Before anyone could react, a few students immediately handed their phones to Xie Lan."Mr. Xie, look! We have photos and recordings. Mu Yaohui clearly said that if Mu Beiyin didn't hand over her mother's belongings to Mu Qianrou, he'd beat her to death!"
"That's right! Mu Qianrou, your parents have been taken to the police station, and you're still here seducing men? Don't you have any shame?"
Mu Qianrou was furious, tears streaming down her face like falling blossoms."Mr. Xie, it's not true! My dad is my sister's biological father. He's always loved her. My mom has always felt guilty toward her. How could they…"
Before she could finish, Xie Lin cut her off coldly.
"So this is what your Mu family is really like—two-faced! I thought you realized your mistakes and were restraining yourselves. I didn't expect you to become even worse!"
"I returned to China for Su Xingling, but you people tried to seize her inheritance!"
"And you? What are you, a mere illegitimate daughter? Not only have you taken over the rightful wife's place, now you even want to scheme for her inheritance?"
"Get lost! From now on, I don't know you. Don't come near me again and pollute my eyes!"
With that, Xie Lin turned and left.
The surrounding students applauded.
"Xie Lin is so decisive!"
"That fake white lotus needs to be dealt with firmly. What did Young Master Song even see in Mu Qianrou?"
"She's so embarrassing. Why hasn't she transferred schools yet?"
Mu Qianrou's face turned pale, as if she could collapse any second.
She finally couldn't bear the pointing fingers and whispers. Covering her face, she ran away crying.
Once home, she opened the trending news and nearly vomited blood from anger.
The situation she had worked so hard to turn around had been completely ruined by her own mother!
Ding-ding…
At that moment, her phone rang.
Seeing that the caller was Song Lingqian, she hastily answered through her tears."Brother Lingqian…"
"Qianrou, Grandpa saw the news. He doesn't want to see you for now."
Song Lingqian frowned. "What's with Aunt Lin? If you needed jewelry, you could've asked me. But to go and seize Aunt Su's belongings… Grandpa is very angry."
After a few perfunctory words of comfort, Song Lingqian hung up.
Mu Qianrou could no longer handle the blow. She threw her phone to the ground with a loud crash.
"Ahhh!"
She had wanted Su Xingling's belongings so she could shine at the Song family banquet!
But now, her invitation had been revoked!
Her anger overwhelmed her mind, and she collapsed to the floor, screaming in a frenzy.
"Bitch! Bitch! Why did Mu Beiyin come back? Why didn't she just die out there!"
The servants passing by shuddered at her twisted expression.
On the second floor of Yujing Garden.
Mu Beiyin had no idea what was happening with Mu Qianrou. She lay on her bed, scrolling through her phone.
On the screen was a yellowed photo of a woman.
She had gone to the old house in Baishui Town to investigate the connection between the Song family and her mother, but she hadn't even managed to bring back her mother's photo album.
Wait... Huo Shiqing had said he came to see her, but he never told her why.
Oh well. Since he didn't bring it up again, it probably wasn't important.
Her thoughts became more and more scattered, and eventually, she fell asleep on the bed.
When she woke up, it was already the next morning.
She jumped up in shock. How had she slept for so long?!
Her stomach growled. She went downstairs to find food, only to discover Huo Shiqing sitting in the living room, fixing something.
From the angle upstairs, it looked like he was repairing a calligraphy scroll. Makes sense—he was highly skilled in calligraphy, so he was probably good at restoration, too.
Mu Beiyin didn't think much of it and headed straight to the dining room. After eating, she came out and saw that Huo Shiqing was still there.
She didn't want to interrupt him and was about to head upstairs when he called her name."Beiyin."
She paused, her eyes landing on a photo album.
Her mind buzzed, and she rushed over before she could even think."This… is my mom's photo album?!"
Wasn't it burned by Lin Ru? How did it end up in Huo Shiqing's hands?!
"Lin Ru didn't actually burn it. I had Bai Ji retrieve it from the Mu house."
Mu Beiyin quickly flipped it open. Her eyes instantly turned red.
It was filled with photos of her mother—so gentle, radiant, smiling brightly at the camera.
Then, she noticed traces of restoration on the photos.
…So he had been restoring the photos earlier?
"The album was in terrible shape after Lin Ru's damage. No matter how skilled, I couldn't fully restore it," Huo Shiqing said calmly. "I tried every method I could. This is the best I could do."
Mu Beiyin blinked, suddenly feeling a little lost.
From his tone, it sounded like he'd had Bai Ji search for the album as soon as he got home yesterday, and had been working on restoring it the entire night.
Wasn't his time supposed to be extremely valuable? Yet he had spent a whole day fixing her mother's photo album?
Why was he so kind to her? And yet, all she had ever intended was to use Huo Shiqing to get the inheritance. In comparison, she truly felt like a scumbag.
Mu Beiyin felt her eyes welling up."Thank you, Mr. Huo. If there's ever anything I can do to help you in return, I'll go through fire and water without hesitation—"
"There is something," Huo Shiqing interrupted coolly.
The word "hesitation" was still stuck in her throat, and she swallowed it awkwardly."…Huh?"
Huo Shiqing smiled gently."Mrs. Huo, surely you haven't forgotten the reason we got married."
Mu Beiyin suddenly remembered—he was being pressured to get married at the time, so he had married her to put his elders at ease.
Wait a minute. What did he mean by that?! Did he want her to meet his family?
"Looks like you've figured it out," he said casually. "My grandmother wants to meet my new wife. Mrs. Huo, I checked—you don't have class today. Let's go."
Mu Beiyin swallowed the flicker of emotion that had just risen in her heart and kept a straight face."…"
Huo Shiqing was the youngest son of the Song family patriarch. His mother must have been the mysterious, never-publicly-seen wife who died young. So his grandmother… must also be quite the enigma.
Meeting her just like that—wasn't that a bit much?
Mu Beiyin instinctively refused."I still have—"
"Didn't you just say you'd go through fire and water for me?" Huo Shiqing said lazily.
Mu Beiyin choked on her words.
…That was what she said.
She couldn't exactly slap herself in the face, so she forced a smile."Fine… let's go."
In the car, Mu Beiyin grew anxious. This was her first time meeting her husband's family. How should she act?
"Huo Shiqing, what's your grandmother's surname? How should I address her?"
She didn't even know the name of that mysterious Song family matriarch, and now she was supposed to meet her son's grandmother? Life was full of surprises.
Huo Shiqing narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed Mrs. Huo had always misunderstood his connection to the Song family…
His gaze flickered."Just call her Grandma."
Mu Beiyin nodded, then grew restless again."Who else is in your grandma's family? What should I call them? What kind of women do they like? Should I act like an innocent white lotus, or a gentle and intelligent lady?"
Huo Shiqing: "…"