Back in the day, when Gu Su was feeling down, she went to America to clear her head, and by chance, she got her hands on the magical earring.
After getting a basic understanding of the earring's effects, she decided, half-believing, half-skeptical, to try it out on Lu Jiuxiao, who just happened to be in the middle of a reconstructive surgery. She couldn't say for sure if it was pure luck, but the attempt was a success—Lu Jiuxiao indeed developed feelings for her.
Because of a premeditated car accident, Lu Jiuxiao ended up with a broken spine. Unpredictable and hard to please, his affection was a truly heavy burden to bear.
Still, Lu Jiuxiao was generous. As soon as they became official, he filled in the hole her father had left behind. The losses were replenished, there was even a bit of compensation, and the "grievants" from her father's mess were satisfied enough to sign letters of forgiveness one after another. In the end, her father only had to serve one year in jail before getting out.
Lu Jiuxiao didn't just help his father-in-law; he even tracked down Gu Su's former stepmother’s lover.
That lover was Lu Zhentong’s cousin and also Lu Jiuxiao’s nephew. For family’s sake, this man decisively ended things with Gu Su’s stepmother.
Losing her backer, the stepmother didn't hesitate—she grabbed the money and ran off to South America. She didn't even have time to settle down there before she was killed in a gang shootout.
As for her son, he lived with his biological father. As for the money that the stepmother absconded with, by the time it circled around and ended up back in Gu Su’s father’s hands, less than ten percent remained. The loss sent his blood pressure skyrocketing and landed him in the hospital.
After being discharged, he felt his health was declining and lost his drive completely. Since then, all he wanted was his daughter Gu Su’s forgiveness, hoping he could enjoy a few years of family happiness.
Gu Su never forgave her father, but now she was willing to let him take care of her son.
So, after getting off the plane, she first went to her father’s place to pick up her son, informing him she wouldn’t be staying for dinner. Seeing the obvious disappointment on his face, Gu Su felt delighted: another little harvest of emotions from this sorry excuse of a dad… Even scraps are worth something. Knowing her father was filled with regret and pain, she could count that as revenge, no matter how minor.
She took her son home, played with her less-than-three-year-old for a while, had a bit of porridge with some side dishes, and then went to bed early. All that traveling was truly exhausting—and at no point did it occur to her to notify Old Master Lu.
The next day was Saturday, so the child didn’t have to go to kindergarten.
Gu Su made sure both she and her son were nicely dressed, then got in touch with Lu Jiuxiao for the location. She had his driver take mother and son to the Cheng family's place—well, downstairs.
Surrounded and questioned by several uniformed, sunglasses-wearing bodyguards before they could even reach the building, Gu Su realized for the first time that maybe her visit to the “in-laws” wasn’t as ordinary as she’d thought.
It was only at this moment that she realized, belatedly, that her father-in-law Cheng Jingzhou must have more going on than merely currying favor with the Qin family.
Once her identity was checked, she took her son’s small hand and followed the bodyguards into the building and then into the elevator.
The elevator went straight to the ninth floor. When she stepped out, she was frisked and questioned again in the stairwell. Even after two years of riding high with the magical earring, always winning when it came to men, this situation actually made her feel genuinely anxious.
Finally stepping into her father-in-law’s home, it didn’t matter how many others were standing or sitting in the living room; her eyes immediately went to the man in the rocking chair by the window—her father-in-law, Cheng Jingzhou.
Stunned by his beauty, her next thought was: this father-in-law is expensive, pricier than Lu Zhentong, Xiang Feng, and Lu Jiuxiao put together! With her current “savings,” there was no way she could take him down in one go.
Even worse, she was sure her father-in-law wouldn’t like her. Based on the security measures alone before she entered, she didn’t dare imagine he wasn’t already aware of her betrayal of Lu Jiuxiao.
But so what if Cheng Jingzhou didn’t like her?
Truth be told, manipulating Lu Zhentong and the rest had long since lost its novelty. Now, if Cheng Jingzhou could give her some pressure and a real challenge, she was all for it!
Just then, Cheng Jingzhou looked over, his gaze lofty, as if looking at an ant. The rush of excitement nearly overwhelmed her. She thought, I’ll be waiting for the day your every emotion—joy, anger, sorrow—are because of me alone.
She set her sights and believed firmly that she would get there, but that was all for later. For now, she still had to keep her head down—at least enough not to get kicked out by Cheng Jingzhou. “Dad, I brought Baobao to see you.” She gave her son’s hand a gentle shake. “Baobao, greet Grandpa.”
Baobao’s face was expressionless. “Grandpa.” Then he turned to look at the man on the sofa who looked awfully familiar behind his mask. “Lu Jiuxiao?”
Lu Jiuxiao blurted out, “Would you stop using my full name? We’re not even related by blood!” The moment he finished, he looked annoyed and covered his face with his hand.
Cheng Jingzhou stubbed out his cigarette, even smiling a little. “This kid really does look like his father, Lu Zhentong.”
Gu Su’s son was clever—he knew exactly who his biological father was. On one hand, he cozied up to Lu Zhentong; on the other, he used that connection to get under Lu Jiuxiao’s skin, never forgetting to keep his eyes on Lu Jiuxiao’s inheritance.
According to the story, one year during the Qingming Festival, Gu Su was suddenly moved and went to the cemetery to clean up Lu Jiuxiao’s grave. Afterward, she and Lu Zhentong got into a fight. When her son found out, he took out Lu Jiuxiao’s urn, went to the curb, and scattered his ashes… All in all, this child was the ultimate product of Lu Zhentong and Gu Su’s utter ruthlessness and shamelessness.
The boy was still young, and Cheng Jingzhou wasn’t about to let him off that easily. “The evidence of your wife’s affair is right here,” he said. “Why don’t you get a divorce?”
Lu Jiuxiao let out a howl, covering his face. “No! I... I need... someone to take care of me in my old age! You... need that too!” Right after, his whole upper body started shaking uncontrollably, the tremors growing worse by the second.
It really looked like an epileptic seizure! Assistant Li gave his colleagues a look, indicating he’d handle it himself, and hurried to Lu Jiuxiao’s side.
Gu Su’s son, who was nearby, got a huge fright and dove straight into his mother’s arms.
Face pale, Gu Su picked up her son and backed away until her back was pressed firmly against the decorative wall in the entryway. She’d just manipulated the mist in her mind, sending Lu Jiuxiao into an emotional collapse and harvesting some negative emotions at the same time.
She’d gotten the feelings she wanted, but her plan to have Lu Jiuxiao hurt himself as a way to threaten Cheng Jingzhou seemed to have fallen through… Yet as she looked at Lu Jiuxiao rolling his eyes, she still wasn’t sure it was a total loss.
Cheng Jingzhou glanced at the earring on Gu Su’s ear, picked up the cigarette box on hand, and tossed it toward Lu Jiuxiao’s forehead.
As the saying goes, “a box to the head brings people back to life”—the sharp smack on the forehead instantly restored Lu Jiuxiao. His upper body stopped trembling, and he even managed to catch the falling cigarette box with his hand.
Clutching it, he fell into deep thought for a moment. “I don’t even know why I don’t really want a divorce. Now that I think about it, maybe it’s not impossible after all.”
Gu Su was so shocked she almost lost control.
It wasn’t because Lu Jiuxiao suddenly seemed open to divorce, but because when she tried to manipulate the mist—she got absolutely no response at all. Like throwing a stone into the sea and not hearing a sound.
She couldn’t hide her fear as she looked toward Cheng Jingzhou, who was still sitting calmly by the window, not even changing his posture: Maybe he was exactly the “accident” mentioned in the info the earring had transmitted into her mind! She needed to go home and rethink her strategy—it was better to retreat for now.
She gently patted her son’s back. “Let’s both calm down?” She intentionally freed her hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “It was my fault. No matter how this turns out, I can accept it.”
Her son suddenly cried out, “Mom, Lu Jiuxiao is no good to you!”
Lu Jiuxiao was touched by the words of mother and son, bowing his head, his voice heavy. “I know. You two should go back for now.”
Gu Su gave him a deep look, then turned and walked out, carrying her son with her.
As the two left, Qin Er carefully asked, “Are we really just letting her go like that? Uncle Cheng, she’s odd.” He prided himself on being brave and thorough, and Uncle Cheng didn’t mind him—he’d even let him handle the cash register before—yet now he didn’t dare mention Lu Jiuxiao directly.
Cheng Jingzhou smiled. “If she wanted to, she could get certified as a Gu martial master.”
Lu Jiuxiao’s head shot up, eyes wide. “What?!”
Quick of mind and even quicker of tongue, Qin Er sneered. “If those words you just said weren’t so insincere, Uncle Cheng would have hung you off the chandelier by now.”
Lu Jiuxiao’s blood pressure spiked. Who gave outsiders the right to interfere in a father and son’s business? Furious, he blurted out without thinking, “If you want an irresponsible, kid-abandoning dad, I’ll give you mine! Want to trade?”
Qin Er didn’t hesitate, “Of course! I’d happily swap you ten of my dads for just one of yours!”
Everyone present: …Does your dad know how “filial” you are…
The system burst out laughing in Cheng Jingzhou’s ear, “Is this beating magic with magic, a filial son crushing another filial son?”
Cheng Jingzhou lit a cigarette. “I never expected those two would actually get along.”