That was a gift from her mother, Mu Yun, when she was a child.
Every year, her mother would buy her a piece of jewelry and once said to her with a smile, "Xingyu, my dear, these beautiful pieces are the dowry I've been saving for you, one every year, so that on your wedding day, you'll be the most beautiful and happiest bride."
However, only five pieces were saved in total.
Before the fifth year was over, something happened to the family. Her grandfather from the Mu Family went bankrupt, and her deeply affected mother had a car accident and passed away unexpectedly. Since then, she was left alone in this world, and her stepmother entered the house, taking away all her mother's dowry and inheritance, including these five priceless pieces of jewelry.
Liu Meizhi gave two of them to Su Xingqi.
One was a pair of white jade earrings, carved from the finest mutton fat jade, with a perfect luster and warm to the touch. The other was a pink diamond necklace, with excellent quality and a dazzling brilliance, which Su Xingqi flaunted around her neck every day. Su Xingyu had long wanted to reclaim them; she didn't want something her mother treasured so much to fall into the hands of someone she despised. And now, wasn't this the opportunity?
She crouched down and took the necklace off Su Xingqi's neck.
"What are you doing?!" Su Xingqi was shocked. She tried to resist but was restrained by the driver beside her.
Su Xingyu calmly put the necklace away, showing a hint of mockery towards her: "You know what I'm doing, Su Xingqi. This necklace has been stored with you for so many years, it's time to return it to its rightful owner."
"How dare you!" Su Xingqi screamed, knowing very well the origin of the necklace, but precisely for that reason, she couldn't tolerate it being returned, "Su Xingyu! Give me back the necklace now! Otherwise, when Dad comes back, you'll be in big trouble!"
Su Xingyu laughed lightly and coldly.
What more could they do to her?
She had already been framed and expelled from school. She was about to move to Lu Shifeng's place. After that, they would have nothing to do with each other, and that so-called father could no longer use things like tuition and accommodation to threaten her. She had originally planned to endure for two more years, graduate from college, and then leave this house. Now it was just moving the plan forward a little.
She had the driver tie up Su Xingqi and leave her there.
Then, with the driver, she searched the house, found the pair of white jade earrings in Su Xingqi's room, and subdued Liu Meizhi in a similar fashion, digging out the remaining three pieces of jewelry from the rooms of Liu Meizhi and Mr. Su.
Amid Liu Meizhi's curses, she and the driver drove away with high spirits.
Back at the Lu Family, she laid out all five pieces of jewelry: besides the white jade earrings and pink diamond necklace, there was a purple jade bracelet, a jadeite diamond necklace, and a sparkling yellow diamond ring.
Each piece was a priceless treasure.
Su Xingyu lovingly caressed them, recalling when her mother held her and tried them on her, a soft smile forming at her lips. "Mom..." she murmured, "I was unfilial and couldn't retrieve all your inheritance, but I managed to reclaim these important pieces, so I hope your spirit in heaven... can find some comfort."
She sat in the room for a long, long time.
The sunset gradually deepened.
Mrs. Gui, the servant, came knocking: "Young Madam, dinner is ready. Please come to eat."
Su Xingyu responded, putting the jewelry away, suddenly realizing a problem—
The pink diamond necklace was taken directly from Su Xingqi's neck, with no jewelry box to store it. The jewelry boxes from the Su Family were old and worn out, with many frayed edges.
She still remembered her mother mentioning in her last year about wanting to customize a set of beautiful boxes for these jewelry pieces. The design sketches were ready, but unfortunately, before they were completed, the family encountered a huge upheaval.
These current boxes... are merely makeshifts.
"I need to prepare new jewelry boxes." She was somewhat worried; where would the money come from?
For several days, she pondered this problem.
Though now she was the young madam of the Lu Family, and Lu Shifeng had given her his secondary card, she didn't want to use his money. Marrying him was a last resort, and she didn't want to become a parasitic vine, losing even her last bit of dignity.
She had to find a way to earn money.
To earn money, naturally, she needed a job. So she submitted many resumes online to find a suitable job.
Having not graduated from university, the jobs she could do were not many. After several days, she finally got an interview invitation for an administrative assistant position at a small company. She tidied herself up and went out for the interview.
When the butler, Mr. Zhong, saw her, he said, "Young Madam, are you going out? The driver took the young master out and hasn't returned. If you're not in a hurry, would you mind waiting a little? Next month, your personal driver will start."
Su Xingyu said, "No need to wait. I'm in a rush. I'll just take the bus."
The butler was startled: "The bus? Young Madam, how can you take something like that? It's too hard."
Su Xingyu smiled: "What's so hard about it? Before marrying your young master, I often took the bus."
"But," the butler said with a worried face, "it's different here. This is a luxury villa area, and the bus stop is far away." People living around here are wealthy and prestigious, who would take a bus for no reason?
Su Xingyu said, "The weather is nice. I'll just consider it a walk."
The butler couldn't argue with her, and watched her in high heels as she walked further into the beautiful woodland road.
The interview results went fairly well. Her simple attire and manner of speaking could easily win people's favor. The company's HR told her, "You'll hear the results in a few days. Unless there's an accident, you will get this job. Looking forward to becoming colleagues with you."
Su Xingyu was very pleased, thanked her with a smile, and returned home in good spirits.
"Young Madam is back." Mrs. Gui saw her come in, greeted her with a smile and took her bag, "Tired? I'll pour you a glass of water. Dinner is ready, and the young master is waiting for you to eat together."
Lu Shifeng is back?
Su Xingyu was slightly surprised. This man would leave early and return late, often coming back after she had fallen asleep and going out before she woke in the morning. It was rare for him to be home at this time.
She washed her hands and walked into the dining room, seeing him already seated, reading a magazine on politics and business.
The man wore a casual shirt; his stern features seemed somewhat softened under the gentle dining room light. His slender fingers flipped through the pages with a sense of calm and strength. Su Xingyu's steps slightly paused. For a moment, she had the impulse to capture this scene. He looked so good—it was a kind of beauty transcending mere appearance, a more profound enjoyment to the eyes. That kind of enjoyment triggered her deep-seated photographic instincts.
She stood there studying him for a few seconds.
Noticing her gaze, he looked up.