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

The next morning, Shen Jingshu slowly woke up. The rising sun slanted through the glass window, casting a warm golden light on the floor.

She slept exceptionally well last night. After getting up and washing, she felt full of energy and clear-headed. She took out yellow paper, a brush, and cinnabar, preparing to draw the amulets she had promised to give to her fans yesterday.

Dipping her brush tip in crimson cinnabar, Shen Jingshu's strokes flowed smoothly and decisively, completing the talisman in one go. With each flowing line, a faint golden light swept across the surface of the talisman paper as the last stroke fell, and the talisman was officially formed.

Shen Jingshu lowered her eyes and looked at the stack of completed yellow talismans on the table. She nodded slightly and made a plan in her heart. If she could spend one or two hours each day drawing talismans, the number she accumulated should be enough to put on the shopping cart in the live broadcast room.

She put all the talismans into her personal space, tidied them up, and then turned to go downstairs.

Today happens to be the weekend, and the Li family is gathered together for a rare occasion, sitting around the dining table to have breakfast together.

As soon as Shen Jingshu came downstairs, Li Beichen was the first to call out to her, and the rest of the family members also greeted her one after another. Shen Jingshu nodded in response to each of them, but when her gaze fell on Lin Wanqing, she simply called out to her without any emotion.

Since they live under the same roof, they will inevitably run into each other often in the future. After what happened that night, everyone in the Li family knows that there is a deep rift between the mother and daughter.

Lin Wanqing had recently encountered repeated setbacks at the Shen family's residence, leaving her with a bellyful of resentment and nowhere to vent it. Her heart was filled with grievances against Shen Jingshu, so her expression towards her was naturally not pleasant. Shen Jingshu, however, remained completely unconcerned, her expression calm and undisturbed.

Li Hanting reached out and pulled out a chair for Shen Jingshu, then turned to instruct Wang Ma to bring her a cup of warm milk.

Li Yubai spoke first, his gaze falling on Shen Jingshu, his eyes filled with genuine gratitude: "Jingshu, thank you for what happened last time. I owe you a favor. In the future, if you ever need my help, just let me know."

"Third Brother, don't worry about it. We're family, so it's only natural for us to look after each other." Shen Jingshu smiled faintly, as if she suddenly remembered something. She reached into her bag outside her space and took out a brand-new yellow talisman, handing it to Li Yubai. "By the way, Third Brother, the previous talisman has expired. This one is newly drawn. Wear it close to your body."

"Great, that's wonderful!" Li Yubai quickly took it with both hands, as if holding a rare treasure, carefully folded it, and put it into his inner pocket.

This action drew a hint of envy from the rest of the Li family members at the dinner table.

At this moment, Li Hanting coughed lightly, looking somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Jing Shu, do you have any extra amulets? I'll pay you to buy some."

Shen Jingshu raised an eyebrow slightly: "Big brother, didn't I give you a protective jade pendant before?"

"I always wear the jade pendant," Li Hanting explained. "I mainly wanted to prepare a few for my colleagues in the bureau. You know our work; we often face danger head-on. Having an extra protective charm means having an extra layer of protection."

Shen Jingshu thought for a moment: "Then, brother, how many do your bureau need in total?"

"There are about a dozen frontline colleagues in the bureau. Name your price based on market rates, and I'll cover the cost," Li Hanting said.

"No need for money." Shen Jingshu gently shook her head, her tone frank. "Consider it a gift from me to them. The police are at the forefront protecting the peace and tranquility of the people, shedding blood and bearing heavy burdens so that ordinary people can live a peaceful and stable life."

Li Hanting was taken aback upon hearing this. He knew all too well that with Shen Jingshu's skills, any amulet she personally hand-painted would be highly sought after, each one incredibly valuable. To give away a dozen or so so casually was a truly significant gesture.

"How can this be?"

"It's nothing, just a little sketching in my spare time, nothing serious," Shen Jingshu said calmly.

"Then on behalf of all my colleagues in the bureau, I would like to thank you properly."

"It's not a matter of thanking you; this is just a small token of my appreciation as an ordinary citizen."

Hearing the conversation between the two, Lin Wanqing felt a surge of anger rising in her chest when she heard the words "amulet".

She was secretly indignant. Shen Jingshu clearly had such good things and could generously give them to the police, but she never thought of preparing a copy for her brother and sister as well. Sure enough, this daughter's heart had long been turned away from her family, and she didn't care about her own relatives at all.

Holding the cutlery in his hand, the breakfast in front of him suddenly became tasteless, and he couldn't swallow a single bite. His face fell slumped down.

The others at the table took in the unpredictable expression on Lin Wanqing's face. They all knew what she was thinking, but no one spoke up. They just kept their heads down and ate their breakfast quietly, pretending not to notice.

Lin Wanqing felt increasingly awkward and confused. She had spent nearly twenty years with Shen Jingshu and had never known that her eldest daughter could draw talismans.

In her eyes, these so-called talismans and metaphysics are all just tricks to deceive and swindle people.

She secretly speculated that the reason why the Li family favored Shen Jingshu so much and treated her differently must be because they had been deceived by her mysterious tricks.

But then she thought again and a deep worry arose in her heart: Shen Jingshu had told such a big lie and pretended all day long. What if the Li family exposed her one day? How would she deal with that?

But this worry vanished in an instant, and a secret sense of pleasure quietly welled up inside me.

She secretly thought that once Shen Jingshu's pretense was exposed, the Li family would definitely despise her and ignore her, and would never be so biased and indulgent again.

But after the initial joy came a wave of unease – she feared that Shen Jingshu's misdeeds would be exposed, ultimately implicating her and causing her to lose face in the Li family as well.

Lin Wanqing was preoccupied with a jumble of thoughts and emotions, lost in her own reverie, completely unaware that everyone at the table had already quietly left.

At the large dining table, she was left all alone in the end.

After a while, she came to her senses, put down her cutlery, hastily wiped her mouth, and prepared to go upstairs to change her clothes and go to the hospital.

Shen Yifan had been recuperating in the hospital for more than ten days, and today was finally the day she could be discharged. Although this son had never been close to her and had always treated her coldly, he was still her own flesh and blood, born from her womb. She still cared about him and thought about going to the hospital to see him and lend a helping hand.