Now, over to Shen Lingfeng’s side.
When he woke up, he felt as if the sky had fallen.
“Where are my clothes? How am I supposed to go down the mountain without clothes? Who on earth did you provoke?”
Liu Kang, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard a word and rushed frantically to inspect the secret room.
By this point, he didn’t care if Shen Lingfeng saw it or not.
He was his son after all, and these things would eventually be left to him anyway.
However, when he opened the secret room as usual, he nearly lost his footing.
“Ah—which absolute bastard did this?! My gold bars, my antique calligraphy and paintings…”
As he wailed, Liu Kang suddenly remembered something.
He turned his head and saw his son wrapping a bedsheet around himself.
Could it be this wolf pup?
If he was evil enough to kill his own father-in-law for his wealth, could he really not be eyeing his own possessions?
Then, he suddenly recalled the news his subordinates had gathered a few days ago.
The Shen and Lin families were planning to move their entire households to Hong Kong, and both sides were inquiring about freight shipments.
This dog had actually kept him completely in the dark.
What was he trying to do? Steal his treasures and abandon him to live a comfortable life in Hong Kong on his own?
The more he thought about it, the more Liu Kang became convinced that Shen Lingfeng was the culprit.
Fortunately, a sly hare has three burrows; he had left himself a backup plan and hadn’t revealed everything to this beast.
Shen Lingfeng tied a knot in the bedsheet and looked down to check that nothing was exposed as he walked, finding nothing wrong with it other than looking a bit comical.
Only then did he remember Liu Kang, but the moment he raised his head, he met Liu Kang’s murderously glare.
When Lin Shuang woke up, she felt thoroughly refreshed.
She realized that only ten minutes had passed outside.
Even a fool could tell something was off.
The time flow on both sides was different!
Having the space meant she had several times more time than others.
Lin Shuang happily began sorting through the fish and shrimp.
She planned to dry the larger ones, while the smaller fish and shrimp would be deep-fried as snacks.
As she sorted them, she noticed that the grandmother and grandson had cleaned them meticulously, leaving no water weeds or mud.
Lin Shuang then washed them thoroughly and drained the water.
The kitchen was fully stocked with seasonings, but it lacked oil.
So, Lin Shuang stepped out of the space. It was only when she went downstairs that she realized the entire house was dead silent.
Did they go out again?
Time for breakfast, then?
Tsk, after sending the maid away, Zhou Qingman couldn’t even cook a meal anymore.
Being so high-profile, wasn’t she afraid of drawing unwanted attention?
No one around was actually better.
Lin Shuang took the half bottle of oil from the kitchen.
Feeling it wasn’t enough, she found two full bottles in the cabinet and took those as well.
Besides the oil, there were plenty of good items stacked inside the cabinet.
More than ten strips of cured bacon, a bundle of sausages, half a box of canned beef, two tins of Malted Milk, and some dried vegetables—Lin Shuang swept them all away.
After busying herself for a while, Lin Shuang fried up two basins of small dried fish and popped one into her mouth.
“Wow! So fragrant!” The crispy, crunchy texture made Lin Shuang squint her eyes in satisfaction, and she kept eating, unable to stop.
Noticing some chili powder, Lin Shuang sprinkled a bit over them and tossed them evenly.
Sure enough, it was a completely different flavor.
Lin Shuang also boiled a pot of plain eggs and ate five in a row before her stomach was finally full.
As she pulled open her room door, Lin Lanlan, who was just about to knock, was startled half to death.
Although she felt resentful in her heart, her mood brightened instantly at the thought of what Lin Shuang would face tonight.
Lin Shuang watched as Lin Lanlan’s expression flipped faster than turning a page in a book.
She scoffed with impatience, “Lin Lanlan, what are you doing here again? Was this morning’s lesson not enough?”
Surprisingly, Lin Lanlan did not fly into a rage. Instead, she obediently handed Lin Shuang a clothing bag.
“Sister, tonight is the engagement banquet for Lingfeng and me. You must come.”
Lin Lanlan observed Lin Shuang as she spoke, wanting to see her pitiful state of having lost her beloved.
Lin Shuang could read Lin Lanlan’s thoughts with her little toe.
“Oh! Then congratulations. A scum man and a cheap woman—you two were truly made for each other. That way you won’t go out and harm others.”
Having spoken without a shred of emotion, Lin Shuang made to shut the door.
Lin Lanlan hurriedly stopped her.
“Sister, I know you feel upset inside and blame Lingfeng and me. But feelings are unpredictable; please forgive us, sister.”
“And if I don’t forgive you, then what?”
Lin Lanlan grew anxious.
If Lin Shuang didn’t go, the plan below couldn’t proceed.
“Elder Sister, you can ask for whatever you want,” Lin Lanlan said, closing her eyes tightly.
She was willing to risk it all to drag the emperor down from his horse.
“Fine! Then go stand at the entrance and shout at the top of your lungs that my mother, Zhou Qingman, is a mistress who broke up someone else’s family.”
“As long as you shout it ten times in a row, I’ll accept your invitation.”
Lin Lanlan almost failed to maintain her composure.
“She’s my mother; I can’t do that.”
“But I can give you money.” Lin Lanlan looked Lin Shuang up and down, thinking to herself that she didn’t know where those clothes came from; they didn’t have any patches, but they still couldn’t compare to her little Western-style dress.
A broke loser like Lin Shuang could definitely be dismissed with twenty yuan.
Lin Shuang saw right through Lin Lanlan’s mind.
“I’ve laid out my conditions. Do it if you want, and forget it if you don’t. Move aside, I have business to attend to outside, and I might not come back tonight.”
Hearing this, Lin Lanlan blurted out, “I’ll give you a hundred yuan—no, a thousand yuan…”
“Deal!”
After receiving the thousand yuan, Lin Shuang happily treated the children in the alley to sodas.
“Thank you, Sister Lin Shuang! Sister Lin Shuang, you’re so nice!”
Lin Lanlan was so furious she could die.
This b*tch was using her money to play the benefactor—just wait until tonight, and you’ll get what’s coming to you.
Ignoring Lin Lanlan’s malicious glare, Lin Shuang set off toward Aunt Chen’s house.
In reality, she turned the corner, changed paths, and doubled back, arriving just in time to see Lin Lanlan stealthily heading in another direction.
This was the moment she had been waiting for.
Lin Shuang trailed her all the way and watched Lin Lanlan enter a secluded courtyard.
Could she be having a secret rendezvous with some gigolo?
Lin Shuang climbed up the perimeter wall with great interest, ready to enjoy the drama.
Unexpectedly, she saw someone completely unanticipated.
Shi Dongyun?
The dirty girl who had been yanked around by her mother back then had completely transformed now.
Concealed by dense foliage, Lin Shuang wasn’t worried about being discovered.
Even though they were standing far away and their voices couldn’t be heard clearly, Lin Shuang could read lips.
Just as she suspected, Lin Lanlan intended to cause trouble at tonight’s engagement banquet.
She was willing to ruin her own engagement banquet just to frame her.
If something went wrong, she could even clear herself of suspicion—after all, who would expect someone to be ruthless enough to use their own engagement banquet for a setup?
“Having Shi Dongyun spike her drink?”
Without a doubt, Shi Dongyun must have been involved when Lin Shuang suffered her misfortune in her past life.
Why? Lin Shuang couldn’t figure it out for the moment.
However, since Shi Dongyun dared to conspire with Lin Lanlan, no matter the reason, she was her enemy.
And she had never been soft-hearted toward her enemies.
After Lin Lanlan left, Lin Shuang quietly snuck into the courtyard. Before she could even draw close, she heard voices.
“Sister, I heard everything you two said just now.”
“Harming people for money—you’re not my sister at all.”
*Slap!*
“Idiot! What’s wrong with harming people if there’s money to be made? Does Lin Shuang even deserve to live a good life? She clearly belongs in the mud with me, unable to pull herself up. But why does Wen Lang protect her so much? And once she came to the city, her family turned out to be so rich. Heavens really are unfair!”
Lin Shuang understood now. So it was a woman consumed by jealousy—no wonder Lin Lanlan was able to track her down.