Free Web NovelChapter 194: Chapter 194: I Just Hope You’re Happy
"Lady Xin, it’s not convenient right now, so this is the only way Ningning can pay her respects. Please don’t blame me. She called you ’Mother’ just now. Did you hear her? She’s grown up now, almost five years old."
Xie Suzhi’s gaze softened with affection as he held the memorial tablet.
Just looking at her name, Shen Siyi, was enough to conjure the image of his beloved wife’s smile.
Xie Suzhi sat on a cushion, his back leaning against the altar table, and let out a heavy sigh.
"Ever since you passed away, I have been overwhelmed with grief. If it weren’t for my search for our daughter, I would have followed you long ago."
"But now, I have a new responsibility. I must raise her well, make up for the fatherly love she’s missed, and protect her from even the slightest harm."
As he spoke, Xie Suzhi’s gentle, refined eyes grew red.
His long fingers brushed over his wife’s name, and his gaze instantly turned dark and cold. "And I will make the people who tore our family apart pay a terrible price."
Then, he closed his eyes for a moment. When he spoke again, it was with a doting smile. "Just... in the underworld, by the Naihe Bridge, you must wait for me."
After the Xie family’s lively banquet celebrating their adopted daughter, Shen Ningning was taken home by Xie Mingxu.
But by nightfall, the Second Master’s household was in an uproar.
In the main house, Second Madam Xie was weeping as she smashed several teacups.
Nearby, Second Master Xie sat motionless in his wheelchair, staring at her with a cold gaze.
"That Dragon and Phoenix Pendant! You promised me you would wait until Jiu Jiu’s wedding and give it to her as part of her dowry! And now you’ve given it to a complete outsider! Have you lost your mind?!" Second Madam Xie wailed, slumped over the table.
Second Master Xie spoke, his words slightly slurred, but his expression was icy. "If I had known when I made that promise that you had schemed to trap me, I never would have married you, let alone promised to give the Dragon and Phoenix Pendant to you and our daughter."
Second Madam Xie’s crying came to an abrupt halt. She snapped her head up, glaring at Second Master Xie in despair.
"I knew it. All these years, you’ve been blaming me. Blaming me for drugging you so we’d have carnal relations. Blaming me for ruining your wonderful match with your childhood sweetheart!"
"But Xie Dizhi, I am the daughter of a third-rank doctor! I brought a handsome dowry when I married you, and after you were paralyzed, I cared for you day and night."
"A heart isn’t made of stone! After all these years, you should have realized that if I hadn’t loved you back then, why would I have resorted to such a despicable trick? I haven’t treated you poorly since, and other than not bearing you a son, what more do you want from me?"
At the end, Second Madam Xie shrieked, "Or is it that you’ve never forgotten that bitch in your heart!"
Second Master Xie’s calm, scholarly face instantly twisted with rage.
With all his strength, he hurled the thin blanket from his lap at the Second Madam.
"Don’t you dare insult her," Second Master Xie seethed through gritted teeth.
The Second Madam began to wail even more furiously. "What a wretched fate I have! If I’d known it would come to this, I should have thrown myself in the river when I was pregnant with Jiu Jiu."
Second Master Xie’s chest heaved with anger, his face flushed red.
Just then, Xie Yuanjiu burst in from outside.
"Father, Mother, please stop fighting." She had seen scenes like this countless times. "Mother, Father’s health is poor. Please don’t upset him."
Second Madam Xie wiped her tears. "Jiu Jiu, your father doesn’t even see you as his own daughter. The only person in his heart is that woman he loves."
Xie Yuanjiu bit her lip and looked toward Second Master Xie.
However, her father met her gaze with a look of weary disgust.
"Jiu Jiu, have an attendant come in and wheel me out!" At Second Master Xie’s words, Xie Yuanjiu called for a servant, who wheeled him to a side room to rest.
Second Madam Xie tried to follow and continue the argument but was stopped by Xie Yuanjiu.
"Mother, please stop this racket. If Eldest Uncle finds out, he’ll surely be angry." With that, Xie Yuanjiu closed the door.
Second Madam Xie immediately turned, threw herself onto the chaise longue, and cried herself into a mess.
"Jiu Jiu, you must make me proud. You have to show your father that you are the most outstanding child, that you won’t be outshone by some random wild girl who just showed up."
Xie Yuanjiu remained silent.
Second Madam Xie grabbed her hand, her expression frantic and almost savage as she urged, "Promise me! You can’t admit defeat. You must become the most brilliant young woman in the entire Capital City."
"I had to use underhanded methods to marry your father, which is why his heart has always been with that other woman. I heard she also had a daughter. You must be more outstanding than her daughter! You can’t let me lose to her, do you understand?"
"Not only that, but you certainly can’t let that Shen Ningning outshine you. Now that the first branch has taken her as an adopted daughter, she’ll be competing with you for many more things in the future."
Xie Yuanjiu nodded slightly. "Mother, I understand."
She had been competitive since she was a child. As the only legitimate daughter of the Xie family, she would never allow herself to be inferior to anyone.
...
Lu Shaoyuan invited Shen Ningning out directly and took her into the Capital City by carriage.
The little one had two mansions in the Capital City. One of them had already been transferred to her grandmother through the government office the day before yesterday.
The other was staffed with countless servants, but she still preferred living deep in the mountains.
So, as Lu Shaoyuan brought her into the Capital City this time, she asked curiously, "Are we going to see my new home?"
Lu Shaoyuan, dressed in bright purple robes, laughed heartily at her words and fanned himself. "How could that be? I don’t even need to look to know that a gift from the Emperor is bound to be a grand estate."
"I brought you to the capital this time to tell you that I got that shop we had our eye on from my mother. You’ll see when we get there. I’ve prepared everything."
Shen Ningning was surprised.
When she stepped down from the carriage, she looked up.
Lu Shaoyuan hadn’t just gotten it ready—he had renovated the entire storefront.
Two of the refugees Shen Ningning had previously saved were standing on ladders, one on each side, ready to unveil the red cloth covering the signboard.
Lu Shaoyuan smiled at Shen Ningning. "I had someone make a new, gold-leafed signboard based on your original design. Come on, you give the word for them to unveil it!"
The little one’s bright, dewy eyes lit up, her small face brimming with delight.
"Now!" she shouted, and the red cloth was pulled away, fluttering down.
The words "Wolf’s Sweet Water" were magnificent and grand. Even the paw print the Black Wolf King had stepped on was still there.
Wuer was wheeled out from inside by the refugees. Everyone applauded enthusiastically, their faces beaming with joy and hope.
Lu Shaoyuan’s attendant immediately set off firecrackers and beat gongs and drums in front of the door.
The people he had hired ran through the streets shouting, "Wolf’s Sweet Water is open for business! It’s the blessed girl’s shop! Eat here for heaps of good fortune! With the Wolf God’s protection, you’ll never fear walking the roads at night!"
Shen Ningning laughed so hard she clutched her stomach, her little face beaming with joy. She turned to Lu Shaoyuan and asked, "Isn’t this advertising a bit of an exaggeration?"
Lu Shaoyuan raised an eyebrow, full of spirit. "What’s there to be afraid of? My mother says that in business, you need a good gimmick. The more you exaggerate, the better the business."
With that, he took out a key and a ledger and handed them to Shen Ningning.
"Here. From today on, you’re the owner of this shop."
Lu Shaoyuan scratched the back of his head, comforting her a little awkwardly. "You don’t really need to care about who your parents are. At least, we’re friends with you because we like you for who you are."
"It doesn’t matter if you’re called Shen Ningning or Ningning Shen. We just hope you’ll be happy."
