After much persuasion from the mother and daughter, Shi Yucheng finally relented, "Alright."
Having said that, he stood up to head to the study. After two steps, he turned back to instruct, "Yuke, be nicer to your sister. Don't always call her 'idiot'; it's not good to be too harsh on girls."
"Got it," Shi Yuke responded, making a face behind her father's back, but she didn't take his words to heart at all.
However, the thought of the 'idiot' soon taking her place to marry the blind man from the Sheng family—and all of Sheng family's shares becoming hers—lifted her spirits.
"Xuanxuan, where are you? Sister will play games with you."
Shi Youxuan popped out from behind a pillar, "I'm here, Xuanxuan loves playing games..."
Shi Yuke pulled out several ten-yuan notes and a one-hundred-yuan note from her purse, throwing a ten and the hundred onto the ground, then she pressed her lips together in a smirk, waiting to watch the show!
Shi Youxuan did not disappoint her; she picked up the ten-yuan note without hesitation and pocketed it, but didn't even glance at the hundred-yuan note.
Shi Yuke's eyes curved into a smile as she threw another ten and a hundred onto the floor, but still, Shi Youxuan unhesitatingly picked up the ten and then smiled innocently at her sister.
"No, let's do it again."
She tossed the notes out again, but each time Shi Youxuan only picked up the ten and ignored the hundred, every single time!
Until the last ten-yuan note from Shi Yuke's hand also went into Shi Youxuan's pocket, the hundred-yuan note was still "abandoned" on the floor by the 'idiot'.
She clung to her mother's arm, acting spoiled, "You saw it, Mom, I wanted to be nicer to her like Dad said, but she doesn't want it."
"Alright, just be a bit nicer to her like your dad said. I'm tired after a long day, I'm going back to my room to lie down." As long as her own daughter was happy, Jiang Yadan didn't care whether Shi Youxuan was "losing out" or "gaining an advantage."
After the game ended, Shi Yuke picked up the hundred-yuan note from the ground, patted Shi Youxuan's face with it, "An idiot will always be an idiot." Satisfied, she put the money into her purse and returned to her room.
Shi Youxuan laughed foolishly, her smile pure and oblivious.
She wasn't sure how many times she had played such games since she was young; every time, Shi Youxuan would pick the note with the smaller denomination over the larger one. Shi Yuke would always mock her for being stupid, unaware that Shi Youxuan's very first pot of gold came from this.
In the year Shi Youxuan turned twelve, she accidentally overheard her parents arguing outside the study!
That was when she learned that her biological father had left a great fortune in the Shi family that had somehow slipped unnoticed into her stepmother's name.
Shi Yucheng demanded that Jiang Yadan return the money to his adopted daughter.
Only then did Shi Youxuan realize that the near "accidents" that almost claimed her life in the past couple of years were probably related to her stepmother!
Some people really will stop at nothing for money.
That afternoon, Shi Youxuan was pushed forcefully by Shi Yuke at the top of the stairs...
She tumbled down, knocked unconscious, and when she was resuscitated at the hospital, she became 'idiotic'.
An idiot would never have a day of independence, and by playing the fool all these years, Shi Youxuan was ensuring her self-preservation.
Fortunately, Shi Yucheng treated her well, which gave Shi Youxuan a semblance of warmth in this family, and since Jiang Yadan saw her as no longer outshining her own daughter, she was more tolerant towards Shi Youxuan, who thus grew up safely until the age of twenty.
She agreed to take her sister's place in marriage to repay Shi Yucheng for the many years of fostering kindness!
From then on, her debt to the Shi family would be erased.
And as for everything Jiang Yadan and Shi Yuke had done to her, it was time to settle scores after her substitute marriage.
...
Shi Youxuan returned to her room, closed the door, and then, hugging her teddy bear, crawled into the wardrobe. She unzipped the zipper at the back of the bear and reached inside, rummaging around... and pulled out a small, sleek laptop.
The laptop opened silently, the desktop devoid of any icons. Shi Youxuan expertly brought up a hidden folder, typed in the password, and logged on to QQ. Jian Yining's profile picture was flashing, and when clicked, a series of messages popped up: Shadow, Top Prosperity Group has a secret mega-project worth tens of billions; should we get involved?
What's your take on Qingfeng's acquisition?
Will you attend the company's board meeting?
...
In fact, the multi-billion project, the nationwide sensational acquisition, were not what concerned Jian Yining the most; his primary interest was whether Shadow would attend the board meeting!
Shadow was Shi Youxuan's online alias, and the two had met online five years ago due to a chance encounter. Jian Yining was Shi Youxuan's business partner, co-managing a venture capital firm.
Shi Youxuan was in charge of making strategic decisions and major company moves, while Jian Yining managed personnel and handled day-to-day affairs.
The company had been established for five years, and their collaboration was near perfect. However, Jian Yining had no idea what Shadow looked like, whether old or young, male or female.
Shi Youxuan's fingers danced across the keyboard, sending off decision after decision, then closed the laptop and stuffed it back into the bear before stepping out of the wardrobe to open the room door, "I'm so hungry, Xuanxuan is starving!"