Chapter 95 My Dowry! ...
After the intangible cultural heritage exhibition officially started, Lin Xi, who had been busy all morning, finally had some free time. She decided to go to Zhou Zhiyu's stall to help organize clothes and serve customers.
Just then, Zhou Qi jogged over, grabbed her, and whispered mysteriously in her ear, "Xiao Xi, come with me, I'll take you to see someone."
She led Lin Xi to the mobile vendor area in the corner of the exhibition area, stopped a distance away, pointed to a mobile stall not far away, and whispered in her ear, "Look, Su Yi'an."
Looking in the direction she was pointing, Lin Xi almost didn't recognize Su Yi'an.
She was no longer as arrogant as before, and exuded a sense of dejection. Her hair was loosely tied in a bun at the back of her head, and she was wearing the same new Chinese-style Hanfu as the staff. The rough sheen of the fabric showed that the workmanship was crude, and it was the kind of stuff sold at roadside stalls.
Lin Xi couldn't help but click her tongue in astonishment: "How did she end up here?"
Those who appear here are all small vendors. Their small businesses have small profit margins, and they don't want to bear the cost of a fixed stall of several thousand yuan, so they spend a few hundred yuan to set up a small stall here.
Therefore, the stalls are of various types, and the people are a mixed bag.
“Look, Anran Jewelry. I heard she recently started live streaming online to sell her original handmade jewelry, and it’s quite popular. She’s gained over 100,000 followers in the last month or two, so she’s a minor internet celebrity.” Zhou Qi said with his hands in his pockets and a playful look on his face. “However, she was caught plagiarizing by Yaoshi and Qingyuan before, so she doesn’t dare to show her face now and can only sell the persona of a mysterious independent designer.”
Only after she mentioned it did Lin Xi notice.
Like many other vendors, Su Yi'an set up her phone on a stand in front of her stall and introduced the jewelry, as if she were doing a live stream.
It's surprising that a once-shining jewelry designer is now doing live streams selling cheap jewelry.
Lin Xi felt a pang of sadness: "I never imagined that someone as proud as her would fall to such a state. But at least she's working hard on her own now."
"Rely on herself?" Zhou Qi chuckled, unable to suppress her laughter. "She can't rely on herself. With her reputation, no design company would dare to hire her. This Taobao store was only able to open because a nouveau riche invested money in it."
upstart?
Lin Xi looked at her in disbelief.
Zhou Qi shrugged innocently: "It's exactly what you think. That nouveau riche is quite famous in the circle. After he made his fortune through his wife, he kept a bunch of mistresses on the side, yet he insisted on claiming that he and his wife were deeply in love. Wasn't Su Yi'an quite famous before? That nouveau riche asked her to design his wedding anniversary gift, but she refused, saying that such a dirty person was not worthy of her designs. Who knew that he would be rushing off to be someone's mistress now."
“That nouveau riche is bragging to everyone now, calling himself the eldest daughter of the Su family and a cutting-edge designer, but in the end, she still ends up with him for money.” Zhou Qi felt disgusted just thinking about it. “The things he said were so awful! Anyway, it greatly satisfied the male ego.”
"Even if the Su family fell, she shouldn't be in such a terrible state, right?"
They say even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, so didn't they leave themselves any way out?
"Don't even mention the Su family. After the partners withdrew their investment, they discovered that the Su family had long since become an empty shell, burdened with a mountain of debt. With Su Qichao in jail, the debt fell on Su Yi'an and her mother. When the Chen family saw this, they immediately cut ties with them, completely disregarding their lives. It's truly a cold and heartless world!"
Zhou Qi shook her head. "But Su Yi'an isn't exactly a peaceful person. I recently heard she's pregnant and is pressuring that man to divorce his wife, hoping to use the child to climb the social ladder. I don't know whether to call her naive or not. If it were that easy, she would have divorced him eight hundred times over!"
As they were talking, a sudden commotion broke out in the crowd.
The plump woman at the head of the group, dressed in Chanel style and carrying a crocodile skin bag, rushed past Lin Xi and her companions and headed towards the mobile vendor area.
Behind him were five or six muscular men in black suits, who looked like bodyguards and came in aggressively.
The woman stopped in front of Anran's jewelry stall, and before Su Yi'an could react, she waved her hand dismissively: "Smash it!"
Upon hearing this, the bodyguards immediately rushed forward and overturned the stall, sweeping all the ornaments to the ground, where they were mercilessly trampled and broken.
At this moment, Su Yi'an realized what was happening and shouted "Stop!" trying to pull them away, but she found that she was too weak and could not resist the bodyguards' strength. She was pushed to the ground by them.
So she turned and glared angrily at the woman: "Wu Yingxin! What exactly do you want?"
As he spoke, he got up and was about to grab the woman's hair.
But before she could even touch Wu Yingxin's clothes, her wrist was grabbed by the bodyguard next to her, and she was forcibly twisted behind her back.
"What are you doing?! Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Wu Yingxin stepped forward and patted Su Yi'an's face with her manicured hand. "You're a mistress, and now you want to use your child to take my place?"
Upon hearing the word "mistress," those around who were about to call the police hesitated and put down their phones.
Su Yi'an gritted her teeth and stubbornly dodged her hand, trying to break free from the bodyguard's grasp.
But the bodyguard's hands pressed down on her shoulders like iron clamps, forcing her to slowly kneel down to the ground.
Wu Yingxin grabbed Su Yi'an's hair and slapped her hard across the face: "You slut! I'll teach you to seduce my husband! I'll teach you to try to climb the social ladder by getting pregnant! A piece of trash like you, you still dare to ride roughshod over me!"
Su Yi'an's face instantly stung with pain, burning hot.
She looked around for help, only to find contempt and mockery in their eyes; no one was willing to lend a hand.
She suddenly felt that her life was a complete mess, and how she had ended up in such an embarrassing situation.
"I'll teach you to seduce my husband! I'll teach you to be a mistress!" Wu Yingxin continued relentlessly, slapping her face repeatedly with both hands. The sharp nail polish cut through her skin, causing excruciating pain that seemed to seep into her very being.
Su Yi'an's rationality was finally broken by shame and anger, and she began to speak recklessly: "Then what are you? A hen that can't lay eggs? You and Wu Jianxin have been married for so many years and you can't even have a child, so why do you still insist on taking up your position?"
"You know how many women Wu Jianxin has had over the years, right? Can you control him? You can't, but I can! After we got together, he only had eyes for me, and I'm the one he loves!"
"You don't know, do you? Wu Jianxin is really looking forward to our child! He said that everything he has from now on is for this child, and he wants to live a good life with me! He's had enough of you, you tigress who can't have children."
"Fine! You have a child, right!" Wu Yingxin suddenly laughed sharply. "You think you can do whatever you want just because you have a child? Since you know he has so many women, do you know why none of them have given birth to a son or daughter for him? Because they have to be capable of giving birth to a child first!"
The woman, clad in high heels, slammed the heel directly into the woman's stomach, yelling and cursing, "I want you to give birth! I want you to give birth! Let's see how you'll give birth in the future!"
Su Yi'an's hands were held by the bodyguard, and she couldn't even curl up. She could only watch as Wu Yingxin kicked her in the stomach again and again.
"Stop it right now!" Suddenly, her stomach cramped, the pain almost made her faint. She was too weak to struggle anymore and could only slide to the ground like a lump of mud.
Only with the help of the bodyguards did I manage to avoid falling directly to the ground.
"Blood! She's bleeding!"
Suddenly, someone in the crowd screamed in shock, and everyone then noticed that blood was seeping from Su Yi'an's lower body, soaking her snow-white sneakers.
Wu Yingxin, however, didn't care at all. She squatted down to be at eye level with Su Yi'an: "You won't let me go? You don't still think you're the young lady of the Su family, do you? Don't dream. You're nothing but a stray dog now! Besides Wu Jianxin, who would dare to take you!"
"If you behaved yourself, I could pretend not to see it. It's just a few million, and seeing how pitiful you are, I'd consider it charity. But you're not satisfied and had to pull this stunt. I'll show everyone your true colors!"
As she spoke, the woman grabbed Su Yi'an's hair with one hand and took the live-streaming phone from the bodyguard with the other, shoving it in front of Su Yi'an.
"Come on, everyone, take a look! This is the true face of independent designer An Ran. Her name is Su Yi'an, the former eldest daughter of the Su family, and also a jewelry designer for Yaoshi. However, she was sued by Yaoshi for plagiarism! Now she is someone's mistress, trying to use her pregnancy to climb the social ladder, but she is creating a pure love persona online. If you really want to buy her work, aren't you afraid that you will also become the other woman?"
Wu Xinying tossed her phone aside and patted Su Yi'an's pale face. "Su Yi'an, I have some good news for you. Your brother—oh, Su Qichao's illegitimate son—you haven't been able to find him, have you? He's abroad. Before Su Qichao went to jail, he arranged for him to go abroad and even set up a trust for him, ensuring he'll be financially secure for life. Look at you now, besides a mountain of debt, what do you have?!"
Su Yi'an was seething with hatred, but her whole body ached so much that she couldn't muster any strength. All she could do was glare angrily at Wu Yingxin, wishing she could devour her.
Wu Yingxin, however, laughed heartily as if admiring a beautiful oil painting: "Wu Jianxin should really see you like this now, and see if he still likes you?!"
She raised her hand, as if to strike again.
At this moment, the police arrived at the scene and took Wu Yingxin and her bodyguards away.
The farce finally ended, but the video of the scene spread online, and netizens dug up her past plagiarism, defamation of Lin Xi, and attempts to extort money from Fu Qingli. It was also revealed that her current works also imitate the works of other designers.
The Taobao store that I finally built up was shut down by the authorities.
Zhou Qi couldn't help but sigh: "Su Yi'an is really too eager for quick success and instant benefits. She always wants to take shortcuts. Actually, I've seen her previous designs, and they were quite inspired. If she had worked hard and steadily, she would have had a chance to succeed. Now, she's lost everything."
"I heard that Su Yi'an was seriously injured and will have a hard time having children in the future. Despite the whole mess, Wu Jianxin didn't even show his face. It was the Wu family who negotiated with her and offered five million to settle the matter privately."
Lin Xi was shocked, never expecting such a big thing to happen, and Wu Jianxin had actually disappeared perfectly.
"She accepted it?"
"What else can I do if I don't accept it? I've lost my career, I need some money to support myself! Men can't be trusted!"
Lin Xi suddenly chuckled and teased, "Even Zou Song can't be relied on?"
"What does it have to do with him?" Zhou Qi was visibly flustered. "We're talking about Su Yi'an!"
"But I heard that your family has been trying to set you two up lately. Why don't you have any feelings for him?"
Zhou Qi punched Lin Xi: "Xiao Xi, you're such a gossip!"
"It's not that I don't have feelings for him, it's just that we're too familiar with each other, and I'm a little unsure whether he has those kinds of feelings for me."
"Then follow your instincts; they will lead you to the right people."
Su Yi'an's situation reminded Lin Xi of the parenting books in Fu Qingli's study.
I haven't asked him yet if he really wants a child.
Over the past six months, Fu Qingli has somewhat tamed her temper, and she immediately wants to know the answer whenever she thinks about it.
It was almost time to get off work, and Fu Qingli was probably on his way to pick her up.
But she still couldn't help sending him a message.
Murmure: [Brother, aren't you looking forward to having a child with us?]
Fu Qingli was probably driving, and it took her ten minutes to reply.
Ting: [No.]
Lin Xi pouted.
Murmure: [But I see you bought a lot of books on pregnancy and parenting.]
This time, Fu Qingli replied quickly, but changed the subject.
Ting: [Is it almost time to get off work?]
Ting: [I'll come in and get you]
Lin Xi assumed he was just being stubborn and stopped asking.
But in my heart I was still thinking that when I had time I should go to Jiangcheng to see Dr. Han for a follow-up examination and see if I could reduce the dosage of the medicine as soon as possible.
When Fu Qingli found Lin Xi, a hint of worry appeared between her brows.
He observed her state without revealing any particular emotion.
After saying goodbye to her colleagues, Fu Qingli led Lin Xi to the parking lot, talking about everyday things.
Just as Lin Xi was about to get in when Fu Qingli opened the passenger door, he turned around, grabbed her waist, picked her up, and carefully placed her in the car.
He then placed his hands on either side of her, stared into her eyes, and asked earnestly, "What are you worried about?"
Lin Xi instinctively denied it: "No."
Fu Qingli, however, did not believe it and speculated, "Are you worried about the child? Afraid that your health will ultimately disappoint me?"
Unexpectedly, her thoughts were guessed so quickly. Lin Xi lowered her head, looked at his chest for a long time, and nodded honestly. Suddenly, she felt a little wronged: "I didn't expect you to be so eager for a child. What if I really can't have one?"
“I have no expectations.” Fu Qingli lifted her chin, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze. “Whether or not I have children is really not that important to me. I bought those books just because I felt that if you want to have children, then I need to be fully prepared before pregnancy occurs. Pregnancy is too hard, and I don’t want you to suffer any pain.”
"I'm not lying to you. Having you in my life makes me feel like my life is complete. As for having children, we'll just let nature take its course."
-
After the intangible cultural heritage exhibition, the two returned to Beicheng.
Not long after, they welcomed their first New Year after marriage.
Out of respect for the woman, and considering the special nature of Zhou Leyan's profession, he didn't have much time to travel back and forth to Beicheng for the New Year.
Shen Rongyang and Yuan Mei decided to move their whole family to Nanqing to spend the Spring Festival with Yao Wenxiu and the others.
The day before departure was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Zhou Qi organized a gathering, saying she wanted to celebrate the New Year with them in advance, and the venue was a themed restaurant in a large amusement park.
When Lin Xi woke up in the morning, Fu Qingli was already up.
Not seeing anyone, she mumbled in her sleep, "Fu Qingli?"
Then someone immediately responded, "Yes, I'm here."
Footsteps were heard shortly afterward, and Fu Qingli, dressed in pajamas, came out of the dressing room, walked to the bedside, sat down, and touched her slightly flushed face. "What's wrong?"
"What are you doing?" Lin Xi asked softly, her voice still slightly sleepy, as she reached out from under the covers for him to hug her.
Fu Qingli pulled her into his arms, letting her lean against him, and whispered in her ear, "Pack your things."
"Shall we wear evening gowns today?"
Fu Qingli arranges for sales representatives from various brands to deliver clothes to her door every month. However, Lin Xi doesn't attend cocktail parties and has few occasions to wear evening gowns, so they all gather dust in her walk-in closet.
She thought Fu Qingli wanted a sense of ritual for the New Year, so she nodded obediently: "Okay, then you help me choose."
Fu Qingli smiled, her chest trembling slightly: "I've already chosen."
When Lin Xi saw the dress he had chosen, she realized she had misunderstood.
Fu Qingli didn't choose the dress the salesperson sent, but rather the one he personally designed: "This life is vast, but I will only love one person."
He wanted more than just a sense of ritual for the New Year.
"Let me help you change." As she spoke, Fu Qingli's dark eyes were clear and bright, as if countless stars had fallen into them.
Lin Xi subconsciously nodded in agreement with his wishes.
Fu Qingli had helped her dress many times, gently, seductively, and even occasionally intensely, but never with such devotion as today.
Even his fingers were trembling slightly.
Looking at herself in the mirror, surrounded by ocean songs and green bellflowers, and then at the tall, handsome man in a suit behind her, Lin Xi smiled at him through the mirror: "Fu Qingli, are you proposing today?"
Fu Qingli was taken aback. She put her hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face her. Her expression was serious: "You guessed it now? Don't you think I'm uncreative and don't have any surprises?"
"No." Lin Xi shook her head, her eyes welling up with tears.
She knew she had guessed correctly.
"I just don't like being proposed to in a crowd, it's so embarrassing."
“I know.” With that, Fu Qingli knelt down on one knee. “That’s why I’m going to ask for help here.”
"Xiaoxi, will you marry me?"
"I will be good to you for the rest of my life, and only to you."
His voice trembled slightly with nervousness, "I know I'm cold-hearted and not good at sweet talk, but I promise to love you well and always. Will you marry me?"
Lin Xi smiled, tears welling up in her eyes.
She raised her hand and pointed to the ring on her ring finger: "We're already married, so I don't think I can refuse you."
“You can refuse.” Fu Qingli said seriously, “I took advantage of you back then. If you don’t want to marry me now, that’s fine too. I’ll keep pursuing you until you agree.”
Lin Xi's tears finally fell.
How could she not want to? From the moment she fell in love with Fu Qingli, she had been looking forward to this day.
The man she deeply loved knelt before her, asking if she should marry him.
Her inner pride wouldn't allow her to agree so easily.
"Everyone else gets a ring when they propose? What about mine? Don't tell me it's the one I'm wearing."
"How could that be!" Fu Qingli reached out and pushed open the wardrobe door behind her. "Turn around."
A heavy-duty red Xiuhe dress hangs in the wardrobe, woven with gold thread into a cloud and phoenix design. The collar and cuffs are adorned with lustrous pearls, and silver thread outlines the contours of love.
"This is--"
"My betrothal gifts."
(End of article)
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Author's note: Fu Qingli and Lin Xi's story ends here for now.
This book was initially planned to be completed in a VIP format, but later it was completed smoothly. I abandoned the beginning, which I had already written 60,000 to 70,000 words, at least three times. I polished it little by little. Although I know I am still immature, I want to say that I tried my best.
Thank you everyone for staying with me for so long!
Several young readers have truly accompanied me all the way. Thank you for your support; it lets me know that someone is following my book every day. Thank you for giving me boundless confidence.
On January 1, 2026, I'll be waiting for you all in "Ke Li's Little Fish". See you again with the new book.
I love every reader who has accompanied me, whether for a while or all the time.
With you all, even a salted fish like me can finish writing the story I want to write.
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