Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

Shen Yifan silently finished the hangover soup, then slowly ate half a bowl of stomach-soothing porridge. His listless expression eased slightly, but he still looked exhausted.

Shen Yichen and Shen Xinyi sat quietly to the side the whole time, their eyes fixed on him, their hearts filled with trepidation and unease.

After Shen Yifan put down his chopsticks, Shen Xinyi, who had been tense for a long time, finally couldn't hold back and asked anxiously, "Big brother, what happened? You've always been restrained and self-disciplined, and you never drink to excess or lose control. How could you have gotten yourself into this state?"

Shen Yifan looked up at his younger siblings, his eyes bloodshot, filled with exhaustion and despair. He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and waved it away, his voice hoarse and low: "You all go down first, everyone leave."

Upon seeing this, the servants bowed and withdrew, and the large villa living room instantly fell silent, leaving only the three Shen siblings.

The three of them sat down on the sofa, isolating themselves from all outsiders. Only then did Shen Yifan drop all pretense and recount, word for word, how he mortgaged his family property for loans to invest, how his partner company collapsed and absconded with the money, and how he lost all his funds.

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the living room fell into a deathly silence.

Shen Yichen's expression suddenly turned serious, his eyes filled with disbelief: "How could this be? Wasn't that project a sure thing?"

Shen Xinyi panicked completely, frantically asking, "What do we do now? Is there any way to salvage this?"

Shen Yifan gave a bitter smile, his eyes filled with helplessness: "There's no way to salvage this. All the funds involved have flowed overseas, and the police say the chances of recovering them are extremely low. The only problem now is the huge bank loan. The repayment deadline is in a few months, and if we are unable to repay, the Shen family's company and this old villa will all be seized by the bank to pay off the debt."

"It's gotten this serious..." Shen Yichen felt a chill run down his spine. Only now did he fully realize that the Shen family had reached a point of no return.

In just a few months, it was impossible to raise such a huge amount of funds to fill the hole, and for a time, he was at a loss.

Just when the atmosphere was gloomy and everyone was in despair, a glimmer of hope suddenly flashed through Shen Xinyi's mind, and her eyes lit up instantly.

She didn't see the crisis as completely fatal; in her view, it was just an investment failure, not a catastrophe. The Shen family only lacked money, and they certainly didn't lack wealthy backers.

Shen Xinyi immediately spoke up: "Big brother, we don't have money, but Mom does!"

Upon hearing this, the dejected Shen Yifan suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope instantly igniting in his eyes.

"My mother is now the wife of the Li family, with considerable assets and a wealthy background," Shen Xinyi continued confidently. "During this time, every time she takes me out, she's always been generous and lavish with me, never stingy. As long as I personally plead with her to help the Shen family repay the bank debt, she definitely won't refuse."

Shen Yifan, now completely desperate and devoid of his former arrogance, immediately grasped at this last straw and urged urgently, "That's right! Xinyi, Mom has always loved you the most. I'm entrusting this matter to you. Go and talk to Mom properly, beg her to help us this once. If she refuses to help, our Shen family is completely finished."

"Don't worry, big brother, I'll definitely ask Mom for help." Shen Xinyi immediately responded, a calculating glint in her eyes, and quickly added, "And my sister, although she remarried into the Li family with Mom, she's still a member of the Shen family at heart. Now that the family is facing such a big problem, as a daughter of the Shen family, she should do her part."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yifan's face instantly showed impatience. Mentioning Shen Jingshu, his tone was full of disdain and contempt: "Shen Jingshu? Her?"

In his eyes, Shen Jingshu was nothing more than a stepdaughter of the Li family, living under someone else's roof, insignificant and incomparable to Lin Wanqing, the matriarch of the Li family. Lin Wanqing could at least whisper sweet nothings in the ear of the Li family head and easily provide financial assistance to the Shen family, but Shen Jingshu could do nothing at all.

Moreover, she has been aloof since childhood and is not liked by her family. Now she is even more estranged from the Shen family and cannot be relied upon at all.

Seeing her elder brother's disdainful and contemptuous look at Shen Jingshu, Shen Xinyi secretly rejoiced, a hint of smugness creeping onto her lips.

This is the situation that should have been the way it was supposed to be.

From childhood to adulthood, Shen Jingshu had always been trampled underfoot by her, and she had always been the one who surpassed her in everything. Even now, thanks to her mother's remarriage, she seemed to have entered a wealthy family, but what good did it do? She still couldn't gain the slightest recognition or affection from the Shen family.

She still remembers that Shen Jingshu in the past, all she wanted was a word of affirmation and a bit of care from her family.

But Shen Xinyi didn't know that things were different now.

Now, Shen Jingshu has long seen through the cold-heartedness and selfishness of the Shen family and has completely given up on so-called family affection. She has long since become indifferent to those illusory family cares and the opinions and evaluations of others, and no longer needs or cares about them.

At this moment, Shen Jingshu was quietly staying at school when a phone call suddenly rang. The caller ID showed that it was Li Beichen.

After the Peach Blossom Curse was completely broken, Li Beichen returned to his residence and immediately cleared out all the old furniture and furnishings from his former villa. He then hired a professional team to completely renovate the place.

Having broken free from the allure and influence of the Peach Blossom Curse, his mind was clearer and more rational than ever before. All the confused thoughts of the past had faded away. Now, he had completely transformed back into the decisive and ruthless CEO of the Li Group, who was single-mindedly focused on his career. He avoided matters of love and wanted to stay far away from all the beautiful women.

Li Beichen had two things to say when he called Shen Jingshu. First, he hadn't been able to formally thank her before; Shen Jingshu had essentially saved his life by breaking the Peach Blossom Curse. Second, he had already privately inquired with his elder brother, Li Hanting, and learned that his stepsister possessed extremely high levels of metaphysical abilities and had even helped the police solve a sensational serial murder case. Coincidentally, the Li Group was currently facing a thorny problem, so he wanted to ask Shen Jingshu for help in resolving the crisis.

After hearing his purpose, Shen Jingshu did not refuse at all and readily agreed: "Okay, Second Brother, I happen to be free. You can pick me up from school this afternoon."

"No problem, I'll pick you up at the school gate on time this afternoon." Li Beichen said calmly, confirming the time.

After hanging up the phone, Shen Jingshu asked her counselor for leave and successfully got the afternoon off.

As evening fell, she stepped out of the university gate and immediately spotted an extremely eye-catching sports car parked there. It had a cool design and a powerful presence.

Shen Jingshu was slightly taken aback, somewhat surprised.

In her memory, Li Beichen, as the president of the Li Group, was calm and reserved, and should have driven a low-key and stable car. She never expected him to choose such a high-profile and eye-catching model.

Just as she was pondering this, Li Beichen got out of the driver's seat and nodded to her in greeting.

Shen Jingshu snapped out of her daze, quickly walked forward, opened the car door, and got into the passenger seat. Li Beichen then started the car and drove away from the campus.

Such a luxurious and eye-catching sports car parked at the university gate was already enough to attract attention. Coupled with Li Beichen's outstanding temperament, many students entering and leaving the school stopped and stared at him. Some even recognized Shen Jingshu at a glance.

"Isn't that Shen Jingshu, a freshman?"