Song Jia felt absolutely awful. She was just about to speak to Tang Shiba when Tang Xueqing suddenly called out to her.
"Mom, my hand hurts a little. Is it infected?"
Hearing that her adopted daughter's hand hurt, Song Jia hurried over to check her wound.
What wound...?
Unfazed, Tang Shiba simply went to her own room.
The room was still being tidied up. Apart from a bed and a quilt, there was nothing inside.
She didn't care. After sending the maid out, she lay down to enjoy some juicy gossip.
[This maid actually wants to get into my dad's bed. She even steals his underwear all the time and sniffs it like crazy.]
[Wow, when Dad isn't around, she secretly wears his undergarments too. What? She's wearing his underwear right now?]
Tang Shiba relished the gossip, while Tang Dad's scalp prickled with horror.
Without stopping to consider whether it was true, he hurried to his room.
Song Jia heard it too. Unable to stand it any longer, she followed him.
In the bedroom, Tang Cheng was looking for his underwear. When he found that none of it was missing, he breathed a sigh of relief.
[That blind fool of a dad will never realize his underwear is missing, because the maid replaces it with new pairs.]
Tang Cheng quickly took out his underwear and sniffed it. It had no smell at all, just like new.
"What are you doing? That's disgusting."
Song Jia walked in to find her husband sniffing his underwear, and her expression soured.
Tang Cheng quickly put it down. "I was just checking for mildew. Actually, this underwear looks rather plain. I happen to have a waterproof pen, so I'll draw something on it."
Tang Cheng marked it. If the maid really took it, he would notice immediately.
Song Jia found Tang Cheng's behavior rather strange.
A suspicion began to form in her mind.
Could her husband hear their daughter's thoughts too?
How else could she explain the underwear incident?
Tang Shiba hadn't left her room since coming home. Only when Tang Xueqing knocked did she leisurely climb out of bed and open the door.
"What do you want?"
Why had Tang Xueqing come to see her instead of going to sleep?
"Shiba, I just wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?"
Tang Shiba let her in, and the system chimed again.
[System: Gossip! Gossip!]
[Tang Xueqing deliberately leaves her necklace under my bed, then comes looking for it tomorrow. She secretly picks it up but claims she can't find it, and then Mom and Dad accuse me of finding it and refusing to return it?]
Tang Dad and Mom listened closely. When they heard that Tang Xueqing would deliberately frame Tang Shiba, both of them hesitated.
They had given Tang Xueqing plenty of jewelry. There was no need for her to frame Tang Shiba over a single necklace.
"Shiba, what happened today was my fault. I came to apologize. I hope you can forgive me."
"I've always wished I had an older sister, so someone could protect me."
[Aww, I want an older sister to protect me too.]
"Shiba, you won't be angry with me, will you?"
[Shiba, you won't be angry with me, will you? Ah~ yes, yes, yes, yes.]
Tang Dad and Mom were speechless. Was this a master class in sarcasm?
After keeping up the act for a while and finally securing Tang Shiba's forgiveness, she dropped the necklace under the bed, then got up to leave.
"Get some rest, Shiba."
Once Tang Xueqing left, Tang Shiba did indeed find a necklace under the bed.
[Wow, she really did leave a necklace. It looks expensive. A broke loser like me doesn't deserve it. The trash can is a better match.]
It sailed through the air, and Mr. Trash Can was paired with the noble Lady Necklace.
Tang Dad and Mom, waiting to verify things the next day, slept restlessly all night. They hoped Tang Xueqing wouldn't do anything that would disgust them.
Early the next morning, Tang Xueqing went to Song Jia in tears.
"Mom, I wanted to wear the necklace you gave me this morning, but I can't find it anywhere."
"Have you looked everywhere?"
"I have. I didn't go anywhere else yesterday, just the hallway and Shiba's bedroom. I might have left it there."
With mixed feelings, Song Jia stood up. "Then let's go look."
[I love my bathy-bath, smelling sweet, such a treat. I love my bathy-bath, soft and white, what a tasty bite.]
What kind of dirty little song was that? It sounded rather indecent.
[Here comes my blind fool of a mom, here comes my scheming little sister. So annoying~ annoying~]
Tang Dad had gone to the office early, so he missed this fresh batch of gossip.
The two knocked and waited a while before Tang Shiba opened the door.
She had just finished bathing. Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked fresh and adorable.
Dressed in her pajamas, she deliberately asked, "Mom, did you need something?"
Tang Xueqing stepped forward. "Shiba, I left a necklace here last night. I came to look for it."
"If you found it, could you give it back? Mom gave it to me for my birthday. It means a lot to me."
Tang Shiba stepped aside and said indifferently, "Look all you want. If you can't find it, you must have dropped it somewhere else."
"I couldn't have dropped it anywhere else. I was still wearing it when I came in last night, but it was gone when I got back to my room."
As Song Jia watched Tang Xueqing head straight for the bed, her heart sank.
Sure enough, when she failed to find it, her eyes immediately reddened, and she demanded that Tang Shiba return it.
"Shiba, if you like necklaces, I can give you another one. But Mom gave me that one, and I don't want to give it to you."
"Xueqing, you haven't even searched properly, and you're already saying Shiba took it?"
Tang Xueqing's expression froze. What was going on? Wasn't her mother supposed to take her side?
"Mom, earning money isn't easy for Shiba. She probably can't afford expensive things, so she might have really liked that necklace when she saw it. But you gave it to me, and I absolutely won't let her have it."
Song Jia took a deep breath. "Xueqing, I told you to look again. I'll help you."
With that, she began searching, not even overlooking the trash can. Sure enough, she found the necklace worth two million inside.
She, too, had received a harsh slap in the face.
The slap was that she had always trusted Tang Xueqing so much.
The slap was that her adopted daughter had piles of luxury goods, while her biological daughter didn't even own a decent outfit.
She took out the necklace and asked, "Is this the one?"
Tang Xueqing froze. Impossible. How could the necklace have ended up in the trash can?
Tang Shiba feigned surprise. "Oh dear, it must have been too dark last night. I swept it up, thinking it was trash."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know it belonged to you. That nearly caused a misunderstanding. If word got out, people would think I'd stolen it."
"Someone who even steals from her own family deserves to die, doesn't she, little sister?"
Tang Xueqing gritted her teeth, looking utterly wronged.
Song Jia tossed the necklace to Tang Xueqing and pulled Tang Shiba toward the door. "Shiba, if you're free today, I'll take you shopping."
Tang Shiba tried to pull her hand free, but couldn't, so she gave up.
Tang Xueqing's expression turned ugly. Seeing that the two were about to leave, she hurried after them.
"Mom, I want to come too."
Why should Tang Shiba be the only one taken shopping? Her mother was so unfair. She had changed her loyalties the moment her biological daughter came home, even though she had always loved Tang Xueqing most.
The three drove to the central shopping mall. Tang Shiba, who rarely went shopping, was instantly dazzled.
[Wow, people used to deliver everything I bought. This is my first time shopping in a big mall.]
In her previous life, all her luxury goods had been delivered to her door. Because of her status, going out was inconvenient, and she had developed a habit of being lazy.
Her heart aching over Tang Shiba's past experiences, Song Jia pulled her straight into a jewelry store.
Before you continue