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

Shen Jingshu raised an eyebrow slightly: "What's wrong with Shen Xinyi this time?"

"As you've seen, Xinyi is currently dating Lu Shao and Lu Ze. However, our Shen family is of modest means, and the difference in social standing is obvious," Shen Yifan said seriously. "My father and I have discussed this, and we'd like you to mention to the Li family that you must be lonely living alone in their home, and we hope that Xinyi can move in and live with you."

Shen Jingshu listened quietly, her expression remaining unchanged.

Shen Yifan continued to plan to himself: "Once she moves into the Li family, Xinyi can appear at various banquets as a close member of the Li family. When she starts dating Lu Ze, the outside world won't bring up her background so easily and criticize her for not being good enough for the Lu family."

After hearing this scheme, Shen Jingshu let out a low, cold laugh, her sarcasm undisguised: "Your plans are so grand, why don't you just go straight to the heavens?"

"Didn't Shen Xinyi keep saying that Lu Ze liked her very much? If Lu Ze truly valued her, he would naturally shield her from all worldly prejudices. What does a mere difference in social status matter? In the end, it's Shen Xinyi who looks down on the Shen family's background and is determined to use the Li family to elevate her own status."

She secretly despised Shen Xinyi, who was always extremely greedy. On one hand, she was secretly worried that the Li family would go bankrupt like in her previous life, while on the other hand, she was always thinking about taking advantage of the Li family's reputation. She always wanted to take all the benefits, but she was unwilling to put aside her pride. She was truly hypocritical.

Shen Yifan's face darkened, and he was about to argue.

Before he could speak, Shen Jingshu refused again: "I can't make that decision. In the end, I'm just the Li family's stepdaughter. What right do I have to decide who gets to live in the Li residence? If you insist on making this happen, you should go to my mother, or speak to Uncle Li and the two young masters of the Li family yourself. There's no need to make things difficult for me."

Shen Yifan hadn't expected her to refuse so decisively, leaving no room for negotiation. He immediately hardened his tone: "Jing Shu, we're all family. If Xin Yi can get close to the Lu family, it will greatly benefit you and the entire Shen family in the future. Can't you lend a hand?"

"Family?" Shen Jingshu looked up at him, her gaze cold. "Back in the Shen family, you always favored Shen Xinyi and never treated me like family. Now that there's profit to be made, you think of blood ties. How ridiculous."

A gentle evening breeze rustled the leaves in the back garden.

Shen Yifan was speechless, his face turning pale and then flushed.

"You're so heartless! Xinyi is still your own sister, how can you be so unwilling to see her doing well?"

Shen Jingshu remained calm and composed, without the slightest ripple of emotion: "It's not that I can't stand to see Shen Xinyi improve, it's just that I'm unwilling to help her achieve her wishful thinking. No matter how you try to persuade me, I will absolutely not help her with this matter."

Enraged by her unyielding attitude, Shen Yifan retorted with harsh sarcasm: "When did you become so vicious? No wonder no one has ever liked you. With your cold and selfish nature, you are destined to be alone in the future, and you will never receive genuine treatment from anyone."

He was certain that these words would sting Shen Jingshu. If this had happened in her previous life, being so vehemently rejected by her own brother would have inevitably caused Shen Jingshu to feel secretly sad and repeatedly doubt whether there was something wrong with her.

But things are different now, and these hurtful words can no longer shake her in the slightest.

"Say whatever you want." Shen Jingshu said casually, then changed the subject meaningfully, "But instead of racking your brains to plan Shen Xinyi's future, you should worry more about yourself."

Shen Yifan was taken aback, completely failing to grasp the hidden warning in her words, and arrogantly raised his chin: "What could possibly happen to me? Everything has been going smoothly lately."

"Is that so?" Shen Jingshu smiled faintly and said no more.

She had no intention of revealing everything at this moment. Shen Yifan's repeated greed and pitfalls were the result of his own desires.

The two couldn't agree and parted on bad terms, each turning away from the garden.

Shen Jingshu returned to the banquet hall and quickly found Li Wenqian and Lin Wanqing. She whispered to them that she was a little tired and wanted to go back to her room to rest early.

Li Wenqian immediately looked concerned: "Is it because you've been socializing for too long and your body can't take it? Go upstairs and rest quickly. Don't worry about downstairs, just leave the guests to Beichen and Hanting."

"Thank you, Uncle Li. Mom, I'll go upstairs now."

"Go."

Li Wenqian immediately summoned the butler and carefully instructed him in front of Lin Wanqing: "Have the kitchen prepare a bowl of bird's nest soup and send it to Miss's room later. You've been busy all day, so please take good care of Jing Shu."

Seeing Li Wenqian's constant concern for Shen Jingshu, Lin Wanqing couldn't help but feel a little gratified. But then she secretly thought that if Xinyi were the one staying in the Li family and receiving preferential treatment from everyone, she would surely be more popular with the Li family than Jingshu.

Unaware of Lin Wanqing's fleeting thoughts, Shen Jingshu returned to her spacious bedroom alone, closed the door, and shut out all the noise downstairs.

Before long, the servants brought in fresh fruit and nourishing desserts, carefully prepared warm bath water, and then quietly left.

Shedding her restrictive dress, Shen Jingshu comfortably lay in the bathtub, the warm water enveloping her body, finally relaxing her tense nerves after days of stress.

She closed her eyes leisurely, and the image of Shen Yifan from earlier appeared in her mind. She couldn't help but chuckle.

Shen Yifan can never get rid of his bad habits of being eager for quick success and greedy for profit.

Having just fallen victim to a scam and lost tens of millions, he learned nothing from the experience. Now he's fallen headlong into another trap set by someone else.

Shen Yifan has indeed been enjoying great success lately. Thanks to his relationship with Shen Xinyi and Lu Ze, the Lu family has assigned him many cooperative projects. Many business people in the industry who want to curry favor with the Lu family have also taken the initiative to come to him for cooperation.

The endless stream of orders and the readily available profits clouded his judgment, making him believe that he had found a shortcut to wealth. He became increasingly arrogant and reckless.

Shen Jingshu knew that the false prosperity was just a facade, and a huge trap had already been quietly laid, just waiting for the right moment to drag him into the abyss.

She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze indifferent.

He chose his own path, and he should bear the bitter fruit of the seeds sown by greed.

Shen Jingshu clearly recalled Shen Yifan's recent fortune.

A beautiful and elegant woman must have recently appeared by his side. She is a top student from a prestigious university, with an impressive resume, and successfully joined Shen's company as Shen Yifan's personal assistant based on her outstanding abilities.

Shen Yifan was always arrogant and flamboyant. He was easily attracted by the other person's gentleness, understanding, shrewdness and competence. Before long, he actually started a passionate relationship with his assistant.

He was immersed in the illusion of being incredibly lucky in love and career, feeling extremely fortunate to have met such a smart, considerate, and compatible confidante, and convinced that he had found true love.

But in Shen Jingshu's eyes, this was nothing more than the most common and ruthless honey trap in the business world.

That woman didn't join the company by chance; she was a pawn carefully planted by her rivals within the Shen Group. She deliberately approached him step by step, just to exploit Shen Yifan's weaknesses of being ambitious, arrogant, and lustful, in order to seize the opportunity to drain the Shen family's assets and steal their core resources.

This time, Shen Yifan is likely to suffer a huge setback and fall utterly devastatingly.