HBWMA -Chapter 269 The Missing Four Hours

Not long after Shen Mianzhi left, Shen Jiao suddenly paid a visit.

Jiang Huashan was teasing a turtle in the courtyard when she turned around and noticed Shen Jiao’s expression was slightly awkward.

As emotions stirred, she suddenly called Shen Jiao “Mom” instead of “Godmother.” Just a single word difference—but a world apart.

Shen Jiao had already returned to being that domineering, untouchable “Queen Jiao.” She walked over and tapped Jiang Huashan on the forehead teasingly.

“What’s wrong? I’m here and you don’t even greet me? Still not fully rested?”

Jiang Huashan shook her head. “Mom.”

The smile in Shen Jiao’s eyes deepened. She handed her a contract.

“Here. Take a look. If there’s no problem, sign it.”

Jiang Huashan took it and opened the first page—then froze at the number printed on it.

130,000,000,000!!!

Billions?

She had seen the world, but she still couldn’t process that many zeros at once.

“What is this?” she asked.

Shen Jiao replied casually, “A few days after the incident with Xiao Lanlan, the Xiao family’s funds collapsed and their finances went into deficit. I injected money to fill the gap for Xiao Qi, barely stabilizing their land-sale crisis. Originally it was just a favor, but after your grandfather said something to them, Xiao Qi agreed to give me half of Golden Mountain’s territory.”

“I wasn’t interested at first—but then I thought it could be used as a dowry for you and Sui’er.”

Jiang Huashan was stunned. “You spent 130 billion to buy land for us?”

Shen Jiao corrected her lightly, “Not ‘us.’ Just you. Sui’er’s portion was cheaper—about 128 billion.”

“……”

Jiang Huashan finally understood why the plot deviation suddenly jumped by 8%. The land of Golden Mountain had unexpectedly been split between her and Fu Sui’er.

“Mom… just how rich are we?” she asked blankly.

Shen Jiao smiled faintly. “Did I never tell you? Including my bank shares, futures, stocks, mineral veins, and cash… I could probably fill three national treasuries of Country A.”

“As for your Fifth Uncle’s Dark Hall being so powerful—it’s all because I fund it. Otherwise, why do you think they always show up with hundreds of helicopters?”

Jiang Huashan silently gave a thumbs-up.

She had truly been blind to a hidden tycoon.

Shen Jiao tapped her hand and pulled out a diamond pen from her bag.

“Hurry up and sign.”

Jiang Huashan’s emotions were complicated, but she still signed her name stroke by stroke.

Shen Jiao looked at the signature, her eyes turning slightly warm.

Back then, Jiang Huashan had also saved Fu Sui’er from the gates of hell with handwriting just like this—careful, determined, one stroke at a time…

Two days later

Jiang Huashan stood by the hospital bed arranging flowers.

These were cut from her own garden. Winter was approaching—if she didn’t enjoy them now, she would have to wait until spring.

The room was quiet, the smell of disinfectant faintly mixed with a sweet floral scent.

The person on the bed’s eyelids trembled. After struggling for a while, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Where… am I? Did I die?”

Jiang Huashan paused and turned around.

Fu Sui’er stared blankly at the white ceiling. When her vision gradually focused and she could see the IV drip, a face appeared in front of her.

Fu Sui’er smiled faintly. “Ah… didn’t die after all.”

Jiang Huashan crossed her arms and looked down at her. She raised two fingers.

“How many fingers?”

“Two,” Fu Sui’er answered.

“Good. Brain’s still intact.”

Jiang Huashan pressed the call button. “You were unconscious for a day. Everyone was worried about you.”

Fu Sui’er lifted her chin slightly. “So finally it’s my turn to be the group’s favorite.”

Jiang Huashan glanced at her.

The teasing in Fu Sui’er’s eyes faded. Suddenly, she became serious.

“Huashan… I’m sorry.”

Jiang Huashan froze.

Her emotions, which she had been holding back, suddenly collapsed. Her eyes turned red.

In the hospital corridor earlier, she had been thinking about one thing.

Why did Shen Mianzhi’s countdown suddenly show only seven hours left? Where did the missing four hours go?

She thought and thought—and finally understood.

The time discrepancy likely occurred when Shen Mianzhi came to the Chrysanthemum Garden to say goodbye.

In order to stop her from holding on to Shen Mianzhi, the “Stage of the Script” had restricted her consciousness. When she woke up, everything seemed unchanged, so she assumed only a moment had passed—but in reality, four hours had already gone by.

If it had been anyone else, they would not have noticed.

But Fu Sui’er was different. She had already stepped outside the script. For her, those four hours must have been long and agonizing.

Jiang Huashan could even reconstruct it in her mind:

She had stood outside the door in a dazed state. Fu Sui’er had held her hand, calling her name over and over. When that failed, she ran downstairs to find Zhang Ru for help—but Zhang Ru couldn’t understand her, only focusing on the soup in the kitchen.

Fu Sui’er ran out of the Chrysanthemum Garden to seek help, but fearing her secret would be exposed, she hesitated and ran back to the embroidery tower. She held Jiang Huashan’s hand again, calling her name repeatedly—four hours straight.

And when Jiang Huashan finally came to, Fu Sui’er didn’t dare ask anything, afraid she might uncover something she wasn’t supposed to know.

What had been imagination… was confirmed by one simple sentence.

“I’m sorry.”

Jiang Huashan shook her head softly. “Sui’er… thank you.”

Fu Sui’er smiled.

This was the first time she stood at the front instead of Jiang Huashan—because she no longer wanted to be the one always protected.

She, like Shen Mianzhi, also had someone she wanted to protect.

The next day

Good news came one after another for the Shen family.

The Five Regions, which had long refused to take a stance, finally made their choice. Shen Qian, against the odds of worsening international tensions and public backlash from Nanwan, turned defeat into victory and secured the position of Speaker.

This victory marked that the Shen family’s dominance at the top had not been broken.

On the day of the parliamentary transition, Fu Lingnan suffered a heart attack and was rushed into emergency care. The old masters of the Zhou and Su families personally visited Shen Manor with lavish gifts to congratulate them. For a time, Shen Manor’s gates were almost worn down by visitors.

In recent days, the Shen family had been united against outsiders. Shen Guiling, Shen Lanxi, and Shen Qingyu all performed impressively, and Shen Zhuang was very satisfied.

With the S-country trip approaching, after hosting guests, Shen Zhuang called the three of them over.

“You’ve all worked hard these days. Take tomorrow off. Rest well and prepare properly. I will test your studies the day after tomorrow.”

The three of them: “……”

Prepare for what? What was there even to prepare for?