The morning after the fashion show, the air in the Li family apartment was thick with the smell of stale cigarettes and desperation. Auntie Mei and Li Lulu were huddled in the kitchen, whispering frantically. They had heard the news: Li Hua was now a national patent holder with 10,000 Yuan in the bank. Their "money tree" hadn't just grown wings; she had become a dragon.
The iron door groaned open. Li Hua stepped inside, but she didn't look like the girl who used to squeeze through the doorway. At 70kg, her silhouette was sharp, her movements effortless. She wore a simple, high-quality white linen shirt tucked into black trousers—a "minimalist" look that screamed old money and high status.
[Ding! Final Home Mission: The Clean Sweep.]
[Goal: Reclaim 100% of the biological mother's assets and leave the 'Leeches' with zero. Reward: 'Spatial Storage' (1 cubic meter), +10 Perception, -2kg Weight Loss.]
"Oh, Hua-hua! You're back!" Auntie Mei scrambled out of the kitchen, her face twisted into a grotesque, flattering smile. "We saw the lights in the square last night! We knew our girl was a genius. Come, sit. Lulu made your favorite steamed bread with extra lard!"
Li Hua didn't even look at the bread. Her 'Vogue' Vision was active, but she wasn't looking at clothes. She was scanning the room for the hidden loot her step-mother had stashed over the years.
"I'm not here for bread, Auntie," Li Hua said, her voice as cold as a winter stream. "I'm here for the deed to this apartment, my father's life insurance papers, and the jade bracelet you took from my mother's jewelry box ten years ago."
Auntie Mei's smile froze. "Hua-hua, what are you saying? The deed... that's for the family! And the bracelet... I'm just keeping it safe for your wedding day!"
"My wedding day was cancelled, remember? By the man you pushed me toward so you could pocket the dowry." Li Hua stepped forward, her +30 Business IQ allowing her to read the micro-expressions on Mei's face. She pointed toward the heavy, wooden wardrobe in the corner. "The double-bottom drawer. Open it."
"There's nothing there!" Li Lulu shrieked, standing in front of the wardrobe. "You can't just come in here and act like a bandit!"
Li Hua didn't argue. She simply pulled a group of men into the hallway movers she had hired from the factory, led by Old Chen.
"Chen, move the wardrobe," Li Hua commanded.
In the 90s, physical power was the only thing people like Auntie Mei respected. The men shifted the heavy furniture with a loud scrape. Li Hua knelt down and pressed a hidden latch she had seen through her 'Spatial Perception'.
A secret compartment popped open.
Inside sat a tin box. Li Hua opened it to find the apartment deed, several stacks of 50-Yuan bills (at least 2,000 Yuan), and the glowing, translucent green of her mother's jade bracelet.
"You... you thief!" Auntie Mei lunged at her, but Li Hua caught her wrist mid-air.
"I'm the thief?" Li Hua's eyes flashed with a terrifying light. "This apartment was bought with my mother's dowry. This money was skimmed from the factory workers' pensions. And this bracelet..." She slid the cold jade onto her now-slender wrist. It fit perfectly. "This is my bloodline."
[Ding! Asset Reclamation: 90% Complete. The 'Leeches' are losing their grip!]
Li Hua turned to Old Chen. "Take everything that belongs to me. The sewing machine, the books, the furniture my father bought. If it wasn't bought with Auntie Mei's 'black market' money, it leaves with me today."
As the movers stripped the apartment bare, the neighbors gathered in the hallway, whispering. They saw the once-pitiful "fat girl" standing like an empress while her step-mother wailed on the floor.
"Wait!" Li Lulu cried, her voice trembling. "If you take the deed, where will we go? You're leaving us on the street!"
Li Hua paused at the door, her leather bag slung over her shoulder. She looked at Lulu the girl who had once spent a whole winter's coal money on a fancy dress while Li Hua shivered in the attic.
"You still have that floral dress you love so much, don't you, Lulu? And Auntie has her health." Li Hua smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "I've paid the rent for this month. After that, I suggest you find work at the textile mill. I hear the new owner is very strict about laziness."
"You... you monster!" Auntie Mei sobbed.
"I learned from the best," Li Hua replied.
She stepped out into the sunshine. Waiting at the curb was the black Hongqi. Ye Feng was standing by the door, his eyes hidden behind his glasses, but the corner of his mouth was lifted in a rare, approving smirk.
"Everything packed?" he asked.
"Everything that matters," Li Hua said. She looked back at the cramped, dark apartment one last time and felt the final tether snap.
[Ding! Mission Complete: The Clean Sweep!]
[Rewards Issued: 'Spatial Storage' unlocked, +10 Perception.]
[Weight Loss: -2kg. Current Weight: 68kg!]
As she sat in the back of the car, she felt a strange tingle in her mind. A small, invisible space about the size of a closet opened up in her consciousness. She placed her mother's lacquer box inside it, watching it vanish into the 'Spatial Storage'.
"Next stop?" Ye Feng asked, the engine purring to life.
"The Capital," Li Hua said, her gaze fixed on the horizon. "I want a storefront on Wangfujing Street by the end of the year."
Ye Feng chuckled, a deep, rich sound. "Wangfujing? You don't aim low, do you? Most people start with a small stall in the suburbs."
"I've spent enough time in the suburbs, Mr. Ye. It's time the Capital learned what a 'fat girl' from the provinces can do."
As the car accelerated away from the small town, leaving the dust and the ghosts behind, Li Hua watched her reflection in the window. She was 68kg, her skin was flawless, and she had 10,000 Yuan in her pocket.
The 1990s were just beginning, and so was she.
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