Chapter 21

It was either opening her heart to confess or staying silent.

Between the two, she chose the equivalent of “no silver here, three hundred taels buried,” changing the subject and blurring the main point. She told Shu Qingyou that Rongrong wanted dessert and that after getting out of the car, she realized she hadn’t brought any money.

To prove she wasn’t lying, she even opened the navigation to show Shu Qingyou the dessert shop search.

As she pressed the screen-off button, the dark reflection showed Shu Qingyou’s cold face. They both knew this was a pompous excuse.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, Lin Xu turned her head. “Rongrong, we agreed, right? I’ll take you to eat little cakes?”

Certain that Shu Rong couldn’t distinguish the nuances in rhetoric, Lin Xu shifted the blame shamelessly, using the child as an excuse.

Shu Qingyou didn’t mind. Lin Xu’s inconsistency between words and heart was probably a daily habit—pretending to be righteous while actually throwing a childish tantrum.

“If you let me buy it, isn’t that just borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha?”

Her thoughts pierced, Lin Xu let out a dry laugh, her gaze drifting to the coffee shop across the street.

She couldn’t help but speak up. “Sister Shu, does your ex still miss you?”

The car started and drove at a steady speed. Shu Qingyou thought for a moment and decided to keep Lin Xu guessing too.

“Probably.”

Her phone number hadn’t changed, and her social accounts were still active. Shu Qingyou’s Moments feed was stuck four years ago; she’d already blocked Lin Xu.

The last message was a photo Lin Xu sent her of a pair of rings, one slipped onto the tip of a pale, slender finger, knuckles slightly bent. Under the warm light, the pigeon-egg-sized diamond sparkled brilliantly.

Lin Xu had asked if it looked good. Shu Qingyou naturally complied, giving a few formulaic polite compliments without assuming it was for her.

She didn’t deserve it. By then, the two had reached a dead end with no room for reconciliation.

Lin Xu: [You can post it on Moments.]

Shu Qingyou’s fingertip lightly tapped the screen to send: [No need.]

[I insist.]

Left with no choice, Shu Qingyou posted the photo on Moments, paired with an expression package that said it all.

As a result, a bunch of people—even unfamiliar ones—liked it and sent blessings.

It was around then that Chi Jia sent her a red envelope. Caught off guard, Shu Qingyou gave a hasty explanation afterward, and Chi Jia started contacting her more frequently. She even wanted to buy a matching couple’s ring with her girlfriend.

On the way home, Shu Rong got her little cake as wished, and they bought one for Lin Xu too. Upon arriving at the shop, her eyes glued to the colorful desserts. Shu Qingyou suspected that Lin Xu had wanted to eat it from the start and was just satisfying Shu Rong along the way.

Lin Xu choked on half her cake, struggling to swallow before easing up, her eyes turning red from the effort. As the car neared their destination, Shu Qingyou slowed down.

With a sidelong glance, Shu Qingyou opened the armrest box to indicate the small bottle of water inside, then used one hand to gently pat Lin Xu’s back. Lin Xu’s nose twitched and sniffled.

But Shu Qingyou’s hand was soft, carrying a jade-like warmth as it rubbed against her spine. Lin Xu’s mood felt infused with oxygen—satisfied and smooth.

Out of kindness, she tossed the remaining cake to Shu Rong.

Shu Rong in the back seat received this unexpected delight, her little mouth opening slightly to the chocolate cake—a different flavor.

Seeing the little foodie’s satisfaction, Lin Xu sighed.

“Shu Rong really has good taste in food, doesn’t she, Sister Shu?”

Her daughter wasn’t a garbage disposal, but Shu Qingyou didn’t want to hurt their self-esteem. She inwardly pitied Shu Rong for having such an A-mom.

“There’s someone over there…”

Lin Xu was gulping water head-down, the sound squeezing into her eardrums. She didn’t quite catch Shu Qingyou’s brief words.

“Sister Shu, what did you just say?”

The car stopped. Under the silver ginkgo trees fluttering in the front yard, a sports car was ostentatiously parked in a spot that didn’t match it at all.

The neighbor passing by, having witnessed Lin Xu’s posturing, suddenly showed good judgment and didn’t dare stare openly. They only muttered softly that this family wasn’t one ordinary people like them could afford to provoke.

Gu Huaiyuan watched as the car door opened and a long-haired woman in a coat stepped out. Her slender figure stood still as she glanced over, her eyes like clear glass, pure and untainted.

Shu Qingyou simply stared steadily at Gu Huaiyuan, exuding an otherworldly grace.

“Sister Shu, do you know her?”

Lin Xu hopped out of the passenger seat casually, crushing the water bottle in her hand. She planned to find a trash bin but caught sight of a woman with flamboyant wine-red wavy hair.

Her face clearly read ill intent and suspicion. Lin Xu furrowed her brows and immediately stepped between them. The visitor wasn’t friendly; she couldn’t back down.

“State your name.”

State her name? Gu Huaiyuan hadn’t yet recovered from her shock.

She’d hit the mark by accident. Investigating the Shu family had unexpectedly uncovered a car accident from a few years back: two cars collided, Lin Xu’s mother died on the spot, and the other driver fled, only to be sideswiped by a large truck.

The incident was sudden. Lin Xu fainted upon hearing the news and, upon waking, refused to see anyone—not even attending her mother’s funeral. She shut herself in her mother’s dark, sunless room.

It was no wonder. Lin Xu had lost her mother to illness at a young age, and her relatives were all wolves and tigers.

Only her mother had raised her alone, spoiling her endlessly until she grew into a little demon king of chaos, arrogant and haughty.

But the little demon king was deeply dependent on her mother.

One phone call from her mother, no matter where Lin Xu was—even across the Pacific—would make her find a way to rush home.

Their circle’s playmates all agreed that Lin Xu had a severe Oedipus complex.

After her mother’s death, Lin Xu was forced to grow up. Her grandmother, Old Lady Lin, was like a queen on high, controlling everything. It was Gu Huaiyuan who dragged her out of her days-and-nights-reversed chaos.

If she didn’t curry favor with Old Lady Lin but instead drowned in grief, Lin Xu would be too sorry to her mother for the path paved for her. Besides, as a top-tier A, she couldn’t just waste her status like that.

“Lin Xu! I’ve been looking everywhere for you, you rascal—still alive, huh!”

Though the woman behind Lin Xu caught her eye, that wasn’t the point. Everyone had guessed Lin Xu had met the same fate as her mother—in a car crash.

The smart AI sedan had smashed into the guardrail on the mountain-ring road, plummeting into the dense jungle below. The guardrail pierced straight through the windshield, impaling the driver’s forehead. Without surprise, blood and brains should have splattered everywhere.

By the time passing vehicles discovered it, the car was already on fire and exploding; the rain couldn’t extinguish it.

That corpse had long been charred into a blackened husk—ghastly beyond words.

The news Gu Huaiyuan got was that it was a car registered to Lin Xu, and the body was male. Lin Xu herself had vanished without a trace.

Unfortunately, the police reports were bought off by the Lin family, keeping the accident under wraps.

It seemed the Lin family was used to such things and had planned ahead. Sure enough, those dog relatives were already scheming to carve up Lin Xu’s power.

Gu Huaiyuan was desperate to find her—not just for herself, but out of a shred of friendship with Lin Xu.

Faced with the aggressive Gu Huaiyuan, Lin Xu instinctively stepped back.

Why did this red-haired woman look like she wanted to eat her? Lin Xu’s heart pounded. Worried she’d get too agitated and fall, Shu Qingyou reached out to steady her waist.

“She’s very familiar with you.”

Shu Qingyou’s voice brushed past Lin Xu’s ear like the first autumn frost—cool and aloof. Lin Xu shivered inexplicably.

The woman’s hair color was eye-catching; she tucked it behind her ear, her metallic stud earring sharp like her personality.

Short skirt, leather jacket, navel piercing glinting from her exposed midriff—luxury car and beauty, eye-catching anywhere.

Shu Qingyou couldn’t help glancing at the ring on the woman’s middle finger, understanding dawning. Just as she’d thought back then.

That pair of custom high-end diamond rings was merely Lin Xu’s casual whim.