My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

The atmosphere on the lawn remained relaxed and pleasant, with bursts of laughter occasionally drifting from under the sunshade.

But Jiang Yi clearly didn't want that name to linger in the air for even half a second longer. After rolling her eyes, she immediately took Su Qing's other arm and steered the conversation to today's dessert table.

Jiang Yi walked on Su Qing's other side, lamenting how she could have thought Cui Jiayi was such a good person back then; looking back now, it was simply outrageous.

As she spoke, she exaggeratedly rubbed her arms, as if that memory was still stuck to her skin, giving her goosebumps.

Su Qing glanced at her, smiled, and said nothing.

The three of them walked across the stone path at the edge of the lawn and pushed open the glass door of the hall to go inside.

The hall was brightly lit, with dappled light from the crystal chandelier falling on the marble floor. People gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing, while the air was filled with the subtle sweet aroma of champagne and desserts.

They spotted two familiar figures in the corner almost simultaneously. Cheng Xuyan and Jiang Ren were standing next to a Roman column talking. Cheng Xuyan was holding a glass of sparkling water, while Jiang Ren looked like she had just escaped from the crowd, her suit jacket draped over her arm and her shirt sleeves rolled up to her forearms.

On the small round table next to the two people was Cheng Xiaoyu, who looked half dead, with his face buried in his crossed arms, only the back of his head showing.

The three walked over, and Cheng Xuyan was the first to see them. The polite smile on his face instantly turned into a genuine smile, and he raised his hand to greet them.

Jiang Ren also turned around, her gaze lingering on Su Qing for a moment, then she nodded slightly to her and smiled.

After greeting the two, Su Qing's gaze fell on Cheng Xiaoyu, who was lying lifelessly on the side, and she asked Cheng Xiaoyu with some surprise what was wrong.

Cheng Xiaoyu lifted his head from his arms, called out "Sister Su" in a weathered tone, as if he had been beaten down by life, and then buried his face back down.

The programman gently shook the sparkling water in his hand and, in a calm tone, revealed his younger brother's secrets.

Last night, a group of girls were walking on the lawn. Cheng Xiaoyu insisted on riding his skateboard down the steps to show them how cool he was. As a result, the skateboard flew away, but he didn't fly. He ended up lying flat on his back on the lawn, his pants ripped from his thighs to his knees.

After listening, Su Qing remained silent for several seconds, looking down at Cheng Xiaoyu's head buried in his arms, her expression struggling between sympathy and suppressing a laugh several times.

Jiang Yi didn't hold back at all. She burst out laughing, slapped the table, and said, "How old are you? Still playing this game?"

Cheng Xiaoyu let out a muffled groan from his arm, saying that his lifelong reputation was ruined and that Jiang Yi should stop laughing, but Jiang Yi laughed even louder.

As the group was talking, a figure walked over gracefully, carrying a glass of champagne.

A woman walked over wearing a burgundy satin evening gown. The dress was tailored to fit her figure, with a neckline that was neither too high nor too low. On her wrist was a jade bracelet of good quality.

However, she looks much older than she did seven years ago. Her nasolabial folds are deeper, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes are still faintly visible even with foundation. Her hair is styled in a high bun, which makes her cheekbones appear even more prominent.

She approached with a smile on her face, but the smile didn't reach her eyes at all.

"Xiao Yi, why did you come here all by yourself without telling me?"

Cui Jiayi stood next to Jiang Yi, her voice as gentle as if she were coaxing a child who didn't understand.

Jiang Yi shrank half an inch closer to Su Qing.

Although none of the people present liked her, they all knew that Cui Jiayi was brought by Jiang Ren at Cui Ying's request, so they exchanged a few polite words and didn't intend to say anything more.

Su Qing thought she would just say hello and leave, but Cui Jiayi clearly had no such intention. She turned to Su Qing, raised her champagne glass, and smiled even more broadly. She brought up the incident from seven years ago, saying that she had gone too far back then and asked Su Qing not to take it to heart.

  

Su Qing leaned against the sofa armrest, holding a juice glass in one hand, her face expressionless.

Cui Jiayi's tone sounded very sincere, but looking at her face, which had been eroded by time and resentment, Su Qing felt that she was holding back some evil intentions.

The system then spoke in her mind, its tone calm and certain: [The other party's ill intentions are at least 89%.]

[Her micro-expressions and body language exhibited typical signs of impending aggression—her pupils contracted for 0.3 seconds at an inappropriate time, and the muscles around her mouth did not engage the orbicularis oculi muscle when she smiled, which are typical signs of feigned expression.]

[At the same time, her center of gravity is leaning towards you very slightly, and the champagne glass in her right hand is tilted at a 15-degree angle more than when she normally holds it—a clear indication that she's preparing to spill the champagne on you.]

Upon hearing this, Su Qing's gaze grew even colder, but a smile appeared on her lips.

Cui Jiayi, of course, had no idea that Su Qing had seen through her intentions.

She has lived a very low-key life for the past seven years, so low-key that she is almost like a hibernating snake.

She didn't make a fuss, didn't show any dissatisfaction in front of the Jiang family, sent timely blessings during holidays, and gave Cui Ying all sorts of thoughtful little gifts. She gradually persuaded and acted, and finally got Cui Ying to relent.

The fact that she can stand here today is the result of seven years of patience and pretense.

She was never a magnanimous person. These seven years not only failed to dispel her resentment towards Su Qing, but instead allowed that hatred to ferment and grow stronger day by day in her forbearance.

Especially now, looking at Su Qing's face, which has been kind to her by time, still smooth and firm, still glowing white, while she herself couldn't cover the lines at the corners of her eyes no matter how thick her foundation was, that kind of jealousy was like a poisonous snake biting through her heart.

Why should a bastard with no blood relation live a better life than her? She couldn't help but curse in her heart.

She raised her champagne glass with a smile, pretended to stumble unsteadily, and staggered toward Su Qing, letting out a cleverly disguised gasp.

As she envisioned, the wine would be perfectly splashed on Su Qing's chest. She would then lunge forward, pretending to help Su Qing regain her balance. If possible, she could even use her fingers to hook the collar of that little bitch's clothes and yank it hard. If she was lucky, she could tear a hole in it. Even if she couldn't tear it completely, she would still make Su Qing look disheveled and barely clothed in front of everyone.

Then she would say in the most sincere tone, "Oh, I'm so sorry," hiding all her malice in gentle apology.

She needed to embarrass the other person once, even if it was just getting her dress soaked by a glass of wine, it would be enough to make her feel good for days.

Just as she pretended to trip over the edge of the carpet, leaning forward and slightly tilting her wrist to splash the wine at Su Qing, Su Qing calmly turned to the side and stood up from the sofa. The movement was so natural that it looked like she was just about to get up to pick up the fruit on the table, but it precisely caused Cui Jiayi's entire upper body to miss.

Cui Jiayi had already swung her wrist, and the spilled champagne drew an arc in the air before landing entirely on the empty sofa cushions.

She lost her balance completely because of this, her high heels slipped on the carpet, and she fell straight towards the round table behind Su Qing, which was full of drinks and desserts.

The round table couldn't withstand the impact of an adult bumping into it. The tabletop suddenly tipped over, and the juice bottles, champagne glasses, small porcelain plates containing tiramisu, and cut fruit platters all tumbled down, drenching her from head to toe like a waterfall.

The cocoa powder paste from tiramisu was on her meticulously styled updo, strawberry syrup dripped down her neck and into the neckline of her dress, her jade bracelet clattered against the edge of the table with a crisp sound, and she sat on the floor in an extremely disheveled manner, her skirt stained with cream and jam, like a tattered rag doll thrown into a dessert trash can.

The hall was silent for about two seconds.

Then whispers began to hum like a disturbed beehive...

"Isn't that Cui Jiayi?"

"How did it get like this..."

"She was trying to splash that girl, wasn't she? But the girl dodged it, and she tripped and fell instead."

"That's really embarrassing..."

In the instant the incident occurred, Jiang Ran stepped forward to shield Su Qing, her arm protecting Su Qing's waist, her whole body tense.

After confirming that Su Qing was completely clean, her usually indifferent eyes turned icy cold as she stared at the disheveled woman on the ground, her gaze deep and intense.

Cheng Xuyan and Jiang Ren stepped forward almost simultaneously. Cheng Xuyan looked down at the mess on the ground, then at the sofa cushion next to Su Qing that was soaked with champagne, and frowned slightly.

Jiang Ren said in a deep voice that this was probably not a coincidence.

Several waiters had already jogged over to start cleaning up the mess, and Butler Wu also quickly walked out from the crowd.

He was dressed in a smart tailcoat, his gray hair was neatly combed, and he still maintained a certain old-fashioned composure in the face of the chaos. He first bowed slightly to Su Qing and Jiang Ren and said that he had startled them.

When Uncle Wu helped Cui Jiayi up from the ground, her eyes were red and her carefully applied makeup was completely ruined. Her mascara had smudged into two black marks on her lower eyelids, and there was a large clump of cream on her forehead, making her look both comical and pitiful.

She trembled all over under the strange looks of the guests around her. Seven years of forbearance and seven years of humbling herself had all shattered in those few minutes.

She turned her head sharply to look at Su Qing, just in time to catch the fleeting smile on Su Qing's lips.

It wasn't even a smile; it was just a slight upturn of the corners of his lips, like watching a clown finally mess up his last act.

Cui Jiayi suddenly felt a metallic taste rise to her throat. The resentment that had accumulated over the past seven years churned and roared in her chest. Her face, her dignity, the last bit of respect she had left in front of these people, had all been ruined by this bitch!

Before she could speak, Jiang Ren had already taken a step forward, her voice cold and devoid of any warmth, telling her to go and tidy up first.

On the surface, this statement was giving Cui Jiayi a way out, but in reality, it was making an uncompromising decision for her—to immediately leave everyone's sight.

Uncle Wu slightly turned his body to block some of Cui Jiayi's view, then shook his head slightly at Jiang Ren and said in a low voice, "Young Master, after all, it is Madam's will."

Upon hearing the word "Madam," Jiang Ren's brow furrowed even deeper, but he ultimately waved his hand helplessly.

Uncle Wu then helped the still trembling Cui Jiayi walk towards the side hall.

Cui Jiayi didn't struggle or speak. She just looked up at Su Qing through the gaps in her wet hair as she turned around.

His gaze was cold and gloomy, like a snake whose tail had been stepped on, crushing all resentment and malice into his eyes, which silently sank into the depths.