"Jiang Cheng... Jiang Yuzhu..."
Jiang Shuyi's lips moved silently. These two names were like two invisible mountains, pressing heavily on her chest, making her almost unable to breathe.
Jiang Cheng, the expectation of inheriting the family business.
Jiang Yuzhu, the treasured pearl in their palm.
From these two names, one could clearly feel how much love and expectation her adoptive parents had poured into that pair of dragon and phoenix twins.
And all of this should have belonged to Jiang Shuyi!
At least, in her opinion, it was the appearance of that younger brother and sister that turned her from a unique treasured pearl into an adopted daughter who needed to "share" love.
Therefore, they must be eliminated!
This thought, planted when she was nine years old, now grew wildly again in front of Lu Xuan's two light photos.
Regret!
Endless regret!
Jiang Shuyi's nails dug deep into her palms, the sharp pain making her slightly clearer.
She regretted that she was too young back then and not cruel enough, only abandoning them instead of... eliminating future troubles forever!
If she had been a little more ruthless back then, a little cleaner in her actions, how could she be in such a passive situation today?
She prided herself on her meticulous mind. For so many years, she had kept this secret tightly hidden, deceiving everyone, including her adoptive parents who doted on her.
She had even envisioned countless contingency plans for when the secret was exposed, but all the plans were aimed at her adoptive parents.
She never expected that it would be a seemingly ordinary Student, a stranger who had just added her on green bubble, who would tear open her ugliest scar in such an understated manner!
"Hoo—"
Jiang Shuyi let out a long, turbid breath. The expression on her face, twisted by fear, strangely calmed down after a fierce internal struggle. Rather than calm, it was a kind of near-numb indifference.
Since things had come to this, any more pretense and struggle seemed ridiculous.
She raised her head, and her beautiful apricot eyes no longer held any trace of gentleness or charm. Instead, there was a cold, desperate determination.
"Lu Xuan, right?" Her voice was still hoarse, but it carried a sense of resigned calm. "Whatever you want to know, or rather, whatever you already know, feel free to speak up."
She stared intently at Lu Xuan, as if trying to see through him: "What do you want to gain? Anything I can give, I can promise you."
Yes, she was not afraid.
Since the other party chose to approach her in this way, instead of directly making the so-called "evidence" public, it meant that the other party must have an agenda. As long as there was an agenda, there was room for negotiation.
Money? Jiang Shuyi, backed by the Ice City's richest Jiang Family, money was just a string of numbers to her.
Or... something else?
Her gaze lingered on Lu Xuan's young and handsome face for a moment, a trace of humiliation flashing in her heart, but it was quickly suppressed by a stronger will to survive.
Beauty? If she could use this skin, which she had always been proud of, to ensure the eternal sealing of the secret, she wouldn't mind.
As long as she could keep everything she had now, protect the Jiang Family's reputation, and maintain her respectable job at Yanjing University, she would accept any price!
Lu Xuan looked at her desperate, ready-to-"be frank" appearance, the faint smile at the corner of his mouth deepening. Yet, he remained silent, simply observing her calmly, as if appreciating an interesting work of art, or perhaps evaluating an item waiting to be sold.
His silence was like an invisible hammer, striking Jiang Shuyi's taut nerves one by one.
"You... want money?" Seeing him not speak, Jiang Shuyi was the first to lose her composure. She tentatively asked, "How much? Name a price, as long as I can afford it, I can satisfy you."
She stared tightly at Lu Xuan's eyes, trying to catch even a hint of greed in his gaze.
"One million? Is that enough?"
Lu Xuan still maintained that calm and indifferent expression, as if one million was no different from one hundred yuan in his eyes.
Jiang Shuyi's heart sank. She gritted her teeth and raised the stakes: "Or... five million?"
She didn't believe there was anyone in this world who didn't love money, especially an ordinary-looking Student. Five million was enough for an ordinary person to save decades of struggle.
However, Lu Xuan still didn't speak, but his deep eyes made her feel a chill in her heart.
"Ten million!" Jiang Shuyi almost squeezed these three words through her gritted teeth, her voice trembling slightly. "Lu Xuan, ten million, cash or transfer, your choice! As long as you keep what you know, and those... things, buried in your stomach, this ten million is yours!"
She clenched her fists tightly, the stinging pain in her palms keeping her last bit of sanity. She believed that this price was enough to tempt anyone.
Lu Xuan finally reacted.
He gently shook his head, a playful smile on his lips. To Jiang Shuyi, that smile was more terrifying than a devil.
"Teacher Jiang," he finally spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying a calm air of knowing everything. "You don't seem to understand yet."
He paused, his tone leisurely: "Money, to me, is the most meaningless thing."
Jiang Shuyi's pupils contracted sharply!
Money, meaningless?!
How was that possible?! What exactly did he want to do?!
A fear even stronger than when her secret was just exposed instantly seized her heart. If even money couldn't move him, then what was he plotting?
Through Jiang Shuyi's actions in the previous life, it was clear.
Jiang Shuyi undoubtedly valued her reputation the most! And the Jiang Family's reputation! Her stepping on him in the previous life was undoubtedly for fame, to become famous.
In Lu Xuan's mind, the system's evaluation of Jiang Shuyi flashed, as well as her various actions in the previous life, where she didn't hesitate to kick someone while they were down just to gain fame.
Strike the snake at its seven-inch mark.
Lu Xuan knew exactly what Teacher Jiang cared about the most.
He looked at Jiang Shuyi, whose face was pale and whose forehead was even seeping fine beads of sweat, the smile on his face becoming more meaningful.
"Teacher Jiang, what do you think," Lu Xuan slowly took a step forward, his gaze, like a tangible entity, fell on Jiang Shuyi, carrying a faint sense of oppression, "if I were to publicly reveal the 'touching' story of how your esteemed father and mother, Mr. Jiang Tianzheng, the richest man in Ice City, and Ms. Li Ranbing, the former TV hostess, tragically lost a pair of dragon and phoenix twins back then, and how they painstakingly searched for twenty years without success, accompanied by those two 'heartwarming' videos, and then perhaps a little 'artistic embellishment'...
He deliberately drew out his words, satisfied to see Jiang Shuyi's body sway, her face paler than paper.
"Tell me, at that time, which would be more resounding: your reputation as a 'dutiful adopted daughter' and 'excellent teacher,' or the Jiang Family's reputation for 'failing to raise their daughter properly' and 'family misfortune'?
"Or, we could try a different game," Lu Xuan's smile took on a cold, mocking edge. "I could directly and anonymously send these 'interesting' materials to the leadership of Yanjing University, or to major media outlets and newspapers... Teacher Jiang, what do you think they would say about a university teacher suspected of intentional abandonment, and perhaps even... indirectly causing the death of her biological younger siblings?"
"No! Don't!" Jiang Shuyi finally broke down. She shrieked, her voice shrill like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "You can't do this! Lu Xuan! What exactly do you want?! Tell me!"
She wasn't afraid of death, but she was afraid of being disgraced and afraid of the Jiang Family being shamed because of her! That was a punishment more painful than killing her!
Lu Xuan looked at her distraught appearance, the curve of his lips unchanged, but his eyes were as cold as ice.
"What do I want?" He chuckled softly and shook his head. "Teacher Jiang, the price you offered is too low."
He extended a finger and gently shook it: "What I want, you can't afford right now. But..."
He changed the subject, his smile becoming somewhat inscrutable: "I can give you a chance, a chance... for you to 'repay' me slowly."