"Wu Shi!" Fu Bing ran over excitedly, her gloomy mood instantly swept away. "Are you done with your errands?"
Wu Shi nodded, his face hidden by the mask, but his eyes brimming with a smile.
His screen lit up: "I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect you."
When Fu Bing saw the words on his screen, she shook her head. "Seeing you makes me very happy. I was a bit angry just now, but I’m all better. Later, pick a car from the garage and go pick up Uncle He and Aunt Ning from home. I’ll cook dinner myself tonight."
"What’s the happy occasion?" his screen displayed.
"To celebrate that we’re all still together."
Wu Shi’s eyes curved with his smile. I’m back, and she’s this happy?
Fu Bing was placing an order for groceries on the property management’s proprietary resident app.
She was very good at cooking, but as she grew up, her opportunities to cook became fewer, leading many to assume she couldn’t cook at all.
Ever since she could remember, her mother always had endless embroidery to do.
Her mother disliked eating out, finding it unclean, so naturally, the cooking fell to Fu Bing.
Although her life was not as luxurious as those of the wealthier students at school, it wasn’t bad either.
This stemmed from her mother’s meticulousness regarding food, clothing, and daily necessities.
Items could be inexpensive, but they absolutely had to be of good quality and clean.
Most of her clothes before college were made by her mother.
Even for store-bought clothes, her mother would embroider a small flower in a corner of the dress or garment, making her standard outfits distinct from everyone else’s.
Thinking of her mother filled Fu Bing with an unprecedented sense of urgency. I still need to hurry and bring Mom back to Jiangnan sooner.
The Su Family issued invitations widely, inviting Jiangcheng’s elite and upper echelons to be guests at Sully.
This was the first time Sully had hosted external guests since Su Jiang and Han Liying’s grand wedding.
For a moment, all of Jiangcheng was abuzz.
No one knew what joyous occasion could prompt the Su Family to open Sully, which had been closed to outsiders for thirty years.
As the news broke, Ya Garden received a massive influx of orders.
These orders did not require Fu Bing’s personal embroidery.
Ya Garden itself employed many embroidery masters. Even without Fu Bing, it would continue to operate as usual.
She would only embroider if an important customer specifically requested her.
Even then, she wouldn’t embroider the entire garment. Instead, she handled the most difficult parts, while other embroidery masters took care of the embellishments or simpler sections.
Qin Jinhai’s wedding attire was handled this way.
She created the initial design, modified it according to the client’s requests, and once it was finalized, she arranged for Ya Garden’s staff to visit for measurements and fabric cutting.
Throughout this process, her actual involvement was mostly behind the scenes.
As Fu Bing was swamped with work, the doorbell rang.
She looked out and saw Su Jiang and Su Junxian standing by the yard’s fence.
Fu Bing opened the door but did not invite them inside.
In a detached tone, she said, "My home is too small to receive two such esteemed members of the Su Family."
Su Jiang, unperturbed, presented an invitation to Fu Bing with both hands.
"Miss Fu is a benefactor of the Su Family. We request that Miss Fu spare some time to attend the Su Family’s dinner party."
"Hmm," Fu Bing neither confirmed nor denied her attendance.
"Our Su Family is very much looking forward to Miss Fu’s attendance. This time, we will certainly not disappoint you. My wife, since waking up, has also been wanting to thank Miss Fu in person."
Su Jiang’s magnanimous attitude was very reassuring. He was adaptable and gracious, entirely unlike the patriarch of a foremost wealthy family.
Fu Bing merely nodded, without committing to attending.
Su Junxian and Su Jiang got into the car.
"Kexin has clashed with Fu Bing several times," Su Junxian said. "If Fu Bing attends, Kexin will definitely not miss the chance to humiliate her."
"Have you forgotten what Kexin said in your mother’s hospital room?" Su Jiang asked.
Su Junxian’s expression changed. "You mean..."
"The Su Family raised her for twenty years, yet she’s ungrateful and constantly causes trouble," Su Jiang stated. "If she isn’t taught a lesson, she’ll only grow to disrespect others more and more."
Fu Bing casually tossed the handwritten invitation from Su Jiang onto the console table by the entrance and went to attend to other matters.
When Wu Shi returned, he saw the invitation.
"I’ll accompany you," his screen showed.
Fu Bing, who was practicing her hand-drawing, paused, taken aback.
"I thought you didn’t like those kinds of events."
"I’m still not sure if I’m going."
Wu Shi typed on his phone, "Afraid to meet Qin Jinhai?"
Fu Bing leaned over to look at the phone. "Why would you think that?"
"This is a rare opportunity for you to get closer to the Su Family. The closer your relationship with them, the more precarious Qin Jinhai’s position will become."
This was the most Wu Shi had ever typed at once.
Fu Bing didn’t answer, resting her chin on her hand in thought.
Wu Shi stared at her intently.
After a long while, Fu Bing finally said, "I’ll go."
Wu Shi nodded, though it was unclear if he was pleased or annoyed.
On the day she was to be a guest at Sully, Fu Bing chose a skirt her mother had once embroidered for her.
The deep red skirt had no floral embroidery, only layer upon layer of intricately stacked leaves. It was complex yet perfectly layered.
When Fu Bing descended the stairs, she left Xiaomei, Uncle He, and Aunt Ning utterly stunned.
"Sister, you look so beautiful!" Xiaomei exclaimed, rushing forward to hug Fu Bing.
But Wu Shi mercilessly grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, immobilizing her.
Xiaomei was speechless. "I just wanted a closer look at my sister!"
Aunt Ning smoothed Fu Bing’s hair. "Be careful with everything."
"I will be. With Wu Shi accompanying me, you can all rest assured."
Aunt Ning was still worried internally but didn’t let it show.
Wu Shi still drove Xiaomei’s little pink car.
Xiaomei rolled her eyes in frustration. Her sister owned several cars; why was Wu Shi so fixated on Xiaomei’s little pink one? Do tough guys like pink?
Xiaomei shivered at her own thought, goosebumps prickling her skin.
The little pink car navigated adeptly through the congested traffic, weaving through any available gap.
Fu Bing watched Wu Shi constantly changing lanes, as if he were playing a real-life racing game.
Being small, the car could change lanes easily in the heavy traffic without needing much space.
She couldn’t help but smile. "No wonder you don’t like driving the other cars."
Wu Shi huffed and stopped changing lanes.
The car turned onto the main avenue leading to Sully, squeezing in among a procession of luxury cars worth millions.
The little pink car was particularly conspicuous among them.
"Driving such a shabby car, how utterly embarrassing!" Lun Shaowan lowered her car window, her face a mask of disdain.
Lun Shaochen, sitting beside her, glanced over. He sat up straighter when he saw Fu Bing lowering her car window. "That bitch Fu Bing actually has the credentials to enter Sully?" he muttered contemptuously.
Lun Shaowan jumped out of her car and scoffed, "Fu Bing, even if you’re going to be shameless, pick the right occasion! This place is for Jiangcheng’s elite and wealthy. What’s a woman who’s been to prison doing here?"
The people around also began to murmur.
"It seems Fu Ying is so poor from repaying debts that she can’t even afford to rent a decent car."
"Is she not afraid of being thrown out by Sully’s security later?"
Fu Bing had only been out of prison a short time but had already caused a stir throughout the city. And now, the Su Family had even sent her an invitation.
Yang Ningzheng’s car had just parked when he immediately stepped forward to defend Fu Bing. "Miss Fu is an esteemed guest of the Su Family, invited like everyone else to attend tonight’s banquet. There’s no need for such ridicule."
Someone sneered, "Even if she wants to latch onto the elite and wealthy, she should at least spend some money on decent attire! Showing up in a wreck worth only tens of thousands—isn’t she just asking to be laughed at?"
Lun Shaochen chimed in, "If Fu Ying is really that broke, she should just name her price. We’d still be willing to patronize..."
The crisp sound of a slap cut Lun Shaochen off.
The force was so great that it knocked out one of his teeth.
The movement was so swift that no one even saw clearly who had struck.
Fu Bing’s eyes lit up.