Chapter 128: Real Money Turns into Fake Money

“Did Su Yan really give you this money willingly?”

Inside the room, a stack of bills sat between Li Qiuhua and Su Mo.

After listening to the account of what had happened, Su Mo showed no sign of happiness; instead, her face was filled with gloom.

“Yeah, she didn't dare not to.”

Li Qiuhua was gloating. As long as Su Yan remained in this house, she would have to live according to the whims of her stepmother.

“No, I think there’s something wrong.”

Su Mo’s guard against Su Yan had reached an extreme level.

With Su Yan’s personality, how could she possibly hand over so much money so readily?

Li Qiuhua was dismissive. Ever since "the incident," not only had Su Yan's temperament become increasingly strange, but she had also become suspicious of everyone.

“What could be wrong with cold, hard cash? And even if there is a problem, it’s her problem.”

As she spoke, she stuffed the money into her own pocket.

“Aren't you afraid she'll complain to my dad?” Su Mo reminded her with a cold face.

Li Qiuhua actually laughed even more triumphantly. “Then I’d rather ask your father: how could he have so much private savings to give to that blind girl? If it wasn't from your father, then even better. She’s just a teenage girl; what kind of ability does she have to earn so much money?”

For a moment, Su Mo hesitated.

Put that way, no matter how you looked at it, the strange girl was in the wrong.

“Mom is going to go buy you something delicious right now.” Li Qiuhua left the house joyfully.

Su Mo sat on the bed, her venomous gaze falling upon Su Yan’s room. Touching her own empty sleeve, she looked like a malevolent spirit.

***

At the wet market.

“Shopkeeper, give me the largest carp you have.”

“Boss, I want that best piece of pork belly.”

“The greens look good, pick two pounds for me.”

“Oh, this is mountain goat meat, right? Give me five pounds of lamb chops.”

In a short amount of time, Li Qiuhua’s basket was filled to the brim.

With her kind of extravagance, one couldn't find a second person in the entire market.

As bills left her pockets, Li Qiuhua felt no heartache at all; in fact, she felt quite satisfied.

As expected, when money isn't yours, spending it feels different.

Seeing that her basket could hold no more, she prepared to buy some fruit before heading home.

She weighed three pounds of pears and handed the money to the vendor, but just as she turned around, she was called out to.

“Sister, wait a moment.”

The pear seller was an elderly man in his sixties. His eyesight wasn't very good, but after taking the money, he stared at it for ten seconds before his expression changed.

Confused, Li Qiuhua turned back to look at him. “What is it?”

Could she have given him too much?

“What kind of money is this you gave me?”

The old man’s eyes bulged with anger, his face flushed with indignation.

“What do you mean, 'what kind of money'?” Seeing that the man's attitude was off, Li Qiuhua raised her voice as well.

Seeing that she was still playing dumb, the old man immediately threw the money back at her.

“You gave me funeral money!”

Li Qiuhua’s breath hitched. Just as she was about to lash out, she saw a piece of joss paper fluttering down to her feet.

She was certain she had given him normal money; this old man must have swapped it to extort her!

At this thought, her temper flared instantly.

“Stop talking nonsense! I gave you real money. Are you an old man trying to scam people?”

Seeing her arrogant manner, the old man flew into a rage.

“I may be a poor man making a living selling fruit, but I haven't stooped to cheating and swindling! You look so well-dressed, yet you turn out to be a fraud! Everyone, come and look! This woman is using funeral money to cheat people!”

Li Qiuhua was stunned. She never expected him to play the victim and accuse her instead.

More and more onlookers gathered, all beginning to point and whisper.

“The one thing I don't lack is money! Why don't you let everyone see which one of us actually looks like a scammer?!”

While the two were arguing, several people suddenly approached from the edge of the crowd, looking aggressive.

“Yes, it’s this woman!”

“That’s right, it’s her!”

The angry faces made Li Qiuhua have an ominous premonition.

She recognized these people; she had just bought things from them.

Soon, she was surrounded by them.

“You... what do you want to do?”

At this moment, she was truly afraid.

“You still have the face to ask what we want to do? You fraud, actually using funeral money to impersonate real money! Give us our money back immediately, or we’ll take you to the police station right now!”

These people spoke in unison, and every single one of them was holding a significant amount of joss paper in their hands.

Li Qiuhua was completely bewildered, shaking her head incessantly to try and explain.

“There must be some mistake! I gave real money!”

If only one person said it, people might believe she was being framed, but there was no way so many vendors would all conspire to frame her alone.

The truth was already self-evident.

The surrounding gazes—some disdainful, some mocking—made Li Qiuhua’s face burn with shame.

She panicked.

“I’ll give you the money right now in front of everyone!”

She had given up on defending herself; it was nothing more than a loss of some cash.

After saying this, she tremblingly pulled the bills Su Yan had given her out of her pocket, and then—*bang!*—her head felt like it had exploded!

They were clearly real bills, but now they had turned into a thick stack of joss paper.

“No, that’s impossible, absolutely impossible...”

She couldn't understand what had happened, let alone why real money had all turned into funeral paper!

“You’ve finally been exposed! What else do you have to say? Come, follow us to the police station!”

Everyone was filled with righteous indignation. They didn't even give Li Qiuhua a chance to continue her defense, pushing and shoving her as they restrained her.

*Ring, ring, ring.*

When the phone on Su Jianguo’s desk rang, he was in the middle of a meeting with several key staff members.

Soon, his expression became extremely grim.

“How can this happen? Fine, I’ll head over immediately!”

After hanging up the receiver, he seemed to be shrouded in a dark shadow.

“Is Deputy Factory Director Su alright?”

The others hurriedly asked out of concern.

Su Jianguo didn't even have the face to answer. “We’ll have to stop here for today. We will continue tomorrow.”

After saying that, he walked out quickly.

However, he did not go straight to the police station to pick her up; instead, he first went to Wu Qi’s office.

“Factory Director Wu, how much cash do you have on you? Can you give it all to me first?”

He had just borrowed money from him, and now he was asking again. Su Jianguo never wanted to experience such a thing again in his life.

Wu Qi didn't even ask a single follow-up question, replying directly, “No problem.”

A few minutes later, Su Jianguo rode his bicycle straight to the police station.

When he arrived, Su Yao was already waiting at the entrance.

“Second Uncle, I didn't want to call you, but the amount of money Auntie needs is quite large, and we can't scrape it together in time.” Seeing Su Jianguo’s poor expression, Su Yao hurriedly explained.

In truth, he also found this matter utterly incomprehensible.