After the funeral, according to custom, one should observe a mourning period.
However, according to Su Ning, her father had actually been dead for a year. Counting from that date, she had long passed the strict mourning period.
Even by the strictest rules.
As long as there was no talk of marriage, there were no longer any taboos regarding food, drink, clothing, or daily expenses. Besides, times had changed.
The filial piety customs of the previous dynasty were no longer popular.
She had been truly exhausted yesterday.
Su Ning decided to reward herself by sleeping in. Inside her room, thick velvet curtains blocked out all the light, and with both the air conditioner and the fireplace working, it was as warm as spring.
And there was no reckless person coming to disturb her.
Unfortunately, this sleep-in didn't happen—she was awakened by system notifications that grew louder one after another.
A hand reached out from the blanket rolled up like a caterpillar, fumbling around for a good while before realizing, oh, she didn't have a phone anymore. Su Ning sat up with sleepy eyes, slapping the mattress angrily:
"System, didn't I set it so that I wouldn't be notified for rewards from non-plot characters?"
She had no choice but to set it this way.
Otherwise, she wouldn't need to do anything all day but listen to the system dinging constantly.
Sigh, Su Ning only understood after becoming rich that being hated was a price the wealthy had to pay.
"I wouldn't make a mistake," the Heartless Rich System retorted even louder:
"Look for yourself, who do these rewards come from? They are either tier-one plot characters or tier-two plot characters."
This was very strange.
Early in the morning, who had nothing better to do than hate her this much.
Su Ning confusedly opened the system interface. There were over a dozen notifications, with reward amounts easily exceeding a hundred thousand. Incredible, there was even a lottery draw!
She sat up straight, rubbing her hands together with a beaming smile, let me see which God of Wealth this is—
[Fang Lin, Fang Lin, Fang Qingqing, Fang Jingde... Fang Lin, Fang Lin...]
Among the many Fang Lins.
Were mixed in one or two other members of the Fang family.
"System, did I lose a piece of my memory?" Su Ning asked very seriously. After being denied, her fingers unconsciously twirled her hair, her brows furrowed tightly:
"Then is this Fang Lin sick in the head? I haven't even met him, and before I could even act like a heartless rich person toward him, this kid started hating me first?"
Honestly, she was very annoyed.
I am going to mess with you, but haven't I not done it yet? How dare you hate me?
Heartless Rich System: ...You haven't had the chance to mess with Fang Lin, but you've already thoroughly offended his entire family.
"Host, while you were asleep, the Su family dealt a massive blow to Fang Lin and the Fang family. Because it was deemed that they were relying on your power, the rewards were credited to you."
Hearing this, Su Ning sincerely expressed:
"Truly my good uncle, good younger male cousin, and good younger female cousin."
...
Meanwhile.
Fang Lin was so furious that his face turned red, his handsome features twisted beyond recognition. He wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Su Zhenzhu opposite him noticed.
The pure and delicate girl looked at him with pity:
"Young Master Fang, no matter how much you pester me, it's useless. The engagement has been broken off. We are not destined for each other in this life. If you want to blame someone, blame the unreasonableness of your parents and sister."
"However, Buddha says we can pray for the next life. If you kneel before Buddha and copy scriptures for thirty years, perhaps you might beg for a sliver of fate between us."
"Who is pestering..."
He was interrupted again, this time by Half-Immortal Su, who held his head high and looked at the Fang family group out of the corner of his eye.
Striving to express mockery from every pore.
"Zhenzhu, you are just too kind-hearted. How can a toad match a swan? Not to mention it's a whole family of toads. Don't think that just because you sent some gifts and said some nice words, our family will accept you again. It's impossible."
"Even if you kneel down and kowtow to beg for forgiveness, it's impossible..."
"Bullshit, who wants to kowtow to you!"
Fang Lin could finally no longer maintain the facade of an elite who had studied abroad. Maddened by the Su family's refusal to listen to reason, their unreasonable badgering, and their overflowing confidence, he burst out cursing.
They hadn't inquired properly when they came.
Thinking that Su Ning also lived in this mansion, he brought his family over. The original intention was for the two sides to turn swords into plowshares—Su Ning would stop targeting the Fang family, and he wouldn't trip up Su Ning either.
Who would have thought, first they were stopped by the porter.
They waited a full hour before being led around in circles, their legs almost breaking from walking before they finally saw someone.
And it wasn't Su Ning, it was the Su family.
That was fine.
In Fang Lin's few memories of dealing with the Su family, although they were a bit vulgar, their attitude was still humble, and they could talk to resolve the conflict first.
Fang Lin had even prepared a draft in his mind.
—The engagement was impossible, but he was willing to acknowledge Su Zhenzhu as his god-sister and would protect her just like Qingqing.
Who knew, before the words could leave his mouth.
First, Half-Immortal Su asked a bunch of questions about their family business in a seemingly polite but actually infuriating manner. His parents held back their anger and answered very decently.
But Half-Immortal Su quietly muttered:
"Quite capable of holding on, they still haven't closed their shops. Aren't they afraid of ghosts coming to buy cloth in the middle of the night? Not considering the neighbors at all, so black-hearted..."
This directly angered his parents so much they rolled their eyes and fainted.
By now, Fang Lin was already very angry. He barely maintained his demeanor and kindly warned them not to be too arrogant, lest they cause trouble for Miss Su.
And they wouldn't even be able to remain relatives.
It was originally a hint that his status was now different, and offending him would bring trouble to Su Ning too...
Who knew, the Su family, whether they were too stupid to understand the implied meaning or deliberately pretending not to, actually thought he was here to salvage the engagement?
They took turns stepping up to humiliate him.
In every word, they implied that he, a dignified talent returned from studying abroad, was not good enough for a village woman like Su Zhenzhu. Fang Lin wanted to retort, but he was either interrupted or his words were misinterpreted.
An unprecedented feeling of frustration swelled in his heart.
Fang Lin finally lost his composure. Just as he was feeling annoyed, he suddenly noticed a clear smile in Su Zhenzhu's eyes, and looking at Half-Immortal Su and his son, it was the same.
They were deliberately playing him!
...
After realizing this, Fang Lin gritted his teeth, glared at them, and turned to leave with his parents without leaving a single word behind—
Why bother arguing with street ruffians!
Even if he didn't speak, the Su family still had to. They hypocritically shouted at their retreating backs:
"Sigh, how come you're leaving without even drinking a sip of tea? If word gets out, people will think we were poor hosts." Suddenly, the tone became anxious again:
"Stop, stop, stop, don't walk any further."
Fang Lin and the Fang family sneered in their hearts. They really were stupid people who only knew how to vent their temporary anger and then regret it later.
But regret was useless now; they were not going to stay!
The next second, their feet stepped into empty air.
The whole family fell flat on their faces, eating dirt.
Over here, Half-Immortal Su shook his head and sighed: "If you don't listen to the old man's advice, you'll suffer right away. I told you to stop. There's a pit there that hasn't been filled in yet..."
The Fang family had enough backbone not to let anyone help them, supporting each other as they walked away.
Their retreating figures looked extremely tragic and solemn.
But they hadn't gone far before they heard Su Zhenzhu behind them, gently and sweetly calling her father and brother to sort through the gifts and see if there was anything valuable...
The Fang family only then remembered that they had been so angry they forgot to take the gifts with them, and those things were quite valuable.
But turning back now would make them look like they had lost their imposing momentum.
She had no choice but to swallow her anger again, walking out with her head down in sheer frustration.
Once in the carriage, Mrs. Fang started crying before she even sat down properly.
Fang Jingde sighed heavily:
"Lin'er, you saw it too. How rotten the Su family's true nature is. In the past, they only pretended to be decent so Su Zhenzhu could marry into our family. Now, backed by that unreasonable Su Ning, they are completely arrogant and dismissive."
"Say no more, I know."
Fang Lin's expression was grim, and he said coldly: "The Su family, I will remember this."
"Then, are we still going to find Su Ning?"
"We still have to go." Fang Lin looked at Master Fang and Mrs. Fang with heartache, explaining guiltily:
"We can't afford to fall out with Su Ning right now, so I have to wrong you, Father and Mother. But in the future, I will make the Su family pay it back ten or a hundred times over."
"What are you saying? For the sake of your future, your parents will gladly endure any grievance."
…………
While the Fang family was still immersed in their deep father-son bond,
On the other side, Half-Immortal Su had already ordered his son to take a shortcut and rush to the Peiping Grand Hotel to deliver the news to his eldest niece, so that Su Ning could be prepared.
