Ye Shu stared unblinkingly at the shadow, lips curling into an indifferent smile. "Well, it really has been a long time, hasn't it? So it was you. I thought it was someone else."
"Ye Shu!"
"Watch your tone."
"I am your mother. Is this how you treat the one who took you in as her own?" Lin Shuya shot a cold, contemptuous glance at the girl opposite her.
Once, Ye Shu's mother had been someone she could only long for in her heart—an unattainable figure.
Before the truth of her parentage was uncovered, the original Ye Shu had yearned desperately for Lin Shuya's acknowledgment, only to be bitterly disappointed the moment Ye Wanwan entered the household.
Because she wasn't their biological daughter... did that give them license to trample her at will?
The very first day Ye Shu transmigrated into this book, Lin Shuya had her thrown out during a banquet.
And now, here she was, setting foot here on her own—is it only because she finally saw her daughter's value?
"Adopted?"
"Madam Ye, you must be mistaken. There is no such bond between us."
"Besides... Haven't I returned every cent the Ye family ever spent on me over all those years?"
Raising an eyebrow, Ye Shu glanced at Lin Shuya.
She'd always known the Ye family would be difficult, so she made sure to repay, in full, every bit of money the Ye family had ever given the original Ye Shu.
How ridiculous, in retrospect.
The Ye family was the wealthiest in N City, raising a dozen children without any real effort—yet they begrudged even their daughter's basic expenses. In all these years, the original Ye Shu hardly saw a penny of so-called support from any of them.
"You..."
"Ye Shu, you've grown bold. Just because you’ve managed to get your hands on a few lanterns, don’t think you’ve achieved something grand. Once a mother, always a mother—I will always be your mother! That’s a fact you can never change. You will never be able to repay what you owe us in this lifetime."
Lin Shuya wanted badly to just walk away—but she couldn't.
This time, she'd been dragged into the survival game as well.
Ye family stocks and businesses had taken a massive hit at the first arrival of this game world. They were surviving on old capital, barely able to gather a handful of veteran players to form a team. At first, she assumed entering the game wouldn’t affect her much. She hadn’t expected the game world to be so different—those seasoned players turned their backs on her the moment they collected their pay.
Whether it was the food shortage or the game's monsters, none of it was something a pampered society matron like her could handle. All these years in the Ye family, all she'd mastered was currying favor among N City's most powerful women.
Until she found Wanwan... Ye Shu, that little beast, would just have to do.
Wasn't she the one always craving her mother’s affection? Always yearning to be seen?
Well, now the opportunity had come.
"Miss Ye, even if I once stayed at the Ye family home, I never owed you anything. And besides... The money I transferred to the Ye family—you’ve already received it. Exactly 19,987.5 Huaxia coins."
"I lived in a storage room, ate leftovers and discounted veggies I bought through odd jobs, and still had to cook for the Ye boys—like some kind of dog. I haven’t even begun to tally those expenses with you!"
Da Piaoliang, perched on her shoulder, looked on with wide, stunned eyes—utterly incredulous.
So her master had been so wretched before?
It really was... hard to imagine. She’d always thought Ye Shu had been a force of nature right from the start, challenging monsters many times her strength with nothing but her feeble human shell.
The original Ye Shu had been ostracized by every single member of the Ye family. By the end, her only friend in the world was Su Bai.
If Ye Shu’s parents hadn’t tacitly endorsed such cruelty, who would have dared to go that far?
In fact, Ye Shu’s death... had everything to do with Lin Shuya.
Now that Ye Shu was who she was, she couldn't just stand by.
Ye Shu shot Lin Shuya a cheery, narrowed-eyed smile as she toyed with the hilt of the peachwood sword at her waist.
"Wretched girl..."
"The Ye family did raise you. That's undeniable."
Had Ye Shu not mentioned the number 19,987.5, Lin Shuya might not have even remembered.
The Ye family had raised a daughter for nearly twenty years.
And in twenty years, they’d spent only that much money.
Even an average family would spend far more on a child in a single year.
Ye Shu was mocking her—mocking the Ye family.
Lin Shuya thought of the shock on those society ladies' faces that day and felt her pride shrivel.
"Yes, yes, you’re right about everything!"
But what did any of that have to do with her?
Ye Shu moved to leave, but Lin Shuya stopped her at a corner in the catacombs, frowning in distaste at both her and the black cat on her shoulder. She said bluntly, "I am still your mother, at least in name. Give me the lantern you exchanged, and I’ll let you stay by my side."
Ye Shu looked Lin Shuya up and down, her cloudy eyes regarding her as if she were insane. Lin Shuya was seized by inexplicable shame.
But if it meant surviving and making it back to the real world... clinging to Ye Shu was her only choice.
She never expected that someone as filthy as mud could thrive in the survival game like this!
She redeemed high-level items without blinking.
That red lantern—she should send it to Wanwan later. A girl alone in such a dangerous game would need the help. With an item like that, maybe Wanwan would have it a little easier.
"Miss Ye, you must still be dreaming."
"Even for free, I wouldn’t give the Ye family so much as a single item."
Ye Shu's smile remained perfectly polite, warm and genial, yet Lin Shuya felt her skin crawl as goosebumps rose along her back.
Damn it, when did Ye Shu acquire the right to refuse her demands?
Didn’t Tianxiang say he'd met this wretch in the game... could it be her personality had changed more than just a little?
Lin Shuya's attention had been glued to Ye Wanwan, but had she spared some thought for Ye Tianxiang she would have realized: Ye Shu was no longer the meek pushover she once was—someone to be ordered around at will.
"Ye Shu, stop this right now!"
"If only we could go back twenty years, I would never have let Wanwan be switched at birth."
"Little beast, you really were born with a mother but raised without one. My Wanwan would never have behaved so rudely—you deserve to be left unwanted. Su Meilin has looked after my Wanwan with love and care every single day for twenty years, and you will—"
Enraged, Lin Shuya let loose every venomous thought in her heart.
Ye Shu paused, cradling the black cat. She turned, her dark eyes meeting Lin Shuya’s perfectly maintained, youthful face—not angry, but smiling.
"You’re right—born to a mother but raised by none!"
Ye Shu dropped Da Piaoliang and drew out her peachwood sword, pressing the blade to Lin Shuya’s throat, her eyes lowering to a dangerous slit. "Ye Shu has a temper, too. This is your last warning. If you cross me again, I’ll kill you. Understand?"
Her voice was as soft as ever—soft, but it sent a chill straight to the bone.
Ye Shu vanished quickly into the catacomb tunnel.
Lin Shuya slumped to the ground, dazed, transfixed by a lock of hair freshly cut from her head. As her gaze replayed the image of that cold, venomous face, her hands clawed at the dirt and trembled uncontrollably, her entire body seized by shudders.
Ye Shu... How dare she treat her like that...?
A sting flared in her neck. Lin Shuya pressed a shaking hand to her throat, only for her palm to come away sticky with blood.
Ye Shu really had wanted to kill her! It was no bluff.
It took Lin Shuya a long while to pull herself together. When the terror finally receded, anger flared deep in her chest. Her tea-colored eyes glared hatefully down the tunnel.
Su Meilin’s precious daughter! One day, I’ll kill her myself.
Rounding a bend in the tunnel, Ye Shu halted abruptly, casting a sidelong glance at the mud-brick wall a few meters away. Her voice, icy cold, echoed out: "How long are you planning on hiding? Come out, now."