9. How dare you?

Ji Hanxiao watched the drama unfolding among the three women with unexpected interest. He had always found these tangled relationships boring, but because of Siyun, he found it unusually intriguing.

“Are all your friends this self-righteous?” Ji Hanxiao asked Siyun.

Siyun looked at him with a gaze that told him to behave. Ji Hanxiao shrugged and turned away.

Ning Muhe stared at this rude and arrogant man.

“Keeping such a flashy but useless man around, Siyun, you’re really lowering your standards.”

"Flashy and useless"—Siyun had once used those words herself, but since she got to know Ji Hanxiao, she had never thought him incapable.

“We’re not partners, so what kind of people I keep by my side shouldn’t require your approval, Ning Muhe. Thank you for the opportunity, but from the moment you chose to trust Si Mianmian, our paths were destined to diverge.”

“Siyun, don’t be so stubborn. Do you even know what you’re saying? You’re giving up the Si family, and now Liang Bo’an is engaged to Mianmian. Here in Su City, I’m the only support you have left. So, are you seriously telling me you want to cut ties with me now?” Ning Muhe’s tone was both commanding and mocking.

Qin Yin listened from the side.

“Ridiculous. Why can’t I be Siyun’s support? Ning Muhe, you’ve been managing the family business for so long, you’ve really grown arrogant, haven’t you? Yun Yun, let’s go; who cares about her!” Qin Yin pulled Siyun, ready to leave.

Ning Muhe immediately switched back to her mocking tone.

“Qin Yin? What can you possibly bring to Siyun? You meddle with Su Embroidery? Since your parents passed, only your grandfather holds the remaining family legacy. When he’s gone, it’ll probably be destroyed by your own hands. You want to be Siyun’s support? Can you organize exhibitions for her? Expand her embroidery workshop? Besides those embroidered pillows, what else can you do for her? You...”

Before Ning Muhe could finish, a sharp slap echoed. Ning Muhe turned her face, eyes wide with shock and dullness.

Qin Yin was stunned as she looked at Siyun standing before her.

That gentle-natured, life-cherishing Siyun—who had never shown such anger—had just struck someone.

“Siyun, you...”

“Ning Muhe, whatever you say about me, I won’t blame you.” A sorrowful emotion flickered in Siyun’s eyes as memories from years ago surfaced—when this very girl had saved her from school bullying.

They were only thirteen or fourteen then. Because Siyun was adopted, she was treated as an outcast in that ultra-elite school. Every morning, she dreaded going to school, but faced with the hopeful gazes of Grandma Si and Du Meifen, she obediently smiled and went, enduring daily torment from bullies.

At that age, how cruel could children be? Those memories were the ones Siyun least wanted to recall. They would burn hidden places with cigarette butts—hair, underarms, private areas. Afraid to let Grandma Si and Du Meifen know her suffering, she chose the one person she shouldn’t have: her adoptive father, Si Guancheng.

At that time, Si Guancheng, not wanting to offend the parents and families of those children, told her to behave and contribute to the Si family.

Thus began six months of torment—the most painful period of her life—until Ning Muhe, a year her senior, appeared in her world.

Siyun still remembered that day. She was dragged into an alley, stripped of her outerwear, and humiliated. At the alley’s entrance, bathed in light, stood a tall girl.

“Are you Siyun?” The teenage Ning Muhe carried an undeniable air of dominance and status.

Siyun looked at the girl blankly, vaguely recalling seeing her somewhere. This Ning Muhe was the heiress of the Ning family often mentioned by her parents—a figure seemingly out of reach.

Ning Muhe frowned with disdain and approached, ignoring the threatening stares from the bullies, stopping in front of Siyun.

“I’m asking you, are you Siyun?” Ning Muhe pinched her chin.

Siyun hesitated but nodded.

Ning Muhe nodded with satisfaction, then appraised her once more. Though still full of disdain, she extended her hand.

“Get up. Come with me.” Those six words would forever be etched in Siyun’s heart.

Looking at the fair hand extended, Siyun hesitated. After all, someone had stood up for her before, only to disappear from school the next day, transferring away.

Siyun glanced at the bullies, unsure if she wanted to cause more trouble. From the orphanage to the Si family, she tried to be the obedient child. Her mind was full of Si Guancheng’s words—if anything happened to the Ning family’s young lady because of her, what would become of her?

Ning Muhe grew impatient.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want to come with me? Want to stay here?” she asked angrily.

Siyun pursed her lips. Ning Muhe’s frustration deepened as she stood up.

“That’s why I said the old man shouldn’t have sent me to find you. Someone like you, really...” Ning Muhe glanced at the girl on the ground, looking like a lost dog. Hesitating, she turned away, only to be suddenly grabbed by the hem of her school uniform pants.

“I... I want to go with you.”

Finally hearing the answer she wanted, Ning Muhe turned back and extended her hand again.

“Let’s go.”

Siyun looked at the hand once more, her eyes misted with tears. Trembling, she coldly sucked in a breath and raised her hand to grasp it.

Ning Muhe pulled her up with strength, ready to leave, but a few tough girls blocked their way.

“Funny. You think you can take her without our permission?”

“Who do you think you are?”

“...”

Ning Muhe looked at the students who were a year or two younger.

“My name is Ning Muhe.” She stated firmly. The tough girls exchanged glances, some stifling laughter.

“I don’t care if you’re Ning Muhe or ‘Ning Dog River,’ you’re not taking her away.” A tall girl stood beside Ning Muhe, poking her chest with arrogance. Siyun briefly feared this girl might bring her the same suffering she had endured.

“Wait, Yanyan, Ning Muhe? She said she’s Ning Muhe? The Ning Muhe from the first year? The heiress of the Ning family, Jiangnan Textile?”

Someone exclaimed.

The once proud girl’s eyes filled with terror at that moment.

“Ho-how is this possible? Why would the Ning family’s young lady bother with a little Si family girl, and an adopted one at that?”