Just as Liu Qinxin had wished.

Ming Yue was indeed watching her.

She wasn’t just observing how she persuaded her own daughter; she was also watching how painstakingly Liu Qinxin paved the way for her daughter, and how she went to great lengths to entwine herself with her beloved father, then, while Ming was still under her spell, skillfully whispered sweet nothings into his ear, persuading him to let her daughter, Liu Jia, work at Hui Qing—and in a matter of moments effortlessly shut Ming Yue out of Hui Qing.

Saying “a matter of moments” is actually quite an exaggeration.

Liu Qinxin only needed one sentence to keep Ming Yue from entering Hui Qing: “Brother Shuo, don’t you think… that little girl Ming Yue is very much like her older brother, Ming Kai?”

Heh!

Impressive!

Ming Yue lay on her big bed, listening to those words streaming through her headphones—soft-sounding yet sharper than a knife—and curled her lips into a faint smile.

“Ms. Liu, I have to admit, your tactics are truly exceptional—you know exactly how to hit people’s sore spots. You even know that my dear father fears no one more than my older brother.”

Ming Yue closed her eyes, and the image of her brother Ming Kai’s smiling face instantly appeared in her mind. She couldn’t help but murmur to herself, “Even though my brother is gone, he’s still a thorn deeply embedded in Brother Shuo’s heart, impossible to pull out. Just a gentle nudge and it makes his flesh ache. So you used that to remind him. But do you really think that’s enough? Ms. Liu, you seriously underestimate my brother—and you underestimate me too. No rush; the road ahead is long, so let’s take our time and play slowly!”

Meanwhile, the battle over there was still raging.

Yi yi ya ya…

It was truly unbearable to listen to.

Ming Yue had no patience to keep listening, so she switched over to Liu Qinxin’s precious daughter, Liu Jia.

As luck would have it, Liu Jia was just searching for recipes at that moment!

It seemed she’d taken Liu Qinxin’s words to heart and was planning to win over Ming with delicious food, vying for his favor.

Ming Yue shifted into a comfortable position, lying on her bed and staring at the computer screen, a sly smile playing on her lips. “Tsk tsk tsk, you silly girl—you may be a bit dumb, but at least you’re obedient! You do whatever Ms. Liu tells you to do. How can that possibly work? Being human means you shouldn’t be that obedient! You’ve got to be rebellious, you’ve got to develop a spine!”

So Ming Yue tapped lightly on her phone, and two eye-catching ads popped up right in front of Liu Jia’s search results.

Ad #1: A bold banner for the vertical short drama “After My Eldest Sister Stole Everything From Me, the Younger Sister Reincarnates and Returns.” The tagline read: “In my previous life, my overbearing eldest sister stole everything from me. Now that I’ve been reborn, this time I’m determined to reclaim everything that’s rightfully mine.”

Ad #2: An advertisement for the popular novel “Wrongly Married Into a Rich Family—My Cunning Older Sister Steals My Groom Every Night.” The headline blared across the screen: “I was born without anyone’s attention, always living in the shadow of my cunning older sister. Who would have thought that after marrying into a wealthy family, I’d finally get my chance to shine—only to find that my sister has once again meddled in my life and taken everything away from me?”

Sure enough, Liu Jia was quickly drawn to these two ads and clicked on them without thinking.

After watching just a few episodes of the short drama, Liu Jia was already cursing in her room: “You bitch! Damn bitch—you really think you’re something special! So what if you were born two years before Cui Yingying and happened to be carried in the elder lady’s womb? What’s so great about that? How dare you treat our Yingying like this—damn you! Absolutely damn you! Just you wait and see how Cui Yingying will make you suffer!”

As she cursed, Liu Jia kept scrolling through the series, binge-watching all sixty episodes in one go. Then, as if she’d completely forgotten why she’d come here in the first place, she sat there for a while before suddenly remembering and starting to search again.

But soon she found herself inexplicably swept up in the tragic love story of the novel “Wrongly Married Into a Rich Family—My Cunning Older Sister Steals My Groom Every Night,” unable to tear herself away.

Before she knew it, her eyes were blurred with tears, and she began to feel indignant on behalf of the protagonist.

If Ms. Liu saw this, she’d probably be so furious she’d jump straight into the river!

After working hard all night, she woke up to find that none of it had been worth it.

Of course, Liu Jia would never let her mother, Liu Qinxin, see this scene, and Ming Yue certainly wouldn’t let Ms. Liu witness such a thing either.

Staring at the screen until late at night, when everyone else in the house had already fallen asleep, Ming Yue felt a bit drowsy and put the computer aside, ready to go to bed.

But suddenly she felt thirsty—almost as if she couldn’t bear it anymore—so she put on her shoes, locked the door, and went downstairs to get some water.

On her way back, she happened to run into Liu Lai, who was getting up in the middle of the night for some unknown reason.

When Liu Lai bumped into her, it was as if she’d encountered a ghost in broad daylight. She forced a smile onto her face, but it looked even worse than crying, and she hurried to slip past, pressing herself against the wall.

End of Chapter 24: Chapter 24