God fulfilled Su Ning's wish, or perhaps human nature was just like that—hating others for having what they don't, and laughing at others for lacking what they have.
It was just past lunchtime. The large courtyard was originally quiet. Most of the people living here didn't eat lunch, or rather, they couldn't afford to.
Those without work to do all shrank in their rooms, remaining motionless. Not to mention saving their energy, they were also afraid of losing the little bit of warmth they had managed to retain.
Suddenly, a burst of noise was heard from outside.
Someone struggled to poke their head out:
"What's going on?"
They happened to see a familiar yet unfamiliar figure leaving the Su family's house. Even as he reached the courtyard gate, he was still bowing and scraping, turning his head back to enthusiastically wave his hand in response:
"It's cold out, please don't see me out. Rest assured, everything has been arranged and you don't need to worry about a thing..."
This person was precisely Director Jian's confidant who had visited before. His exact name was unknown. Because his surname was Li and he had a slight limp, his nickname was Iron-Crutch Li. He was also a prominent figure in the underworld.
Seeing him, the people in the large courtyard vaguely understood what was going on—Half-Immortal Su's relative was finally coming to see them.
Instantly, their feelings were as complicated as could be.
It was certain that the Su family's relative was rich, but several days had passed without anyone coming again. Many neighbors gloated over this, feeling that the Su family wouldn't be able to benefit from them anyway.
After all, she grew up abroad.
What kind of affection could she have for relatives she hadn't seen in decades? As long as they could maintain appearances, it would be fine.
After this, they would just go their separate ways.
In the future, the Su family would still be cooped up in this large courtyard just like the rest of them.
Half-Immortal Su smiled triumphantly. After sending off Iron-Crutch Li, he looked up at the sky and deliberately shouted to the courtyard:
"Su Zhenzhu, hurry up and light the stove! Add plenty of coal inside. Your cousin is coming to see us in a bit, so absolutely do not let her catch a cold."
"Chenzi, don't just hide there either. Grab a rag and wipe everything down everywhere. Don't leave any dust..."
For a moment, throughout the entire large courtyard, aside from Half-Immortal Su's broken-gong voice, there was no other sound.
After waiting a while, seeing that no one came out, Half-Immortal Su felt a bit disappointed. With his hands behind his back, he slowly strolled into the house with a splayed gait, looking as punchable as possible.
What a joke, he wasn't the type of person to keep a low profile to accumulate blessings.
Through the ups and downs of the better half of his life, he had only realized one truth: when there is an opportunity to show off, one must gloat vigorously and flaunt it with all their might.
Only then would it be worth it!
Actually, quite a few neighbors in the large courtyard were already regretting it. They wanted to go out and curry favor with the Su family, but they were too embarrassed because of the grudges they had formed previously.
In their hearts, they cursed Half-Immortal Su to the high heavens.
Was it really necessary? After all, they had lived in the same place for decades. A distant relative is not as good as a near neighbor. He didn't even need to bow his head; just giving them an opportunity, such as ordering them to help clean the house or buy supplies for the reception, would have been fine.
Didn't he understand that there is strength in numbers?
Unlike the others, Old Man Zhao didn't have the slightest thought of currying favor with the Su family. Seeing Half-Immortal Su's smug look, he absentmindedly recalled the eldest young master of the Su family he had seen in his youth.
He was so noble that it made people jealous.
Decades had passed.
He had also been stepping on and laughing at the Su family for decades, but he still couldn't dissipate this jealousy. It surged back, burning even more fiercely.
Old Man Zhao stared straight at the Su family's house. Suddenly, he saw the icicles of various lengths hanging under the eaves, and a thought sparked in his mind. An icicle falling on someone's head was no trivial matter.
At best, it would draw blood; at worst, it could take a life.
If he quietly tampered with them... An icicle hitting someone was the will of heaven, who could be blamed?
The next second, Su Chen walked out of the house carrying some cleaned-up junk. His peach-blossom-like eyes inadvertently glanced at the icicles he usually didn't care about at all.
Without a second thought.
He casually threw the trash on the ground.
He rolled up his sleeves. Without even using a ladder, his palms freezing red, he carefully cleared away all the icicles completely, not even sparing a single shard of ice.
Still not at ease, he shouted into the house: "Su Zhenzhu, you're meticulous. Come over and see if there are any icicles left."
Su Zhenzhu didn't dare to be careless either. With a serious pretty face, she inspected inch by inch, deeply afraid of missing even the slightest danger. Only after finishing the inspection and confirming there was no danger did she breathe a sigh of relief:
"It's fine, it's all cleaned up. You're still the meticulous one, brother, to have thought of this."
On the other side, seeing that the flaw he had so painstakingly found was gone, Old Man Zhao hated it so much that his teeth itched. The look in his eyes as he stared at the two from the Su family was as if poisoned, and he almost cursed out loud.
Pah, two lapdogs.
They both shared the surname Su, yet they were fawning to such an extent. Weren't they afraid of losing the face of their ancestors in the netherworld?
Having spent a long time mixing in the underworld, Su Chen was extremely sensitive to people's gazes. He instantly noticed Old Man Zhao's glare. Not only did he fiercely glare back, but he also picked up a stone and threw it at him.
Crash.
The window broke into a large hole, and the cold wind howled in. Old Man Zhao narrowly avoided being hit. Heart pounding with fear, he then heard a sinister and ruthless remark:
"This time it's just the window that got smashed. Look again, and next time I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Hearing this, not only did Old Man Zhao break out in a cold sweat, stammering speechlessly, but the rest of the people in the large courtyard also shrank their heads back in fright.
However, someone who saw this scene had a different reaction.
For example, Widow Li. She originally wanted to brazenly go to the Su family to help. She figured that since she was a woman, Half-Immortal Su and Su Chen wouldn't find it appropriate to forcefully drive her away.
She even had some more obscure thoughts.
Although she was a widow, she had just turned thirty and considered herself to still have some beauty. While she hadn't stooped to doing shady business, she did have a few good friends behind the scenes.
If she could hook up with the two men from the Su family...
Pursing her lips, the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was possible. Although that old swindler Half-Immortal Su would be easier to get, he was quite old after all, and she didn't want to shortchange herself.
Although Su Chen mixed in the underworld, she hadn't really heard of him being entangled with women.
She understood this kind of greenhorn the best.
They simply couldn't withstand being teased.
Widow Li gave a subtle, smug smile. Just as Su Chen walked by carrying the trash, he was caught off guard by the flirtatious wink she threw at him, and his footsteps actually stopped.
Widow Li was overjoyed.
Then, then she found a basket of trash thrust into her hands, and a chilling sentence reached her ears: "No need to thank me, these are all for you. Oh right, remember to return the rattan basket."
Su Chen even felt a bit of heartache.
Living as poor people, how could there be any trash? If picked through carefully, these things were still useful!
If it weren't for the fact that his cousin was coming and he was in a good mood, deciding to accumulate some good karma for his family, he wouldn't have been willing to let his rival Widow Li take this advantage.
He waited a bit, but didn't receive a thank you.
Looking up impatiently, he saw that Widow Li was not only ungrateful, but her face was twisted like a ghost. He instantly flew into a rage. Sure enough, no good deed goes unpunished.
In this world, you really can't be a good person!
Only after the person left did Widow Li react, feeling furious, ashamed, and deeply annoyed.
...
"Ding, detected that the host is rich and cruel, oppressing... Rewarded ten thousand yuan."
One after another, the uninterrupted reward announcements played. The system was quite excited at first, but by the tenth and twentieth, its voice had become somewhat numb.
Su Ning, however, managed to stay calm.
After all, this was the ultimate villain family she had painstakingly found after flipping through the original novel dozens or even hundreds of times. Wasn't offending everyone with their every move just basic operation?
Even so, the aura around her had noticeably softened. Jian Ren, who had just walked in from outside, caught this subtle change and instantly felt a wave of relief and gladness.
Taking a few quick steps forward, he said in a low voice,
"Miss Su, the car and the men have been brought over. Would you like to go take a look?"
Now that she had established her persona as a wealthy tycoon, she could no longer travel around as casually as before. The Republican era was fraught with chaos, and thugs were a common sight, especially in the slums where the Su family resided.
Su Ning gave a cool nod.
"Then let's go down and have a look."
