HBWMA -Chapter 248 The Unequal Treaty

Shen Guiling was the first to react, the gentleness in his eyes vanishing completely. “You’re thinking pretty far ahead.”

“This is called the joy of raising—” Jiang Huashan tried to explain, but suddenly noticed Shen Qingyu and Shen Lanxi’s expressions had turned frighteningly dark. Especially Shen Qingyu—his fists were clenched tight.

Why are they all reacting like this?

Shen Lanxi felt his temples throb. How could there be someone this impossible to reason with?

Alarm bells went off in Jiang Huashan’s head. She leaned back tightly against her chair. “Why are you all so serious…?”

Shen Lanxi looked at her, exasperated, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Will you change?”

Jiang Huashan shook her head. “…I’ll change.”

Shen Lanxi: “Good. Then sign a written guarantee.”

Another guarantee? Why was he using the same tactic as Shen Qingyu?

Suppressing her frustration, Jiang Huashan forced a smile. “Fine.” Then she turned to call Zhang Ru, “Aunt Zhang, get some paper and a pen for the young masters.”

Zhang Ru hurried from the kitchen to the study, grabbed paper and a pen, and handed them to Shen Lanxi.

Taking them, Shen Lanxi began writing swiftly, filling the page with ten rules in one go.

Just as Jiang Huashan was about to take it, Shen Lanxi handed the document to Shen Guiling instead. “Take a look—see if anything needs to be added.”

“…”

Shen Guiling glanced over it, picked up the pen, added another clause, and passed it to Shen Qingyu. Without pause, Shen Qingyu completed the rest in one go, bringing the total to twenty clauses. Only after confirming nothing was missing did he hand it to her.

Jiang Huashan took the paper with a blank expression—and nearly lost her breath on the spot.

Wow. How vicious!

The first three clauses were barely acceptable.

Terminate all sponsorship relationships, prohibit entry into adult entertainment venues, confiscate the phone and bank cards used for such activities.

But what were all these after that?

Return home within half an hour after school; report time, location, and companions when going out; curfew at 9 p.m., with a one-month house arrest penalty for being late; restrict all high spending; rank in the top ten of the grade…

The handwriting flowed elegantly and powerfully—clearly Shen Lanxi’s handiwork. Jiang Huashan frowned. “Don’t take advantage of the situation. What does this have to do with getting into the top ten?”

Shen Lanxi replied, “You’re too idle, that’s why you keep causing trouble. Studying more will burn off your excess energy.”

Jiang Huashan wanted to bargain further, but Shen Lanxi spoke calmly, “If you don’t accept it, we can have Grandpa talk to you.”

“…I accept.” Jiang Huashan rolled her eyes at him and continued reading.

Suddenly, her expression changed as her gaze locked onto Clause Eleven.

[No dating before the age of twenty.]

The strokes were restrained yet sharp—subtle, but with hidden edge.

Jiang Huashan shot Shen Guiling a sideways glance. Picking a fight, huh? She’d only mentioned the “joy of being eighteen,” and he’d already banned her all the way to twenty!

From start to finish, Shen Guiling didn’t even look at her, remaining focused on flipping through financial records.

Holding back her temper, Jiang Huashan read on—only for the later clauses to become even more outrageous. Things like “quit laziness and madness” and “an elder brother’s command is absolute” were all included.

This wasn’t a guarantee—it was basically an unequal treaty after an international war!

Jiang Huashan slapped the paper onto the table. “I’m not signing this.”

Shen Qingyu nodded. “Fine. Looks like you’ve already figured out how to explain your ‘joy of being eighteen’ to Grandpa?”

“…!” Grinding her teeth, Jiang Huashan picked up the pen and signed her name resentfully. “That good enough?”

Shen Qingyu: “Add a thumbprint.”

Reluctant, Jiang Huashan muttered, “I’m not running a business—where am I supposed to get ink paste?”

Without even lifting his eyes, Shen Guiling said, “Grandpa enjoys painting. There should be some in Qin Garden.”

Now it was Jiang Huashan’s turn to laugh in anger. “Aunt Zhang, go to the studio and bring me my red paint.”

Zhang Ru responded with an “Okay!” and ran off to the art studio. The three young masters had really outdone themselves—this was the first time she’d ever seen Miss Jiang so thoroughly subdued.

When the ink was brought over, Jiang Huashan was just about to press her fingerprint when Shen Lanxi suddenly thought of something and stopped her.

“Wait.”

“What now?”

Shen Lanxi said, “Gao Zhi, take this and make three copies.”

“Yes.”

Gao Zhi snatched the paper from Jiang Huashan’s hand and dashed out. Within minutes, one guarantee letter had turned into four copies.

Jiang Huashan stared at the four neatly laid-out documents, her head spinning. Other people signed contracts in duplicate—she had to sign four copies?

With a blank expression, she pressed her fingerprints on each one. “Now it’s fine, right? Give me back those transaction photos!”

Shen Qingyu tapped the table. “Your phone. Your bank card.”

Jiang Huashan never expected that someone as clever as her would stumble like this. She stood up, kicked her chair aside, and stomped upstairs. After a while, she came back down with a SIM card and a bank card.

“Here. That’s everything.”

Shen Qingyu reached out to confiscate the “tools of the crime,” but Jiang Huashan suddenly changed her mind, snatching the bank card back. Looking pitiful, she said, “You can take the SIM card. I won’t contact them anymore. But let me keep the bank card, okay? I’m still a young lady of the Shen family—if I have no money at all, people will laugh at me.”

Shen Guiling closed the transaction records and looked up at her. “Over the past three years, Shen Qingyu has given you nearly ten million, and Brother Lanxi about five million. But judging from these records, there’s at least twenty-five million flowing through here. Aside from the three hundred thousand you spent on clothes and a 1,040-yuan hand cream, the rest was all used for your ‘raising game.’”

Jiang Huashan’s lips twitched. “What do you mean?”

Shen Guiling smiled gently. “It means you’re very easy to support. One hundred thousand a year is enough.”

Jiang Huashan: “…”

Shen Qingyu snatched the bank card, utterly dumbfounded. Ten million—and all he got in return was a 1,040-yuan hand cream?!

Shen Lanxi was equally stunned. He usually gave Jiang Huashan small amounts whenever she asked, but over three years, she had managed to fleece him for five million in total.

At least Shen Qingyu got a hand cream. What about him? Not even a 500-yuan lipstick.

One sentence pushed both of their anger to the limit.

Shen Lanxi stood up, pulled away one copy of the guarantee letter, his expression unusually cold. “I hope you’ll honor the spirit of the contract.”

Shen Qingyu, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as patient. He rolled up one copy into a tube and tapped it against Jiang Huashan’s forehead. “Try any tricks again, and I’ll actually hit you.”

Jiang Huashan slapped his paper tube away.

Shen Guiling glanced at Lei Xing, who immediately stepped forward and took one copy of the guarantee letter.

With their goal achieved, the three of them left the Chrysanthemum Garden together.

Zhang Ru watched in stunned silence. Only after they had gone far away did she cautiously speak up, “Miss Jiang… would you like some sweet soup?”

Jiang Huashan stared at the “unequal treaty” in front of her, dazed. “I let my guard down…”

Those three forming an alliance—their coordinated moves had caught her completely off guard.

She sighed softly, picked up the guarantee letter on the table, and tore it in half.

“In the adult world, there’s only scheming and deception. Who believes in guarantee letters?”

Zhang Ru: “……”

After leaving the Chrysanthemum Garden and reaching a fork in the corridor, the three of them stopped at the same time.

Shen Lanxi said calmly, “She’ll never change.”

For once, Shen Qingyu completely agreed with him. He nodded. “She’ll definitely obey on the surface and defy in secret.”

Shen Guiling curved his lips slightly.

After a moment’s thought, Shen Lanxi said, “I’ll go talk to Aunt.”

Over the past three years, Shen Jiao’s favoritism toward Jiang Huashan had been obvious to all. Among the elders, aside from Shen Zhuang, Jiang Huashan listened most to Shen Jiao. Now that she had done something so outrageous, someone had to keep an eye on her—and after considering it, Shen Lanxi felt Shen Jiao was the most suitable.

Shen Qingyu nodded and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. He looked down at the boy in the wheelchair. “How much did that little brat swindle from you?”

Shen Guiling replied calmly, “Don’t laugh at me. I’m not like you two—I don’t have that much spare money.”

“……”