SYLFS 02

Chapter: 2

 “That Mountain Belongs to Us”

The moment Kang Luilui met Xuxu’s cold gaze, she flinched, trembling as if struck by invisible ice.

Immediately, Bai Shuqin stepped forward to shield her, shouting furiously,
“What’s with that look?! Was anything Luilui said wrong? That was originally the Kang family’s property!
You—what right do you have to demand it back?
Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that you were raised in our household!
Do you have any idea how much money we’ve spent on you—feeding you, raising you without complaint? We never once asked you to repay us!
And even now, we still give you a thousand yuan each month!
And this is how you repay us? You’re nothing but an ungrateful traitor!”

Just then, Kang Qishen—who had been silent until now—finally spoke.

He had inherited his father’s handsome features, but his expression was clouded with resentment and irritation.
“Xuxu, that belongs to Luilui. Why are you being so greedy?”

At his words, Xuxu’s fingers trembled slightly. But he went on.

“…If you’re willing to give up the honorary representative position, I could ask Mom and Dad to let you stay. I’ll convince them for you.”

He said it coolly, as if offering her some generous, magnanimous deal.

But Xuxu’s expression only grew colder.
“…No need.”

—She had once tried desperately to win their affection:
learning to cook, studying massage, even taking up carving.
She handmade lucky charms for each of them, did everything she could think of.

And yet, not once—not even when she nearly died saving Luilui—did any of them truly look her way.

There was nothing left to cling to.

At her calm refusal, Qishen’s face twisted.
“You really don’t get it, do you? Do you even know what kind of life awaits you after you leave the Kang family?”

His eyes were filled with pity—and contempt.
As if to say: you have no future.

“Qishen, don’t waste your breath,” Luilui interjected, her voice dripping with mock concern.
“Even if she comes crawling back begging for the title, we don’t need her anymore! And she can forget about taking anything from this house!”

Then she stepped forward, her tone softening in false sympathy, though her lips curled with pride.
“Oh right, Sis—I forgot to mention. Three days ago, Brother Pei confessed to me.
We’ll probably be engaged soon.
I know you’ve always liked him… but I hope you’ll bless us, okay?”

Xuxu stared at her smug face without a hint of emotion. Her voice was ice.
“Who said I liked him?”

Luilui froze, caught completely off guard.

If this had gone the way she imagined, Xuxu should’ve been heartbroken—crying, collapsing in despair.
But instead—

She looked at Luilui with something like pity.
“If your eyes aren’t working right, you should see a doctor. That man you treasure so much—he’s not worth a single coin to me.”

Then she turned back to the family.

—She now knew that even her grandmother’s jade bracelet, her only keepsake, would never be returned to her.
And because of that, she could finally cut all ties without hesitation.

“I’ll repay every cent you spent raising me. From today on, I will have nothing more to do with any of you.”

Her gaze lingered one last time on the bracelet glinting on Luilui’s wrist.
“That thing—you won’t be able to protect it. One day, you’ll give it back to me with your own hands.”

With that, Xuxu turned and walked out of the Kang estate, leaving without a trace of regret.

Bai Shuqin watched her back disappear, her voice shaking with fury.
“Did you see that? That ungrateful snake! If it weren’t for Luilui, I’d have thrown her out long ago!”

Luilui immediately leaned against her mother’s arm, soothing her gently.
“Mom, don’t be angry. Sis is probably just upset about being sent back to the countryside so suddenly.”

“You’re far too kind,” Bai sighed, gazing lovingly at her pretty daughter. Then, glaring toward the gate where Xuxu had vanished, she hissed,
“To survive that accident without a scratch—she must have something unholy clinging to her.
Good riddance. At least she’s gone before she could curse this family.”

“Enough,” Father Kang said quietly, cutting through the venom in the air.

But none of the four remaining in the house noticed—
The moment Xuxu stepped past the garden gate, the blazing midsummer sun slipped behind a cloud.
The air turned cold.

And from the empty shade of the trees came a faint whisper:

“She’s gone… finally gone…”
“This house is ours now… hehehe…”

…

Even under the harsh June sun, not a bead of sweat touched Xuxu’s forehead. She carried a strange, unshakable calm.

By the time she reached the villa gate, she held only a slip of paper and a smartphone.

On that paper were the contact details of her real parents—
a note given to her by Father Kang just a few days earlier.

Yet she had never called them.
She knew almost nothing about her true family.

Living deep in the mountains probably meant they weren’t wealthy. She had just finished her college entrance exams, about to enter university.
Even if her biological parents couldn’t afford tuition, she would find a way to earn it herself.

“Maybe they’ll try to sell me off into marriage,” someone else might have feared—but not her.
In this world, there was no one alive who could sell her.

With that thought, she pulled out her phone and hovered her finger over the call button—

Just then, she heard the sound of engines approaching.

Looking up, she saw a line of sleek black Maybachs—more than a dozen—gliding toward her in perfect formation.

This neighborhood, though not the city’s most elite district, was still home to many wealthy families.
Luxury cars weren’t an uncommon sight, so Xuxu simply stepped aside, assuming it was another show-off passing through.

But as soon as she moved, the cars stopped—every one of them—right in front of her, perfectly aligned, as if waiting.

The drivers’ doors opened in unison.
Men in black suits and white gloves stepped out, forming two neat lines.
One of them opened the rear door of the central car with impeccable grace.

Xuxu raised an eyebrow.

The first thing she saw was a pair of long legs in perfectly tailored gray suit trousers.
Then, a man emerged.

Tall, lean, strikingly handsome. The same gray suit fitted his form flawlessly, highlighting his composed, elegant features.
There was beauty in his presence—but also a quiet, commanding power that made it hard to breathe.

He looked straight at her and walked closer. Then, in a deep, even voice that somehow sounded gentle—
“Miss Kang Xuxu?”

She felt something familiar in his eyes—something that made her pulse quicken with vague recognition.
“Yes,” she answered. “That’s me.”

The man’s gaze flicked to the phone in her hand, his expression unreadable.
She was just about to press “call.” He clicked his tongue softly, reached out without warning—and pressed the button for her.

A ringtone immediately chimed from his pocket.

He pulled out his phone, showed her the screen, then bent slightly so their eyes met. His voice softened into a faint smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m your brother—Jiang Huai.”

Xuxu: “…”

She stared at him for a long moment, then at the row of Maybachs and the perfectly lined-up drivers behind him. Finally, she spoke.
“…I was told my parents live deep in the mountains.”

Her tone implied what she didn’t say aloud: And this? This doesn’t exactly look like a mountain village.

Jiang Huai seemed to understand perfectly.
“That’s true,” he said lightly. “Our family estate is in the mountains.”

He paused, then smiled faintly.
“But that mountain—belongs to us.”

Xuxu: “…”

Wait.
Did he just say… they own the whole mountain?
Is that even possible?
Can a person own a mountain in this country?!