The Qin family’s old house stood as a testament to classical Chinese garden design, its grandeur akin to a royal palace, exuding solemnity and luxury. As Shi Ning stepped onto its grounds, servants appeared, bowing slightly.
“Miss Shi,” they greeted, their voices hushed.
Shi Ning offered a gentle smile, a hint of correction in her tone. “Call me Young Madam.”
As they proceeded toward Mr. Qin’s courtyard, the same scene repeated. Each servant, seeing Shi Ning, would murmur “Miss Shi,” and each time, Shi Ning would calmly insist on “Young Madam.” The servants exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes wide with unspoken questions. They remembered all too well the last time someone had dared to call her “Young Madam” upon her first arrival—they’d been summarily fired or humiliated. Now, she was demanding it? Had the sun risen from the west?
Xu Chang, witnessing this transformation, cycled through shock, then a reluctant acceptance, which finally settled into a heightened sense of defensiveness. He leaned in, his voice a low, gravelly warning. “You’d better not be playing any tricks. If anything happens to the old man, I swear, I will kill people!”
Just then, a voice, gentle yet laced with undisguised disgust, cut through the air. “Why are you here? Who told you to come? Get out!”
Shi Ning looked up. Standing at the doorway was Shui Qianlan, resplendent in a cheongsam, her demeanor dignified and elegant. She was the quintessential Jiangnan woman; even with her face contorted in loathing for Shi Ning, her eyebrows remained softly curved. This was Qin Heye’s biological mother, Shi Ning’s mother-in-law. From the moment Shi Ning married into the family, her mother-in-law had made her dislike clear, their encounters always spiraling into a battle of wills.
Still, Shi Ning attempted civility. “Mom…”
Before she could finish, Shui Qianlan interrupted, her voice dripping with scorn. “Don’t call me mom! You are not worthy of Heye at all, not worthy of being his wife, and even less worthy of being the young lady of the Qin family!”
Shi Ning, however, was not one to suffer in silence. As the “vicious female supporting role,” she was impulsive, short-tempered, and utterly incapable of swallowing insults. Even as she secretly yearned for Qin Heye’s affection, she had no intention of enduring this “evil mother-in-law.” Before the barrages had revealed the full story, Shui Qianlan had always been the quintessential antagonist.
So, Shi Ning held nothing back. “If you don’t want me to call you Mom, then I won’t. From now on, I’ll call you Bumblebee, since you always sting me for no reason.” She continued, her voice gaining momentum, “Or maybe I’ll call you the Curator of the Museum, because you love collecting daughters-in-law just to compare them. This one isn’t worthy, that one isn’t qualified to be in your ‘daughter-in-law museum.'” Her past insults paled in comparison to this biting wit.
Shui Qianlan’s face contorted, her chest heaving with rage. “You…”
Shi Ning simply smiled. “You could also set up a stall on the overpass and ask everyone you meet, ‘Do you deserve it? Do you deserve it?'”
Shui Qianlan was left breathless, consumed by fury. Butler Xu, witnessing the familiar exchange, felt a strange sense of relief. Shi Ning was still Shi Ning, at least in her attitude toward her mother-in-law. He quickly interjected, addressing Shui Qianlan, “Madam, the old man specifically asked me to invite Miss Shi.”
Shui Qianlan took a deep, shaky breath, regaining her composure and her dignified facade. She then turned her warning gaze back to Shi Ning. “Be polite to the old man. If something happens to him, I will absolutely make He Ye divorce you!”
Shi Ning’s jaw dropped. Why did everyone think she was going to kill Mr. Qin? Was her past behavior truly that egregious, her defiance of the Qin family so absolute?
A gentle, refined voice then emerged from behind Shui Qianlan. “Qianlan! Don’t say such things to Shi Ning.” This was Qin Hongyi, Qin Heye’s father.
At his appearance, Shui Qianlan subtly lowered her head, instantly transforming into a gentle, obedient cat. Qin Hongyi’s demeanor toward Shi Ning had always been kind. Even though Shi Ning had never called him “Dad” before and rarely offered him a polite word, he consistently treated her with warmth.
Seeing no further barrages to guide her, Shi Ning adopted a more polite and courteous tone with him. “Dad.”
Qin Hongyi paused, surprised, then a loving smile spread across his face. “Come in. Your grandpa is waiting for you.”
Shi Ning hummed in affirmation and followed Xu Chang into the study, leaving Qin Hongyi and Shui Qianlan alone.
Qin Hongyi looked down at his wife. “Be nice to Shi Ning. Some things are simply not worth doing; you can’t change anything.”
Shui Qianlan pulled her cheongsam tighter, snorted disdainfully, and lifted her chin, pointedly ignoring Qin Hongyi.
Inside the study, Shi Ning found the elderly Mr. Qin reclined in a rocking chair, bathed in a shaft of sunlight. A servant fanned him gently, and he held his mobile phone. As Shi Ning entered, she caught the distinct sound of a dramatic skit playing from his phone: “…If there is an afterlife, I will definitely…”
Shi Ning blinked. Was this the “rebirth code” line from those skits?
Xu Chang, standing beside the rocking chair, lowered his head slightly and whispered, “Grandpa, Miss Shi is here.”
Mr. Qin put away his phone, his cloudy eyes sharpening as he fixed his gaze on Shi Ning. “Come here.”
“Grandpa.” Shi Ning approached him, her eyes welling with feigned grievance. She launched directly into her complaint. “Butler Xu doesn’t respect me! He refuses to call me Young Madam!”
Mr. Qin blinked, then looked at Shi Ning with an expression of profound bewilderment.
Shi Ning let out an indignant huff. “And I corrected him more than three times! He just won’t change his words! Can Grandpa punish him?”
Mr. Qin stared at Shi Ning, who was now acting like a spoiled child, calling him “Grandpa” when she used to call him “dead old man” or “old man who won’t die.” He turned his head and peered out the window. No, the sun hadn’t risen from the west.
“Xiao Xu.”
“Grandpa.”
Mr. Qin clutched his head. He was hallucinating, surely. “Call a doctor quickly. Am I terminally ill, or is this a moment of last breath? I even heard Shi Ning calling me ‘Grandpa’ and asking you to call her ‘Madam.'”
Shi Ning was speechless. Was her reputation as a supporting actress truly that terrible?
Xu Chang patiently explained, “You are not hallucinating, Grandpa. It’s all real.”
Mr. Qin motioned for the servant to help him sit up. “Then please, ask a master to come. I need to know if she’s been reborn, or if she’s possessed by another body, perhaps a traveler from ancient times?”
Xu Chang remained silent.
Mr. Qin then earnestly asked Shi Ning, “Do you know the password for rebirth?”
Shi Ning’s lips twitched. “…I don’t know.”
Mr. Qin continued, “Then what was your identity in ancient times?”
Shi Ning managed a strained smile. “Grand Empress Dowager, please get up and pay your respects to me?”
Mr. Qin scrutinized Shi Ning, head to toe. “It seems you’ve taken the wrong medicine.”
“Grandpa should watch less short dramas,” Shi Ning countered, looking directly into his eyes. “Don’t make your eyes nearsighted.”
“I’m old,” Mr. Qin mused. “I can only watch for a few more years. It doesn’t matter.”
Xu Chang was surprised. Shi Ning’s few words had managed to relax the previously tense atmosphere. He reminded Mr. Qin, “Grandpa, you called Miss Shi here for something serious.”
Mr. Qin’s face immediately darkened, and he looked at Shi Ning with renewed seriousness.
Shi Ning, unfazed, continued her complaint. “Grandpa! You saw it, Butler Xu still won’t call me Young Madam!” She leaned in conspiratorially. “You must punish him severely and establish my authority in the old house!”
Xu Chang looked at Shi Ning, a sarcastic “Haha” escaping him. Wasn’t this just a ploy to get him fired, so he’d die in the Qin family and infuriate the old man? Even if he were fired, if anything happened to the old man because of Shi Ning, he would still avenge him!
Old Master Qin, too, believed Shi Ning wanted to fire Butler Xu to stir up chaos in the old house. He turned to her, his voice deceptively calm. “How do you want to punish Xiao Xu? What do you consider a severe punishment?”
Shi Ning thought for a moment, then declared with utmost seriousness, “Just punish Butler Xu to write a hundred pieces of paper with a brush, each saying ‘Shi Ning is the Young Madam of the Qin Family,’ and paste them all over the conspicuous places in the old house!”