen Xiaoyuan looked at him provocatively, clearly inviting him to try again.
“Hmph… Fine. Fine. Very well.”
“No need to discuss this with you anymore. Tomorrow I’ll speak directly with the Pan family and the Xiang family. We’ll see how long you can keep acting up.”
“Stop wasting words on her. Lock her in her room and let her reflect on herself. No one is to bring her any food.”
“We’re leaving.”
With a cold snort, Shen Hanning turned and walked away.
“Take care. I won’t miss you.”
Smiling faintly, Shen Xiaoyuan waved cheerfully at all three of them.
She had absolutely no intention of enduring any of this.
She had been given a second chance at life, and she refused to live like a coward.
Endure it, and you’ll only end up with stress-induced illness.
Beat them up, and you’ll probably live longer.
Supporting each other, Shen Tiantian and Pang Dongling stumbled toward the door.
As Shen Tiantian passed Shen Xiaoyuan, her gaze lingered on the pendant resting against Shen Xiaoyuan’s neck.
At the doorway, she turned back for one last look.
That pendant had originally been Grandpa’s gift for her.
But after Shen Xiaoyuan came to the Shen family, Grandpa had changed his mind and given it to Shen Xiaoyuan instead.
One day…
She would take that pendant back.
Filled with resentment, she slammed the door shut.
Noticing Shen Tiantian’s strange look, Shen Xiaoyuan narrowed her eyes and lowered her gaze to the pendant resting above her collarbone.
It was an oval jade pendant about the size of a thumb, exquisitely set in a platinum base and surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds.
At a glance, it was obviously priceless.
That was why the original owner had always worn it close to her body.
Shen Xiaoyuan gently rubbed the pendant with her fingertips.
Suddenly, it burst into a dazzling glow.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Could this be the legendary golden finger?
She looked down at her fingertips and realized they were stained with blood from when she had touched her forehead.
So the blood had activated the heirloom pendant.
To test her theory, she immediately calmed her mind and focused.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself inside a mysterious space.
Rather than a mystical dimension, it looked more like a gigantic warehouse.
Shen Xiaoyuan’s eyes widened with excitement as she eagerly began exploring it.