Fate Trading System – Chapter 348

Plan B

Heart-Stealing Operation 7

Su Xin was window shopping on the street. She was preparing to go to the supermarket to purchase some daily necessities, and then buy some snacks to eat.

That familiar feeling of being watched enveloped her once again. Without needing Fourteen’s reminder, Su Xin knew someone was following her.

Su Xin was extremely sensitive to this kind of matter. After all, she used to be the one who did this sort of thing, so she was extremely cautious and careful. These things had already become a habit, carved into her very bones, impossible to change. Therefore, when someone stared at her, she knew there was a problem.

The first time she was followed, Su Xin had already noticed. She became even more certain after Fourteen’s reminder. She habitually shook off the person, and only then did Fourteen have time to tell her that it was Chu Yanxi’s person.

Why would Chu Yanxi send people to follow and secretly photograph her?

Su Xin really didn’t think she had any reason or value that would make Chu Yanxi do this. If it was because Chu Yanxi was worried that Chu Muyu would walk down a different path because of her, that also made no sense at all.

Chu Yanxi didn’t seem like the kind of person who would worry about those things. Even if Chu Muyu really became a tong¹, she estimated that her expression wouldn’t change at all. As long as Chu Muyu could be well-behaved and not cause her any trouble, she wouldn’t care what kind of person Chu Muyu liked, whether it was a man or a woman.

After all, Chu Yanxi wasn’t really Chu Muyu’s mom. She had never personally raised the child for a single day; there was no mother-daughter affection between them.

If Chu Yanxi had raised Chu Muyu from childhood, it would be another matter. But when Chu Yanxi adopted Chu Muyu, Chu Muyu was already ten years old and understood many things. And at that time, Chu Yanxi was in a busy period of her career; she couldn’t even take care of herself and her business, so how would she have had time to look after a child?

So, as for why Chu Yanxi was following her, Su Xin still hadn’t figured it out.

After she shook the tail the first time, there was a second time. Su Xin didn’t like the feeling of being stared at and secretly photographed, but this time she didn’t shake them off, choosing to ignore them instead. Whatever Chu Yanxi’s reason was, she didn’t want to attract her attention.

Lin Xiaohuan couldn’t possibly have any skills to evade being followed, so Su Xin could only pretend not to know and continue shopping, hoping that the person following her would treat losing her last time as an accident.

This time, Chu Yanxi received many photos.

The person in the photos, with a look of not knowing anything, was carrying on with her daily activities. Chu Yanxi’s mood as she looked at them was exceptionally good.

Trying to make last time look like a coincidence? Not possible.

This person is very contradictory, Chu Yanxi thought as she picked up the photos.

After she got the file that day, she felt there were some discrepancies between the little girl she had met and the one in the file. She was a little curious.

In addition, she didn’t want Chu Muyu to cause trouble outside, so she sent people to follow Chu Muyu, watch her, and report on Chu Muyu’s daily activities to her, in order to prevent any potentially troublesome things from happening that she didn’t know about.

When she gave the order, she, as if driven by ghosts and gods², added a sentence: the order to follow Lin Xiaohuan as well.

Although she knew that if the little girl found out about this, she would definitely not be happy, Chu Yanxi couldn’t quite control her own curiosity.

The little girl’s life was very regular. After leaving Chu Muyu, she was also a loner, never went out very late, had simple social relationships, and didn’t mess around.

So well-behaved.

So, Chu Yanxi still hadn’t figured out why the little girl would fall for her daughter.

Could it be a youthful emotional attachment?

Then one can only say she entrusted it to the wrong person.

Chu Yanxi saw a message, and then saw a photo on the desk.

She picked up her phone, found the contact, and dialed Chu Muyu’s number.

At that moment, Chu Muyu was eating and chatting with a few people. When she saw the caller ID, she flinched, quickly walked to the side, and answered the phone.

“Mama, is there something you’re calling me about?”

“Come home for dinner this afternoon.”

“Okay… okay.”

Although Chu Muyu knew the person on the other end of the line couldn’t see, she still nodded.

Chu Muyu felt apprehensive and uneasy, not knowing what on earth had happened. If nothing was wrong, why would Mama call her home for dinner? She was basically left to her own devices³.

Chu Muyu went over everything she had done in the past few days in her mind, confirming that she hadn’t gone out fooling around⁴ and that nothing out of line had happened. Her heart relaxed slightly. If she had done something wrong to make Chu Yanxi unhappy, Chu Yanxi would have settled accounts with her at their meeting a few days ago, instead of waiting until now.

Su Xin was shopping in the mall, and Fourteen was appraising for her, searching the mall for clothes that were suitably priced, had a good cost-performance ratio, and suited her.

After getting the results, Su Xin would head there and see if she liked them.

This didn’t really count as shopping anymore; it was going to look at things with a clear target. Su Xin had no desire to experience the fun of window shopping. Although she was a girl, her obsession with “buy buy buy”⁵ was only directed at weapons she liked. Clothes, shoes, and the like were okay, and bags weren’t even worth mentioning—Su Xin had no interest in bags at all.

Fourteen’s sense of coordination was simply at a master’s level. Su Xin felt that if Fourteen were to open an account to teach others how to coordinate outfits, she could definitely become a Big V.

After taking care of these things, Su Xin once again entered the static space to practice vocal music.

At the same time, Chu Muyu was sitting at home, looking at Chu Yanxi with fear and trepidation.

Before she was ten, Chu Muyu didn’t know her father had another family, let alone the circumstances. But when both her parents died and she moved here, she gained a profound understanding of her current situation.

Actually, she originally didn’t have to be here. If she weren’t here, she might be much more miserable than she was now. It was Chu Yanxi who had saved her. She had been miserably ostracized by the children of her father’s original wife. During that time when she lived here, everyone looked down on her. If Chu Yanxi hadn’t extended a helping hand back then, her life now would be completely different, because she always felt that pair of siblings would not have let her have an easy time.

She was very grateful to Chu Yanxi, but on top of that gratitude was a deep-seated fear.

The original wife’s two children were also very afraid of Chu Yanxi. Chu Muyu was about the same age as the original wife’s second child, and three years younger than the first. At that time, the three of them were children living under the same roof with Chu Yanxi.

A twenty-year-old Chu Yanxi was already very frightening to them. Chu Muyu was especially afraid and especially obedient at that time because she knew who the master of this house was, who was the person who truly decided her future and whether she could stay. But the fact that the original wife’s two children were afraid of Chu Yanxi spoke to the status Chu Yanxi held in their minds.

This fear had existed since their first meeting. After brewing for over ten years, the fear in Chu Muyu’s heart was even deeper.

“How have you been recently?”

“Very good. Thank you, Mama, for your concern.”

Chu Muyu was already completely unable to think about why Chu Yanxi had suddenly started to care about her life; she just passively answered the question.

“Although I adopted you back then, it seems I have always been neglectful.”

“How could you say that, Mama? I’m already very grateful that you adopted me back then. On the contrary, it’s me who, after all these years, has been unable to give you anything in return.”

Although Chu Muyu said this, she actually had no plans to achieve anything. For now, she didn’t want to think about other things, just getting through each day as it came⁶. If Chu Yanxi hoped she could achieve some kind of accomplishment, then she would start working hard from now on.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone to your school to have a look. I wonder if it’s too late now.”

Chu Muyu couldn’t quite figure it out. Her mind turned it over a few times. Could it be that because Chu Yanxi is no longer young, she wants to experience the warmth of a family?

That wasn’t impossible, although Chu Muyu felt that Chu Yanxi was still very young.

“Our school is actually preparing to hold an event recently, the Campus Singer Competition. But only the finals will be open to the public. Registration closed today, the results for who gets into the finals will be out the day after tomorrow, and three days from now, the finals will be held in a public format to select the top three. Mama, if you’re interested, you can come and listen. Although I won’t be going up to sing, I am a judge.”

“Okay.”

Chu Yanxi nodded. Was she here to stage a scene of a loving mother and a filial daughter⁷? Of course not.

When the person following the little girl came back to report, he said the little girl had already signed up for the Campus Singer Competition. She wanted to go and appreciate it. Although she could only see the finals, she was very confident that the little girl could make it to the finals.

This confidence, of course, was given to her by the little girl, not something she had observed herself.

One could deduce that the little girl was a very methodical person. She would seize the initiative first and would absolutely not take risks, preferring to do things she was sure of. As long as she participated, she must be confident that she could make it to the end. Even if she wasn’t the champion, she could at least show her face⁸ in the finals.

It was hard for Chu Yanxi to clearly say why she held such great interest in that little girl. It was like witnessing a child’s growth, or perhaps, waiting for a dust-covered jade to shine.

Chu Yanxi was not a person who liked to avoid things. Once she had this kind of interest, she wanted to dig deeper. Perhaps the little girl had no idea that a person like her existed, silently paying attention to her life.

It feels a little perverted.

Chu Yanxi snorted lightly in her heart. Then let’s be perverted.

“Is there anything you’re lacking recently? If you want anything, just tell me.”

Chu Yanxi reined in her thoughts, and her expression softened a little.

“I’m not lacking anything. If you can go that day, Mama, that would be the best, of course.”

Chu Muyu had always bought whatever she wanted. The source of her money was Chu Yanxi. She just bought some shoes, clothes, bags, cosmetics, and the like, and didn’t crazily pursue overly expensive luxury goods or buy a car. After all, she still didn’t want to attract Chu Yanxi’s attention. Actually, when it came to spending Chu Yanxi’s money, Chu Muyu didn’t have a clear conscience⁹ at the very beginning; she used to be very frugal. But later, she discovered that Chu Yanxi didn’t pay much attention to her. As long as it wasn’t too extravagant and her monthly spending was within a reasonable limit, it didn’t matter. So, Chu Muyu’s actions slowly started to conform to her own preferences.

For the Campus Singer Competition, Chu Muyu had been a judge since the auditions, so she could see the list of participants.

When she saw the name Lin Xiaohuan, Chu Muyu’s eyes widened.

The phone number filled in after it also matched perfectly, so it couldn’t be someone with the same name.

But… Lin Xiaohuan? How could that be possible?

Of course, Chu Muyu knew what kind of personality Lin Xiaohuan had. She didn’t like to talk and wasn’t very sociable. She would get nervous just standing at the podium and seeing her classmates, let alone talking to strangers. How could she possibly stand on an even bigger stage?

Could it be that I provoked her?

But it’s impossible for a person’s personality to change so quickly. And over the past few days, she had noticed that Lin Xiaohuan hadn’t been in contact with anyone else; she was still alone like before, still giving off that same obscure, unknown feeling.

Chu Muyu quickly picked up her phone and dialed the number.

“Xiaohuan, did you sign up for the Campus Singer Competition?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I’m a judge.”

“Oh.”

Su Xin really hadn’t known that Chu Muyu was a judge for the Campus Singer Competition, but that didn’t matter. In any case, it would create an even more unexpected effect.

This would be far more impactful than Chu Muyu hearing about it from someone else or seeing it for herself. After all, Chu Muyu was a judge.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“It’s too strange… You never used to like talking at all, let alone singing.”

“Chu Muyu, do you think you know me very well?”

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