The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

An onlooker held up the coin. "There’s a faint scent of perfume on this coin, but the smell of cooking fumes is much stronger. This must be Boss Shen’s money."

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Shen snapped, her voice low and furious. "Xiao Lan gets tens of thousands a month for an allowance. Why would she steal Shen Lu’s money!"

Shen Lu spread her hands. "Who knows? Maybe it’s a habit from her childhood. Just like before, when Shen Lan secretly planted the necklace in my room and then turned around and accused me of stealing it. Maybe she just has a natural compulsion to steal."

Shen Lan’s heart skipped a beat, and her eyes instantly reddened. She choked out, "Shen Lu, how could you just slander someone like that? I... I never did any of the things you said."

"The bastard of a low-life is full of nothing but lies! How could I have raised someone as shameless as you!" Mrs. Shen’s face was thunderous. She was furious at Shen Lu’s actions, but also at Shen Lan’s uselessness.

’All I did was get out of the car to say a few words. How did it turn into this?’

’Good thing this is the Lower City District. None of this mess will get back to the Upper City District.’

Shen Lu wasn’t provoked by Mrs. Shen’s words, merely fixing her with a chilling gaze. "Has Mrs. Shen forgotten that she used to be a lower-class citizen herself? You keep calling me the ’bastard of a low-life.’ Just how noble are you?"

Mrs. Shen choked. The fact that she was once a lower-class citizen was a shameful part of her past that she carefully concealed.

It was also because of this that she was often ridiculed in high-society circles. Unable to retort, she could only force a smile and endure it.

"Shen Lu!" Mrs. Shen flew into a rage. ’It’s one thing for those noble ladies to look down on me, but what right does Shen Lu have to despise me?!’

’Don’t forget, she was my daughter for seventeen years! By all rights, she should respect me and be grateful to me!’

Facing the hand Mrs. Shen was swinging at her in a wide arc, Shen Lu didn’t dodge or flinch. She even tilted her chin up slightly.

’Go on, hit me. Don’t hold back. In fact, you’d better use all your strength.’

’It won’t be me feeling the pain, anyway.’

Lying behind her, Fu Cheng tried to mobilize his superpower. The moment he did, a piercing pain, as if his Spiritual Sea was being stabbed by needles, shot through him.

He let out a muffled groan, gritting his teeth to endure it.

’Shen Lu is right in front of me. I can’t let her get hurt.’

By the time he managed to suppress the piercing pain, he realized it was too late.

Mrs. Shen’s palm landed squarely on Shen Lu’s cheek.

With a SLAP, something strange happened.

Shen Lu, the one who was hit, didn’t move an inch. But Mrs. Shen, the one who did the hitting, looked as if she had been viciously slapped by an invisible hand. She spun 360 degrees, twisted her ankle, and collapsed to the ground.

Her well-maintained left cheek swelled up high, a clear handprint standing out in sharp relief. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

The onlookers were dumbfounded: (꒪⌓꒪)(꒪⌓꒪)(꒪⌓꒪)

Shen Lu almost burst out laughing, but she held it in.

’Wow, this 100% damage reflection is really useful!’

Shen Lan let out a piercing shriek, "Mother!"

’What’s going on? Wasn’t Shen Lu the one who got hit? Why is Mother the one who’s hurt?’

Shen Lan quickly bent down to help Mrs. Shen up. The older woman was seeing stars from the blow and only came to her senses a dozen seconds later.

A burning pain radiated from her cheek. Mrs. Shen dazedly touched her swollen skin and hissed in pain.

’What in the world just happened?’

Her mind reeling with questions, Mrs. Shen struggled to her feet with Shen Lan’s help. When she looked at Shen Lu, she saw that the girl’s face was fair, smooth, and showed no signs of having been struck at all.

"Shen Lu, what did you do?!" Shen Lan accused her. "Even though you’re not Mother’s biological daughter, she always raised you as her own! No matter what, you can’t lay a hand on her!"

Shen Lu held up a hand, signaling for her to stop. "You’ve been back with the Shen Family for almost a month now. You’ve been attending school, right?"

Shen Lan: "Of course! Mother, she..."

"Alright, alright, no need to show off how much Mrs. Shen dotes on you. I don’t care about that. What I mean is, since you’ve been to school, you should have heard the phrase ’the burden of proof lies with the accuser’."

Shen Lu crossed her arms, her tone cool. "You see, I just claimed you stole my money, and then my money was indeed found on you. Now you’re claiming I hit Mrs. Shen. Please, present your evidence. Don’t just flap your lips and sling mud at me."

"Or is it that in all your time back with the Shen Family, you haven’t learned a single thing, except how to perfect your old skills of framing and slandering?"

Shen Lan was tongue-tied, not knowing how to retort.

’Shen Lu... H-how did she become so formidable?’

"If it wasn’t you, who could it be? You just—you just resent Mother for kicking you out of the Shen Family, don’t you? But you stole Mother’s necklace first. You were the one who was in the wrong first."

"Miss Shen, are your ears not working, or is your brain a little slow? You’ve already forgotten what I just said." Shen Lu’s tone hardened. "You have no evidence, yet you stand here slandering me. You say I stole Mrs. Shen’s necklace. May I ask, do you have proof?"

"Of course there is! The maids found Mother’s missing necklace in your room! Everyone knows that."

"Then, by your logic, since I just found my money on you, does that mean you stole my money?" Shen Lu tilted her head. "Is Miss Shen agreeing to that logic?"

"You!" Shen Lan was rendered speechless, her face flushing red.

Mrs. Shen shot a glare at Shen Lan. ’She really is a child raised in the Lower City District. Lured into Shen Lu’s trap in just a few sentences. So useless!’

Mrs. Shen wiped the blood from her mouth and said in a condescending, scornful tone, "Shen Lu, you will pay the price for this."

’A bastard from the lower class, daring to use such devious tricks on me. She’s got some nerve.’

’I was so angry just now that I lost my senses. Why would I need to deal with Shen Lu myself? With a single order, there are plenty of people who could make her life a living hell.’

Shen Lu just smiled nonchalantly and raised her voice. "Everyone heard that! Mrs. Shen said she’ll make me pay a price. If anything ’unexpected’ happens to me, I’ll have to trouble you all to report it to the police. Just say that Mrs. Shen of the Shen Mansion at 448 Huaihua Street in the Upper City District hired a killer. Oh, and by the way, if the police won’t handle it, you can pass the news to the Wang Family in the Upper City District. The Wang Family Head is a very generous person. He’ll definitely offer a reward for that kind of information."

For a fleeting moment, Mrs. Shen felt a genuine surge of killing intent.

The Wang Family and the Shen Family were arch-rivals. They were in the same line of business, and as the saying goes, competitors are enemies. For years, the two families had fought with open attacks and hidden schemes, tripping each other up countless times. If the Wang Family found out that Mrs. Shen had tried to kill her adopted daughter, they would undoubtedly find a way to publicize it everywhere and utterly ruin the Shen Family’s reputation.

A ruined reputation was a small matter, but if it affected their other affairs, Mr. Shen would tear her to shreds.

Mrs. Shen was finally, truly understanding the story of the Farmer and the Snake.

She had never imagined that Shen Lu, after being kicked out of the Shen Family, wouldn’t come back crying and begging. Instead, she had turned around and bitten her back at a time like this.