Meanwhile, inside the car.
Su Ning didn't yet know that the "good reputation" she had cultivated for so long had played a massive role. However, she wasn't the least bit worried that the grain merchants would quickly cut their losses to break even.
"When the stakes are too high, it blinds people. They instinctively refuse to accept a scenario where they don't make exorbitant profits, so they automatically ignore the risks and find excuses to take a gamble."
"And then they lose everything," the System chimed in supportively.
"However, I still can't understand humans as a strange species. They are always influenced by their own emotions, superficial appearances, and habits. Clearly, as long as they analyze things calmly, they could avoid most traps," it silently added in its heart.
But Su Ning was exactly the kind of person who could remain calm, discard all internal and external influences, and make the best judgment... although it felt that Su Ning was simply apathetic.
She treated everything as an immersive "game." She would feel moved, indignant, angry, and even tempted, but... that was it.
A game was, after all, just a game.
Too rare.
The System thought about how it had experienced many hosts, including some incredibly outstanding ones, but a host like Su Ning was exceedingly rare.
How to put it? She was the type who looked ordinary, but only after spending time with her would you discover her terrifying true nature. Anyone who has watched horror movies knows this type is the scariest.
"But selling grain at low prices to save the market will have a huge impact on the host's persona of being a heartless rich person."
After thinking for a moment, it added:
"It will also arouse suspicion from outsiders."
"Relax."
Su Ning yawned lazily, feeling drowsy under the afternoon sun. "At most, they'll just think my support for Chen Huaiqian went a bit too far and spread some rumors. Besides, on the surface, I'm getting quite a lot of benefits."
According to her agreement with Chen Huaiqian.
After the grain merchants were ruined, all their premium assets would be subject to her selection to offset the grain funds...
"Maybe some people will even think I invested so heavily just to completely destroy the Zhao family." Su Ning knew her own reputation like the back of her hand.
But actually, they wouldn't be wrong.
She thought.
The grain merchants were just small fry. Zhao Hao, Zhao Xuewen, the Zhao family, and even the male and female leads who hadn't appeared yet were the big fish. She couldn't wait to reap a wave of harvest.
Arriving at the Beiping Grand Hotel.
The vehicle came to a steady halt. As usual, the bodyguards stepped out first before Su Ning opened the car door. Shang Wenyun came forward to greet her. She hadn't followed them to the docks because she had other important matters to handle.
Releasing grain to save the market was not simple. The pricing of the grain, the timing, the locations, and the pacing all required careful consideration... Therefore, Shang Wenyun no longer looked as elegant as before; she was haggard from overworking.
She raced against time to report.
"...After preliminary discussions with the government, the pricing is..."
Su Ning listened as she walked.
Before they had taken more than a few steps, a person suddenly dashed out from the side, heading straight toward them. However, no one paid it much mind. After all, a guy without even a knife was at most just a scammer trying to fake an injury for money.
In such chaotic times, this was nothing unusual.
"Let go of my dad!"
A sharp, childish voice echoed through the sky. It was Zhao Xuewen, who was following closely behind. Hearing this familiar voice, Shang Wenyun's footsteps paused slightly.
Seeing that Su Ning had stopped, she stopped as well.
Not bad, the rewards are coming so soon—this was Su Ning's first thought upon seeing the miserable father and son duo. Her second thought was:
Oh... I look even more like a villain now.
She couldn't be blamed for thinking that.
Over there, Zhao Hao was expertly pinned down by the guards, his posture unchanged from before. The only difference was the addition of Zhao Xuewen, crying his eyes out while trying to pry the guards' hands away. His tiny figure looked incredibly pitiful.
In an instant.
Several melodramatic TV shows from her past flashed through Su Ning's mind—shows like "A Father's Heart," "Crying Over Cotton," and "My Father, My Mother."
She was the ultimate villain, cursed by thousands, who committed all sorts of evil deeds to oppress an entire family—evidently, the onlookers felt the exact same way.
A series of reward notifications served as proof.
"Are we shooting a movie here?"
Su Ning appeared nonchalant, but she actually struck a pose mimicking an arrogant villain from a TV drama. She adjusted her expression: five parts contempt, three parts bewilderment, and two parts arrogance.
Very punchable—a review from a certain real-name System.
That's good.
"Their acting skills are certainly sufficient. It's a pity no director is that stupid." Shang Wenyun's voice was light, but it pierced the hearts of the melodramatic father and son like a long, sharp needle.
"So you really do know."
The male voice was sorrowful, seemingly filled with a thousand unmentionable hardships and immense helplessness.
Zhao Hao's eyes were bloodshot. Meeting his wife's mocking gaze, his last shred of uncertainty vanished.
Acting?
She was saying that he and Xuewen had deceived her. Clearly, this wasn't referring to the surface-level issue of an illegitimate child... that had blown up long ago and couldn't be called a deception anymore. Only that specific matter—Xuewen's true identity—could truly be considered a deception.
"If it's because of this that you got angry enough to ruin the Zhao family, I don't blame you. I really don't blame you."
Zhao Hao stared at Shang Wenyun infatuatedly, murmuring softly.
What?
Su Ning almost thought she had misheard. Catching a glimpse of the astonishment on Shang Wenyun's face from the corner of her eye, she confirmed she hadn't misheard. That made it even more unbelievable! For the first time, she seriously scrutinized this deeply affectionate second male lead.
Sigh, she really wanted to study his brain circuits.
"What did you say? You don't blame me?" Shang Wenyun had mentally prepared herself, but she didn't expect this man could still so easily disgust her with his cheapness. She took a deep breath to calm her emotions and sneered:
"You are absolutely sickening. Get lost right now. Who knows, when the Zhao family is begging on the streets, I might just reward you with two steamed buns."
"Mother, are you really going to be this heartless?"
The one speaking was Zhao Xuewen.
He took a few steps forward, wanting to grab Shang Wenyun, but was blocked by the bodyguards. Strings of tears rolled down his face as he choked back sobs:
"You raised me for so many years. Ever since I could speak, I called you Mom, and then Mother... Is a blood relationship really that important? I didn't want to deceive you; I just wanted to be your son."
"And then our family could continue living a good life, just like before."
His emotions were sincere and intense.
It made Su Ning start recalling the original plot. How long did it take for Zhao Xuewen to acknowledge his biological parents again? Oh, it seemed to be one day. To be precise, he ate dinner, slept for a night, and then felt an unprecedented warmth.
"The heartfelt care of his biological mother stirred ripples in the small lake of his heart. Their bloodline tightly bound them together, making them inseparable..."
Why was his rhetoric different now?
Bad review.
"I don't want to be your mother," Shang Wenyun said coldly. "You and Zhao Hao both make me feel sick!"
Zhao Xuewen's face turned deathly pale.
"Wenyun, you're going too far." Zhao Hao's heart clenched with ache. He spoke earnestly:
"There is a misunderstanding here. I admit that Xuewen has no blood relation to either you or me, but he doesn't know anything and hasn't done anything wrong. Don't break the child's heart."
Saying that, he turned to look at Su Ning, who was watching from the sidelines:
"Miss Su, I don't know how the Zhao family and I have offended you, making you relentlessly pursue us, even driving a wedge between my wife and me, causing our family to be torn apart and ruined. I'm begging you, please let us go!"
"Okay."
These two simple words made a strong sense of hope burst forth in Zhao Hao's eyes.
"When your family is truly torn apart and utterly ruined, I will let you and the Zhao family go."
Su Ning added the second half of the sentence with a smile.
"Ding. Detected intense emotional fluctuations in Tier-1 plot characters Zhao Hao and Zhao Xuewen. Reward: five million."
Shang Wenyun, however, breathed a sigh of relief.
Too lazy to drag things out any longer, she threw the diary right into Zhao Hao's face and sneered, "Do you want me to read it to you? ...Never mind, I'm afraid I'd throw up in disgust halfway through. A married man lusting after someone else but too cowardly to say it, writing such nauseatingly sappy, delusional garbage. How pathetic."
Immediately after, she turned to Zhao Xuewen.
"I've been your mother for so many years, after all, and I can't bear to watch you treat a thief as your father. How did he explain your background to you? I bet he never told you that he stole you away from your birth mother. Your poor biological mother—targeted by some freak's affection out of nowhere, only to inexplicably lose her child."
"I know how a mother's heart works."
"Over all these years, she must have gone half-mad missing you."
Zhao Xuewen looked as if he had been struck by lightning.
He couldn't stop himself from following Shang Wenyun's words, imagining a grief-stricken, agonizing mother desperately longing for her child.
......
This time, Su Ning didn't let Zhao Hao off the hook so easily. She had the police take him away—after all, piling physical hardship on top of psychological trauma was the best way to ensure a complete breakdown.
This was the voice of experience.
As for Zhao Xuewen.
She still retained a tiny sliver of compassion for children, so she had him sent back to the Zhao family. Though, of course, she completely ignored his own wishes on the matter.
Another massive reward secured.
Naturally, after having his hypocritical mask completely ripped off, Zhao Hao flew into a humiliated rage. He frantically hurled vicious threats at the person he deemed the main culprit—Su Ning.
Things like, "I'll never let you go."
"I'm going to kill you."
"I apologize," Shang Wenyun said to Su Ning with a guilty look. "I've caused trouble for you again. I'll go to the police station later to pull some strings and make sure he shuts his mouth permanently."
That really wasn't necessary.
Su Ning refused, primarily because she hadn't milked him dry of rewards yet. She said lightly, "...It's just the barking of a defeated dog. Why bother paying him any mind?"
"You have more important things to do."
"Yes."
Two days later.
The discounted grain was officially listed for sale.
