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

After finalizing all the details with Bai Zhi, Shen Jingshu set off to return to the Li family.

Yesterday, a grand birthday banquet was held, and today, all members of the Li family are at home resting, a rare occurrence, and have not gone to the company.

As soon as she stepped into the living room, Li Beichen, who was chatting and drinking tea, looked up and saw her, casually asking, "Jing Shu, you went out so early this morning?"

"Yes, I'm going out to take care of some personal business."

"Is everything taken care of?"

"That's about it."

After lunch, Shen Jingshu planned to say goodbye to everyone and head back to school. She had specifically taken a day off today; although university coursework was relatively relaxed, frequent absences were still inappropriate. In this life, she wanted to experience a complete university life fully and without regrets.

Thinking of Bai Zhi, she found a quiet corner and dialed Chen Hai's number to ask him for a place with strong yang energy suitable for performing the ritual.

Upon hearing this, Chen Hai immediately agreed: "I know the place. I'll inform Ye Shuang later, and he'll lead the way for you."

"Then I'll have to trouble Captain Chen."

"Master Shen, there's no need to be so polite."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Jingshu remembered something else. Lu Jingxing had previously given her a piece of top-quality imperial green jade, entrusting her to carve a protective jade pendant for Old Master Lu.

She had been preoccupied with trivial matters for several days and had put it aside until now. She secretly planned that once Bai Zhi's luck-stealing formation was completely resolved, she would take a few days off to focus on carving the magic jade tablet.

As dusk quietly fell, Shen Jingshu packed her luggage and drove back to the university campus.

Compared to the complicated atmosphere of the Li family mansion, she actually preferred the atmosphere of the dormitory.

During her university years in her previous life, she was constantly tied down by the trivial matters of the Shen family. Every day after class, she had to rush home to take care of all sorts of chores for Shen Xinyi, and also run around and worry about her brothers' businesses. She never had the chance to experience dormitory life.

Whenever she asked to live at school, the Shen family would do everything they could to stop her—once she moved into the school, Shen Xinyi would lose her free nanny who was always at her beck and call.

Now, no one can restrain her anymore. The pure and vibrant friendship between the girls is especially touching, and Shen Jingshu cherishes the time she spends with her three roommates day and night.

As soon as the dormitory door was opened, Xu Zhixia rushed over excitedly.

The Xu family is fairly well-off, but not among the top wealthy families in Beijing. They have no dealings with the Li family, and the Xu family did not receive an invitation to Lin Wanqing's birthday banquet yesterday.

"Jing Shu, how was the birthday banquet at the Li family? Was it particularly grand?"

Shen Jingshu placed her backpack on the desk and smiled faintly: "It's nothing special, mostly social engagements. I've never really liked these kinds of banquets, as you know."

Xu Zhixia nodded knowingly. They had known each other for many years and naturally knew her personality.

"By the way, are you going to go live tonight? You haven't updated for several days, and many fans in the live stream room have been leaving messages waiting for you."

"Let's broadcast it." Shen Jingshu agreed. "After resting for so long, it's time to meet everyone."

Not long after, the first lucky winner of the night was announced.

Shen Jingshu said softly, "Congratulations to the first lucky winner, you can apply to join the live stream now."

A moment after he finished speaking, the video call connected, and a girl's figure appeared on the screen.

The woman was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and the deep weariness in her eyes was impossible to hide; she looked haggard and exhausted. The environment behind her was small and simple, with somewhat old walls, clearly an ordinary rented room.

Xiao Zhang adjusted the camera, waved awkwardly and happily at the screen, greeted the viewers in the live stream, and then looked at Shen Jingshu in front of the camera: "Hello Master Shen, hello everyone in the live stream, my name is Xiao Zhang."

"I've been following you for a long time, and I'm a loyal fan. I'm really happy to have won the lucky bag and been able to connect with you on the live stream." She clenched the hem of her clothes, her tone tinged with a hint of embarrassed anxiety. "Master, I'd like to ask you to help me see when I'll meet a suitable boyfriend."

"I'm almost twenty-five years old, and I've never been in a relationship. I've thought about it privately, and I'm not exactly pretty, just average-looking, definitely not ugly. But in all these years, no guy has ever confessed his feelings to me. I really can't figure out what the problem is."

The live stream chat was instantly flooded with comments, with messages scrolling rapidly upwards, creating a lively atmosphere.

【How could that be? The young lady just looks a little tired; her features are clearly very good, not bad at all!】

[Hey girl, look at me! How about considering me? I'm about your age, 1.85 meters tall, a sports student, and I've been working out for years with six-pack abs!]

[Me too! Me too! I love traveling, let's go on trips together sometime!]

Looking at the screen full of enthusiastic comments, Xiao Zhang's cheeks flushed red. He lowered his head awkwardly, his hands unconsciously twisting the hem of his clothes, feeling both helpless and amused.

Shen Jingshu stared at the screen quietly, and only spoke softly to soothe her flustered emotions after the comments subsided a bit.

Xiao Zhang stared at the rapidly scrolling comments, feeling both warm and uneasy. Growing up, she had always felt dull and uninteresting, with no one willing to get close to her, and she had never received so much kindness from strangers.

After the comments subsided slightly, Shen Jingshu spoke gently: "You only want to have your marriage fortune told, right? I can take a closer look for you. Just send me your birth date and time via private message."

Xiao Zhang immediately did as instructed and quickly sent over the birth information. Shen Jingshu lightly pinched and deduced the information with her fingertips, carefully observing Xiao Zhang's facial features in the video. After a moment, she understood.

"I'm asking you, do you have a very close best friend?"

Xiao Zhang was startled, his eyes wide with surprise: "Master Shen, how did you know at a glance? I've never had any close friends growing up, except for Xiao Nian. We grew up together, were classmates for many years, went to the same university, and even stayed in this city together after graduation to work hard. We've always supported each other, and she's my only support."

"Your best friend Xiaonian is very popular, never lacks friends, and has a constant stream of suitors, right?"

Xiao Zhang nodded repeatedly, his doubts growing. He couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "That's right, you were right about everything... But Master, I came here to have my marriage fortune told, so why did the conversation turn to Xiao Nian?"

The live stream chat exploded instantly, filling the screen with a dense barrage of comments:

[Here we go again, someone's questioning Master Shen! Watching his live streams for so long, he's never made a mistake!]

[Is there even a question? It must have been that best friend who secretly sabotaged it!]

[This young lady has a gentle personality and a soft appearance; she doesn't seem like someone who's difficult to get along with. If there's nothing wrong with her, then the problem must lie with someone else.]

Looking at the screen full of comments, Xiao Zhang frowned deeply, his tone full of disbelief: "Impossible. Xiao Nian and I have been together for over ten years, and we have a deep bond. You're saying my poor interpersonal relationships and lack of romantic opportunities are related to her? I just can't believe it."