Chapter 149: The Toyed-With Goddaughter (24)
Having soaked Su Mingxiu’s dress, Yu Nian was also in a dishevelled state. Her phone vibrated incessantly with calls from Yu Wanru and her secretary.
Su Mingxiu, watching Yu Nian peek out from behind the closet door, a playful smile on her lips, asked: “Not answering?”
Yu Nian, holding a casual outfit, her earlier excitement fading, hesitated. “They’re… urging me to go back.”
“Then go back,” Su Mingxiu said, her calm demeanor unlike someone caught in a passionate embrace. “She’ll punish you if you’re late, right?”
“But…”
Yu Nian knew Su Mingxiu was right, but she wanted to be selfish, to savor every stolen moment.
Su Mingxiu sighed, stepped forward, and kissed her forehead. “We’ll see each other again soon—and then, if you want, you can stay with me as long as you like.”
“Really?”
Yu Nian, although unsure of Su Mingxiu’s confidence, instinctively believed her. After Su Mingxiu nodded, she reluctantly went to the bathroom and changed, finding the earring in her pocket.
She put it away.
Su Mingxiu walked her to the elevator. As Yu Nian looked at her, her eyes pleading for a goodbye kiss, Su Mingxiu smiled gently, pressed the elevator button, and turned to leave, the golden doors closing between them.
Returning to her room, she passed an open door—
Sheng Tianheng, holding a glass of red wine, swirled it and commented: “The Yu family has a knack for producing lovesick fools. But I’ve always believed that being consumed by love leads to ruin. You, Miss Su, seem to be uprooting the very foundation of the Yu family.”
Su Mingxiu, hearing his theatrical commentary, stopped and looked at him. Sheng Tianheng swirled his wine, offering her a sip. “Romanée-Conti, 2005, the hotel’s finest. Care to try?”
She glanced at it and said with a deadpan expression: “Fake.”
Then, she left without another word.
Sheng Tianheng: “?”
“Impossible!” he exclaimed, then remembered Su Mingxiu’s earlier comment about his tea, which had turned out to be true.
He sniffed his wine, examined its color, then took a sip, the taste familiar.
But this woman’s uncanny palate, never wrong when it came to wine, tea, or food… he returned to his room, his earlier smugness gone, and had the manager confirm that the wine was indeed authentic.
2:30 AM.
Sheng Tianheng sat up in bed, his voice filled with frustration. “Is it real or fake?”
Su Mingxiu, unaware and uninterested in Sheng Tianheng’s predicament,
Bought a plane ticket back to China the next day. There was too much work at the studio, her team still small, requiring her personal attention.
Summer break flew by, uneventful for working adults except for the Lunar New Year, a holiday that highlighted the loneliness of living alone.
This was true for Su Mingxiu, and even more so for Yu Wanru.
Having found Yu Nian at the hotel after the bidding war, her clothes changed, but having gotten no answers, she was in a foul mood.
She knew Yu Nian had gone to see Su Mingxiu, and Yu Nian knew that she knew. But this encounter had only been possible because Yu Wanru had brought Yu Nian along on her business trip.
Yu Wanru could only assign Yu Nian more tasks, even monitoring her academic progress after she returned to school.
But by October, Yu Wanru had no time to worry about her daughter.
Wanda Group’s projects in various locations were facing loan delays. There had never been any problems before, the branch managers assuring her that their communication with the banks had been smooth, but the funds weren’t being released.
A single broken link in the capital chain of a large corporation could cause a domino effect. Without the loans, projects were stalled, construction workers were unpaid, buyers who had paid deposits for pre-sold properties were panicking, fearing they had bought into unfinished projects, and other projects dependent on the incoming funds were also delayed…
Initially, Yu Wanru had thought her subordinates were being negligent, urging them to communicate with the banks, expediting paperwork, offering bribes.
But her subordinates couldn’t even get a meeting with the bank managers.
The funds seemed to be indefinitely delayed—
This was the most terrifying scenario.
For the first two months, Yu Wanru had been able to use her reserves to cover the shortfall, halting new projects. But by the end of December, the situation continued to worsen.
Media outlets started reporting on Wanda’s stalled projects, amplifying the buyers’ panic, causing the company’s stock price to plummet.
Even self-proclaimed experts started speculating about Wanda’s losses and the likelihood of bankruptcy.
Yu Wanru wasn’t foolish enough to think this was just bad luck, or that her employees were incompetent. This was clearly sabotage.
But by whom?
With Wanda’s power, how many rivals did she have?
This feeling of being trapped, suppressed… was ominous.
January.
G City.
Yu Wanru encountered Tianyan again at a bidding conference. Sheng Tianheng was still accompanied by that beautiful, irritating woman.
Despite the cold weather, she was dressed like a blooming flower beside Sheng Tianheng, attracting envious glances.
Sheng Tianheng, passing by Yu Wanru, paused, his fingers tracing his prayer beads. “You look unwell, Ms. Yu, haven’t been sleeping well?”
Wanda’s predicament was public knowledge, but the exact reason was unknown. They assumed it was government intervention, perhaps Wanda had become too powerful.
Yu Wanru knew he was mocking her. She glanced at him coldly. “You have time to worry about me, why not worry about yourself, or… your bed partner?”
Her gaze shifted slightly towards Su Mingxiu, a subtle jab even in her current predicament.
If Sheng Tianheng had any such intentions, he would have taken the bait.
But he only looked at Su Mingxiu in surprise, then raised an eyebrow at Yu Wanru. “You mean Miss Su? I can’t afford such a title, it would shorten my lifespan.”
Then, he turned to Su Mingxiu, his tone playful. “Miss Su, I told you before, dress more professionally for formal occasions, see, now you’ve caused a misunderstanding.”
Miss Su?
Yu Wanru looked at them suspiciously. She didn’t believe Su Mingxiu, with her limited abilities, deserved such a respectful title from Sheng Tianheng.
But the details of their previous encounters resurfaced. Whenever Su Mingxiu and Sheng Tianheng appeared together, she was always by his side, their interactions not overly intimate, making people assume that Sheng Tianheng preferred aloof and independent women.
“Professional?” Su Mingxiu said, not looking at Yu Wanru, her tone sharp. “Like someone with billions in debt, terrible investment judgment, stubborn, foolish, and prejudiced? No, thank you.”
Yu Wanru: “…”
She almost choked on her own blood.
Sheng Tianheng, enjoying the drama, chuckled and spread his hands towards Yu Wanru. “See, such a terrifying person, how could I possibly dare to provoke her?”
“But it seems your advice is more applicable to yourself—after all, you seem to need a better understanding of your… former bed partner.”
“If it weren’t for her, Wanda wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
He sounded like he was offering genuine advice, but the bidding was about to start. Su Mingxiu reminded him calmly: “Mr. Sheng, have you heard this saying?”
“Hmm?”
“Villains die from talking too much.”
Sheng Tianheng chuckled, then sat down beside Su Mingxiu, sighing dramatically. “Being the villain is quite enjoyable.”
The project, naturally, was won by Tianyan.
Yu Nian had initially only heard vague rumors about Wanda’s troubles.
Then, Wanda’s stock plummeted, almost making headlines, and her wealthy friends sent her messages of concern. Yu Wanru hadn’t called her for two weeks, and she realized the situation was more serious than she had thought.
The rumors, from various sources, reached her ears.
And Su Mingxiu—was at the center of it all.
Yu Nian had never imagined hearing about Su Mingxiu like this. Before, the mentions of Su Mingxiu had always been filled with disdain and mockery,
As if she were worse than those in shady professions.
But this time, it was different.
They spoke of Su Mingxiu with a mixture of awe and fear.
“I heard she collaborated with Tianyan and set a trap for Wanda… If it weren’t for that, Wanda wouldn’t be facing a broken capital chain, that’s ruthless… I heard she’s Yu Wanru’s ex-wife, the one who was left with nothing after the divorce. Never underestimate a scorned woman.”
“That land Wanda bought in Northern Europe? A total loss, over 40 million yuan down the drain. And they’re already short on cash, Yu Wanru can’t even sell it, I feel bad for her, what a terrible investment. How did she fall for that?”
“You should be wondering how Su Mingxiu pulled it off. Yu Wanru is experienced, to be outmaneuvered by a novice… talk about being capsized in a gutter.”
“A novice? Have you heard of XU Studio? They were the main investors in two blockbuster films this summer. Su Mingxiu is the owner, her financial strength, the speed at which she built her empire from scratch, her investment acumen, I’m starting to think she has a cheat code for life. Living frivolously for years, then suddenly becoming a ruthless businesswoman, who wouldn’t admire her?”
“Damn… the entertainment industry is so messy, how did she do it? I heard she wanted to be a celebrity, but after a few years, she was still a nobody. So, her talent lies in investing? Is she some kind of chosen one? Every project she invests in turns into gold?”
“I heard Yu Wanru collapsed at a business forum today and was rushed to the hospital, things are about to change at Wanda.”
…
When the last rumor reached her, Yu Nian had just returned to the city and was waiting outside the ICU, Yu Wanru still unconscious.
But behind her, Wanda’s shareholders, the Yu family’s relatives, and high-ranking executives, blocked by bodyguards, were trying to get information.
Before her was the ward,
Behind her, the vultures circling, eager to pick at the carcass of a dying empire, their faces masks of self-preservation.
Countless times, in moments of intense longing for Su Mingxiu, looking at her mother, the insurmountable obstacle between them, she had yearned to grow up—
To be strong enough to climb this mountain and see the view on the other side.
But now, the mountain had crumbled, and she stood amidst the dust and debris, looking ahead, realizing that the scenery was different from what she had imagined.
Even the person she had expected to be waiting there was now a blurred image, distorted by the rumors.
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