Madame Kung was very puzzled.
Even though there had been some scandals and rumors about this relationship, every man had a wandering eye, not to mention it was still uncertain whether the rumors were true or false.
She didn't know the term "sunk cost."
But her thoughts were along those lines.
"Of course not."
Su Ning looked at her strangely. "I remember telling you my criteria for a spouse a long time ago, Madame. I can ignore those outsiders, but how could you misunderstand as well?"
It would have been better had she not brought this up.
Now that it was mentioned, Madame Kung's mind involuntarily replayed that worldview-shattering speech. She pinched her hands and forced a smile:
"It's just that I thought times have changed."
Young girls.
Their minds change from one moment to the next. When their hearts start to flutter, they tend to throw caution to the wind.
Besides, with those conditions, even if you sifted through all the men in the world, you probably wouldn't find a suitable one. It was normal to change one's mind.
"How could he possibly be worthy of me?"
On the other side, Su Ning said as a matter of course:
"It was impossible from the very beginning. The Su family has a pure family tradition. For eight generations, we have all been born of the legitimate main wives. There is absolutely no illegitimate blood. My parents are also loving and harmonious, and they only had me, a legitimate child.
What is Antonio? He's a bastard born to an outside mistress, not even qualifying as a recognized illegitimate child.
I have a very clear head on my shoulders.
Playing along with someone like that outside is one thing, but marrying him into the Su family? Wouldn't that insult our family's honor? The ancestors of the Su family wouldn't be able to rest in peace!"
Madame Kung was shocked once again.
Her mind was filled with words like legitimate, illegitimate, bastard, eight generations of legitimate descent...
Wait a minute.
Wasn't your family's eight generations of legitimate descent simply because your ancestors were all toiling in the fields, dirt poor, and couldn't afford to take concubines to have illegitimate children even if they wanted to?
Seeing her expression, Su Ning almost laughed out loud. She quickly lowered her head to sip her tea to cover it up.
Putting down the teacup, she struck while the iron was hot and continued:
"Even leaving status aside, for someone to catch my eye, the first requirement is that he must be pure and clean, like a blank sheet of paper with no romantic history whatsoever. Although I grew up abroad, I am still quite traditional in my bones."
"In this regard, Antonio doesn't meet the standard either."
This was indeed quite traditional.
Madame Kung nodded subconsciously, but she still felt something was off.
She rubbed her temples.
She wanted to ask, if that was the case, then why had she been so intimately involved with Antonio and given so much? Just as the words were about to leave her mouth, a flash of inspiration hit her.
She thought of four crucial words: Taikoo Shipping.
Everyone said Su Ning had lost her mind, throwing away a fortune for her lover and getting involved in a succession war. But thinking about it the other way around, why couldn't it be that she was using this opportunity to justifiably intervene in Taikoo Shipping? One must know that a massive shipping conglomerate like this operates complexly; it can't be taken over just by having money.
Anyone who isn't recognized as "one of their own" would only be uniformly pushed out.
Thinking this way, the logic made perfect sense.
However, there was still one problem... Antonio and that Chairman Fernand weren't fools either. There was definitely something fishy going on.
Madame Kung softly probed:
"Extracting and refining oil, then transporting it to various places is a massive project. It's better to keep the wealth within the family, so we might as well hand it over to Taikoo Shipping."
"Of course."
Su Ning nodded casually and looked at Madame Kung with profound meaning:
"We can settle on this for now, but to actually discuss the contract, we still have to wait a bit."
"Fernand isn't dead yet."
Her voice carried a lingering tone of regret.
Madame Kung understood.
Her gaze toward Su Ning changed again. Although she didn't know how Su Ning operated, anyone had to admit that this woman was truly ruthless. She would be terrifying as an enemy, but quite reassuring as a "friend."
"Then let me wish us a happy cooperation in advance."
It was a double entendre.
"Happy."
Su Ning responded with a light chuckle.
......
She had deliberately leaked this information to Madame Kung.
There is a saying that secrecy leads to success. But for one, the matter was already almost complete; just as she had said, all that was left was for Fernand to kick the bucket.
Secondly, Su Ning had noticed something wrong.
Having nothing else to do, she had studied the original plot again and indeed found a detail she hadn't noticed before, deducing from it that Fernand should die within the next couple of days.
Even if news was hard to spread across an ocean.
It shouldn't be this slow.
Since that was the case.
Then things were getting very interesting. Su Ning wasn't in a burning rush to investigate. Why should she be? She wasn't the one who needed to worry.
As long as she leaked a little information like she was doing now.
The anxious people would become even more anxious.
Not long after, Lin Sen, who had seen Madame Kung out on her behalf, came in to seize the moment and report on matters that required her instruction. Most of them were handled very quickly; Su Ning only needed to nod and say yes, or shake her head and say no.
"...That Portuguese journalist named Miguel has come to Peiping. He's been acting sneakily. First, he tried to sneak to your side, Miss, but failed. Then he went to stalk Antonio. Do you need us to teach him a lesson?"
This "lesson" naturally wouldn't be that simple.
It would probably involve missing arms or broken legs.
"No need."
Su Ning waved her hand, her tone carrying a smile. "Hatred can bring unimaginable power. This Miguel might actually get a big scoop."
One could figure it out with their toes.
His fundamental goal in stalking Antonio was still to take revenge on Su Ning.
Good, she sincerely wished him success.
"Find a few more people to keep an eye on Miguel." The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Su Ning, the oriole, was very much looking forward to the mantis's harvest.
"Understood."
The clever Assistant Lin instantly understood her meaning. When he turned to leave, the guards took an extra look at him. Why did it feel like Assistant Lin was very happy?
Happiness is conserved.
If someone is happy, naturally someone else is unhappy.
The main gates opened once again, causing a commotion among the people surrounding Antonio. He also hurriedly looked up, only to find a car driving out from inside. The crowd let out a sigh of disappointment:
"I thought Miss Su was in a good mood today and ready to see people."
"Who went in? We've waited for so long without Miss Su even glancing at us. What right does that person have!"
"Shh, do you have a death wish?"
Someone who recognized the car turned pale with fright and whispered Madame Kung's identity.
The crowd gasped.
"Damn it, doesn't this mean we have absolutely no chance?"
"Not necessarily. Peiping is Miss Su's hometown after all, there's always some sentiment..." Before the sentence was finished, it was interrupted. "What a joke, is Miss Su someone who talks about sentiment?"
Saying that, the person pouted toward Antonio.
"Speaking of sentiment, who among us here can compare to him... and yet..."
The voice at the end was quite soft.
Antonio couldn't hear it very clearly, but it was enough of a blow to him. No one knew the torment he had been through these past few days. In contrast, Su Ning was riding high on success. Thinking of this, the resentment in his heart temporarily reached its peak.
Suddenly, the car slowed down as it passed by this side.
The crowd fell silent.
They watched the car slowly come to a stop—
Right next to Antonio. Everyone held their breath, and the person who had just spoken was dumbfounded. No way... The car window rolled down, and the noble lady inside was looking at Antonio.
But they could also see it clearly.
Curiosity, pity, amusement—among the many emotions in those eyes, the most obvious one was pity.
Antonio's expression stiffened just as he was about to call out a greeting, a deep sense of foreboding settling in his chest. The car window rolled up swiftly, leaving him with nothing but a trail of exhaust.
The onlookers exchanged glances, each harboring their own silent speculations.
Antonio stood rooted to the spot in a daze for a moment before abruptly turning to leave. His mind was in an unprecedented state of chaos, but he knew that lingering around would be utterly pointless.
Su Ning.
That detestable, cold-blooded, and callous Su Ning.
There was absolutely no way Su Ning would agree to see him!
He had to come up with a plan. Father... the news could only be kept under wraps for a few more days, and Mother's power was limited.
