The Bowl of Seven Emotions

By the time Bai Nian finally arrived after receiving the message, Shi Chengxuan had long since left. Lin Sheng was huddled in a corner of the cafe's back kitchen, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"What happened to him?" Seeing Lin Sheng's state, Bai Nian turned to ask the cafe owner who had followed him in.

The owner stroked his chin. "The young man seems to have been traumatized. His stress tolerance is too weak."

"You were too harsh. He only…"

Bai Nian didn't finish his sentence. The owner extended a finger and pressed it against his lips, stopping the words about to come out.

"Shh… A smart person should know what it means to stop while one can. Clearly, your subordinate isn't smart enough. Lack of intelligence can be remedied, but if he seeks death himself, he can't blame others."

"I admit he went too far, but it shouldn't warrant using your methods on him." Knowing this person's identity, Bai Nian was naturally very wary of his methods.

Although he seemed friendly and amiable with his constant smile, he was absolutely ruthless when he took action. Few people who fell into his hands escaped unscathed. Although Lin Sheng had some petty tricks, he was at best an ordinary person. How could he withstand this?

"If I let him off the hook, you'd have to file a missing person report in a few days. Or do you really think Shi Chengxuan would let him go just because of you?" The owner's voice was laced with mockery.

Bai Nian remained silent for a long while, finally just silently taking Lin Sheng away.

After seeing off the unrelated people, the cafe opened its doors again. Soon, customers arrived, and everything returned to its peaceful state. The handsome owner basking in the leisurely afternoon sun was a pleasant sight.

With Shi Chengxuan taking action, the matter was resolved with astonishing speed. Unfortunately, Tang Susu was in no mood to praise him at this time.

She was in a state of turmoil, but she didn't know who to talk to, nor how to sort out her emotions.

She had always thought that she and Shi Chengxuan had a tacit understanding. Wouldn't it be good to continue like this without anyone speaking up?

When he first started sending flowers, Tang Susu felt a bit nervous, but later he did nothing, leading her to believe the matter had passed.

Who knew he would make such a grand move at this juncture?

Gou Dan, who had just witnessed a confession, didn't quite understand Tang Susu's inner conflict. It was currently pawing at the doll that Tang Susu had just decapitated.

When Tang Susu recovered, she saw Gou Dan chewing on an unknown object. Its paw was pinning down a small body, a headless one.

Not only was it headless, but the body was still moving, struggling constantly, as if trying to escape from under Gou Dan's paw.

"What is this thing?" This bizarre scene almost made Tang Susu jump.

"A Gu doll, a type of Miao Gu. It tastes pretty good. Want to try some?"

"No, thank you. You can have it yourself." Tang Susu had only heard Gou Dan say that this thing could bewitch people's minds; it hadn't mentioned it was alive.

She felt the need to disinfect her hands.

Back at home, Tang Susu collapsed onto the sofa. Too much had happened in the past few days. Everything else could be dealt with later; the top priority now was Tang Qiming.

Tang Susu had always thought that even if Tang Qiming didn't like her as a daughter, he would still care about their blood ties. Now she realized she had been thinking too much.

Perhaps, from the moment he decided to push her into an arranged marriage with Xue Jun, any father-daughter affection had completely vanished.

These past few days, there had been no news from Tang Qiming. Logically, with Xue Jun hospitalized, Tang Qiming should have been suspicious. His silence, was he secretly scheming, or was there some other reason?

Perhaps, she could ask Xue Yang?

She had no good impression of the Xue family, even bordering on disgust. Especially Xue Jun. If his death wouldn't affect her, he might have already been a corpse when the bodyguards found him.

As Xue Jun's only son, Xue Yang wasn't on her list of close acquaintances either. When she first met Xue Yang, she had a vague feeling that although he was polite and called her "sister," he looked down on her in his heart.

This time, when the incident happened, he took the initiative to apologize, not because he felt sorry, but because he didn't want to offend Shi Chengxuan.

In the end, it was just that she, Tang Susu, didn't carry enough weight in others' eyes. If she had no connection to Shi Chengxuan, Xue Yang probably wouldn't have chosen to apologize when he learned of Xue Jun's incident, but would have sought revenge for his father.

To earn respect, one must first make others understand one's value.

Everything that had happened these past few days had suddenly awakened her.

If she continued to choose to be an ordinary person, such things would happen again and again. Anyone could stab her in the back, anyone could treat her like a toy and sell her off at will.

Keeping a low profile…

She had been wrong, wrong from the very beginning.

After obtaining the Seven Emotions Bowl and learning that all its previous owners had met tragic ends, she was filled with fear, believing that she would eventually follow in their footsteps. So she didn't dare to let anyone notice, and when she was inexplicably followed, she could only seek other solutions.

How ridiculous!

Tang Susu sat up, her eyes narrowing slightly. Only those who took the initiative had the hope of survival. Passive acceptance wouldn't necessarily offer a way out.

Since she had been wrong before, she would correct it.

The Seven Emotions Bowl had been passed down through so many generations and through so many owners; presumably, few of them had died in obscurity.

Having figured this out, Tang Susu no longer hesitated. She opened her contacts and pressed Tang Qiming's number.

Unlike Tang Susu's lonely apartment, the Tang family home was currently very lively. After what happened to Old Madam Tang and Old Master Tang, the Tang family rarely went to the old mansion anymore. Their gatherings were now held at Tang Qiming's house.

Tang Qiming's villa was in the Donghai residential area, where the neighbors were all people of considerable status. When Tang Susu's mother was alive, they had lived next door in Hanlin Manor. After her death, Tang Qiming moved.

It was then that Tang Susu learned that the woman her father had kept had lived for so many years in a villa less than five hundred meters from her home, while she and her mother had always lived in that hundred-square-meter apartment.

The Tang family was accustomed to gatherings during holidays and festivals. Moreover, Tang Qiming was now the most powerful person in the entire Tang family, so his siblings were naturally happy to cling to him.

When the phone rang, Tang Qiming was chatting with his brother-in-law, while Mi Zheng sat bored beside his father.

Seeing the caller ID on his phone, Tang Qiming's expression changed slightly. He smiled at Mi Yong. "I'm going to take a client's call."

Mi Yong naturally didn't object, nodding for him to go ahead.

Seeing his uncle leave, Mi Zheng revealed a look of displeasure and whispered to his father, "That woman is too much. She didn't even invite Sister Susu to the gathering. Mistresses really are nothing good."

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