The Heiress's Game

Li Chunjing re-tied her hair in front of the mirror.

A month ago, she felt like she had everything.

I have a stable job, a boyfriend I've been dating for three years and we're about to get married, over 200,000 yuan in savings, and a dowry of 200,000 yuan from the Fei family. The two sums add up to 400,000 yuan, all of which is with my mother.

They agreed that the Fei family would contribute another 200,000 yuan, bringing the total to 600,000 yuan for a down payment, so the young couple could settle down.

When her mother, Zhou Xiulan, offered to keep the money safe for her, she didn't hesitate for a second.

That's her mother, her biological mother.

Although her mother had indeed favored her younger sister more since she was little, Li Chunjing had long been used to it—her younger sister, Li Xiaoxiao, was sweet-talking and knew how to be charming. Although her grades weren't good, she was likable, so it was only right for her, as the older sister, to give in to her.

She lets her younger sister choose clothes first, and gives her more pocket money; she doesn't mind at all, they're family after all.

So when she sat in the living room of the old house, Zhou Xiulan stammered, "I can't come up with the money for the time being."

Li Chunjing's first reaction was actually worry—was her mother hiding her illness and using the money for medical treatment?

The truth turned out to be far more absurd than she had imagined.

In the past two years, Li Xiaoxiao has dated seven or eight boyfriends, each of whom claimed to be her true love and took her to upscale restaurants, popular tourist attractions, and luxury stores.

Li Xiaoxiao's social media posts are so exquisite they look like magazine covers. She's changed her bags from Coach to Gucci and her skincare products from Innisfree to La Mer.

When Li Chunjing first saw those photos, she thought that her younger sister's boyfriends were all quite well-off, but she didn't think much of it, since Li Xiaoxiao never talked to her about these things.

It turns out that all those bags, skincare products, exquisite afternoon teas, and guesthouse photos were all taken from her and Fei Yang's future.

Zhou Xiulan gave it willingly, even proactively—when Li Xiaoxiao coaxed her, saying, "Mom, I'll only buy it this once," Zhou Xiulan entered the password.

Four hundred thousand, like an ice cream placed on a windowsill in summer, melted away silently.

Li Chunjing remembers sitting in the living room at the time, her palms sweating profusely, but her voice was surprisingly calm:

"Mom, that's the money I saved, plus the bride price from the Fei family."

With tears in her eyes, Zhou Xiulan said, "Xiaoxiao is still young and doesn't understand. I'll pay you back later."

Li Xiaoxiao is twenty-two years old, which is not young.

When Li Chunjing was twenty-two years old, she was already working and saving money.

What happened next was like a domino effect; one fell, and the rest collapsed in a cascade.

Fei Yang's face turned grim when he learned that the bride price was gone, but he didn't say he wanted to break up yet. He only said that he would go back and discuss it with his family.

Fei Yang's mother was no pushover. The next day, she brought two relatives to Li Chunjing's company and pointed her finger at her in the lobby, yelling that her family had committed marriage fraud and that she and her daughter had conspired to swindle money.

Those words were so harsh that Li Chunjing didn't want to recall them, but she remembered that the corridor was full of her colleagues that day, the way the receptionist looked at her, and how her face felt like it was on fire.

She resigned that same day.

There was no attempt to stop her, no explanation. As she packed her things to leave, she ran into her department head in the elevator. He patted her on the shoulder, sighed as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

Li Chunjing felt that sigh was more painful than Fei Yang's mother's insults.

Fei Yang sent her a final message: "My mom said this marriage can't go ahead. I'm sorry."

When the knocking sounded, Li Chunjing was ironing the suit jacket she would be wearing for her job interview the next day.

She bought this suit three years ago for 1,200 yuan. At the time, she felt it was too expensive, but the fabric was really good, and it still looked crisp after ironing.

She placed the iron on the stand, walked to the door, glanced out through the peephole, and paused on the doorknob.

There were two people standing outside the door.

Zhou Xiulan was wearing a dark red cardigan, her hair was a little messy, and she looked embarrassed.

Li Xiaoxiao stood behind her mother, wearing full makeup, with thick, arched eyebrows, carrying a milk tea bag in her hand, looking like she was there to collect a debt.

Li Chunjing opened the door. She didn't let them in, but stood in the middle of the door frame, one hand supporting herself on the edge of the door.

"What are you doing here? Are you here to pay back the money?"

Zhou Xiulan opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Li Xiaoxiao had already pointed her finger at her:

"What's with the court summons? Li Chunjing, are you out of your mind? You're suing your own mother and sister?"

The sound was shrill and loud, echoing down the corridor.

Li Chunjing didn't move, her voice calm: "I told you last month that if you returned the money, this matter would be over. Did you return it? You didn't even call back."

"What money do you need to pay back?"

Li Xiaoxiao put the milk tea bag on the ground and put her hands on her hips.

"That money was given to me by my mother, and she agreed to it. What's wrong with me spending my mother's money?"

Besides, isn't your money also Mom's money? Why don't you account for the money Mom spent raising you?

Li Chunjing looked at her sister, at her face with its exquisite makeup, and the lipstick on her lips was a very vibrant color, probably a popular shade from a high-end brand, the kind that costs over three hundred yuan.

She suddenly remembered that last month she hesitated for several minutes before buying a 79-yuan lipstick.

"First of all, that wasn't my mother's money; it was my salary and the dowry from the Fei family. Every penny has bank statements."

"Secondly, did Mom agree? Mom agreed to you buying an 18,000 yuan bag, agreed to you staying at a 3,000 yuan a night hotel in Aya, agreed to you treating that boyfriend of who-knows-how-many to a 2,000 yuan per person Japanese meal—just because Mom agreed, you actually dared to spend it? Didn't you ask whose money it was when you spent it?"

Li Xiaoxiao choked for a moment, then her voice rose even higher:

"And what about you? Don't you go on trips too? Don't you buy clothes too? What, you're allowed to use them but I'm not? Your few old clothes only cost a few dollars, what's wrong with me spending a little money!"

Li Chunjing had traveled there before. Last May Day, she and Fei Yang went to Qindu and stayed in a budget hotel that cost 200 yuan a night.

She ate at roadside stalls and booked affordable meals on Dianping (a Chinese review platform), and the whole trip cost her less than four thousand yuan. That four thousand yuan was money she had saved up over three months.

She looked at Li Xiaoxiao and suddenly felt very tired.

It wasn't physical fatigue, but a deep, overwhelming exhaustion that welled up from the bottom of my heart.

She couldn't reason with this person. Li Xiaoxiao lived in a world she had created herself.

The rules of that world are simple—she should get what she wants, and if she doesn't get it, it's because others have wronged her.

"Rebellious against the Heavenly Gang?" Li Chunjing repeated the word softly, the corners of her mouth even curving slightly.

"It must have been tough for you to learn that word, Xiaoxiao. But you're using it backwards. Tiangang is me."

Then she raised her hand and slapped Li Xiaoxiao across the face cleanly and decisively.

The sound exploded crisply in the corridor.

Li Xiaoxiao froze, the milk tea bag slipped from her hand and hit the ground with a thud.

Li Chunjing didn't stop, and slapped him a second time with her backhand.

"The first slap in the face is because half of the money you spent was my savings, every penny of which was earned through overtime."

"The second slap was when you spent all the down payment on the house that Fei Yang and I were getting married, ruining my wedding, and you didn't even say sorry once from beginning to end."

Li Xiaoxiao finally realized what was happening, covered her face and screamed, tears streaming down her face. She turned and rushed towards Zhou Xiulan.

"Mom! She hit me! Look, she hit me!"

Zhou Xiulan's face turned pale and then flushed. She instinctively hugged her youngest daughter, looked up at Li Chunjing, and her lips trembled.

"Chunjing, how could you lay a hand on her? She's your sister—"

"Mom." Li Chunjing interrupted her, a slight crack appearing in her voice, but she quickly suppressed it again.

"You accompanied her to Sanya, you accompanied her to the mall, you watched her buy a bag, and you didn't stop her from swiping her card."

Of that 400,000, 200,000 was the bride price given by the Fei family. Where were you when Fei Yang's mother caused a scene at my company?

Zhou Xiulan's face turned pale instantly, her eyes reddened, and she opened her mouth several times but couldn't utter a word.

Li Chunjing didn't give her another chance to speak. She took a step back and placed her hand on the door frame.

Looking at the two people in front of her—one was her mother, and the other was her sister, the two people closest to her by blood, they stood in front of her like two strangers.

"You're not going to pay this money back, are you? It's okay, the court will decide."

I've saved all the bank statements, transfer records, and chat logs. I've meticulously traced every single transaction of the 400,000 yuan.

She glanced at Li Xiaoxiao and said, "It's okay that you don't have any assets under your name. I will apply for enforcement."

Your salary card will be frozen, your credit score will be affected, and your future home purchases, mortgage applications, job hunting, high-speed rail travel, and air travel will all be impacted.

Li Xiaoxiao's crying stopped for a moment, and a hint of panic finally flashed in her eyes.

"Chunjing, don't do this—" Zhou Xiulan took a step forward.

Li Chunjing lowered her hand from the door frame, took a step back, and slowly closed the door.

"I need to prepare for an interview, you can leave. I don't want to talk to you."

In the last instant the door closed, she saw the bewildered expression on Zhou Xiulan's face, like someone who had suddenly discovered that the kite string in their hand had broken.

Li Chunjing didn't soften her heart. She leaned against the door for thirty seconds, took three deep breaths, then walked back to the ironing board, picked up the iron, and continued ironing the suit jacket.

There was a tiny wrinkle on the collar, which she ironed three times before smoothing it out.

Tomorrow is Gu Jia's interview.

Gu Yunjin, the second young lady of the Gu family.

There is very little personal information about this Miss Gu. She has no social media accounts, no scandals or gossip, and not even any publicly available photos.

Serving someone like that is probably not easy.

But Li Chunjing is no longer afraid of anything. What is there to fear from someone who can even sue their own mother?

Li Chunjing nodded to the person in the mirror.

"I'll go like this," she told herself.

"You have nothing left to lose, so you can take anything."