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Sipping on their drinks.

The restless heart was soothed by the icy, refreshing green bean slush.

With a bright gaze, he praised, "So delicious. The texture is different from other dessert shops, it's smoother and sweeter. What ingredients did you use, boss?"

Chu Yuening closed the icebox and propped her chin in her hand, recalling, "Green beans, soaked kelp, and rock sugar... I think they're all the same ingredients."

If there was anything truly different...

Chu Yuening blinked.

Perhaps it was her?

After all, she was a cultivator. In her previous life, cooking occasionally seemed to infuse a bit of spiritual energy into the food?

After finishing his drink, Zhong Guoming didn't rush to pay but asked, "Boss, do you have any cards?"

"Cards? What kind of cards?" Chu Yuening was puzzled. Why would selling desserts require her to make cards on the side?

Running a dessert stall and giving fortune-telling is quite exhausting already.

Seeing Chu Yuening misunderstand, Zhong Guoming waved his pager and explained with a smile, "Isn't it common for food businesses to print cards? They usually have the signature dishes and contact details, so customers can order takeouts easily."

"Got a landline?"

Chu Yuening shook her head.

Zhong Guoming lifted his pager. "How about this?"

She shook her head again.

Realizing she might be outdated, she decided to save up for a pager to keep up with the times. She scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I don't have one."

"What a pity. Otherwise, I could've ordered desserts at the construction site." Zhong Guoming sighed but still took out his wallet to settle the bill.

Just as Zhong Guoming was about to leave, his facial features underwent a dramatic transformation. The clear forehead that was once his suddenly became veiled in a deep crimson hue.

"Wait a moment." Chu Yuening blinked, momentarily suspecting that she was experiencing presbyopia. It was rather perplexing.

Logically, a person's fate wouldn't change so drastically, would it?

Assuming that Chu Yuening was trying to promote her business, Zhong Guoming, having noticed the large characters advertising fortune-telling and feng shui on the sign outside the stall, promptly declined without a second thought. "Are you offering to read my fortune? Sorry, I don't believe in such things."

There were no shortages of fortune-tellers in Kowloon City or Mong Kok. Whenever Zhong Guoming encountered those zealous predictors who would cling to his legs, he found it headache-inducing.

"You won't regret it?"

"No."

Chu Yuening didn't push the matter. "You're free not to believe me. But when the time comes, and you're left with a broken leg yet still want to live, if you're willing to trust me then, feel free to come back."

"Alright. I'll drop by for some dessert when the time comes." Zhong Guoming didn't take her words as a curse. His beeper rang, and he glanced at the message before hurriedly leaving.

The dessert stall was almost sold out.

After sending away her last customer, Chu Yuening grabbed a broom to clean up and prepare to pack up. She weighed her options—should she buy meat first at the wet market or replenish her supply of sago dessert? After some thought, she figured that the butcher shop might close earlier, so she decided to purchase meat directly after closing up her stall.

She had just taken off the apron bearing the Chu Ji dessert logo.

A mocking laugh echoed nearby.

"Mommy, isn't this the prideful Chu family's young miss who ran away from home but can't even afford her rent?"

Chu Yuening lifted her head to see a well-dressed mother and daughter standing in front of her.

The younger, short-haired girl was elegantly dressed in a light purple Chanel checkered dress and a white pillbox hat. She scanned the dessert stall first.

The dessert stall was tiny, with a transparent glass case mounted on a bicycle. Despite its cleanliness and tidiness, Fang Jiajia couldn't hide her disdain at the sight of numerous jars and bottles.

She would never eat from street vendors.

After all, street food was for the poor.

"Chu Yi called yesterday saying you couldn't pay the rent. Is that true?"

Chu Yuening knew these two women were Fang Jingguo's wife and daughter. Looking at the refined lady beside her, Chu Yuening put down her broom, dusted her hands off, and offered a faint smile.

"Thank you, but you don't need to concern yourselves with my affairs."

Jiajia Fang wrinkled her nose and smiled smugly. "Mommy, I told you that Sister wouldn't be grateful..."

"Wait a moment."

Chu Yuening raised her hand to interrupt. "I only have one younger sister. Please refrain from falsely claiming familial ties. However, since you've come here, have you brought the seven thousand dollars that's owed to our Chu family?"

The original owner's father was Fang Jingguo, who married into the Chu family in the 1970s. Less than half a year after their marriage, Fang Jingguo expressed his desire to venture to Hong Kong. The Chu family lent him seven thousand dollars as support.

Little did they know...

That money was borrowed and never seen again.

Tian Yue'e concealed her mocking expression and calmly distorted the truth. "Yuening, seven thousand dollars was a substantial amount back then. Without any proof, no one would just give it away randomly."

Saying this, Tian Yue'e didn't want Chu Yuening to have a chance to speak.

"But don't worry. You don't have a stable job and still have to support your sister's education. It pains me to see that, so even if your father is heartless, I won't be."

"Same deal as before. If you're willing to call me Mom, I'll convince your father right away to let you move into the spacious apartment in the East District."

Chapter 7

Tian Yue'e gazed at Chu Yuening's beautiful face, concealing her resentment. So what if she was the legitimate wife? If one didn't live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor, their daughter would still end up calling her Mom, wouldn't she?

When the two money-losing liabilities first arrived from the mainland, Tian Yue'e had demanded they address her properly. Who could have imagined that the sisters would have such backbone, turning their backs on the Fang family and disappearing for an entire year?

Now, Tian Yue'e was offering them a whole floor as an incentive. It was obvious which choice a fool would make.

Tian Yue'e waited for Chu Yuening to yield.

Moments later, instead of the anticipated "Mom," she heard a scoff.

Tian Yue'e's smile froze.

"The East District?"

Chu Yuening found it hilarious. In her previous life, she had delved into many real estate dealings in Hong Kong. Was the East District supposed to be tempting enough for her to acknowledge a thief as her mother?

Daydreaming, aren't you?

"Not even the Central District? You dare to think of being my mother? Moreover, my mother has passed away. If you want to be my mother, you might as well discuss it with her in the afterlife."