Lin Miaoyu’s face turned pale as she looked at Lin Mucian.
Sweat began to bead on her forehead.
Her bangs, dampened by her sweat, stuck to her hair.
Her lips quivered, and her voice weakened.
"You… you’re going too far! My mommy isn’t a mistress!"
Lin Mucian sneered and turned to leave.
Watching her retreating back, Lin Miaoyu felt a strong, ominous premonition surge through her.
"Where… where are you going?"
Lin Mucian chuckled, her voice sending a chill down Lin Miaoyu’s spine, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
"Where am I going? I’m going to the school broadcast station to play our conversation recording. You broke your promise. You lost the monthly exam to me but are going back on your word. This is your punishment!"
Lin Miaoyu panicked. She hurried forward and grabbed Lin Mucian’s wrist, stammering.
"Don't…"
If this recording was played on the school broadcast, she would be completely finished.
Lin Miaoyu lowered her head, her voice laced with a hint of pleading.
"Don't be so excessive. We're sisters after all. You're my older sister…"
Lin Mucian interrupted her coldly.
"Don't even mention that. I don't have a shameless sister like you. Although our Lin family is prosperous, we built it from scratch with honest hard work. We can't afford a delicate little ‘green tea’ like you."
As the two struggled, other students started exiting after handing in their papers.
Seeing this scene, they began to whisper and point.
"Is Lin Mucian bullying Lin Miaoyu?"
"Oh no, poor Lin Miaoyu, so outstanding, to be bullied by her sister who’s a crazed fan with a celebrity obsession. It’s truly pitiful!"
Lin Miaoyu was usually so good at putting on a facade that everyone felt sympathetic towards her.
Lin Mucian sneered, saying nothing.
But in the crowd, Zhou Yuan'an couldn’t stand it and said,
"It’s not Xiao Ci’s fault! It’s Lin Miaoyu…"
Lin Mucian turned and looked at Zhou Yuan’an, then made a shushing gesture. Lin Mucian spoke.
"Let them talk! Let them say whatever they want. I can hear it."
She wasn’t afraid. No matter how nasty they were, not a penny would be missing from her account.
She said,
"Are you going to the broadcast station to play the recording or not?"
Lin Miaoyu was cornered and flushed, wishing she could burst into tears.
Just then, she saw a woman in a qipao walking from a distance. Lin Miaoyu felt as if she had found a lifeline and rushed over, collapsing into her embrace.
"Mommy! Wuwuwu…"
She cried, like a pitiful kitten drenched in rain.
Lin Mucian’s interest was piqued.
"Oh ho. The little white lotus is defeated, and here comes an old green tea. Isn't that Lin Miaoyu's mommy, Zhao Jingjing?"
The system prompted Lin Mucian.
"Host, you better be careful. Zhao Jingjing, the mother of Lin Miaoyu and Lin Yangbin, is arguably the strongest mistress on earth. Her intelligence and schemes are unparalleled. She clawed her way up from a small village and now enjoys a life of luxury. The Lin family is so influential, yet even your mother can't do anything to her. Lu Yuanhang, that ‘phoenix man,’ dotes on her like the apple of his eye…"
The system was giving a friendly warning.
Then, Lin Mucian’s chilling voice informed it.
"The apple of his eye? Then I’ll gouge out his eyeballs."
System: "Wuwuwu, Host, your killing intent is so heavy and terrifying."
Lin Mucian looked up at the woman opposite her and said,
"Auntie Zhao, you're here to pick up Lin Miaoyu. It seems the kind of woman who holds out her palm waiting for money is indeed quite idle."
With a single sentence, she could make someone furious.
Zhao Jingjing frowned, but her expression quickly relaxed.
She looked at Lin Mucian, her smile as warm as a spring breeze. After all, she was a seasoned mistress with quite a few tricks up her sleeve.
"I’m here to pick up my daughter. Isn't it Miaoyu's birthday banquet tonight? I thought I’d pick her up. And celebrate Miaoyu’s first place finish again today."
"Xiao Ci, your report card is out too, right? Still last place? Don't be discouraged, I’ll have Miaoyu tutor you."
She assumed, as a matter of course, that Lin Mucian was still in last place. Indeed, it had always been that way. When the monthly exam results were released, she would pick up Lin Miaoyu and casually say a few words to Lin Mucian that sounded perfect but could crush a young girl’s confidence. The original host would remain silent on the surface. But the withdrawn and gloomy girl would only smash things in her room later, before crying her heart out while holding a poster of Ling Qianhe.
However…
Today, the situation was different.
After all, it was a different person.
Lin Mucian smiled.
"Does Lin Miaoyu, with her meager score, even deserve to tutor me?"
Zhao Jingjing was taken aback.
"Miaoyu is the top student in the entire school!"
Lin Mucian quickly interrupted her.
"Who told you she's the top student in the entire school? She came in second this time."
Zhao Jingjing’s eyes widened in disbelief. Seeing her daughter about to cry, she gritted her teeth.
"Who got first place?"
Lin Mucian smiled.
"It was me. Her score isn't even good enough to carry my shoes. I made a bet with her earlier: if she lost, she'd have to shout three times in the plaza that her mommy is a mistress. Since Auntie Zhao is here, why don't you hear her shout it yourself? Dafeng Novel Network."
Lin Miaoyu's face turned ashen. She was on the verge of tears. She was terrified of being punished by her mother. It was her own arrogance that allowed Lin Mucian to corner her into such a difficult situation.
Zhao Jingjing tightened her grip on her Hermes bag. She had been beaming with pride just moments ago. Now, her expression was extremely unpleasant. The young girl before her lifted her face, her clear and beautiful features exuding a confident arrogance, her smile sending a chill down one's spine.
"What's wrong, Auntie Zhao? Don't you want to hear it? But this is the truth."
Zhao Jingjing trembled all over. She said,
"I have something to do…"
She pulled her daughter along, forcing a smile, and tried to turn away. Lin Mucian, however, tiptoed closer and whispered into Zhao Jingjing’s ear.
"I've already made arrangements with all the hotels in the city. Lin Miaoyu will not have a birthday banquet. Did you forget my maternal grandfather’s fortune was built in the hotel industry? When it comes to connections, mine are far wider than yours and your daughter's. Go back and check the news; the Lin family’s daughter’s birthday banquet will be mine, Lin Mucian’s banquet. Lu Yuanhang will also not be spending your and your daughter’s birthday with you anymore, because he’ll need to be with me. If he doesn't show the shareholders a picture of our happy family, the stock price will plummet. Guess, in the face of profit, what will that man, Lu Yuanhang, choose? You can stay in your rented apartment and cook some longevity noodles for your daughter to celebrate. After all, even though you’re not rich, you have abundant love, and the 'true love' that man always talks about!"
Zhao Jingjing’s face darkened. She squeezed her daughter’s hand tightly. Lin Miaoyu’s palm turned blue from her mother’s grip, but she dared not speak. She pulled her daughter away to hail a taxi. Lin Mucian waited until her Rolls-Royce arrived. She elegantly got into the car.
The system exclaimed in her mind, "Tsk tsk. Host, you’re too ruthless! I almost pity that mother and daughter."
Lin Mucian, however, said,
"This is just the beginning. If a woman who climbed out of a mud pit can't handle this little humiliation, how can she achieve anything great? Just wait, there's still a fight to come. However, their little tricks are crystal clear to me."
The corners of her lips curled slightly.
"There will be more good shows to watch. So-called true love is as fragile as a cobweb in the face of real profit. If Lu Yuanhang loses everything, I really want to see what the end for this mother and daughter will be."
She felt a great sense of satisfaction! The pent-up frustration from being deeply hurt by that brat Ling Qianhe had finally been released a little.
She said to Uncle Li, the driver,
"To the hotel."
She ought to enjoy her birthday banquet and, by the way, meet the original host's scumbag father, Lu Yuanhang!