For safety's sake, Shu Qingqing took Lu Yu and Lu Xun with her when she went to the old mansion the next day.
If anything really happened, she'd let the old lady's grandsons handle it first.
However, upon arriving at the old mansion, she found the old lady dressed in an elegant suit, looking ready to go out.
"Let's go, I'm taking you shopping."
Shu Qingqing thought she had misheard. It wasn't until they arrived at the flagship store of Brand H, where the regional manager personally came out with a parasol to greet them, that she believed the old lady was truly taking her shopping.
Inside the VIP room, tea and desserts were promptly served. Shortly after, several tall and beautiful models entered. They walked a mini-catwalk around the lounge and finally lined up in front of the sofa.
The old lady took a sip of her tea. "Which ones do you like?"
Shu Qingqing was slow to react.
She had only ever seen this kind of private fashion show in videos before.
So this was the legendary way of shopping for the wealthy.
Seeing her silent, the old lady thought she didn't like any and waved at the regional manager.
The manager quickly had the models leave, and soon they returned wearing a new set of clothes.
"Take another look," the old lady said to her.
Only then did Shu Qingqing realize—this was for her to choose from?
Well, in that case, she wouldn't stand on ceremony.
Shu Qingqing began to look carefully.
They all seemed pretty good.
"Mother-in-law, I can't decide, they're all dazzling."
The old lady glanced up. "Pack them all."
Shu Qingqing: !!!
The old lady really understood her!
She quickly added, "And those bags too."
After leaving Brand H, the old lady took her to buy shoes and a watch. As for the two grandsons, they came empty-handed and left empty-handed.
After the afternoon nap, the old lady wanted to take her to a beauty salon.
Shu Qingqing was taken aback. "What about your two grandsons?"
The old lady glanced at the two of them. "Let them stay at home."
Shu Qingqing: ... She seemed to catch a hint of disdain.
Was she seeing things?
Shu Qingqing was initially not pleased about her time being arranged by others so arbitrarily. But after arriving at the place, her opinion changed.
This trip was totally worth it!
After a full set of skincare treatments and a massage, she felt her face looked at least five years younger. Most importantly, she didn't have to pay for it herself!
Shu Qingqing stood in front of the mirror admiring her own beauty, almost falling in love with herself.
Seeing her lingering in the bathroom, the old lady simply went outside to wait.
In the lounge of the main hall.
Ren Qiuyang had made an appointment with a friend for facials, but the other person was half an hour late. Just as she was impatiently asking her assistant to hurry them along, she spotted Old Mrs. Lu. She quickly put on a smile and went over to greet her.
"Auntie, are you here alone? I happen to have time, why don't I keep you company?"
"Qiuyang, you've gotten even prettier lately," Old Mrs. Lu said with a smile. "No need, I have company. We're actually finished and about to leave."
Only then did Ren Qiuyang notice the two handbags Old Mrs. Lu was holding.
Her expression froze.
Who had such great face to make Old Mrs. Lu personally carry bags for them?
Just as she was wondering, a familiar female voice came from the side: "I'm ready, let's go."
Ren Qiuyang looked up.
She saw Shu Qingqing naturally take her own bag from Old Mrs. Lu's hand.
Hadn't Old Mrs. Lu always disliked this daughter-in-law? Since when had their relationship become so good? She was even carrying bags for Shu Qingqing?
And hadn't Shu Qingqing sold all her bags? Yet the one in her hand now was clearly the latest model from Brand H, and it didn't look like a fake either.
Remembering what her assistant said about Lu Bochuan personally stepping in to find the mastermind behind the recent smear campaign against Shu Qingqing...
So this bag of hers... was it bought by Lu Bochuan?
Ren Qiuyang forced a smile. "Qingqing, what a coincidence. Is that a new bag? It's so beautiful, but..."
Shu Qingqing also put on a fake smile, waving the bag slightly. "Yes, it's new. My mother-in-law said it suited me and insisted on buying it for me... Sister Qiuyang, what were you about to say after 'but'?"
Ren Qiuyang gave a gentle smile, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "But it's a pity it's temporarily out of stock, otherwise I'd like to buy one too."
Shu Qingqing chuckled. "That really is a pity." She guessed what Ren Qiuyang was about to say originally wasn't this. Perhaps it was a woman's intuition, but she always felt Ren Qiuyang wasn't as friendly towards her as she appeared on the surface. Otherwise, when the original host was tricked into donating so much extra money back then, why didn't Ren Qiuyang try to dissuade her?
"By the way, Qingqing, I heard about the online attacks against you. It's good it's been resolved, otherwise it would have been another negative impact on the Lu Group. Ah, the online environment isn't great these days, you must be more careful in the future." Ren Qiuyang finished speaking, but didn't see a trace of concern on Old Mrs. Lu's face.
Could Old Mrs. Lu tolerate even this?
What happened next surprised her. Old Mrs. Lu said, "Qiuyang is right, the online environment isn't great, you do need to be careful. However, a few of my friends quite enjoy watching the videos you make. If you have time, you could make more."
Ren Qiuyang: ???
This wasn't going as she had imagined.
Shu Qingqing happily nodded. "Of course, Mother-in-law. I'll definitely make more when I have time. Could you please tell those aunties thank you for liking my videos? If there's a chance in the future, I'd like to invite you and the aunties to be in my videos too, to share your skincare secrets with netizens."
Old Mrs. Lu agreed with a smile.
Ren Qiuyang was fuming. She had come to drive a wedge between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, how did it turn into Shu Qingqing putting on a show of being as close as mother and daughter?
Ren Qiuyang suppressed her anger and exchanged a few more hypocritical pleasantries before watching the two leave.
Stimulated by Shu Qingqing, she had almost told Old Mrs. Lu about Shu Qingqing's debts, but fortunately held back. This matter couldn't be revealed so easily. She had to wait for the right opportunity to use it as leverage to make Bochuan thoroughly disgusted with Shu Qingqing and divorce her.
It was just that Shu Qingqing had been too arrogant just now, daring to show off in front of her.
She tried hard to calm down and called her assistant over. "How are things with Liu Lulu now?"
The assistant replied, "Liu Lulu's parents have used many connections, but none were very effective. If the prosecution is successful, Liu Lulu will likely be sentenced to one or two years."
"Useless," Ren Qiuyang scoffed lightly. She had only asked her to cause a bit of trouble for Shu Qingqing, and she managed to get herself implicated.
As for Xu Lingshan, although she no longer went to Shu Qingqing's side, she hadn't been in contact much lately either. In their little group, the only one left who was usable now was Bingqian.
But Bingqian was smarter than Liu Lulu and Xu Lingshan, not so easy to manipulate. She needed to find another person to deal with Shu Qingqing.
After thinking for a long time, Ren Qiuyang finally said to her assistant, "Isn't Ouyang Hua about to graduate?"
The assistant nodded. "Miss Ouyang is on her graduation trip recently. She said she won't be back until the New Year."
Ren Qiuyang: "Find a way to make her come back as soon as possible."
