HBWMA -Chapter 76 Metamorphosis

Three days later, Winter Garden.

The front courtyard was packed so tightly with luxury brand sales assistants that there was barely room to move. Shen Jiao stood there in a tailored qipao, holding a stack of the latest designer lookbooks from this season’s collections.

Not long ago, Shen Zhuang had informed the entire Shen family that next month, the Shen family’s young heir, Shen Lanxi, would officially return home. Years ago, when the main branch suffered a disaster, a master had said Shen Lanxi’s fate was too noble and heavy—if they didn’t find a way to suppress the misfortune, he might not survive childhood. Out of desperation, Old Master Shen had sent him to Qingxu Temple. Now, seven years had passed, the karmic burden had been resolved, and it was time for him to return.

The old master doted on his legitimate grandson the most. He insisted the welcoming banquet must be held on a grand scale—so grand that it would shake all of A Country, even the entire world… even the entire planet.

This gave Shen Zhi quite a headache. Shaking Jinggang was easy enough. Shaking the world wasn’t impossible either. But… shaking the planet was another matter entirely—especially when the planet also included marine creatures, land animals, and birds that didn’t even understand human language.

So, even though Shen Lanxi hadn’t returned yet, preparations for the banquet had already begun.

The welcoming banquet would gather all the elite figures of A Country. As one of the key figures in the conflict between the Shen and Fu families, Shen Jiao would undoubtedly draw a great deal of attention that day, so she was especially careful about her outfit.

With a sharp eye, she casually selected a few pieces—and ended up keeping all the new arrivals.

The sales assistants were overjoyed and immediately brought over the jewelry catalogs. After all, even a top-tier haute couture gown couldn’t compare to custom high jewelry.

Just then, her phone on the table rang. Shen Jiao glanced at it and gestured for everyone to be quiet. The sales assistants immediately stepped aside.

She answered the call, a smile unconsciously forming on her lips.

“Got chased back by A-Huang again today?”

“Not at all,” Aunt Feng chuckled on the other end. “Our Er’er is clever. Since bribing A-Huang didn’t work, she went off to make friends with Teacher Kong’s grandson instead. That kid somehow found out the boy still wets the bed at six years old, and even dragged him to the town clinic.”

Shen Jiao shook her head, amused. “So she managed to win him over?”

Aunt Feng burst out laughing. “Win him over? Not exactly. When they got to the Chinese medicine clinic, Dr. Fan just happened to be giving an interview to a TV station. When they asked for medical advice, he used it as a live demonstration. Now the whole Xiangying knows Teacher Kong’s grandson still wets the bed at six.”

“Hahaha!” Shen Jiao couldn’t help it—she laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. “That’s going to leave a grudge, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely,” Aunt Feng said, then suddenly lowered her voice, barely holding back laughter. “Miss, Sui’er and Miss Jiang are back. Don’t let her know I said too much.”

Shen Jiao suppressed her laughter and was about to agree when something occurred to her. “By the way… is Jiang Huashan still with Sui’er?”

“She is. Alright, Miss, I’m hanging up now.”

The call ended.

Shen Jiao’s gaze paused slightly. At that moment, her phone vibrated again. She opened the messaging app—Aunt Feng had sent a video.

Under dappled sunlight and tree shadows, Fu Sui’er was gesturing animatedly as she spoke to Jiang Huashan. Her short hair was slightly tousled, her skin tanned a few shades darker, and her grape-like eyes shone brighter than the sunlight behind her.

Vibrant. Lively. A Fu Sui’er Shen Jiao had never seen before.

After a moment, Shen Jiao shifted her gaze to Jiang Huashan.

Compared to Fu Sui’er, she seemed to belong to an entirely different visual world. It felt as if summer had merely borrowed her brightness—because she herself seemed to glow from every strand of hair.

After a brief silence, Shen Jiao put down her phone.

“Bring me that lookbook again.”

“Yes, Miss Shen.”

She flipped through a few pages, then paused.

“This one. Send it over next month as well.”

The sales assistant looked at it and quickly recorded it. “Yes, Miss Shen. Should we still tailor it to Miss Sui’er’s size?”

Shen Jiao replied calmly, “No. My daughter has darker skin and is short. She can’t pull off this kind of dress. Just note it down for now—someone will send the measurements later.”

“Okay… okay.” The salesperson’s smile stiffened at the corners. For a moment, she didn’t know whether she should say something on Miss Sui’er’s behalf.

Shen Jiao flipped open the jewelry catalogue again and tapped on a design of a princess crown.

“Let’s go with this style for the jewelry. It’s simple enough for a young girl. But the main stone is a bit too small. I just happen to have two pink diamonds that can be used to supplement it.”

“Miss Shen, one main stone is enough. As for the other one, maybe you could use it to make a necklace for Miss Sui’er? What about this princess necklace? It could be used for her eighteenth birthday coming-of-age gift.”

Shen Jiao shook her head.

“No need. Make two identical pieces.”

Sui’er’s coming-of-age gift would be something far better.

Back then at Qinyuan, Shen Jiao hadn’t refused the Fu family out of pride. She genuinely looked down on the Fu family’s petty wealth. In the future, the jewelry Sui’er would inherit would be no less than that of a princess of the royal family of Country Y. She only hoped Fu Jiaming wouldn’t regret it then.

Xiangying, old residence.

Fu Sui’er wore flip-flops and held onto Jiang Huashan’s hand, full of fighting spirit.

“A-Shan, I found out. That little brat has been hiding in his room because he wet the bed on live television. He refuses to come out. If we go now, we’ll definitely be able to see Teacher Kong.”

Jiang Huashan hugged the little “pitiful one” limply, her energy drained.

“And then what? After you’ve already hurt two of his grandsons, what can you even do after meeting Teacher Kong?”

Fu Sui’er froze for a moment. It took her a while to understand what that meant. She scratched her ear awkwardly.

“Oh… right. Then what should we do?” She frowned deeply and stroked her chin. “That’s strange. Why is nothing going smoothly? It feels like everything and everyone is working against me.”

Jiang Huashan glanced at the blazing sun overhead and silently put on her baseball cap.

“What else can you do? If the road isn’t clear, just walk it a few more times and flatten it.”

“That’s it! Exactly!” Fu Sui’er laughed and opened her sun umbrella.

At first, she had been irritated by the constant accidents. At one point, she even wanted to give up entirely. But every time she saw Jiang Huashan, she somehow felt full of energy again. Even she couldn’t believe she had managed to persist for half a month just because of one apology.

The two of them had just stepped out when they ran into an auntie from the old residence returning from grocery shopping. The auntie smiled warmly.

“Miss Sui’er, keep it up!”

Fu Sui’er stopped in her tracks. By the time she reacted, the auntie had already walked into the courtyard. She pointed at herself in disbelief and turned to Jiang Huashan.

“Did she just talk to me?”

Jiang Huashan replied lazily, “Who else here is called Fu Sui’er?”

Fu Sui’er felt something strange in her chest. She kept looking back, but the auntie was already gone.

The two of them walked along the town’s main road for about ten minutes. Fu Sui’er looked increasingly puzzled.

“A-Shan, don’t you think everyone is acting weird? That man riding past on the bicycle was smiling and waving at us. And the lady selling pineapple ice at the corner kept smiling at me—I think she was about to give me a bowl.”

Jiang Huashan stopped and turned her head.

“Anything else?”

“Also…” Fu Sui’er pointed at the bus stop covered in purple wisteria flowers.

“The flowers bloomed.”

Her gaze carried a trace of confusion. She had been walking this road back and forth for half a month, but today was the first time she noticed there was such a beautiful bus stop here. She turned to Jiang Huashan.

“Has it always been here?”

Jiang Huashan’s lips curved slightly.

“Yes.”

The reason Fu Sui’er hadn’t seen it before was because she had only been a supporting “cannon fodder” character. She only possessed the labels the plot had given her—stupid, impulsive, angry. Those emotions would never let her see people smiling at her from bicycles, or someone wanting to offer her a bowl of pineapple ice. They would never let her notice the flowers blooming on the bus stop.

Even if this was a false world, beautiful things had always been there.