A Miao was walking downstairs for her meal when she heard Xia Mei's voice. She then turned around to go upstairs.
"Stop right there!" Xia Mei threw the photo at her. "It's fine if you embarrass yourself, don't get us involved!"
The photo depicted A Miao, dressed in a chick costume, delivering condoms. She picked up the photo but before she could take a clearer look, Yao Lili's voice resounded.
"What is this?" Yao Lili snatched the photo out of A Miao's hands. Before long, she began screeching. "Disgusting! How can you do something like this?"
Seeing the development of events, A Miao thought she might as well sit down. "It's just a job. You all don't have to make a fuss about it."
"Job?" Xia Mei grabbed the photo and waved it in front of A Miao's face. "This photo is pinned up in our school board. Now everyone knows that there's someone in Xia family that does this sort of shady business. How can you even have the face to go to school when classes start?"
A Miao pushed Xia Mei's arm away, earning her a jab in the forehead from Yao Lili. "You're so embarrassing!"
"I don't think there's anything shameful about doing a job. The money I earn is clean. So what if they're condoms? Haven't you guys used them before?"
"How can you be this boorish!" Yao Lili yelled. "Who taught you to speak this way?"
Their loud voices alerted even Xia Yongqiang. Just as he entered the living room, he saw the photo on the ground.
"Grandfather!" Xia Mei immediately picked up the photo and showed it to him. "Look! Look at what she did!"
A Miao stood up. "That's the work outfit that I had to wear in my previous job. I didn't do anything immoral."
"Who can prove that you're not lying?" Xia Mei snorted. "Perhaps you used it yourself."
"You sure have a dirty mind at your young age. Don't use your mentality to evaluate me," A Miao replied without any trace of politeness. Xia Yongqiang interrupted her, saying, "Shut up. See what it's written on the photo."
There was a lengthy text written on top of the photo, basically saying that one of the precious young ladies of the Xia family had a rather complicated life and often entered the red-light district. Furthermore, the text even hinted that it could be Xia Wan.
"What? How can these people write this sort of nonsense?" It was only then that Yao Lili noticed the content of the text. Earlier, she had looked eager to watch a good show but she was now yelling in anger. "Damned girl! Who did you provoke?"
A Miao clenched her teeth. She was now certain that this was the psycho's work.
"Outsiders don't even know of my existence. Why would they target me?" she replied earnestly. "You should ask if Xia Wan provoked anyone. It might even be one of you."
Now that things have come to this, this was the only thing that she could say.
"Grandfather, look at how she's acting!" Xia Wan said unhappily. She wanted to make A Miao suffer a scolding.
Xia Yongqiang also felt that this matter was not targeting A Miao. Outsiders truly had no idea of her existence. Then what was the purpose of smearing Xia Wan's name?
"Speak! Did you do this on purpose?" Yao Lili refused to let the matter slide. "You're trying to ruin Wanwan and Shen Xinglan's relationship, aren't you?"
"Pfft!" A Miao nearly laughed out loud. She smirked at Yao Lili. Both of them barely knew each other, so what relationship was there to speak of? Yao Lili made it seem as if her daughter was already married to that psycho...
Xia Yongqiang's expression abruptly darkened. "Looks like someone's unhappy."
"Father?" Yao Lili was confused.
"I'm not trying to criticize you but can't you use your brain a little?" Xia Yongqiang snapped. "Don't forget there's still Bai Youran's aunt."
Yao Lili thought about it before suddenly crying out in realization. "Bai Yongwei!
"She's the madam of the Ji family and Shen Xinglan's stepmother." Xia Yongqiang frowned. "How did I forget about her? I'm sure this is her work."
"What gives her the right to do this?" Yao Lili's expression was full of disdain. "She's just a stepmother! She's just trying to get Wanwan to marry into the Bai family instead."
Xia Yongqiang had no mood to continue speaking with this foolish woman. He stood up and prepared to go to the study. "Call Haixin and ask him to come back. Tell him I have something to talk to him about."
"Grandfather!" Xia Mei did not expect that A Miao would be able to escape this incident unscathedly. "What about her? Even if someone deliberately targeted our family, she's the one who gave them a chance to do so!"
A Miao lowered her head without uttering a word. Xia Yongqiang glanced at her and said, "You're grounded for the time being. Your allowance for next month is also canceled."
Suppressing her urge to roar in laughter, A Miao quietly stood up and walked upstairs.
"Urghhhhh!" Once she was back in her room, she began kicking and punching the air on her bed.
That damned Shen Xinglan! Why would that psycho always ruin her plans? Now that she could neither go out to work nor get an allowance, how could she buy medicine for Song Baohua next month?
Simultaneously, Shen I reported the event to Shen Xinglan.
"Boss, will it affect us if they suspect her?"
Shen Xinglan looked up at him. "They'd just ground her. Xia Yongqiang won't throw her out of the house."
There was a knock at the door. Shen II pushed the door and entered. "Boss, there's a call from Mr. Ji."
"Hmph! He's just trying to remind Boss that Bai Yongwei's birthday is coming up," Shen I said disdainfully. "I really don't know how Mr. Ji's brain developed, not knowing the true identity of the person beside him after so many years."
Shen Xinglan sneered at him. "If he's clever, my mother wouldn't have died back then."
"Boss, Mr. Ji said they won't be returning to the country for the time being. The present..."
"Once you've prepared it, just mail it over." Shen Xinglan rapped the desk. "If he wants a show of a filial mother-and-son relationship, I'll put on an act for him. As for Bai Yongwei, we'll wait until she gets what she wants and then destroy it."
Shen Xinglan wore a nefarious smile on his face. "It's only fun to play a game like this..."
"Achoo!" He suddenly sneezed mid-sentence. Shen I was just about to wonder aloud if the air-conditioner was colder today when he heard his boss' sinister voice.
"It's definitely that damned woman scolding me."
Sure enough, A Miao was scolding him as she counted the money in her purse.
"There's not even 500 yuan here. I can only buy a box of medicine with this." She sighed. She had planned to save the 1,000 yuan that the Xia family gave her as allowance each month. By the end of the year, she would have enough to buy Song Baohua an infrared physiotherapy machine.
Now, she only hoped that Xia Yongqiang would forget about this in another two months and continue giving her an allowance.
"What are you thinking about to be that distracted?" a voice suddenly drifted into her ears.
A Miao lifted her head and saw Xia Wan standing at the door.
"You didn't knock the door again." She frowned and put away her purse.
Xia Wan walked in and sat down on the bed. She said in a concerned tone, "Don't take what happened today to your heart. I know you didn't do it on purpose."
"You're wrong!" A Miao laughed. "I'm working a job openly and honorably. I didn't get into anyone's way." She took advantage of Xia Yongqiang's speculation to push the blame onto that stepmother or whatever. "If you want to blame someone, you should seek Bai Youran's aunt."
"You misunderstand me. I'm not blaming you!" Xia Wan smiled but deep inside, she desperately wished to slap A Miao across the face.
She spent a considerable amount of effort to suppress this crisis in the school but she knew there would certainly still be people gossiping about this in private. She could let this slide, but she was worried that the Bai family would dislike A Miao even further because of this.
"Then why are you looking for me?"
Xia Wan sighed and then put on her trademark smile. "I've spoken to Grandfather earlier. This is your allowance." She placed a stack of money on the desk. "It's not your mistake in the first place. Don't worry about Youran. I'll explain this to him."
A Miao glanced at the money and then shifted her gaze back at Xia Wan. She then politely said thanks and put the money away.
"Thank you. But you don't have to explain anything. No matter what you do, Bai Youran will never like me." She chuckled. "His heart belongs solely to you!"
Contempt flashed across Xia Wan's eyes when she saw A Miao keeping the money. She would not have to worry about A Miao not marrying if A Miao was given enough benefits.
"Youran and I grew up together. We're just like siblings!" Xia Wan lowered her head a little. "Even if... Even if he feels anything, I believe everything will be fine once he marries you."
A Miao rolled her eyes. She truly applauded this woman's character. On the one hand, Xia Wan wanted to marry her off to Bai Youran. On the other hand, she was unwilling to do so and took every opportunity to show Bai Youran's feelings for her. A Miao did not know if she should describe Xia Wan as clever or foolish.
"Ah..." She stretched her body. "It's getting late. Aren't you going to bed?"
Xia Wan rose to her feet with a smile. "Then I won't be disturbing you any longer. See you tomorrow!"
The next day, A Miao deliberately waited for the Xia sisters to go to school before coming downstairs. Yao Lili saw how strangely she was acting and asked, "Do you want to go to school? Don't forget the old man's words."
"There's something I want to buy online. I need to go to the bank to deposit some money." A Miao plastered on a fake smile. "Do you want to go on my behalf?"
Yao Lili waved her hand in disgust. "How could a child order an adult around?"
"Then what should I do?" A Miao spread out her hands. "I need to deposit the money today."
"Auntie Li!" Yao Lili yelled. "Go on. Go and help her deposit the money."
A Miao shrugged and indifferently gave the unwilling servant her ATM card password and money. "Here's 1,000 yuan. I've already counted it."
Pursing her lips, Auntie Li turned around and left the house.
"Go back to your room." Yao Lili felt frustrated seeing her around.
"I'm hungry." A Miao ignored her and entered the kitchen to find food.
She cooked herself a bowl of noodles and even purposefully topped it off with several thick slices of beef. Carrying the huge bowl, she returned to her room. When she received the text notification from the bank, she immediately turned on her computer.
"Let's buy medicine for Auntie Song first!" That was her main goal. Buying from a seller in the same city meant that the item would be delivered tomorrow at the latest.
Then, a strange smile appeared on A Miao's face. She searched for a particular online store and began communicating with the owner of the store.
"Boss, there's a delivery for you." Shen II carried a small parcel into the office.
Shen Xinglan hung up his call and glanced at the parcel. "Where did it originate from?"
"Our city." Shen II did not hand him the parcel. Instead, he cautiously said, "Why don't I open it?"
He shook the parcel and his expression abruptly changed. "Boss, there's a ticking sound."
Shen Xinglan's brows furrowed. "Smash it."
"What if it's a bomb?" Shen II asked carefully.
Shen I who was standing on the sidelines replied, "Don't be funny. Did you forget that we installed a detector here? If it's a bomb, the alarm would have sounded."
Shen II nodded and fired a shot at the parcel.
Following a loud bang, something akin to a green mist filled the entire room. The smell assailed their nostrils and shrouded the entire office.
"B-Boss..." Shen I and Shen II looked dumbfounded.
Shen Xinglan's face was so dark that it resembled ink, emanating a deadly killing aura all over. But covered in a sticky layer of viscous goo, he seemed rather hilarious.