Li Qianqian counted the multiple zeros on it, her expression complicated. She hadn’t expected that in the book, her mother-in-law would treat the original owner this well—this was practically like having a real mother. She’d better cherish this.
In the real world, she was an agent, so this was just returning to her old profession for her.
Bringing up a celebrity and getting a company handed to her—this kind of pie-falling-from-the-sky good fortune, she was naturally willing to accept.
However…
In the original book, the original owner’s husband hadn’t actually died at all. It was just that Old Mrs. Fu had proposed that marrying the original owner would allow him to receive a larger share of the Fu Corporation’s stocks.
Fu Yunli wanted both the stocks and had a white moonlight in his heart, so he pretended to pursue the original owner. After marrying her, he faked his death and left to live with his white moonlight.
He never imagined that Old Mrs. Fu would give all the property to the original owner, so he lived outside without a care.
He even had his three brothers help him—as soon as they caught the original owner in a mistake that couldn’t be undone, he would return in a natural manner and divorce her.
The original owner happened to have no interest in spending the property and was focused on finding her next support, flirting and toying with them. It was practically handing the scumbag the leverage he needed to kick her out.
Li Qianqian pondered for a moment, then lifted her eyes and asked sincerely, “What if Fu Yunli isn’t dead?”
Old Mrs. Fu let out a long sigh. “I know you’re a loyal and good child who can’t let go of Yunli, but the dead can’t come back to life. You need to move on soon.”
Li Qianqian was silent for a moment. She wasn’t that deeply devoted. “I just want to know—if he comes back alive, do I have to return the property?”
Old Mrs. Fu: “…”
“Since this property has been transferred to your name, it’s naturally all yours. There’s no such thing as returning it. When I look at you, I see my own daughter. Even if you two had divorced back then, I would only have let Yunli leave with nothing. Understand?”
“Qianqian, stop tormenting yourself. Yunli’s spirit in heaven surely wouldn’t want to see you like this.”
Old Mrs. Fu comforted her earnestly, patting her shoulder.
Thinking of her daughter, she couldn’t help but tear up. The pain of the old burying the young was simply too much to bear.
Li Qianqian was moved by Old Mrs. Fu’s words, recalling how the original book described the old lady losing first her daughter, then her son.
She moved her lips. “If he’s alive, I want to see him; if he’s dead, I want to see the body. Fu Yunli might be somewhere in the world…”
“Then just consider that he’s living in some corner somewhere. If he doesn’t come home, it’s because there’s somewhere he’d rather be. Qianqian, it’s our Fu family that has wronged you.”
Old Mrs. Fu’s eyes darted away. She picked up her tea to hide something, taking a light sip.
“I understand.” Li Qianqian nodded, catching the implication beneath the words. Old Mrs. Fu knew Fu Yunli was still alive.
She was just fulfilling his wishes by declaring him dead, and this property was compensation.
“These are the profiles of all the male artists at Rose Entertainment. Some of the lesser-known ones are quite handsome. If there’s one you like, you can pick. As long as both parties are willing, there’s no harm in dating. And if you find someone you fancy who’s willing to marry into the family, I can accept that too.”
Old Mrs. Fu pulled another stack of documents from under the table and pushed them over.
Li Qianqian: “?” Holy crap, her husband had only been “dead” for two months, and her mother-in-law was already finding her a replacement? This was way too open-minded.
“Ahem, Mom, I don’t have the heart to think about these things right now. I want to focus on work first.”
“You’re a child with real drive. Whatever you do, Mom supports you.”
Old Mrs. Fu’s eyes were full of doting smiles. She sighed—if only she’d known Yunli would turn out this way, she should have just paired Huaishan with Qianqian back then.
Li Qianqian had barely stepped out of Old Mrs. Fu’s study when Ji Wanyun blocked her path.
“Second Young Madam, Master Fu requests your presence in his study.” Ji Wanyun’s tone was extremely displeased. Just thinking about how her two months of salary and year-end bonus had been docked made her furious.
Even Huaishan refused to investigate Li Qianqian’s room, saying she should just do her own job and mind her own business.
After six years of companionship from university to graduation, did she really hold no place in his heart at all?
“Mm.” Li Qianqian’s mind was spinning fast. She didn’t need to think twice to know this was definitely nothing good.
She dawdled her way toward Fu Huaishan’s study. No matter how slow she walked, she’d eventually have to face the storm.
Fu Huaishan was already fully dressed, looking proper in his crisp suit. He sat in the armchair, the flush on his face having faded, exuding an air of noble elegance that was almost intimidating.
Two buttons of the white shirt beneath his suit jacket were undone, revealing his strong collarbone.
His slender fingers held a pen between them. When he saw her enter, his expression was complicated—probably because he had misunderstood her this morning and even had a reaction to her. At this moment, a strange feeling was stirring in his heart.
“Big Brother, is there something you need from me?” Li Qianqian stood like an obedient child, hands clasped together, asking innocently.
Fu Huaishan’s dark, unfathomable eyes settled on her small face, not missing a single expression. His tone was calm as he said, “About this morning—I misunderstood you.”
“It’s fine. As long as Big Brother trusts me a little more from now on, that’s all I need. I was just missing Yunli too much before, and since Big Brother’s features resemble his a bit, I just wanted to care for Big Brother more.”
Li Qianqian gave this elder brother a heads-up in advance, even attributing her past unreasonable behavior to missing her late husband too much. She was truly a genius.
Fu Huaishan’s usually icy expression did show a flicker of softening, after all, he had witnessed the passionate romance between Yun Li and her back then. Now that the man had passed away, it was only natural that she couldn’t let go.
The words that followed were almost hard for him to say, but keeping the item wasn’t right either.
So, with an unchanged expression, he lifted a bag from under the table and handed it over.
“This is what Zechuan asked me to return to you.”
Li Qianqian nearly had her eyes blinded by the glaring advertisement slogan printed on the bag.
—Soft lace, skin-friendly and breathable, taking your sexiness to the next level.
“…”
Qi Zechuan was one of Fu Yunli’s brothers-in-arms. Although it was wrong for the original owner to have stuffed her personal items at someone, the fact that he had the elder brother return them was absolutely intentional!
Li Qianqian feigned shame and indignation. “He’s Yun Li’s best friend since childhood—how could he send me something like this!”
“He said to return it,” Fu Huaishan said, covering his mouth with his hand and letting out a light cough.
“This isn’t mine!” Li Qianqian had barely managed to salvage some of her image in the elder brother’s eyes—there was no way she would admit to this.
She stared at Fu Huaishan with pleading eyes. “Brother, do you not trust me again?”
Fu Huaishan felt his heart soften at the sight of those glistening, watery eyes. He had just misunderstood her this morning, and at this moment, the words “I don’t trust you” seemed to stick in his throat.
The room fell silent for a long while, until Li Qianqian finally broke the stillness.
Li Qianqian knew it would be difficult to make the elder brother trust her immediately, and besides, this really was the original owner’s item. So she stopped arguing and lowered her gaze.
“Then let’s just say it’s mine. I won’t do anything that causes misunderstandings in the future. I’ll stay away from you, brother, and from Yun Li’s friends.”
With that, she turned and walked away without hesitation.
Fu Huaishan narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingertips tapping the table in a rhythmic pattern, his thoughtful gaze resting on her gradually receding figure.
His look carried scrutiny—he couldn’t help but feel she was like a completely different person compared to the past few days.
But it was entirely possible that this morning’s near-exposure had frightened her, and what she was doing now was merely a new tactic of retreating in order to advance.