The antique girlfriend of a chaebol heir

Before we knew it, the first winter break had arrived.

Early in the morning, Shen Ci sat at the dining table and quietly ate her breakfast.

Shen Xiaoming sat opposite her, holding half a sesame seed cake in his hand, chewing as he read the newspaper.

Lin Ruojin poured a cup of hot soy milk and pushed it toward his hand.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

A sudden, urgent knocking broke the silence inside the house.

Shen Xiaoming frowned slightly, put down the sesame seed cake in his hand, and got up to walk to the entrance.

He peered through the peephole and his pupils constricted slightly—standing outside the door were his cousin Shen Xiaocun and his family of three.

Shen Xiaoming placed his hand on the doorknob and hesitated for a moment.

Since that incident, he had been determined to cut off all contact with them, thinking that he would never cross paths with them again in this lifetime.

He took a deep breath and finally unlocked the door.

After the three of them entered the living room, a jaw-dropping scene unfolded—

Shen Xiaocun grabbed his wife and daughter, and the three of them knelt down on the cold floor.

The muffled thud sounded particularly jarring in the quiet living room.

Shen Xiaoming was startled by this sudden action and instinctively took half a step back.

He looked down at his cousin's family kneeling on the ground, his eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.

In his memory, Shen Xiaocun had always been a person who cared a lot about his image. Even if he had to put on a brave face, he would always try to maintain his dignity. He had never seen him act so disregarding his dignity.

Shen Xiaoming did not immediately go to help them up, but turned his head slightly and looked back at his wife and daughter sitting at the dining table.

The two of them remained relatively calm.

"What brings you here today?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable, cold hardness. "Can't you stand up and speak?"

The three people kneeling on the ground still did not stand up.

Shen Xiaocun looked up, his face plastered with a fawning smile, but his voice trembled slightly: "Xiaoming, I know about what happened last time. Xiaoyu was immature, but Youyou didn't suffer any real harm in the end, did she? Xiaoyu's TV series contract also fell through. Please be magnanimous and let our family off the hook."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly straightened up and slapped Shen Yu hard twice with his backhand.

"Slap! Slap!"

The crisp sound of the slap was particularly jarring.

After hitting her, he immediately turned to Shen Ci and said urgently, "Youyou, your uncle has avenged you! If you're still not satisfied, come and kick her a few times!"

Shen Yu covered her face and knelt on the ground, her cheeks instantly turning red and swollen.

She kept her head down, her eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness, but she didn't dare to breathe loudly and could only bite her lip tightly.

At the dining table, Lin Ruojin squinted and glanced coldly at the three people kneeling on the ground. Then she turned her head, gently patted Shen Ci's hand, and said softly, "Youyou, let's eat first. Don't worry about them. Let your dad handle it."

Shen Xiaoming had no idea what Shen Xiaocun and the others were up to, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

He looked at the family on the ground, his tone growing colder: "I don't understand what you're saying. If you continue to cause trouble here and disrupt my family's normal life, I'll call the police."

"Don't call the police! Don't call the police, I'll talk!"

Shen Xiaocun trembled with fright and waved his hands repeatedly, afraid that Shen Xiaoming would actually pick up the phone.

He swallowed hard and, like pouring out beans, recounted everything that had happened to his family during this period.

Since the last incident, Bai Yifeng was sent abroad overnight, and the film and television contract that Shen Yu had already agreed to was also voided.

Shen Yu thought things would finally settle down, but a few days later, through an introduction, she met a rich second-generation named Yi Yuang.

The other party's family also owned a film and television company. Not only was he handsome, but he was also very generous, which quickly made Shen Yu infatuated with him.

After the two became acquainted, Yi Yuang began to recommend so-called "film and television investment and financial management" to Shen Xiaocun, confidently stating that only insiders could obtain investment shares.

Shen Xiaocun was initially unsure of himself, so he tentatively took 500,000 yuan and invested in a low-budget comedy film.

Unexpectedly, the movie received a fantastic response after its release, with box office revenue soaring. He quickly earned a 20% profit off his initial investment.

Having tasted success, Shen Xiaocun became completely blinded by greed.

Later, he heard from Yi Yuang that a big-budget movie was about to be released, starring many A-list celebrities, and its box office potential was absolutely immeasurable.

In order to seize this "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, Shen Xiaoming completely lost his mind. He not only used all the liquid funds at hand, but even mortgaged his house and poured all his money into it.

But before the movie was even released, the boss behind it was taken away by the police on suspicion of fraud and illegal fundraising.

Shen Xiaocun's investment vanished instantly, with not a single penny to be recovered. Now, their company's account is nearly empty, and they are on the verge of bankruptcy and unable to survive any longer.

At this point, Shen Xiaocun's voice trembled with a hint of despair and a sob.

"Yi Yuang is currently missing, and Xiaoyu can't contact him. But just yesterday, someone specifically brought Xiaoyu a message, telling her not to offend people she shouldn't in the future."

"I understand now, I've been set up!"

Shen Xiaocun clutched his hair in anguish, "But Xiaoyu hasn't offended anyone! Except...except..."

He glanced at Shen Ci hesitantly, his gaze carrying a hidden meaning.

Hearing this, Shen Xiaoming frowned, and he finally understood the purpose of the three people rushing over to kneel down so early in the morning.

He looked at his cousin, who was weeping bitterly on the ground, without a trace of sympathy in his eyes, and spoke with an unusually calm tone:

"You don't think I set this up, do you?"

Shen Xiaoming leaned forward slightly, looking down at him: "Then you overestimate me. I don't have the ability to control such a large operation."

In the living room, Shen Xiaocun's cries grew increasingly mournful.

He cried and snotted, even frantically slapping his thighs, desperately trying to elicit a pity from Shen Xiaoming in this most primal way.

But it wasn't until he was crying so hard he couldn't breathe that Shen Xiaoming slowly opened his mouth.

"If you hadn't been greedy and risked everything on an industry you knew nothing about, you wouldn't have ended up losing everything."

Shen Xiaoming's tone was calm to the point of cruelty, "All of this is your own doing."

"It's no use for you to come to me for help. I've severed all ties with you since what happened last time. Whether your family lives or dies is none of my business."

After speaking, Shen Xiaoming turned slightly to the side, issuing a final order to leave:

"Instead of wasting your time mourning here, you should go back and assess your remaining assets and figure out how to make ends meet."

Shen Ci only moved when the living room finally became quiet again.

She walked to the sofa, sat down, took out her phone, and sent Jiang Duo a short WeChat message:

"Did you do what happened to Shen Yu's family?"

The message was sent and a reply came in less than half a minute.

Jiang Duo made no attempt to hide anything and readily admitted it:

"I arranged it. How about that? Aren't I great?"

Shen Ci stared quietly at the phone screen, a glimmer of light appearing in her usually cold eyes.

She is not a magnanimous person.

Because of various concerns, she couldn't send Shen Yu to the police station to bring her to justice, and could only silently suppress that hatred in her heart.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Duo helped her without making a sound.

Although it was ruthless—it almost completely uprooted Shen Xiaocun's entire family.

But I have to say... it really felt good.