When an emperor is enraged, millions of corpses fall.
Unfortunately, when an emperor without a throne was enraged, it was just a fleeting anger. Su Ning didn't even feel any turbulence; she actually felt a little disappointed.
Was this it? Just this?
In truth, it wasn't that The Last Emperor didn't take action. He contacted quite a few people to deal with Su Ning, but most of them would initially guarantee their help, only to hem and haw once they found out who they were up against.
Well, there was nothing wrong with loyalty.
But fertilizer was quite appealing too—the fertilizer factory's production had gradually stabilized. As long as there was an ample supply of electricity and raw materials, nothing would go wrong.
This meant one thing.
The fertilizer was finally no longer confined to Beiping and began to be sold to surrounding areas. Those allies joyfully discovered that Miss Su had been absolutely right.
They didn't need to put any effort into promoting it; as soon as the fertilizer arrived at a location, people would be waving cash, eager to buy it.
What they were worried about now was—
How to get the goods!
Having fertilizer meant having money. It also allowed them to build networks and establish connections. Even a fool understood the importance of grain, and since this fertilizer could increase yields, everyone was fighting and begging for it.
Having money right in front of them but being unable to earn it was simply the greatest torture in the world... Thus, everyone flocked to Su Ning, racking their brains to curry favor with her.
In this situation, even if she said the sun was square.
A large number of people would agree.
They would open their mouths and praise her, saying Miss Su had such great eyesight that she could even see the shape of the sun clearly. It's square, definitely square; if you look closely, it even looks like a cube.
Under these circumstances.
Who would be willing to make a move against Su Ning? The Last Emperor busied himself for nothing, only receiving a wide variety of excuses for refusal. Before hanging up, someone earnestly advised him to bide his time:
"...The fertilizer has just made a name for itself, and this is exactly when that woman Su Ning is at her most popular. Why clash with her right now? It's better to wait for the right opportunity; there will always come a time when she stumbles."
These were fair and pertinent words.
Su Ning might be able to protect the production line, but she couldn't necessarily protect the fertilizer factory that had already revealed immense profits. If it weren't for the big shots being busy with pre-war preparations.
Someone would have already stepped in to snatch it away by force.
Unfortunately, The Last Emperor simply couldn't listen. With a cold face, he gave a few perfunctory replies and hung up the phone. The words echoed in his mind, along with that mirror that had been "returned intact to its rightful owner."
His anger continued to boil like a raging fire.
How dare Su Ning?
She was just a Han woman descended from a eunuch. Since he had taken a liking to her, shouldn't she shed tears of gratitude? Yet she actually dared to refuse!
Enraged to the extreme, he went to a certain place to pour out his depression. The person kneeling opposite him listened and then smiled, comforting him in fluent Chinese:
"Please do not worry. Those who offend the King will not meet a good end, and Su Ning... is no exception."
The Last Emperor smiled.
This person also laughed deeply. Su Ning—he had long memorized this name. Sato died because of her, and that precious piece of land was also taken away.
If it weren't for his strenuous efforts to mediate.
The Nanjing government might have discovered the Empire's layout ahead of time.
This person deserved to die!
...
At the celebration banquet.
Su Ning swirled her wine glass, bored to death. She hadn't wanted to host this banquet in the first place. Wasn't it perfectly normal for the fertilizer to sell well? Now look—
Another bunch of people were coming to "befriend" her.
She had truly had enough of socializing.
"Cousin, here." Su Zhenzhu smilingly handed over a glass of juice and "forcefully" took the wine from her hand. "You've coughed several times yesterday and today. If you drink any more alcohol, your throat won't be able to handle it."
She was just swirling it, not drinking it.
Just like her dislike for coffee, Su Ning didn't like drinking alcohol either. Be it beer, baijiu, yellow wine, or red wine, she didn't like any of it, finding it either bitter, spicy, or astringent.
What was so good about drinking it?
She'd rather have a cup of milk tea.
Thinking of milk tea, she suddenly craved it... Su Ning's distraction was obvious, noticed by both Su Zhenzhu and the countless people secretly and openly paying attention to her.
"Who is that girl? Taking advantage of Miss Su's politeness to actually snatch things from her hands... Hmph, what right does she have to get close to Miss Su?"
The key point was in the second half of the sentence!
They had gone to great lengths to get an invitation to this celebration banquet. For what? Was it not just to speak with Su Ning and build a connection?
"You country bumpkin, are you from out of town?"
Someone rolled their eyes and said with full superiority, "This one is also surnamed Su. She is Miss Su's younger cousin, Miss Zhenzhu."
Who didn't know that Su Ning treated her relatives well?
Her uncle went from being a street fortune-teller to a true "demi-immortal" sought after by thousands. How many truly believed, and how many came for Su Ning's name, who could tell?
Her younger male cousin was promoted.
Besides holding the lucrative brick and tile supply, he actually took advantage of this momentum to gather frustrated street folks and started running businesses in the gray area, such as labor supply, reselling, and protection rackets.
As for this younger female cousin named Su Zhenzhu right in front of them.
This person thought to themselves.
Miss Su had brought the storybook trope of "flaring up in anger for a beauty" into reality. Was that not enough to show how much she valued Su Zhenzhu?
I really wish my surname was Su too—
Countless people resonated with this thought at this moment.
"Cousin, all of this feels like a dream." Su Zhenzhu took a sip from her glass, almost sighing.
"What?"
Su Ning wasn't brought back to reality by these words, but was startled by the reward notification sound in her mind. While casually asking, she checked the specific information. She hadn't heard wrong, had she?
She had not.
That was why it was so terrifying... This number was too large, a full two million. What had she just done? Her gaze fell on the juice in her hand, and she took a doubtful sip. Sweet and sour, it tasted quite good.
But how was this worth two million?
Just as she was about to cue the system.
"I said, all of this feels too much like a dream. No, a dream wouldn't be this good." Su Zhenzhu shook her head, her eyes taking on a blurry hue under the lights:
"In that dream, I married into the Fang family and became Fang Lin's wife, but I had a very bad life and was very unhappy. Moreover, there was no cousin in the dream, nor had I ever heard the name Anderson."
Saying this, she shivered.
It really was a nightmare.
"Dreams are the opposite of reality, which means you will be happy in the future, Zhenzhu." Su Ning smiled and comforted her cousin, calm and composed, completely hiding the fact that she was frantically calling the system in her mind.
"Quick, explain the situation to me!"
"Explain what? The dream or the reward?" The Rich and Heartless System popped up, speaking leisurely:
"As for the dream, don't ask me. This system is also reporting it to the higher-ups—perhaps this book world really does have something like metaphysics."
"As for the reward, it's very simple."
"Spit it out."
"..."
Accustomed to their bickering, the system, unable to best Su Ning, said huffily: "There are so many rewards. Part of it is because you were rich and heartless, using ugly money to completely change Su Zhenzhu's destined plot."
"The other part..."
The system kept her in suspense:
"Have you ever heard a saying? Being too happy breeds fear instead. The fear that everything is like a flower in the mirror or the moon in the water, easily shattered. The fear that you've used up all your luck, and only hardships remain ahead."
So that was it.
Su Ning seemed to vaguely understand. People were always happiest when approaching happiness; for example, Fridays were the happiest part of the weekend break, and vice versa.
"Go to school then."
"Ah?"
Su Zhenzhu's eyes widened, round like two glass beads.
"Anderson's letter won't arrive overnight. Your father and brother both have their own work to do, and you'll just be bored sitting around by yourself. You are at the perfect age for school, so you should go."
Once she had a mountain of test papers to do, she wouldn't have the free time to let her imagination run wild.
Plus, getting exhausted from studying would also contribute rewards.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
Su Ning felt like an absolute genius, completely ignoring Su Zhenzhu, who had finally snapped out of her daze and started whining, complaining that she didn't want to go to school and wanted to work for her cousin just like Su Chen did.
Perhaps there was karma for rejecting a beautiful girl.
The banquet came to an end.
As the guest of honor, Su Ning was the first to leave. Because of this, everyone witnessed it—the very moment she bent down to get into her car, a relentless barrage of bullets rained down upon her like a sudden storm!
