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

Inside the bedroom, the atmosphere was tranquil, with only the gentle, even snoring of Old Master Mo audible. Shen Jingshu remained focused throughout, her fingertips deftly manipulating the gold needles, tracing the meridians and acupoints, gently clearing away the long-standing stagnation. This round of acupuncture treatment lasted an extra fifteen minutes, consuming far more spiritual energy than the previous session. With the last gold needle slowly withdrawn, the entire acupuncture session concluded successfully.

Her tense mind suddenly relaxed, and a continuous sense of emptiness swept over her entire body. Shen Jingshu swayed, staggered, and fell straight forward.

Mo Hanzhou, who had been keeping a close eye on her condition, reacted quickly, stepped forward, and steadily put his long arm around her arm, supporting her firmly and managing to stabilize her unbalanced body.

"Miss Shen, please be careful." He said with a hint of concern, reaching out to carefully help her sit down on the soft sofa beside him.

At this moment, Shen Jingshu had no time to consider the difference between men and women, nor did she care about maintaining her dignity. After sitting down, she immediately crossed her legs, straightened her back, closed her eyes lightly, and pinched the Qi-stabilizing and calming mantra with her fingertips, quietly meditating and regulating her breathing.

The aftereffects of overdrawing her spiritual energy were clearly visible on her face. Her once beautiful complexion had lost all color, turning a sickly pale white. Strands of hair at her temples were soaked with cold sweat, sliding down her chin, causing Mo Hanzhou's heart to clench. He reached for the warm water that had been prepared nearby and quietly placed it on the side table. He stood quietly by her side, not making a sound to disturb her breathing, only silently observing the changes in her complexion.

Shen Jingshu meditated for a full hour, and the scattered spiritual energy around her body finally returned to her body. Her empty and weak limbs slowly regained their strength, the paleness on her face faded away, and her brows and eyes regained some of their former composure and calmness.

She slowly ended the meditation technique, stretched her long-tense shoulders and neck, and was just about to get up when a slight noise came from the bed.

Grandpa Mo slowly opened his eyes, his long eyelashes trembling. He blinked blankly for a moment, then raised his hand to rub his temples, stretched his body, and yawned. The soreness and heaviness that had accumulated over the years were swept away, and he felt completely comfortable, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from his body.

In the past, he would need a long time to recover before he could get up after waking up, but today he felt light and refreshed, and even the chest tightness and shortness of breath that often occurred at night had disappeared.

"So comfortable, so comfortable..." The old man sighed softly, slowly sat up, lowered his head to move his hands and feet, and turned to look at Shen Jingshu, who had finished her meditation on the sofa. His eyes were full of gratitude. "Jingshu, thank you for your hard work. I have lived most of my life and have never slept so soundly. I slept until I woke up naturally and didn't even have a nightmare."

Mo Hanzhou, who was standing guard to the side, quickly stepped forward, helped the old man sit down, and turned to look at Shen Jingshu, his eyes filled with undisguised heartache: "Miss Shen just overexerted her spiritual energy by performing acupuncture and meditated for a full hour. You've really gone to a lot of trouble."

Shen Jingshu smiled faintly and slowly stood up: "Grandpa Mo's body is too blocked. Today, the acupuncture time was extended, so the consumption of energy will naturally be greater. Fortunately, the effect is still quite ideal. If we continue with a few more treatments, the old disease can be completely eradicated."

The three walked down the stairs side by side, their footsteps falling steadily and softly on the solid wood steps. As soon as they stepped into the living room on the first floor, Shen Jingshu immediately noticed that the atmosphere was completely different from before; there was now a young man with an unfamiliar face in the room.

Mo Chu sat quietly on one side of the sofa, her expression as usual, while Mo Xi sat on the other side, deliberately adopting a well-behaved posture, but her eyes held an undercurrent of waiting to watch the show.

The young man, dressed in a well-tailored, light luxury casual suit, exuded a gentle and refined air. With regular features, he immediately stood up when he saw Grandpa Mo and his entourage coming downstairs. He bowed respectfully and said, "Grandpa Mo, it's been a long time. I've come to visit you."

When Grandpa Mo looked up, he immediately laughed loudly and raised his hand to help him up, saying, "So it's Chengyu! What a rare guest! Please have a seat, no need for formalities."

Mo Hanzhou, standing to the side, raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly acquainted with the other party, and nodded slightly in greeting.

Xu Chengyu, the young master of the Xu family, took a seat and glanced at Shen Jingshu without leaving a trace. He then looked at Old Master Mo and said with concern, "I heard a few days ago that you, Grandpa Mo, have been taking care of your old ailment. I specially asked someone to find a hundred-year-old wild ginseng and thought I would send it to you to help you recover."

As he spoke, he gestured to his assistant to hand over the exquisitely packaged wooden box.

Shen Jingshu stood calmly to the side, using her Heavenly Eye to lightly scan the tangled threads of fate among the group, and in an instant, she saw through the intricate web of their origins.

This young man, Xu Chengyu, comes from the Xu family. The Xu and Mo families have been on good terms for generations. Xu's father and the older generation of the Mo family have been friends for decades. Xu Chengyu's mother and the mother of his twin sisters are also close friends who grew up together.

The two women became pregnant around the same time and, on a whim, verbally arranged a marriage between their children. They agreed that if the children were a boy and a girl, they would formally marry, thus forming a powerful alliance.

When the children were born, the Mo family had twin daughters, while the Xu family had only one son, Xu Chengyu. According to the order of seniority, Mo Chu, as the elder sister, naturally became the nominal fiancée of the marriage.

But life is unpredictable. When Mo Chu was ten years old, because her parents favored her younger sister Mo Xi, the introverted and quiet Mo Chu was sent to the old house to be raised by Old Master Mo. From then on, she moved away from her parents' residence and gradually lost contact with Xu Chengyu, and the two became almost strangers.

In contrast, Mo Xi, who knows how to be charming and please her elders, stays close to her parents all year round. Taking advantage of the friendship between the two mothers, she plays with Xu Chengyu every day and gets along very well with him.

Over time, many wealthy guests in the circle tacitly agreed that the marriage between the Xu and Mo families should have fallen to the lively and lovable Mo Xi long ago. However, the elders of both families knew perfectly well that the marriage contract, which was made in black and white, had always been tied to Mo Chu, the eldest daughter of the Mo family.

Upon seeing her long-lost fiancé, Mo Chu, who was usually calm, indifferent, and aloof, finally saw a slight crack in her icy expression. A complex mix of emotions, including confusion, estrangement, and a vague sense of melancholy, flashed across her eyes.

From the moment Xu Chengyu entered, his gaze remained fixed on Mo Xi. He chatted and laughed intimately with her, joking and talking to her from time to time. His every move was as familiar as that of a boyfriend and girlfriend. From beginning to end, he didn't spare a single extra glance for Mo Chu beside him, as if his nominal fiancée was just an insignificant stranger in the living room.

Mo Xi enjoyed this favoritism, and out of the corner of her eye, she glanced smugly at her sister who sat silently beside her, and couldn't help but smile.

Grandpa Mo took in the whole scene, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes. The engagement was made with good intentions back then, but unexpectedly, more than twenty years later, it had become an invisible thorn between his two granddaughters.

After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Chengyu smoothly changed the subject, his gaze falling on Shen Jingshu, his tone carrying a hint of scrutiny: "I just heard Xiaoxi mention that Miss Shen's medical skills are superb, using acupuncture to treat Grandpa's long-standing ailment. I usually know many renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctors, but I have never seen such miraculous acupuncture techniques. May I ask who Miss Shen studied under?"