Chapter 9: Remember, I Hate Being Touched by Dogs

“Sorry, but I’m out on a team-building trip with brother Lan and the whole executive team. We can’t exactly make it back, you know?”

Before Shen Qingci could even respond, Shen Lan’s voice cut in: “Sister Shirou, stop talking to her already. You’re getting your phone dirty!”

Shen Qingci’s smile was ice-cold.

The chaotic mess of the Shen family tree was the direct result of a father who couldn’t keep his pants zipped. Her mother had been his first love, but then he married three more wives. She then had eight half-sisters and two half-brothers. Even her own brother, Shen Lan, had been brainwashed by the Second Wife’s side of the family. And now he treated his own sister like an enemy and fiercely loyal to Shen Shirou, the Second Wife’s daughter.

Shen Qingci didn’t waste her breath. “Fine, I hope you all have a wonderful time. Oh, and by the way, be sure to check your phones.”

Check their phone? For what?

Shen Shirou rolled her eyes and ended the call. She casually looked at the screen. Her smile instantly froze into a mask of horror.

“What is it?” Shen Lan asked, leaning over to peek at the phone. He shrieked: “That…that Shen Qingci! How dare she?”

---

Shenyuan Corporation.

Shen Qingci sat comfortably in the CEO’s office, leisurely sipping a freshly brewed cup of tea. Before she could even finish the cup, the sound of frantic, chaotic footsteps echoed from the hallway.

“Shen Qingci! Do you have any idea what you’re doing? You’re going to destroy this company!” Shen Shirou rushed into the room, trying to catch her breath. Her perfectly styled hair was a mess.

Shen Lan walked in behind her, furious. “Reporting the company for tax fraud? Are you insane? Do you want our mom to never rest in peace?!”

Shen Qingci tilted her chin up slightly. “Save the speech! Shouldn’t you be doing something more useful than talking nonsense here?”

She looked outside.

As expected, a team of tax investigators had arrived. They started seizing the ledgers without a word.

Shenyuan’s books couldn’t withstand an audit!

Shen Shirou’s eyelid twitched. She quickly stepped forward and placed her hand over the man’s. “Chief, your hand is so cold. Why don’t we go somewhere warmer?”

The chief smiled knowingly, put down the ledger, and follwer her out.

Fifteen minutes later, Shen Shirou stepped out of the room after touching up her makeup. The chief had already left with his team. She looked toward the CEO’s office. The malice in her eyes darkened, she pushed the door open.

“Shen Qingci.”

Every bit of humiliation she had just endured had turned into a cold resentment. “Did you forget how your leg was broken? Want me to remind you?”

There was no one else here. Shen Shirou had secretly turned off the cameras so now she could show her true, montrous self.

Shen Qingci looked up from behind the desk. “Oh? And how was it broken?”

Shen Shirou leaned closer. “You were pinned against the glass by the guards…and it was Dad himself who did the deed. Oh right, I remember now…”

She reached out with her long red nails hooking under Shen Qingci’s chin.

“The first strike didn’t actually break your leg. So of course I had to help dad finish the job with another strike. That’ve must hurt, right, Sister?”

Shen Shirou smirked, patted on Shen Qingci’s cheek. But Shen Qingci grabbed her writst suddenly.

“I’m so sorry Sister! Please don’t be mad!” Shirou’s voice pitched up in a threatrical tone. “It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have said such awful things!”

Bang!

The door was kicked open.

“Shen Qingci, what are you doing? Get your hands off her!” Shen Lan stormed in.

Shen Qingci curled her lips. She grabbed Shirou by the ahir and slammed her head face-first into the desk without hesitation.

“Ah!” Shirou screamed in shock, her eyes wide with sheer terror. “Sister, you…”

“Next time, remember, I hate being touched by dogs.” Shen Qingci exerted a terrifying amount of force once more.

Another scream tore through the room. A sharp pain shot through Shirou’s left leg. She struggled to lift her head, only to find Shen Qingci over her, gripping the end of a broken broomstick.

“This one,” Shen Qingci said, her voice carrying no emotion, “is for the left leg of mine that you broke.”

She looked at Shriou as if she was nothing more than an ant.

“You’re crazy…” Shirou wheezed, paralyzed by fear. “You’ve completely lost your mind!”

Shen Qingci raised the broomstick again. “And this one…is for my right leg.”

“Shen Qingci!” Shen Lan shrieked, his voice cracking. “Don’t you dare!”

Crack!

But she did.

The heavy wooden handle snapped in two. Without even a chance to scream, Shirou’s eyes scrolled back into her head, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Shen Qingci tossed the broken broomstick to the side and turned her gaze toward the only one left: Shen Lan. She took two stops toward him. Shen Lan moved back in a panic, his voice trembling. “Don’t! Stay…stay right there! Do not move!”

“What’s wrong? I’m just giving you a heads-up. I’m getting married tomorrow.” She tossed the invitations on the floor. “Make sure you’re there. And I also expect everyone from the Shen family to show up.”

“In your dreams!” Shen Lan shouted. “Shirou told us everything. You’re marrying some old creep. We’re not coming to your pathetic wedding. You make me sick!”

“Try and see what happens.” Shen Qingci paused, then continued coldly, “Lose the jeans and that pathetic hairstyle. If I see you looking like a street rat again, you’ll regret it.”

Shen Qingci then left. At the entrance, she looked up at the weathered, decaying Shenyuan sign.

The actors for the grand show tomorrow had all been invited. It was time to set the stage and begin the show.

---

After Shen Qingci got home, Sister Zhang had already been waiting at the door.

“Young Madam, everything on your list is here.” Sister Zhang handed over a heavy crate, filled to the brim with wielding equipment and industrial tools.

Shen Qingci thanked her, took the crate, and went straight into the storage room. No one saw her come back out.

As darkness swallowed the sky, the flashy pink Phanthom roared into the courtyard.

Aunt Wang hurried out to greet him. Xi Xingye stepped out, looking like he wanted to punch a wall. She tried to check on him, but he just brushed her off.

“Nothing. Go on with your work.” Xi Xingye replied gloomily.

It was already night and he didn’t dare not come home. Saying it out loud would be too embarrassing.

As he stepped onto the porch, a series of harsh, grating noises reached his ears. A loud clatter-bang-clank coming from somewhere inside.

Aunt Wang quickly seized the opportunity. “Young Master, the Young Madam took a crate of tools and locked herself in the storage room. It looks like she’s…destroying the gate Madam left you.”

She watched his face carefully. His expression darkened, she added fuel to the fire. “Poor Madam! Even the few things she left behind are being treated like this.”

“Who gave her permission to touch my stuff?”

Xi Xingye lost it. He headed to the storage room, looking like he was ready to burn the place down.

“Shen Qingci! Get out here!”

He kicked the storage doors open and shouted. Then, he stopped.

The gate, which had been cracked and ruined last night, now looking flawless, restored, and whole again in front of him.

The finish was so perfect, shimmered with a soft, ethereal luster under the streaming sunlight. The carvings were so vivid they seemed to breathe. There wasn’t the slightest trace of damage left.

“You…you actually fixed it?”

This gate was his mother’s pride and joy. He remembered how it had been shipped all the way from Europe years ago.

He couldn’t move. He just stared.

Shen Qingci, with her silky black hair tied back in a casual ponytail, took off her protective welding mask. She turned around and called him over.

“It’s done. Come check it out.” She stepped aside to let him in.