Everyday Romance After Becoming a Billionaire

Shan Changqing cupped his chin, studying the painting. "Weizi’s skill can’t compare to this! The artist must be a master of our Wu School of painting. And the brushwork is very much in the style of Tang Yin. It’s incredible! Daughter-in-law, who did you commission for this? Did you spend millions? You really spared no expense."

"Exactly, exactly..." With her grandfather backing her up, Shan Weizi felt emboldened. She puffed out her chest and continued to taunt them, "Ms. Liu Piaopiao, you’re quite the schemer, aren’t you? Just a moment ago you were trying to bait me with ’The Peacock Flies Southeast,’ and now you pull out this lavishly expensive painting of *The Peacock Flies Southeast*. Are you that desperate for your daughter to get married? I’m only eighteen! Tsk tsk tsk... It’s a shame, really. The brushwork is better than mine, and the painting isn’t mine, so the connection between me and Su Ran doesn’t count. Lalala~ So happy! ^_^"

"Getting cocky again, are we?"

Shan Weizi put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out, taunting, "Nyah nyah nyah~"

It would have been one thing if she’d just kept quiet, but the tongue-sticking and taunting made Liu Piaopiao decide to get serious.

"This painting has nothing to do with you and Su Ran, right?"

"Of course! If it has anything to do with us, I hope I choke to death while eating and fall to my death down the stairs!"

"Heh. Famous last words? Fine! Just wait until you have to eat them. Su R— Holy crap..."

Liu Piaopiao was just about to call for Su Ran, but she looked over and saw that he had used the family’s distraction around the painting to slip away to the roadside, flag down a taxi, and try to escape.

"That damn brat, trying to pull a fast one and escape! Here, hold this! I’m going to drag him back."

Liu Piaopiao shoved the painting into Shan Zhentian’s hands and sprinted off in a rage.

Su Ran frantically urged the driver, "Go, go, go! Step on it! My life is on the line!"

Just as the driver started to pull away, Liu Piaopiao sprinted forward with surprising speed, blocking the car’s path. She stood there, hands on her hips, her tight cheongsam rising and falling as she panted heavily. Through the windshield, her murderous gaze locked onto a panicked Su Ran in the back seat.

At that moment, many passing tourists stopped to stare. They watched as the graceful, beautiful woman in the cheongsam blocked the taxi, caught her breath for a few moments, and then strode forward. Her long legs emerged from the high slit of her dress with each step, her eight-centimeter-high, red-soled black stilettos making a CLICK-CLACK sound on the pavement. She walked to the rear passenger door and tried to yank it open, but Su Ran had already locked it from the inside.

Getting out now would be social suicide. Su Ran wouldn’t do it if his life depended on it.

"Su Ran, get out of the car! You need to clear my name!"

Oh?

The driver glanced back. ’Looks like there’s a story here.’

’A young pretty boy and a gorgeous older woman? Tsk tsk tsk...’

"Let’s just drop it. There’s no need for this," Su Ran pleaded. "It’s just one painting, Sister Piaopiao. I have to go, I have other things to take care of."

Su Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’This Sister Piaopiao is so immature,’ he thought. ’She has the heart of a childish young girl.’

"Su Ran! You call me Sister Piaopiao, right? Well, since you call me your ’sister,’ then your Sister Piaopiao is telling you to get out of this car right this instant and come back with me! If you don’t, they’ll all think I’m some kind of scheming villain."

"Sigh... why are you being like this?"

"So you’re not coming back? Fine! Go on, leave. But I’ll immediately call Spirit Sword Mountain and have my dad—the Sect Leader of Spirit Sword Mountain—inform all the sects across the country. The Wudang Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, the Yong Chun Sect, Shaolin Temple... I’ll have him tell all their disciples that you, Su Ran, said, ’The Martial World today is garbage, just a bunch of fancy, useless moves.’ We’ll see if they don’t all show up at your house to kick your door in!"

Pfft~

’So ruthless!’

’Isn’t this basically a Jianghu Wanted Order?’

’She’s single-handedly trying to make me the public enemy of the entire Martial World.’

’Sister Piaopiao is so childish~’

Liu Piaopiao crossed her arms, one stilettoed foot tapping a rhythm on the pavement. Her expression screamed, ’That’s right, I’m threatening you with a Jianghu Wanted Order. If you think you can handle every martial artist in the country coming after you, then go ahead and leave. I won’t stop you.’

Sigh, Su Ran felt completely numb. ’I never should have fucking come to Hangzhou.’

"Promise you won’t spread false rumors, okay?~"

"Mmm-hmm~"

"Then I’ll get out."

"Mmm-hmm~"

"..."

Su Ran obediently pushed the car door open and got out, plastering a strained smile on his face. "Sister Piaopiao, I was just messing with you earlier."

"Well, I took it seriously!"

"Alright."

Liu Piaopiao pivoted on the tip of her stiletto, her body turning. A faint, pleasant fragrance from her hair wafted into Su Ran’s nose. "What perfume are you wearing, Sister Piaopiao? It smells amazing."

"Mosquito repellent."

"..."

Er...

’Still,’ Su Ran had to admit, ’there’s a certain charm to Sister Piaopiao’s every move.’

Liu Piaopiao took a few steps and then stopped abruptly. Su Ran, walking behind her, almost crashed into her and had to halt. "What’s wrong now, Sister Piaopiao?"

"Hey."

"What do you mean, ’Hey’?"

"Haven’t I told you? I don’t like it when you walk behind me. There. You walk in front."

Pfft~

’Su Ran had lost count of how many times he’d been "killed in action" since meeting this family. But he was sure of one thing: most of those "deaths" were at the hem of Sister Piaopiao’s cheongsam.’

"Wait, Sister Piaopiao, I’m a model student, the kind with upstanding morals. You don’t actually think I’m having perverted thoughts about you just from walking behind you, do you?"

"A model student with upstanding morals?"

"Yes."

"Then walk in front."

"...Fine, fine, fine. I’ll walk in front, you walk behind."

With him in front and her behind, they returned to the rest of the group. Su Ran gave the Shans a little "Hi."

"Enough with the ’hi,’" Shan Changqing said. "Daughter-in-law, you tell us. What was your purpose in dragging Su Ran back here?"

"Su Ran, my mom insists this painting has something to do with the two of us. You’d better explain," Shan Weizi demanded.

Su Ran said, "Shan Weizi, I’m begging you, please stop talking, okay?"

Shan Weizi retorted, "Why shouldn’t I? This painting has nothing to do with us. Why can’t I say so? We have truth on our side, and that’s all that matters!"

Her voice was once again full of conviction.

"Alright, if you insist, I’ll talk." Su Ran started with an awkward laugh. "Er... this painting... um... it’s really quite well done, isn’t it?" He trailed off as he glanced over and saw Sister Piaopiao’s finger hovering over the call button for the contact labeled "Dad" on her phone. Su Ran’s expression immediately turned serious. He cleared his throat. "Ahem... ahem... This painting is, in fact, Shan Weizi’s *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix*."

Shan Weizi blurted out, "Mine? Impossible! Do you think I wouldn’t recognize my own work? In my painting, the Phoenix hadn’t taken flight yet. In this one, it’s already flying!"

Shan Zhentian added, "That’s right. In Weizi’s painting, the Phoenix was only looking toward the southeast, a distance of 1314.520 kilometers. It hadn’t taken flight yet."

Shan Weizi groaned, "Dad, can you please stop obsessing over the exact kilometers? OK? Su Ran, continue."

Su Ran said, "Er... well, you’re right, in your original painting, it wasn’t flying. Er... why didn’t you have it fly?"

Shan Weizi said, "I didn’t have a beloved, so why would it be flying? The Phoenix only flies southeast once you have someone you love."

Su Ran said, "Er... right. So... the area around the wings got smudged by some water. I thought it was a pity to leave it like that, so I made a few changes... and made it fly. I also retitled it *The Peacock Flies Southeast*, since I felt that name was a better fit for the painting’s atmosphere."

The moment the words left his mouth.

A flash of pale cyan vanished from sight like a gust of wind.

The courtyard gate slammed open with a BANG. The flash of pale cyan shot through, making a clean escape. She zipped through the main courtyard at triple speed, her footsteps a rapid-fire THUD THUD THUD across the front yard, central court, and back yard. She burst through her own small courtyard gate with another BANG, sprinted up the stairs, and threw open the door to her antique-styled bedroom. The blanket on her bed flew into the air and fell back down, completely covering the girl who had just suffered a terminal case of social annihilation.

The whole sequence was as smooth as flowing water!

How terrifying.

’What a cursed connection!’

"Stupid Su Ran! Why did you have to change the painting?! Why did you make it fly?!~"

「Back at the entrance.」

Su Ran, Shan Changqing, Shan Zhentian, and Liu Piaopiao all had the same thought: ’She’s so fast!????’