"Boohoo, my dear niece, boohoo, how can you be so good to us?"
Half-Immortal Su cried, his face covered in snot and tears, his eyes swollen like peaches. He couldn't help it; he felt that anyone else in his shoes would react the same way, if not more exaggeratedly.
To think he had traveled the martial world for so many years.
He thought his heart had long been forged as hard as iron.
But meeting such a wonderful niece, even tempered steel would turn into soft, wrapping fingers!
"These are just small matters..."
Su Ning offered some useless words of comfort and reached out her hand, but Lin Sen looked troubled and shook his head at her—he was out of handkerchiefs, truly out. She glanced at the pile of used handkerchiefs next to Half-Immortal Su and decided not to make things difficult for Assistant Lin.
She really wanted to facepalm and sigh.
Why didn't the original novel mention that Half-Immortal Su was such a crybaby? It only mentioned how he was exceptionally good at scamming others until they cried.
"I still have to question you, Uncle." Su Ning thought for a moment and decided to take a different approach. Sure enough, Half-Immortal Su's crying quieted down significantly, and Zhenzhu and the others looked over as well.
"Why did you act so rashly without discussing it with me beforehand?"
"This, well."
"This was all my idea."
Su Zhenzhu took over her father's words, "The timing was just too perfect back then, and there was no time to discuss it with you, Cousin. Father and Brother were just listening to me..."
She lowered her head in guilt:
"It was me trying to be clever, thinking that doing this would help you, Cousin."
"You were indeed wrong."
Su Ning said mercilessly, "Acting on your own without consulting me, using our whole family's reputation as a stepping stone for me—putting aside what reputation even means, do you really think I am the kind of cold-blooded, heartless person who would comfortably accept the sacrifice of my relatives?"
"No, you're not."
Su Zhenzhu shook her head rapidly.
"Cousin, you are the best, the absolute best person to us in the whole world. No one could be better than you. I was truly wrong, completely wrong."
Beside them, Lin Sen silently nodded in agreement.
She was indeed too good.
Just now, he had been startled by the young miss's choice. Perhaps someone else might have refused to step on their relatives' reputation to gain fame, but someone like the young miss, who not only refused to step on it but also picked her relatives' reputation up from the ground and held it high, was one in ten thousand!
Thinking of this, Lin Sen felt a bit worried.
Just like a loyal minister in the court, worrying that a wise monarch might invite unknown disasters by being too indulgent with their relatives...
He didn't expect it.
The very next second, the disaster fell upon him.
"Yes, Zhenzhu was inconsiderate, and our brains must have been filled with paste. We should have discussed it with you first, my dear niece—"
Half-Immortal Su said, heartbroken:
"We should have just let Assistant Lin and the others do it. Not only did we waste such a good opportunity, but we also made you sacrifice so much, dear niece. What a huge loss."
Lin Sen: ...???
On this side, Su Ning received another reward.
She blinked; the Su family's skills were truly profound, even managing to make Assistant Lin break his composure.
"The matter is in the past, let's not dwell on it."
"Consider this a lesson. In the future, if there's anything concerning me, remember to discuss it with me first." She looked at the three members of the Su family seriously:
"Even if it's for my own good."
She had to set boundaries early on. The Su family was truly good to people when they cared, but unfortunately, she didn't need it. This time they hadn't succeeded, but what if they did next time?
The Su family nodded in unison.
They didn't dare forget. Thinking about how their dear niece/cousin sacrificed herself so much, besides being protective, it was also to make their hearts ache so they would remember the lesson.
"As for that money, I shouldn't take it."
Half-Immortal Su looked ashamed. Having messed things up himself, how could he have the nerve to ask for money?
He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Su Ning, "I said there's no taking back what I've decided to give, especially when it's just money."
She was just worrying about having nowhere to spend her money!
Even mosquito legs are meat.
Hearing this, the Su family had no choice but to accept. As they were leaving, Half-Immortal Su remembered something else. Oh my, he had been so caught up in being moved that he hadn't had time to ask about those foreigners making fools of themselves!
He hurriedly asked around when he got back—
Sure enough, it was very satisfying.
"Hahahaha, a bunch of foreigners still want to be arrogant with my dear niece in Beiping, bah."
Half-Immortal Su slapped the table and laughed loudly, then added regretfully, "They were lucky that we just happened to be hiring over there, otherwise, if a riot broke out, at least a few of those foreigners would have died. Now that would have been truly satisfying."
"This is just right."
Su Zhenzhu said, "Foreigners have a different status. If they really died, it would be a huge deal, and I'd be worried it would implicate Cousin."
After all, Su Ning had secretly guided it.
Changing the subject:
"But it would be great if that guy named Kong died. Foreigners don't have any interactions with Cousin; he's the one behind most of this."
The young girl sighed melancholically:
"Why doesn't he just die?"
...
Well, Young Master Kong might not be dead right now, but his mood wasn't much better. When the servant came to report the news, he was on the phone with his father in Nanjing.
Despite his grand airs outside.
In reality, because he wasn't born to the legal wife, he wasn't highly regarded in the family. After all, the Madame of the Kong family had a significant background, and Mr. Kong acknowledging him was already incredibly fortunate.
Usually, he rarely paid attention to this son.
But this time was different.
Su Ning!
Her wealth was something even Mr. Kong, far away in Nanjing, had long heard of. Who doesn't like money? So when he suddenly learned that his son had a way to make this Miss Su spit out some money.
He instantly became interested.
And the more he heard, the more feasible it seemed, though he was still a bit uneasy:
"...Su Ning isn't without roots here; she has quite a few connections. If I'm going to make a move, the price to pay won't be small. Are you sure there's an issue with her identity?"
Young Master Kong hesitated for a moment.
Because Mu Wan's words echoed in his head again, word for word, even the tone was so clear, yue... he couldn't think about it anymore.
"I am sure."
He vowed confidently, and even brought up the matter of Su Ning setting a trap to salvage her reputation. If there wasn't an issue with her identity, why would she go to such great lengths?
This reason indeed convinced Mr. Kong.
Of course, there was also Young Master Kong saying that he had convinced Charles to help, and the American ambassador would serve as an important witness, which made it eighty percent guaranteed!
Thinking of the shining silver dollars.
And even shares in Taikoo Shipping... on the other end of the phone, Mr. Kong burst into hearty laughter, rarely praising this son he usually ignored.
His words were full of encouragement.
Young Master Kong was overjoyed, so after hanging up the phone, hearing the servant's words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, leaving him almost breathless.
He slumped into the chair for quite a while.
Before finally recovering.
He still couldn't figure it out. If Su Ning didn't intend to salvage her reputation, why did she set this trap, only to back out at the last minute—
Her reputation was even worse now!
Young Master Kong sneered: "No matter what tricks you're playing, you won't escape my grasp." A worse reputation was even better; it made her easier to attack.
These were all minor details.
He reassured himself.
Unless Su Ning produced evidence proving she was indeed the only daughter of a wealthy businessman abroad, she could only surrender without a fight, but how could that be possible?
Charles and so many other foreigners all said they didn't know Su Ning!
...
"Ding! Detected that the host has enslaved over five thousand intelligent beings. Reward quest completed. Would you like to claim your reward?"
"Claim it," Su Ning said eagerly.
