Xie Moran was even more ruthless and blackhearted than his father, the richest man in the country-a thoroughly scheming power player behind the scenes.
In her previous life, Xu Junshan had gutted the Shen Corporation, then practically given its empty shell to Xie Moran in exchange for protection.
Xie Moran had used the Shen Corporation's name to turn it into a century-old heritage brand earning tens of billions a year, a textbook example of making a fortune without putting up a cent.
"Hello, Uncle Xie. I'm Shen Banxia. Sorry, I came into the wrong room. Aunt Cui told me to take a nap in a guest room upstairs, and I thought this was it."
Shen Banxia climbed off the bed, bowed respectfully, and apologized.
Xie Moran stared at Shen Banxia without expression, but his eyes darkened further.
Shen Banxia turned toward the door. If she didn't get out now, when would she?
"Stop!"
Shen Banxia flinched, slowly turned her head, and asked shakily,
"Uncle Xie, you wouldn't want my mom and your mom downstairs drinking tea to get the wrong idea about what just happened, would you?"
It was less a reminder than a warning.
"Who exactly are you?" Xie Moran demanded.
She had dared to climb into his bed at her age. Did she have a death wish?
"Didn't I just tell you? My mom is downstairs having tea with your mom. Your mom is Aunt Cui, so naturally, my mom is Shen Shuyi.
"Uncle Xie, surely you haven't gotten so old that you've lost even that much reasoning ability?" Shen Banxia asked hesitantly.
Just as Xie Moran was about to have someone throw Shen Banxia downstairs, hurried footsteps sounded outside. Before either of them could react, the door opened.
Shen Shuyi and Aunt Cui stood in the doorway, breathless. At the sight of Shen Banxia and a shirtless Xie Moran on opposite sides of the bed, both fell silent.
"Aunt Cui, Mom... boo-hoo..."
Shen Banxia suddenly ran over, hugged Cui Yushu, and buried her face in her shoulder, crying as though she had been terribly wronged.
Xie Moran's face darkened at once. What was this brat trying to pull?
"Moran, what are you doing? Banxia is still a child!"
Cui Yushu furiously scolded her son, then lowered her head to comfort Shen Banxia, telling her not to be afraid. Aunt Cui would stand up for her.
Shen Shuyi stood beside them, panicked and at a loss as to how to comfort her daughter.
Judging by how little time had passed, nothing should have happened yet. But Xie Moran was shirtless, so perhaps something already had.
"Mom, what are you talking about? I'd just showered, and before I could catch up on sleep, this little potato appeared in my bed!"
Xie Moran's expression softened somewhat in front of his mother. Speechless and exasperated, he grabbed a sweater, pulled it over his head, and explained.
Even though he wanted to strangle Shen Banxia, who was clinging to his mother's shoulder and twisting the truth.
"It's just a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding. Banxia went into the wrong room."
Shen Shuyi hurried to smooth things over.
"Yushu, Banxia, let's go downstairs and let Moran rest. Didn't he just get back from a business trip? He must be exhausted."
"Aunt Cui, he didn't do anything to me. He just snapped at me!"
Shen Banxia raised her head pitifully, offering an explanation on Xie Moran's behalf.
Xie Moran jerked his head up as though he had been electrocuted.
Rather than explaining, she was smearing him. The more she said, the worse he looked.
"Moran, you even snapped at Banxia? Have you no decency?
"She's still a child, and a girl at that! How could you?"
Cui Yushu's expression changed. If Shen Banxia hadn't been standing in front of her, she would have charged over and beaten her son.
"Mom, don't listen to this brat's nonsense." Xie Moran frowned.
"Aunt Cui, look! He's snapping at me again!"
"Apologize to Banxia!"
"And promise you won't snap at me or bully me again!" Shen Banxia seized the chance to add her demands between sobs.
In the end, Xie Moran was forced to apologize to Shen Banxia and promise not to snap at her or bully her again before the matter was finally settled.
They left Xie Moran's bedroom.
Xie Moran stared at Shen Banxia. No one in his life had ever dared to play dirty with him, yet today, a little brat had gotten the better of him.
Shen Banxia looked back at Xie Moran, flashed him a brilliant smile, and silently mouthed-
"Thank you, Uncle!"
Uncle???
Xie Moran nearly spat blood. Only then did he realize that this brat had been calling him Uncle Xie from start to finish!
On the way home, Shen Shuyi was still uneasy and asked her daughter,
"Moran really didn't do anything to you?"
"No. When would he have had the chance?" Shen Banxia replied, shaking her head.
After being forced to swallow such a bitter defeat today, the big boss would certainly remember her.
She had deliberately provoked him to leave a lasting impression.
With Aunt Cui backing her up, she wasn't afraid of Xie Moran retaliating.
Besides, she was only a child. However scheming or unhinged Xie Moran might be, he had no reason to hold a grudge against a child.
Her plan was to complain to Aunt Cui the moment he set his sights on the Shen Corporation.
The big boss feared nothing except his own mother, because she had suffered severe bleeding while giving birth to him and nearly died.
Ever since then, everyone in the Xie Family had practically put Cui Yushu on a pedestal.
Except for that unfilial daughter, Xie Jingyan, who seemed to have been born solely to torment Cui Yushu.
"That's good. When we first came in and saw him shirtless, your Aunt Cui and I were both terrified."
"He'd just showered and was about to rest. Maybe he's used to sleeping naked, so he hadn't put anything on.
"But when you think about it, I was more at fault. I went into the wrong room and took his bed.
"He couldn't have expected someone to be in his bed, either.
"By the way, why did you and Aunt Cui both rush upstairs?"
"Your Aunt Cui gave you the wrong room. She thought she was at the Xie Family home instead of the Book Garden and didn't realize her mistake.
"Moran had just returned from his business trip and came here especially to see her before going upstairs to rest.
"When your Aunt Cui suddenly remembered, we were both so frightened that we rushed upstairs.
"Luckily, it was a false alarm," Shen Shuyi explained.
Only now did she feel completely reassured.
Finally, she made sure to give her daughter another warning.
"Banxia, don't provoke Moran again."
"Mom, what if he provokes me?" Shen Banxia asked, looking at her mother with an innocent expression.
Caught off guard by her daughter's question, Shen Shuyi stared at her, dumbfounded. After a long while, she answered,
"He probably won't!"
Although she didn't know Yushu's son very well,
she had always felt that he was more composed than other children, with an air of nobility and authority even from a young age.
Surely he wouldn't be so petty as to hold a grudge against a child who had entered the wrong room.
"Could he have fallen in love with me at first sight?" Shen Banxia asked again.
"..." Shen Shuyi was utterly exasperated. Now she no longer worried that Xie Moran would make trouble for her daughter; she worried that her daughter was too full of herself and letting her imagination run wild.
"Banxia, well... you're still young, and you're in your final year of high school. Your studies need to come first.
"Let's not think about anything else. Just focus on school for now," Shen Shuyi replied, thoroughly exasperated.
The mention of schoolwork gave Shen Banxia a headache.
Because in addition to studying, she would have to deal with all the assorted troublemakers at school. It would take both time and energy.
When Shen Shuyi and her daughter returned home, they found her sister-in-law, Xu Yanni, who never visited unless she wanted something, sitting at the living room coffee table piled with fruit and snacks, stuffing herself as brazenly as if she were in her own home.
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