Gu Yanqi subtly told Jiang Jinshu to hire a gaming streamer.

There were a lot of celebrities in the entertainment industry. As long as they could get a famous celebrity to become their ambassador, they would not have to worry about not getting enough players on Chinese New Year's Eve. As for Master Fu on Twitch, Gu Yanqi had run a background check on her, yet not only had he been unable to find her residential address, but he'd discovered that even her ID card was fake.

​​

Gu Yanqi had a hunch that this Master Fu was not ordinary. Perhaps she was supported by someone of consequence?

In any case, he included her in his backup plan.

At the same time, in the Li Mansion. Fu Zhi pushed the door open and went into the study. There were several black sacks and baskets on the floor.

Fu Zhi couldn't tell what they were, so she looked at Li Nanli.

Li Nanli was sitting on the couch not far away. He gestured for her to open a random sack and check it out.

Crouching down, Fu Zhi opened a sack.

The sack proved to be a little heavy for her, although she was strong. The tips of her fingers were turning white as she pulled the string on the sack apart. The moment the string snapped, the content of the sack poured out onto the floor.

Setting her jaw tight, Fu Zhi opened a basket.

All of them were big and contained shiny diamonds, and there was also a basket of gold.

Fu Zhi did not know what to say. She did not need to check, as she already knew all of them were the real deal.

She looked at Li Nanli in confusion and asked, "What are these…"

"A gift from my mother," Li Nanli replied.

"Are you sure they are not betrothal gifts?!" Fu Zhi asked.

"Young lady." Nanli put the document in his hand down and glanced at her with a meaningful smile playing at the corner of his lips. "Are you saying that I should propose to you? I am not ready yet."

"It's okay, brother. There's no need to get so serious about it," Fu Zhi said.

Although puppy love was not against the law, child marriage was.

But then again, if this was something all rich families could do, then why had Fu Zhao not let her spend her money as she wished in the past 16 years?

The more Fu Zhi thought about it, the more she felt the great fatherly love she had in her mind ebbing away.

Taking advantage of the time when Gu Yanqi came to find Li Nanli to check the IP address, Fu Zhi took a picture of the diamonds and gold on the floor and sent it to Ye Jiu.

[What do you think?]

[I have to say your photoshop skills have improved a lot, but can you be more realistic and stop living in your dreams? Besides, today is your turn to buy me a cup of milk tea, so where are you now? At the Li Mansion? Don't forget that we have a curfew and we need to be at home before 8:00 p.m. Dad will be mad if he finds out you're outside meeting another guy and he will break your legs if you come back home late!]

Before Fu Zhi could reply, Ye Jiu sent another message.

[By the way, can you add me to the photo? I want to show off on my WeChat Moments.]

[This picture is real. It has not been edited in any way. I'm thinking why our father, Fu Zhao, never gave us any diamonds before.

[I'm not comparing Auntie Huo Ningxin to our father, but the point is, I can't sell or wear these diamonds and gold, so I don't know where I can put them. She bought me a truck of luxurious clothes the last time we met and she gave me several sacks and buckets of gold and diamonds now. What is our mom going to think when she sees these diamonds and gold? She might think I robbed a bank! Why can't she just give me a dress? Not only is it cheap, but I can wear it out as well. Sigh! Why must my life be so hard?]

Ye Jiu did not know what he should say.

If she was not his sister and he was able to defeat her, he would have slapped her cheeks to smash some sense into her brain.

'Your life is hard? Are you kidding me? I've had to borrow money from a loan shark in order to survive!'

Diamonds? Gold? Ye Jiu had never seen so many of them in his life before, so he did not know why Fu Zhi, who had gotten everything from her mother-in-law, still felt unsatisfied.

Besides, if he did not know Fu Zhi was a dense girl, he might have suspected she'd said this to offend him.

After all, she had a good mother-in-law to take care of her, while he did not know any rich women at all.

[Yeah, right. Those diamonds and gold mean nothing if you can't wear or sell them, but I have to say that your mother-in-law is nice to me. She gave me a check I can use whenever I want. The only problem is that I don't know how I should spend it because it's a lot of money.]

Ye Jiu thought Fu Zhi should be able to realize he was unhappy, reflect on herself, and give half of the diamonds to him. However, little did he expect that not only would Fu Zhi fail to realize that, but she'd also go along with him and say, [You should've told me that! I would've asked you to transfer all the money to me.]

Ye Jiu, who was speechless, swore to God that he would not talk to her for the next month.

On the other hand, since Fu Zhi and Li Nanli were practically not a couple yet, she planned to return these diamonds and gold to Huo Ningxin.

[What? You want to return the diamonds and gold to her? Why? You can give them to me if you don't like them! Did you know that I nearly sold my blood in order to put food on the table?]

Fu Zhi did not reply. Instead, she asked, [I thought you said you wouldn't talk to me for the next month?]

Ye Jiu would have already forgotten about it if Fu Zhi had not reminded him. However, he felt that it did not matter much. After all, shame was meant for kids, not for adults like him.

He then withdrew the message and said, [Sis, if you really think you're cheating on him, why don't you come home tonight and have a talk with him in bed?]

[What about our curfew?]

[Do you have any idea how dire our financial situation is right now? In the past, I might have needed to go to the palace and become the emperor in order to put food on the table.

[How about this, sis? If you're really afraid, I can join you guys. I can sleep between you two, and we three can play Fight the Landlord. We can also ask Lu Yumo to join us and we can play mahjong together!]

[Should we invite Yusheng too?]

[No, no, no. He's too protective of you, and I don't want any bloodshed. You haven't married Li Nanli yet, so we have to protect his safety at all costs. Otherwise, we might not be able to inherit his assets and property.]

…

What was love for Ye Jiu? In his opinion, if someone loved him, then they would marry him and kill themselves at the wedding ceremony so that he could inherit their assets.

Fu Zhi was so stunned that she did not know what she should say to him. It was only after Li Nanli returned and stood behind her, staring at her phone, that she came back to her senses and put her phone away. Before she could say anything, she was pulled into his embrace, and he tousled her hair. "That's a good idea."

Fu Zhi: "Huh?"

Li Nanli planted a kiss on the mole on her collarbone and whispered into her ear, "Let's go to bed and talk."

The air in the study was filled with the fragrance of flowers, and the moon outside the window was bright. The man's voice was low and magnetic and felt as soothing as the night breeze.

He was now holding Fu Zhi in his embrace, and Fu Zhi felt her heart skip a beat.

Fu Zhi stayed in the Li Mansion for dinner. Other than the dishes cooked by the maid, Gu Yanqi also bought some soup dumplings, sweet and sour pork ribs, and a cup of milk tea from a restaurant.

By the time Li Nanli and Fu Zhi came downstairs, only Gu Yanqi was sitting by the dining table, as Jiang Jinshu did not want to stay in the same room as Fu Zhi.

Gu Yanqi was holding a cigar between his fingers but hastily chucked it when he saw Fu Zhi. Then, he approached her with an ingratiating smile tugging at his lips as he said, "Sister Zhizhi, you finally came. I heard from Nanli that you like to eat sweet and sour pork ribs, so I bought you some. Come and have a taste."

This was not the first time Gu Yanqi met Fu Zhi, yet every time, she would give him a new surprise.

When Gu Yanqi had asked Li Nanli to check the IP address of Master Fu, Li Nanli had told him that the ID belonged to Fu Zhi. Li Nanli had also told him that she had used the ID to have a live-streaming session when she'd first come to the Li Mansion and she'd received a lot of gifts, such as rockets and mermaids, from her viewers.

After they took their seats around the dining table, Gu Yanqi said, "Sister Zhizhi, I know you like to play games. My company is holding a match on Chinese New Year's Eve, so I was wondering if you'd be interested in participating. Oh yeah, there is a one-million-dollar prize for the winning player."

In the past, Fu Zhi would have said yes without any hesitation, but after receiving diamonds and gold from Huo Ningxin, Fu Zhi felt that she had changed.

She had become a lot richer lately, so she did not want to work so hard to earn money anymore.

Gu Yanqi poured a glass of red wine for Li Nanli, signaling for him to put in a good word for him.

Fu Zhi put her milk tea away and pushed a glass toward Gu Yanqi. "I'll have one too, thank you."

"Sister Zhizhi," Gu Yanqi said. "You have to call me Brother Yanqi so that I can work for you wholeheartedly."

Li Nanli then moved closer to Fu Zhi and said, "Just call him Gu Yanqi. You don't have to listen to him."

Fu Zhi had too many brothers already, so Li Nanli did not want her to gain any more.

He paused for a moment, and since Gu Yanqi had offended him, he added, "The game he mentioned is boring. It's a waste of time, so it's okay if you don't want to participate."

Fu Zhi nodded and said, "Okay!"

Gu Yanqi was speechless.

****

It was already 7:00 p.m. when Fu Zhi got back to the Lu Mansion. Xu Wei had accidentally broken the cup that Lu Yushen had made, so Fu Zhi used the diamonds that Huo Ningxin had given her and made a new one for Lu Yushen.

Then, Song Fang called.

"Sister Zhi, I have something to tell you, but you have to promise me first that you won't get angry."

Song Fang sounded anxious, and Fu Zhi was currently eating a pomelo that Lu Yushen had peeled for her.

"Okay. Just shoot."

"Do you know about the gathering hosted by the Mu Family?"

"Yeah," Fu Zhi replied as she scooped a big piece of pomelo for Lu Yushen, who was peeling a pomegranate now. Lu Yushen shook his head and said, "I'm fine. You can have it."

"I bumped into Mu Chenxi this afternoon, and you know what? Her skin is so fair that I thought a bulb was walking on the street. I don't know if that's why she's so full of herself, but she's bad-mouthing you to her friend, saying that she will show everyone that you're not Pure Feather after the gathering. Also, she said you're as ugly as a toad."

"So?"

"Here's the thing..." Song Fang continued. "Yumo and I were so angry with her that we went up to her and confronted her. Then, our emotions got the best of us and we took the invitation that she was going to give to you and told her that you would certainly go to the gathering and show her who's the boss."

Fu Zhi did not know what she should say.

"Hello? Sister Zhi? Are you still there? Why don't you just go to the gathering? After all, you're really Pure Feather, and if you don't show up at the gathering, who knows what Mu Chenxi will say about you at school…"

The more Song Fang said, the lower his voice became.

Lu Yushen looked worriedly at his sister.

"Don't worry," Fu Zhi said as she smiled at Lu Yumo. Then, she asked Song Fang, "When is the gathering?"

"This Saturday."

'That's the day after tomorrow.'

"I've gotten an invitation myself, so let's go together. The main theme of the gathering is something along the lines of expressing gratitude to Pure Feather for cooperating with them. I really want to see them humiliate themselves."

'That's the reason you sold me out?'

In any case, Fu Zhi felt that she could not let Song Fang down. After all, everything else aside, Song Fang was one of the few students who were truly nice to her.

Fu Zhi said something to Lu Yushen and went back to her room to take a shower.

Lu Yumo knew what he had gotten Fu Zhi into, so he did not have the face to look at Fu Zhi right now. He waited until she came upstairs and only then went downstairs to drink water.

However, by the time he reached the kitchen, Xu Wei had emptied the warm water in the kettle.

Lu Yumo then looked at the diamond cup beside Lu Yushen and said, "Brother, I'm thirsty."

Lu Yushen was speechless as he looked at Lu Yumo's puppy eyes.

He was torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. The cup was a gift from his sister, but he was worried that Lu Yumo might eat Fu Zhi's pomelo if he did not let him drink from the cup.

After a long bout of rumination, Lu Yushen hesitantly handed the cup to Lu Yushen and said, "Okay, but first, you have to drink gently, and second, you have to make sure your mouth doesn't touch the cup."

Lu Yumo was stunned.

'I just want to take a sip, yet I have to follow a protocol?'