The Fang household had been in an uproar with no sign of quieting down.
Su Zhenzhu felt a bit panicked, wondering what exactly had happened. After a moment of thought, she decided she couldn't just sit and wait. Steeling herself, she pulled the silver plum blossom hairpin from her hair.
It was her only piece of jewelry.
Although it wasn't worth much, she had always cherished it.
Now, her heart aching at the prospect of damaging it, she poked the pin into the crack of the door. She soon met resistance, but with a deft twist of her wrist, a click sounded, and the door latch sprang loose...
Carefully sliding the hairpin back into her hair, Su Zhenzhu didn't rush toward the loudest commotion. Instead, she took a detour to the kitchen, where she found the little fire-stoking maid and whispered with her for a while.
After getting a general idea of the situation, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, it was nothing serious.
With all this fuss, she had thought the Fang family was going to collapse, shattering her dreams of becoming a young mistress dripping in gold and silver...
The little maid beside her was still chattering: "...They called a doctor from Xuanren Hall, who said the master and madam are fine. They just suffered a sudden shock to the heart from anger and will be alright after some rest. I heard it's something about not being able to exchange US dollars. If they can't exchange it, so be it. It's not like they lost money..."
Failing to exchange it meant a massive loss!
Su Zhenzhu knew much more than the little maid. In order to buy new machinery, the Fang family had mortgaged their land in the suburbs and several prime storefronts just to finally scrape together the silver dollars.
If the US dollars had been successfully exchanged, things would be fine. Once the brand-new, advanced machinery was shipped back and set up, people would be scrambling to invest their money before it even started operating. The land and storefronts could be redeemed in a matter of minutes.
But since it fell through, they were in deep trouble.
First of all, the money spent on bribing and pulling strings over these past days had gone down the drain, and that was no small sum.
Furthermore, redeeming the land and shops at their original price was out of the question. Having a brother who ran with the local gangs, Su Zhenzhu knew a thing or two about the dirty tricks involved in mortgages and loans.
Between the money going in and out, the Fang family was bound to lose at least ten thousand silver dollars!
At this thought, Su Zhenzhu's heart ached fiercely. Although it had nothing to do with her right now, rounding it up, this was essentially her future money!
After her bout of heartache, she also felt a bit curious. Just who was so resourceful and powerful? The Fang family didn't even have time to react, only being notified after the deal was snatched from under them.
...
Inside the main bedroom of the Fang family estate.
Having been force-fed two bowls of medicinal soup, Fang Jingde, who had finally regained consciousness, wanted to ask the exact same question.
Who was it? Who had swooped in and stolen his deal?
Name after name flashed through his mind.
It seemed like anyone was a possibility, yet no one seemed to fit the bill.
He had already investigated thoroughly: no major figures were in urgent need of foreign currency recently. Because of this, he had expended a great deal of effort to pull strings and make connections. He had painstakingly suppressed his other competitors, only for things to go wrong at the very last moment.
At the thought of this, Fang Jingde felt the blood in his chest rushing straight up to his throat.
Just then, he heard the sound of arguing outside, growing louder and closer...
Outside the room.
Fang Qingqing's delicate eyebrows knit together in fury as she gnashed her teeth and cursed at Su Zhenzhu:
"Aren't you supposed to be sorting Buddhist rice in the prayer hall? Who let you out? Ha, no wonder my parents fainted! I bet it's because you were insincere in your prayers, and you angered the Buddha."
It started as a baseless accusation, but the more she spoke, the more she convinced herself it was true, making her scolding sound even more self-righteous.
The accused young woman looked terrified. Too panicked to defend herself, she merely shook her head desperately. Her small face was pale, and teardrops clung precariously to her long eyelashes.
The surrounding servants all showed expressions of pity.
Someone whispered a gentle word of advice, "Eldest Miss, Miss Su was just worried about the master and madam. Earlier, when you weren't here, Miss Su even said she felt relieved knowing they were alright. She was just about to head back to the prayer hall to chant sutras and pray for their speedy recovery."
The other servants also nodded silently in agreement.
"Qingqing, please don't be angry. It's all my fault. You can scold me however you want."
Tears welling in her eyes, Su Zhenzhu's body swayed slightly. In stark contrast to the aggressive Fang Qingqing, she looked as pitiful as a willow catkin blowing in the wind. She said softly:
"It's just that the doctor advised that Uncle Fang and the others need a quiet environment to recover..."
She trailed off hesitantly.
Everyone present understood her unspoken words. The loudest, shrillest voice here belonged to Fang Qingqing, their own daughter. Ha, she wasn't even as considerate as Miss Su, an outsider.
Meeting the strange gazes from all around, Fang Qingqing was so furious she nearly lost her mind.
A few years ago, she hadn't disliked Su Zhenzhu.
Who would hate someone who always coaxed and flattered them?
But the day she found out that Su Zhenzhu was engaged to her brother, she was instantly displeased.
Aside from a pretty face, what else did Su Zhenzhu have? Her family was dirt poor, her biological father was a fortune-telling fraud, and her brother was even worse, a low-class street thug.
Out of the goodness of her heart, she had gone to Su Zhenzhu and told her a story about how mismatched marriages never worked out, hoping to make her understand and obediently back out of the engagement. The gap between their two families was just too vast; they weren't a match at all.
Even if they did marry, they would only end up as a resentful couple.
In the end, not only did this woman refuse, but she also thoroughly mocked her from head to toe.
From then on, Su Zhenzhu became a thorn in her side.
The two had clashed openly and secretly many times. What made Fang Qingqing angry, yet unwilling to admit, was that she, the dignified eldest miss of the Fang family, would actually lose sometimes!
In a spot where no one was looking.
Watching Fang Qingqing's eyes turn red with rage, a hint of a smile flashed across Su Zhenzhu's eyes. She felt somewhat exhilarated.
If someone was asking for trouble, she wasn't going to hold back!
It was absolutely hilarious.
Why on earth should she listen to Fang Qingqing's nonsense and obediently break off the engagement, especially when the other party wasn't even willing to offer any benefits in return?
Of course, even if compensation was offered, she wouldn't be tempted.
Once she became the young mistress of the Fang family, what good things wouldn't she have?
As for ending up as a resentful couple or not, Su Zhenzhu cared even less. Only rich people worried about such things. If you were forced to live a life not knowing where your next meal was coming from, I guarantee you wouldn't have the energy to be resentful!
