Bang, the door slammed shut.
Except for the old man of the Huo Family, everyone present shuddered in fright.
Oh no, the harbinger of doom was angry!
Huo Shen strode upstairs and entered Lin Anning's room.
He placed the brown paper bag on the desk and walked over to the window.
From this spot, he could clearly see the opposite loft.
His eyebrows furrowed, irritably pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Little liar!"
The night breeze blew off the calendar on the wall, and Huo Shen turned his head only to see a hole in the wall.
Inside it, there were empty canning jars, which he picked up and examined closely.
Knock knock
Huo Wenchang lifted his hand to knock on the doorframe, standing uneasily at the doorway, not daring to meet Huo Shen's eyes.
"Big brother, even you don't know where Anning has gone?"
At a glance, he spotted the brown paper bag on the desk.
Upon clearly seeing what was inside, Huo Wenchang's eyes tightened.
"Big brother, what are you doing with a marriage report? Are you getting married? With whom?"
Huo Shen stepped forward, stuffing the marriage report back in, his lips curling in scorn.
"Since when do I need to report to you about who I'm marrying?"
Huo Wenchang bit his teeth, his voice dropping a few notches.
"Big brother, that's not what I meant. I just want you to help me ask Grandpa for a favor, I really do like Anning."
"Anyway, Grandpa has his sights set on Anning. I promise, after marrying Anning, I will definitely not..."
He didn't finish his sentence before Huo Shen kicked him out.
Huo Wenchang clutched his stomach, kneeling on the ground, his face having turned white from pain.
"Huo Wenchang, have some shame."
"You chose the person yourself, you dropped your own pants."
"If I hear you coveting her again, next time, you won't be able to get up from the ground."
Disgusted, Huo Shen dusted his legs and entered the room.
Huo Wenchang didn't have the courage to enter again; he staggered downstairs and clumsily made up an excuse to hide in his room.
Unwittingly, dawn was almost upon them.
Huo Shen came to his senses, his fingertips caressing the canning jar, his eyes softening slightly.
"Brother Huo Shen!"
Su Jiaojiao, with shy tenderness, stood at the doorway holding a bowl of brown sugar and egg.
She was dressed in a white dress with a soft pink knitted sweater over it.
Her bright, sparkling eyes blinked, and under the dim yellow light, she faintly resembled Lin Anning.
"You haven't been eating properly these past two days, right? I was afraid you were hungry, so I made something for you, please have a bite."
"My sister just got upset for a moment. She's out to cool off, she'll be back in a couple of days..."
Just as she was about to step forward with the food, she saw Huo Shen stride toward her.
Feeling secretly happy, Su Jiaojiao revealed a perfect smile.
"Huo..."
Huo Shen stopped beside her, looking down at her from above.
"Don't you have a mirror at home, or a pot to piss in? Who are you calling sister? Are you worthy?"
Leaving a crimson-faced Su Jiaojiao behind, he marched downstairs.
"Old man, let's go, I'll take you back to Beijing!"
Little liar, ever since she was young, she liked to hide money and things in canning jars. Now that the jars are empty, it implies that she was prepared to leave.
First, I'll send the old man back, then go catch her.
"What, back to Beijing? Aren't we supposed to look for Anning?"
Huo Yang wanted to ask more, but Huo Shen had already opened the door and left.
Angry, Huo Yang had no choice but to follow.
"You rascal, wait for me!"
After confirming both men had gone far, Lin Jianguo patted his chest in relief.
"Comrade Ren Jing, the old man and Huo Shen won't be coming back, will they?"
If they came back again, he felt he would truly be driven crazy.
Now, he no longer wanted the Huo Family's marriage proposal; he just wanted to live a good life.
From the beginning to the end, Huo Shen had not looked Ren Jing in the eye once, and when saying he was going back to Beijing, he hadn't even given her a thought. Ren Jing was so angry she ground her teeth.
"How would I know? If you ask me, who do I ask?"
"Wenchang? Wenchang? Quick, help mom up; we'll take his car and go back to Beijing together."
Huo Wenchang, hiding in his room rubbing his aching stomach, was about to respond when Su Jiaojiao pushed the door and entered.
Like a startled little rabbit, she bounced into his arms.
"Brother Wenchang, after what's happened between us, you wouldn't abandon me, would you?"
Su Jiaojiao looked up at Huo Wenchang, her eyes red-rimmed.
"I know I can't compare to my sister, but I truly like you, Brother Wenchang. If you don't want me, I might as well die..."
Su Jiaojiao wiped her tears and turned to jump onto the windowsill.
Apparently forgetting that this was the first floor.
For some reason, Huo Wenchang felt a tightness in his chest, and his hand reacted faster than his brain, pulling Su Jiaojiao back into his embrace.
"No, I will talk to Grandfather when I return."
"Let's... get married!"
The last four words were especially difficult for him to say.
For some reason, the one he wanted to marry was Lin Anning.
But he somehow ended up with Su Jiaojiao in that situation, even though at the time, he was sure he saw Lin Anning's face!
Su Jiaojiao nestled in Huo Wenchang's arms, hearing his emphatic promise, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Why didn't her Golden Finger, which charmed everyone, work on Huo Shen?
Indeed, she had transmigrated into this period drama and had become the beloved true daughter of wealth.
And Lin Anning was the villainous rival in the story, fated to be her stepping stone.
In front of Lin Anning, she played the innocent to steal everything from her.
She wanted to max out Lin Anning's evil points so that she could reap rewards by collecting them.
But for some reason, things got out of hand.
The system did not detect a single point of malice from Lin Anning, and now, she had disappeared.
In a favorite's story, whoever she pursued would become the male lead.
Originally, she had her sights set on Huo Wenchang, but under the influence of her Golden Finger, he took the bait easily—too easily, without a challenge.
Now, she had her eye on the most difficult male character in the book, Huo Shen.
She thought she would easily capture him, but unexpectedly, he was not affected by her Golden Finger.
Interesting, this man had sparked her interest!
Downstairs, Ren Jing was urging persistently, and Huo Wenchang had no choice but to let go of Su Jiaojiao.
"Jiaojiao, wait for me. I will speak to Grandfather; I will marry you!"
After the Huo family left, the Lin family, chaotic as it was, finally had a moment of peace.
Zhao Hua staggered to her feet, ready to close the door.
"Jiaojiao's dad, we should all rest a bit."
"Tomorrow, we have to go to work!"
Just as she reached the door, the neighbor Nie Bigmouth splashed a basin of manure water over.
Instantly, the stench was overwhelming.
Startled by the stink, Zhao Hua was no longer sleepy; she opened the door, hands on her hips.
"What's this, Nie Bigmouth? I know you hold grudges; we invited you to dinner the other day, didn't we?"
"You chose not to come, and now who are you looking to annoy?"
"I'm telling you, if you don't clean up this manure, I'll report you to the neighborhood committee chair, and then your family won't be named a 'Five-Good' household by the end of the year."
Nie Bigmouth, holding a manure scoop, flung another ladleful.
"My, isn't this something? You can dump dirty water on others but can't handle it being splashed back?"
"Let me tell you, Zhao, this manure splash is on behalf of Anning."
"As long as she doesn't return, your family shall not have a peaceful day..."
Splash, two more ladles followed.
Zhao Hua was splashed all over and stepped back with her mouth covered.
The doorway was all manure; she couldn't leave and had no choice but to seek help from her neighbors.
"Please help, Nie Bigmouth has gone mad. Someone fetch Director Wang, I'll treat you all to pork buns later."
The neighbors acted as if they heard nothing and turned back to their own homes.
"We dare not eat those. You're capable of scheming against your own daughter of so many years, who knows what you might put in those buns—we wouldn't know how we died."
Regardless of Zhao Hua's ranting and raving, Nie Bigmouth stubbornly emptied the entire bucket of manure water.
And it didn't end there; before Zhao Hua could clean the manure from her doorstep, people came to the Lin Family's house to take away valuable items like the sofa and TV.
Upon inquiry, it turned out it was Huo Shen who had sent them.
"Comrade Huo said, these were bought by him and he's now taking them away!"
Indeed, the items had originally been brought by Huo Shen, but once given, they belonged to their home. To take them away now was like cutting flesh from Zhao Hua's body.
Zhao Hua made a scene, but it was all in vain.
Gazing at the empty house, she couldn't help but burst into loud wails.
"How are we supposed to live from now on?"
That marked the end of the Lin family's good days...