Chapter 45

“Shen Hao Ping will die in a month, but your suffering is only just beginning.”

Yue Yin’s eyes were calm as she quietly delivered the verdict.

When she spoke these words, there was no resentment in her eyes, no sorrow, and not even the excitement that usually accompanies revenge. Her tone was steady, her voice serene, as if she were declaring an inevitable fact known to all.

Bai Xiulian instinctively raised her head. Upon seeing Yue Yin’s pitch-black pupils, her heightened emotions were instantly frozen.

She furrowed her brow deeply, muttering in disbelief, “You can’t do this to me.”

“I’m your mother.” Her eyes reddened, and she covered her mouth with her hands, her voice filled with grief as she called out, “Yue Yin, Yue Yin.”

Yue Yin stood on the staircase, looking down at Bai Xiulian as this pitiful woman repeatedly called her name.

But both of them knew that the daughter Bai Xiulian was calling wasn’t there—and would never return.

Realizing this, Bai Xiulian crouched down, covering her eyes in pain. Tears flowed from the gaps between her fingers. Her once meticulously tailored dress was now wrinkled, and her carefully styled hair was in disarray.

She choked on her words, her expression filled with anguish, “If only I had known it would turn out like this…”

If only she had known, she wouldn’t have brought Xiaoyue into the Shen family.

But if she hadn’t, Xiaodi wouldn’t have been around. Yue Yin was important, but so was Xiaodi.

If only she had known, she wouldn’t have agreed to Hao Ping’s suggestion to misappropriate Yue Yin’s assets.

But back then, the Shen family was on the brink of bankruptcy. Haoping was struggling so much, how could she dare to object? Moreover, Haoping had clearly promised her that borrowing Yue Yin’s money was only temporary, and once the Shen family recovered, every cent would be returned.

Bai Xiulian thought about countless things as she lowered her head, her tears continuing to fall. In a soft voice, she said, “If only I had treated Xiaoyue better.”

Indeed, among all the seemingly unavoidable choices she made, this seemed like the simplest and most inexcusable one. Yet she failed even at that.

Clearly, Xiaoyue was her daughter too. Why did she always instinctively neglect her?

Yue Yin glanced at the woman kneeling on the ground. As soon as Bai Xiulian started muttering to herself, she turned and left without a hint of emotion.

As the great Moon of a Thousand Faces and Mother of Monsters, every second of her time was precious. She had no time to waste listening to a failed human being repent here.

Of course, if the person kneeling were a follower she liked, she might sit nearby with a yogurt in hand, enjoying the show.

But she didn’t feel anything for Bai Xiulian, so forget it.

She had better things to do, like going back to her room to play games. After all, Jiang Suliu had just gifted her a game console with a mountain of game cartridges.

After Yue Yin left, Bai Xiulian didn’t know how long she sat crying on the stairs.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Yue Yin’s door was knocked on.

Yue Yin pulled off her blanket, got out of bed, and opened the door. Standing there was Bai Xiulian.

She was dressed in high heels and a pristine white dress, her hair neatly pinned up in her usual elegant appearance as a wealthy lady. However, after crying all night, her eyes were still slightly swollen.

In her hand, Bai Xiulian held a tray with a bowl of century egg and lean pork congee and a few slices of buttered toast.

Taking a deep breath, Bai Xiulian walked into the room holding the tray and said, “I remember you used to love the congee and buttered toast that I made for you. It’s been years since I last cooked, so I don’t know if it still suits your taste…”

Yue Yin curiously leaned forward to look at the food and casually remarked, “You know I’m not your daughter, right?”

Bai Xiulian’s movements halted. After a long pause, she replied, “I want to talk to you about Xiaodi.”

“What about him?” Yue Yin picked up the bowl of congee, sniffing it. Surprisingly, it smelled quite good.

She thought of the comforting taste from her memories and tilted her head back, finishing the bowl in a few large gulps.

In less than half a minute, she had drained the bowl.

Bai Xiulian stared, dumbfounded, finally accepting that the person in front of her wasn’t her daughter.

Yue Yin licked her lips in recollection, “It’s a bit bitter.”

Bai Xiulian was shocked by what she saw and thought, Of course, it’s bitter. I poured an entire bottle of sleeping pills into that bowl! She had considered using a stronger poison but was afraid Yue Yin might notice. Besides, she wasn’t sure if this really was still her daughter.

After speaking, Yue Yin casually tossed the bowl out of the window. The porcelain bowl shattered in mid-air, dissolving and disappearing into the wind.

Bai Xiulian finally realized that she likely couldn’t deal with this demon on her own.

Fearing that Yue Yin might catch on to her actions, she hastily changed the subject, half-truthfully asking, “Will you hurt Xiaodi?”

Yue Yin, her mouth full of buttered toast, replied indistinctly, “That chubby kid? No, I owe him money.”

After all, she was the great Moon of a Thousand Faces, a high-quality deity among the old gods! Even if she owed money and bullied elementary schoolers, she wouldn’t kill her debtor.

Besides, she kind of liked Shen Xiaodi. It was rare to find a kid who was worse at gaming than she was.

Hearing Yue Yin promise not to harm Shen Xiaodi, Bai Xiulian lowered her head, seemingly relieved. “Alright.”

Bai Xiulian lingered for a while, waiting for Yue Yin to collapse, but when nothing happened, she reluctantly left.

Less than half an hour later, Bai Xiulian hurriedly moved out with others in tow. For reasons unknown, she even took Shen Xiaodi with her.

While Yue Yin was having breakfast, Xiao He approached her and reported, “Madam left early this morning with the young master. She said she was going to City B to visit Miss Baozhu and wouldn’t be back for at least half a month.”

After finishing the sentence, Xiao He retracted her head, fearing that Yue Yin might be angry.

And wouldn’t she be? It was simply too unfair. The Madam took away the young master but left Miss Yue Yin behind, even though both were her children.

Just as everyone expected, Yue Yin did frown, seemingly upset.

She angrily took a bite of her pancake roll and slammed the table, saying, “Wow! Shen Xiaodi is so lucky! He gets to skip school for half a month!!”

Xiao He and the watching maids: … ??

Yue Yin stood up, shaking her head in disappointment. “Why do these good things never happen to me?”

When her stepfather Shen Hao Ping died, she could only get seven days off! But Shen Xiaodi, who did nothing, gets to skip classes for half a month! Unbelievable!

With her hands behind her back, Yue Yin sighed dramatically and went off to school, feeling dejected.

As soon as she walked out, the servants, who had been hiding in various corners, rushed out.

They all stroked their chins and stared at her departing figure, feeling like something was off.

Then someone pointed at the chair and shouted, “Miss Yue Yin forgot her schoolbag! What kind of school is she going to without her bag?”

“Don’t even mention it. Miss Yue Yin spends all her time gaming. I’ve never seen her do homework or read a book. Exams are coming up, and she’s probably going to rank at the bottom again.”

The focus of the conversation shifted entirely to Yue Yin’s academic performance, with the adults who had children being the most passionate about the topic.

Amid the conversation, Aunt Li sighed, “It’s not really Miss Yue Yin’s fault for being uninterested in studying. With parents like that, how could she be?”

“The Madam is truly heartless. After arguing with Miss Yue Yin last night, she just up and left with the young master this morning.”

“What do you think she’s going to City B for?”

“Didn’t she say she was looking for Miss Shen Baozhu? Honestly, she should’ve gone earlier. Mr. Shen is critically ill; it’s only a matter of time. If Miss Shen Baozhu doesn’t come back soon, she won’t even get to say goodbye.”

“I doubt that’s the real reason.”

Faced with the surprised looks of the others, Aunt Li scoffed. “After all this time, why now? Why leave right after that argument? And for so long? I think she’s running away from something.”

“Running from what? It couldn’t be Miss Yue Yin, could it?”

Meanwhile, on her way to school, Yue Yin’s mind replayed the image of Bai Xiulian bringing congee into her room.

Yue Yin smiled faintly.

She knew perfectly well what Bai Xiulian was trying to avoid, whom she was going to find in City B, and what she was so afraid of.

But she didn’t mind. Struggling prey is far more entertaining.

…

Yue Yin, in a good mood, began to hum a little tune.

At that moment, a young man riding a bicycle lost control of his direction and wobbled his way toward her.

As the bike nearly crashed into her, Yue Yin raised her eyes and glanced lightly at the rider. Instinctively, the young man squeezed the brakes, stopping the bicycle just a meter away from her.

The light turned green, and Yue Yin looked away, following the flow of people across the street.

The cyclist remained standing there, staring at her back, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

A voice came through his earpiece, scolding him: “Why did you stop? Keep following her!”

“Zhou Xiaohai! What are you doing, standing there?”

“Zhou Xiaohai, say something! The President is waiting for updates, and you’re killing me here!”

Amid the frantic shouting in his earpiece, Zhou Xiaohai slowly exhaled and said, “So that’s an S-class.”

His partner, frowning and confused, asked, “What do you mean? What are you talking about? Have you lost it?”

Meanwhile, on her way to school, Yue Yin kept encountering one incident after another.

A young man almost ran her over with his bicycle. A girl tripped on flat ground and nearly fell into her arms. A lost child clung to her, wailing for his mother… But Yue Yin deftly dodged all of them with her quick wits.

She was holding her game console, wearing headphones, weaving left and right to avoid all the people seemingly trying to bump into her, and then sprinting off without looking back.

She didn’t know that, just meters behind her, voices of disbelief were echoing in unison: “What the…?”

At the traffic light, an elderly man with white hair and sunglasses stood by the roadside, trembling as he leaned on his cane, helplessly watching her.

A normal person would have stepped in to help.

But clearly, Yue Yin wasn’t normal.

With her head down, focused on her game console, she didn’t even lift her head. The old man, unable to hold back any longer, called out, “You…”

Before he could finish, Yue Yin crossed the street without looking, despite the red light!

Both the old man and the people watching through the earpiece were stunned: “What the heck?! Does she even have any decency? Crossing on a red light?”

“How could she ignore an old lady like that? Does she have no childhood memories?!”

To ensure they could “accidentally” meet Yue Yin and get her to act, the group had even cleared the area to prevent other do-gooders from intervening.

“Man, she’s not just lacking a childhood. She’s totally devoid of morals! Not helping a lost kid, ignoring a cute girl who fell, and now not even helping an old lady across the road?”

The old lady tossed aside her cane, clenched her fists, and gritted her teeth. “Looks like casual encounters won’t work. I told you we needed a better plan!”

A few minutes later, Yue Yin was surprised to find a grilled cold noodles stall outside the school!

It was only eight in the morning, and usually, the snack vendors didn’t appear until after school. And this was her favorite grilled cold noodles!

Was this really just a coincidence?

Glancing at the looming start of class, Yue Yin unhesitatingly chose to skip school for her grilled cold noodles.

The stall owner was different from the usual vendor. He had chiseled features and deep-set eyes, looking as handsome as a top-tier celebrity. He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt and jeans.

Several passing girls slowed their pace, stealing glances, and even taking out their phones to snap pictures.

But it was almost time for class, and the students of No. 1 High School were dedicated to their studies. Admiring a handsome guy wasn’t as important as attending class, so most of them rushed off without lingering at the stall.

A few daring students tried to buy breakfast, but the vendor used the excuse of “not having prepared the ingredients” to send them away.

Then, Yue Yin strolled over and said, “One grilled cold noodles.”

The handsome vendor looked up, his eyes soft and gentle, and his voice warm, “Sure.”

Despite the onlookers, the young man’s gaze remained fixed on Yue Yin with a tenderness that seemed to linger.

As he prepared the grilled cold noodles, he struck up a casual conversation, “You’re quite the interesting kid. Everyone else is heading to class, and you’re not afraid of being late?”

Yue Yin, still focused on the cold noodle sizzling on the griddle, casually replied, “I’m not afraid. My mom’s dead, so I can take leave.”

The handsome vendor glanced up in disbelief.

Yue Yin’s face remained calm, leaving him unsure if she was joking. He felt a chill creeping into his heart.

His earpiece was buzzing with impatient questions from his teammates, making his head throb.

He thought, I’m an A-class ability user, for crying out loud. No way am I going to be scared off by some kid like that wimp Zhou Xiaohai!

Taking a deep breath, he mustered his courage and smiled as if it was unintentional, “What’s your name?”

Yue Yin continued playing her game and ignored him.

The handsome vendor cleared his throat awkwardly and asked, “What sauce would you like?”

Yue Yin immediately perked up, “Sour and spicy, and lots of sauce, please!”

The vendor clenched his teeth internally. This kid is seriously impossible! All that effort for nothing!

Despite his dashing appearance, the vendor struggled with making grilled cold noodles.

He spilled batter, dropped onions, and to top it off, an egg rolled off the griddle and splattered on the ground.

While grappling with the task, he silently cursed the teammate who came up with this dumb idea.

Finally, Yue Yin finished her game and looked up impatiently.

Seeing his chance, the vendor decided to try connecting through her interests. He asked, “What game were you playing just now? I’m actually a university student working part-time, and I love gaming too.”

Yue Yin stared at the flatbread and suddenly said, “The egg fell.”

“Huh?” The vendor, distracted, looked down and noticed the egg on the ground.

Yue Yin shook her head in disapproval, saying gravely, “This won’t do.”

She stepped forward, took the two spatulas from his hands, and expertly flipped the cold noodle, cracked an egg, added veggies, sliced sausage, and spread the sauce—all in one swift motion.

When she was done, she grabbed the finished grilled cold noodle and walked off.

After taking a few steps away, Yue Yin turned back and said to the handsome vendor, “You should quit this job. You’re not cut out for it.”

The handsome vendor opened his mouth to say something but stopped, his face turning pale with frustration.

In his earpiece, his teammate anxiously asked, “What happened? What’s going on? Did she talk to you?”

The handsome vendor clenched his fist and replied through gritted teeth, “She didn’t pay!”