“You bastard, you’re so mean, you kicked me out…”
Although she was cursing, her voice was soft, making it sound like she was being affectionate with him.
Shang Lu reached out and gently touched her soft black hair, pushing the strand that was sticking to her face to the side. His voice was low and commanding.
“Drink this.”
Su Banxia looked up and saw the handsome face of the man inches away from her. In his well-defined hand, he held a cup filled with almost transparent liquid.
“What is this?” Su Banxia asked in a fearful tone, her wide eyes staring at him. She had taken a slight advantage of him, and now he seemed intent on killing her.
Shang Lu had endured it for so long, and now he was finally going to take action against this wicked woman.
In her drowsy state, Su Banxia’s mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening. She was lost in her fantasies about the original novel’s plot and resisted, saying, “I won’t drink it, Shang Lu, you have no conscience, you’re trying to poison me.”
Shang Lu: “…”
He had no idea what she was imagining.
The atmosphere in the room became tense. Shang Lu’s face darkened as he stared at her. In reality, he shouldn’t be arguing with a drunk person, but the way she spoke made it sound like he was trying to harm her.
“It’s not poison; it’s honey water,” he said sternly, afraid that she might make a scene. He added, “It’s sweet.”
Su Banxia was half-believing, half-doubting. “Is it really honey water?”
She held her warm face in her hands, looking like she didn’t know any better and that he shouldn’t deceive her. “Where did you get the honey?”
Shang Lu almost felt a vein pop on his forehead. She was even clingier when she was drunk than usual. He decided to take matters into his own hands, gently pinching her delicate chin and coaxing her in a tempting tone.
“Just taste it, you’ll see. Drink it quickly.”
Su Banxia reluctantly took a sip and blinked her eyes. “It’s really sweet.”
Shang Lu breathed a sigh of relief. “Finish it.”
Su Banxia held the cup and quickly finished it.
Shang Lu took the cup and placed it back on the living room table. Before he could turn around, he was embraced from behind.
Su Banxia clung to him like a sloth, holding onto him tightly. Her head rested on his shoulder as she spoke in a drowsy voice, “I want to take a plane, I want to fly.”
“…”
Even when facing formidable opponents in the business world, Shang Lu had never felt as much headache as he did now. He maneuvered his wheelchair, carrying her around the living room, and finally managed to get her back to bed.
Su Banxia lay on the bed, holding his hand and giggling foolishly.
Only one wall lamp was lit in the room, casting a dim light. In the soft light, the man’s delicate facial features had a hint of tenderness.
Even while drunk, Su Banxia was still fixated on reclaiming her luck. She held his hand and rubbed it against her face, muttering, “Shang Lu, you’re my treasure, my destiny…”
Shang Lu’s black eyelashes trembled slightly, and complex emotions welled up in his dark eyes.
Su Banxia pouted, saying, “Kiss.”
Shang Lu looked at the girl with flushed cheeks and hesitated for a moment. He leaned down to kiss her, stopping just inches away from her lips.
The girl’s breathing became shallow, and she fell into a peaceful sleep, looking carefree. It made Shang Lu want to passionately take her.
Shang Lu clenched his fists and sat up straight.
The next morning.
Su Banxia woke up from her dream, sat up, and rubbed her head. Her mind was filled with hazy memories.
She had gone out drinking with Lin Qingya last night, and then… she had encountered Shang Lu at the club. Oh my goodness, she had actually dragged Shang Lu into drinking with her. What’s worse, her drunken behavior had been like a car crash scene.
She couldn’t believe that Shang Lu had tolerated her antics and hadn’t pushed her away.
Su Banxia covered her face with both hands, feeling a mix of embarrassment and regret. She had not only thrown up and caused a scene but had also acted like a pervert, demanding kisses. It was truly unbearable to think about.
The situation from last night could be described as a social death scene.
Su Banxia wasn’t sure if Shang Lu had left.
She gently got out of bed and opened the door to peek outside. The apartment was very quiet, with no one else around.
She sighed with relief and went downstairs to find breakfast set on the table, still warm. She proceeded to wash up and then sat down at the dining table to have breakfast while checking her messages.
Shang Lu’s WeChat profile picture displayed the logo of the Shang Corporation. His Moments (a feature similar to social media posts) contained only a few updates related to the company, with no personal content to see.
Su Banxia took a bite of her meat bun and tapped Shang Lu’s profile picture twice.
– You poked Shang Lu.
“…”
Su Banxia felt like she wanted to die. Setting aside the question of why Shang Lu allowed pokes, why did she have to be so impulsive?
She hadn’t forgotten the cold war between her and Shang Lu, even though it was her unilateral anger.
Her phone vibrated, indicating a new message.
Shang Lu had sent a question mark.
Su Banxia bit her lip, sent an animated cat furiously waving its paws and beating up another cat as an emoji, and then turned off her phone.
After taking a short rest, Su Banxia prepared herself and headed out.
Xiong Da came to pick her up in a car, and when she got in, Xiong Er handed her a folder.
“Miss, here are the documents you requested.”
Su Banxia opened the folder, and inside were the pieces of information that the two brothers had gathered over the past few days. The woman leading the trouble, Zhang Qiang’s mother, had indeed worked as a maid in the Shang family for a period of time.
Zhang’s mother’s husband was an alcoholic who had drowned in a river one day, leaving her a widow with a child. Zhang Qiang, from a young age, didn’t excel in his studies and learned to smoke and drink in middle school. After dropping out of school, he started hanging out on the streets with a gang of ruffians.
Not only that, Zhang Qiang had a penchant for gambling and often engaged in petty criminal activities with his brothers.
It was said that the mother and son had a poor relationship and would often quarrel at home.
Several years ago, after being fired by her employer, the Shang family, Zhang’s mother had been involved in a car accident for unknown reasons, resulting in her becoming a vegetative state. The hit-and-run driver responsible for the accident had not yet been apprehended.
In theory, none of this had anything to do with the Shang family. Zhang Qiang insisted on accusing Shang Lu of punishing his mother, leading to her accident.
Since Zhang’s mother was directly dismissed by her employer within the contract period, there was nothing Zhang Qiang could do to implicate the Shang family.
Su Banxia pondered while holding the information. There must be hidden secrets behind this. A few years ago, Zhang’s mother hadn’t caused trouble for the Shang family, but the scandal erupted precisely during the Shang family’s bidding competition. She suspected that someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.
“Miss, where are we going now?” Xiong Da, who was driving, asked.
Su Banxia thought for a moment and said, “To the hospital.”
To uncover the truth, she needed to visit the person involved.
The car arrived at a private hospital. With two bodyguards, Su Banxia didn’t want to attract too much attention, so she left Xiong Da and Xiong Er outside.
The inpatient department was located behind the diagnostic building. Su Banxia took the elevator to the fifth floor, found her way to a hospital room, and inside lay a fierce-looking middle-aged woman, Zhang’s mother, the same person as in the photos from the documents.
Since Shang Lu refused to talk, Su Banxia had to investigate on her own to find out what had happened in the past.
Su Banxia activated the skill points she had exchanged from the system store, enabling her to use the Time Regression Technique. With this ability, she could enter the target’s mind and access their past memories.
…
After a moment of dizziness, Su Banxia felt herself floating and then appeared at the Shang family’s villa from several years ago.
She took a moment to adjust and prepared to see what Shang Lu was doing at that time.
At this moment, she saw Zhang’s mother, dressed in a maid’s uniform, coming out of a room. She looked anxious, as if she had done something secretive.
Since this was a memory related to Zhang’s mother, Su Banxia floated along with her as she left the Shang family’s villa. Zhang’s mother was carrying a bag and got into a taxi.
The taxi drove for an hour and arrived at the old city where Zhang’s mother and son lived. After getting out of the taxi with her bag, she returned to her own home.
Inside the old house, Zhang Qiang and several of his brothers were smoking and playing cards. When they saw their mother return, Zhang Qiang immediately scolded, “You old hag, why did you come back so late? I’m starving.”
Zhang’s mother meekly went to the kitchen to prepare food.
The scene shifted again, and Zhang’s mother took out some gold and silver jewelry from her bag, as well as some ornaments.
Su Banxia’s expression became solemn. Just as she suspected, Zhang’s mother, while working as a maid for the Shang family, had been involved in theft and had stolen items that were later sold through second-hand channels for money.
Both Zhang’s mother and son were addicted to gambling, and all the stolen items had been used for gambling. After numerous incidents, Zhang’s mother was caught by Lu Yurou.
Lu Yurou sat on the sofa, looking at the apprehended Zhang’s mother with a cold expression, full of disgust in her eyes.
“Madam, I must have been possessed by a demon to do such a thing. Please forgive me,” Zhang’s mother cried, tears streaming down her face. “As long as you forgive me, I’m willing to do anything, please.”
Lu Yurou canceled the call to the police and let the other servants leave the room.
“Are you really willing to do anything?”
Zhang’s mother hurriedly nodded her head and said, “As long as it’s not something like murder or arson, I’m willing to do anything.”
Su Banxia had a foreboding feeling.
The scene shifted again, and Zhang’s mother pushed open the door to Shang Lu’s room. Su Banxia finally saw Shang Lu.
Shang Lu’s young face still had some traces of innocence, but it was pale and gloomy. The room was dark, with the curtains drawn, and there was no trace of light.
Zhang’s mother placed a tray on the coffee table and spoke disdainfully, “Young Master, it’s time to eat.”
Shang Lu had a cold and indifferent gaze, but he didn’t speak.
“Do you want to eat or not?” Zhang’s mother impatiently looked at him and said, “You lie here all day without a care in the world, not knowing who’s going to take care of you. Your legs are crippled, and your hands aren’t broken, right? If you don’t eat, I’ll take it away.”
Su Banxia wanted to curse.
As a servant, Zhang’s mother shouldn’t treat Shang Lu like this.
Shang Lu, who was clearly upset, stared at Zhang’s mother with a cold and menacing look. However, she acted as if she had nothing to fear, hurling unpleasant words at him and taking his lunch away.
Isolated and alone, Shang Lu endured the mistreatment silently. Nobody knew he was being bullied.
Zhang’s mother served him leftovers, over-salted his food, and even deliberately damaged his wheelchair, making it difficult for him to move.
Shang Lu didn’t silently endure this. He finally approached his busy father, who was rarely at home, and asked him to dismiss the maid.
Zhang’s mother cried and made a scene, claiming she had done nothing wrong and worked diligently every day. Lu Yurou chimed in, saying that Zhang’s mother had been in their household for many years, and they couldn’t simply dismiss her before her contract was up.
Shang’s father didn’t want to listen to these trivial family matters. He scolded Shang Lu harshly, telling him not to act so moody just because of his disabled legs, which would drive people away and leave him with no one to take care of him.
The indifference of Shang’s father, the malice of Lu Yurou, and the mistreatment of Shang Lu by the maid, all of this made Su Banxia grind her teeth in anger. She wished she could materialize and confront them.
Zhang’s mother, emboldened by Lu Yurou’s support, knew she wouldn’t be fired and continued to escalate her actions.
She vented all her frustration on Shang Lu, committing unbearable acts against him.
On this particular day, Zhang’s middle-aged mother carried lunch into the room. She looked at Shang Lu with condescending eyes and said, “Lunch is here. I’ll come to collect it later.”
Intentionally, she pushed the wheelchair away from the bed. Shang Lu, who couldn’t walk due to his paralyzed legs, had to crawl over to reach the food placed on the table.
Shang Lu clenched his fists tightly. If he didn’t eat, his body would only grow weaker.
Extreme hunger forced him to put aside his dignity and attempt to crawl out of bed. He lifted the covers and was about to get down when suddenly, a pet dog rushed into the room and started devouring the food on the table.
“Oh, Yuan Bao,” Lu Yurou arrived late, smiling, “I’m sorry, Shang Lu, my baby can’t control its appetite. It ate your lunch.” Su Banxia couldn’t hold back her tears and felt a suffocating pain in her chest.
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