Just then, a man pushing a cart loaded with coal came wobbling toward them.
He happened to stop right at the entrance of the house Song Changming had entered earlier.
The coal delivery man knocked on the door.
Creak—
A familiar profile appeared.
Though it was unclear what the two were saying, Song Changming had a smile on his face the entire time.
The delivery man piled the coal by the door, and Song Changming carried several pieces inside.
Shen Jingyan's vision blurred.
At home, she had never even let him touch these things.
She never imagined that some people were so cheap as to come here and do it for others.
So what did all her care amount to?
Just her bad luck.
Shen Jingyan clenched her teeth and followed behind Mianmian.
Just then, the little one who had been running with patter-patter footsteps suddenly stopped.
"Mommy, wait, wait."
"My shoelace came undone."
Mianmian stopped to tie her laces, but how could she possibly know how to tie shoelaces?
Shen Jingyan walked over, squatted down, and tied the two little strings of her shoes together behind her heels.
"There, all done."
Mianmian bent over, sticking out her chubby little feet.
She wiggled them.
And grinned.
"They won't fall off now~"
Shen Jingyan smiled and stood up, when suddenly—
She saw something streak directly across the sky.
With a "bang—" accompanied by a scream, Song Changming collapsed to the ground in the distance.
Shen Jingyan was startled, looking at a fist-sized rock that had bounced onto the ground.
Her face went pale.
If she hadn't stopped to tie Mianmian's shoelaces just now, she would have been standing in that exact spot.
Shen Jingyan was almost speechless.
She had come so close to being hit.
To meeting the King of Hell.
"Mommy."
Feeling Mianmian's warmth, Shen Jingyan gasped sharply and hugged her tightly.
"Mianmian, you're Mommy's little lucky star."
Mianmian stared blankly, not understanding what her mother was saying, her cute eyes full of confusion.
"What duck?"
Just then, a piercing wail came from ahead.
"Changming!"
"Daddy!"
"Are you okay?"
"Wuu wuu wuu, don't die!"
The crying drew neighbors running over to look.
"Oh heavens, smashed up like that. My god."
"This is going to cost money."
"Tsk tsk, hurry and get him to the hospital, he'll die if you don't go now."
Hearing the word "die," a middle-aged man in the crowd went pale.
Dragging a little boy by the hand, he said, "Comrade, I'm sorry, the child didn't know any better and threw the rock. I'll take you to the hospital, we'll cover the medical expenses."
The boy was also frightened, trembling all over.
Song Changming clutched his head tightly, blood flowing endlessly from the top of his head, blurring his eyes.
"Take—take me to the hospital."
The middle-aged man hurriedly pushed the cart to take him to the hospital.
Liu Xiaoshuang, pulling Su Yueyue along, followed after them, weeping and wailing.
Behind them, Shen Jingyan watched everything with cold eyes, about to follow—
When she heard a woman nearby muttering.
"That man is really unlucky, getting a hole smashed in his head for no reason."
"Aiyo, tell me about it. But this couple is really strange—sometimes they live here, sometimes they don't. They don't look like a proper married couple to me. More like someone kept on the side, like in the old days."
"Aiyo aiyo, don't talk nonsense, someone might hear you and get you thrown in jail."
"I'm just saying this in private—tell me, what proper married couple lives like them, staying here just a few days a month?"
"This house isn't cheap, you know. I remember back then, Auntie Wang said it sold for over five hundred! That was a lot of money years ago!"
"Oh my, what you're saying makes sense. That woman always dresses so seductively—you can tell at a glance she's not a proper woman."
"I've often seen that little girl eating White Rabbit candies."
"Alright, alright, enough talking. Time to go home and cook. I reckon the Hu family is going to have to pay out a lot of compensation."
Shen Jingyan watched the crowd disperse.
A chill ran through her entire body.
To keep Song Changming from feeling wronged—from feeling aggrieved about marrying into her family—she had always been generous with money.
She hadn't touched a single cent of his salary all these years. She'd even given him quite a bit of money. She'd even given him the key to the hidden compartment in the study.
Hidden compartment, key, money.
Shen Jingyan felt it hard to breathe, as if a soaked towel were pressed over her nose and mouth, suffocating her.
"Mommy?"
Mianmian touched Shen Jingyan's cold hands and pressed her own little face against them.
The soft, warm sensation instantly rescued her from her despair.
Shen Jingyan wiped her eyes and stepped back from the crowd.
She turned and went home.
Once home, she headed straight for the study on the second floor.
Opening the door, she was greeted by the rich scent of books.
The study was overall in a Western style, with bookshelves full of Russian-language books and literary classics.
But looking closely, one could still spot the occasional item of understated luxury.
Song Changming didn't much like her coming into the study, so she hadn't entered it in a long time.
The traces of her and her father that had once been here seemed to have been erased.
Shen Jingyan bent down and gently set Mianmian on the floor.
"Mianmian, hold your little tiger and play. Mommy has something to do."
Mianmian plopped down on the floor and tugged at the cloth tiger's clothing.
But she was thinking about how in the book, Mom never knew until she died that the treasures in this study had long since been mostly moved away by Song Changming.
A scumbag dad like that—truly despicable.
He'd betrayed beautiful Mom's trust and love.
Shen Jingyan closed the study door, walked to the desk, and pressed a switch.
The bookshelf on the side slid open.
Mianmian's eyes sparkled. She tossed aside the cloth tiger in her hands. "Mommy, magic trick!"
Shen Jingyan was amused by her and reached out to gently tap her forehead.
"It's a magic trick. Watch Mommy open it, Mianmian."
She walked to the corner of the study and reached into the tall vase.
A key appeared in her hand.
There were two keys to the hidden compartment.
One she had given to Song Changming, so he could conveniently take money and such. The other her father had told her about back then.
The most dangerous place is the safest place.
Shen Jingyan inserted the key into the hidden compartment's lock.
A click.
The door opened.
Mianmian dragged a small stool over, heaved herself up with effort, and climbed onto it.
She pointed at the lone roll of Da Tuanjie banknotes and a single gold bar in the hidden compartment.
"Mommy, so much money!"
She reached out and grabbed the only gold bar in the compartment. "Mommy, Mianmian has seen this before!"
Shen Jingyan looked at her daughter, her voice tight. "Where did Mianmian see it?"
Mianmian, innocent and uncomprehending, touched the gold bar. "Daddy gave it to Yueyue's mommy. He didn't give it to Mianmian's mommy."
Then she turned and smiled at Shen Jingyan. "This one's for Mommy."
Shen Jingyan's heart felt both warm and pained.
What had been in her eyes all these years?
Mianmian didn't know what was inside, but she did.
Ten thousand yuan and ten gold bars.
Over all these years, it was impossible for Song Changming to have spent more than ten thousand yuan.
Nor could those gold bars have been easily sold off in large quantities at this time.
There was only one possibility—he had taken them all.
And given them to that widow Liu Xiaoshuang?
Shen Jingyan's breathing caught slightly.