DF Chapter 63
by VolareAfter Sheng Jia took a short rest in the back seat, the car quickly drove into the manor.
It was the same reception room where they first visited Serena, and a super-large screen had been set up to display the situation on the other side of the island.
According to Tawana, after Julia was eliminated, Serena took everyone back to the castle and turned on the large screen in the reception room. A lot of cameras were installed in the woodland before the start of the game, so most of their actions could be observed.
Because she was afraid of affecting their actions, drones were only sent to watch after Song Ji’an killed Dong Zhen.
Sheng Jia was caught off guard when a roar came from behind the door, followed by a shower of gold foil confetti falling from behind.
Julia, dragging Dong Zhen, stood behind her. They had already suppressed the arrogance in their hearts and were not upset about being eliminated by the others’ scheme.
“Congratulations, congratulations, you are the third place.” Julia said with a smile, “This time, I am truly convinced by the defeat.”
“Sheng Jia, maybe I should go to China to learn from you in the future, to figure out how you can think of so many twists and turns.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sheng Jia took the candy she handed over and put it in her mouth. “Were you guys betting?”
“Discovered?” Julia didn’t show any shame on her face, only naturally explaining, “We bet on who would be the third place, and I bet on you, winning quite a bit. Dong Zhen just arrived, and when I was talking to her on the phone in the car, she also guessed that you would definitely be the third place, and it turned out as she expected.”
Sheng Jia: “Then there should also be bets on the first and second place, right?”
“Of course,” Julia winked, “It’s over there.”
Only then did Sheng Jia look in the direction she pointed, and on a table that could seat ten or so people, there were weights and a roulette, with Serena still sitting in the main seat, flanked by three other women.
Coincidentally, she recognized two of them.
–Fu Minglang and Song Ningqiu.
Sheng Jia was slightly stunned, not knowing whether she should take the initiative to say hello. Fu Minglang, however, had already waved at her, “Sheng Jia, don’t you even say hello when you see me?”
Her words broke the awkwardness, and she quickly walked forward, first saying to Fu Minglang, “Ms. Fu, hello, long time no see.”
“The last time I saw you was at the Meng family’s auction, you were a very impressive child.” Fu Minglang exchanged a glance with her, concealing the subsequent conversation between them, and only said to Song Ningqiu, “Ji’an was also there with her that time.”
After hearing her words, Sheng Jia looked at Song Ningqiu, who was sitting on the other side and smiling at her because of Fu Minglang’s words.
It was an extremely inclusive gaze. Sheng Jia met her eyes, and for some reason, her heart began to thump, and the drowsiness in her mind suddenly disappeared.
This was the first time she had spoken face-to-face with Song Ningqiu since the hurried greeting at the parents’ meeting.
Without any wording or skill, the only formal self-introduction she was qualified to give was, “Auntie, hello, I am Sheng Jia, Song Ji’an’s friend. It was a bit rushed at the last parents’ meeting, and I didn’t have time to introduce myself.”
“Ji’an often mentions you to me, saying you are a very capable young lady,” Song Ningqiu stood up and patted her shoulder. “After seeing you today, I found that you are indeed a particularly intelligent girl. Ji’an was not exaggerating.”
Her eyes were filled with undisguised admiration, and the way she looked at her was full of encouragement. That kind of tolerance and kindness wrapped around Sheng Jia’s heart like the sea, and she was at a loss for words for a moment.
Sheng Jia only felt that her shoulder, where she had been touched, seemed to be burned, even through the heavy clothing, causing her to tremble and slump half of her shoulder.
Song Ningqiu quickly supported her, “Oh dear, child, what’s wrong?”
Julia mocked from behind, “Sheng Jia must be hungry. I heard that the idea of destroying all our food was yours. Why didn’t you eat more yourself? Look at Dong Zhen, she’s smarter than you, she asked Sister Zhou Qing for food on the way back.”
Sheng Jia leaned on Song Ningqiu’s chest, her face flushed. She awkwardly straightened her body with the help of her strength and said in a low voice, “I’m fine, thank you Auntie Song.”
“You can call me Auntie too.” Song Ningqiu didn’t care, forcefully pressing Sheng Jia to sit on the chair. Fu Minglang handed her a glass of sugar water, and Sheng Jia nodded her thanks. Song Ningqiu scolded, “Can you still laugh at others? Weren’t you the same when you came back?”
Julia laughed with her arms crossed, “Auntie Song, you can’t expose my past like that. When Martha and Hong Yue laughed at me back then, you didn’t speak up for me. You can’t be so…”
She paused, thinking for a moment before remembering the adjective, “Right, you guys call it double standards.”
Song Ningqiu looked at her with amusement, her hand resting on the side of Sheng Jia’s chair, in a casual yet protective manner. “Sheng Jia is Ji’an’s good friend. Since Ji’an is not here, of course I have to watch out for you guys bullying her.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Julia said exaggeratedly. “We probably won’t be able to bully Sheng Jia anyway, she’s too powerful.”
Seeing that they had chatted enough, Fu Minglang introduced Sheng Jia like an elder, “This is Ms. Grando, Julia’s mother.”
Grando and Julia didn’t look too similar. She had extremely sharp features, appearing very serious and profound. When Fu Minglang said this, Julia, who was already seated beside Sheng Jia, only glanced faintly, with a hint of displeasure, obviously their mother-daughter relationship wasn’t very harmonious.
But unlike her temperament and appearance, she nodded at Sheng Jia in a very approachable manner. Of course, this was also likely out of respect for Fu Minglang and Song Ningqiu.
The others didn’t continue the conversation. After exchanging greetings, everyone’s attention was focused on the two screens, waiting for Song Ji’an and Meng Yeran to determine the final outcome.
Sheng Jia drank the sugar water in her hand in one gulp, a warm feeling spreading through her stomach. The slight blush on her face, which had been caused by excitement or embarrassment, hadn’t disappeared even now.
Julia didn’t have the desire to watch the big screen. To her, if she lost the competition, then the competition was over for her. What interested her more was Sheng Jia. Although she was convinced in her heart, it only made her want to explore what the other was thinking at every moment, always wanting to discover something to get the upper hand on Sheng Jia and win once herself.
“Where’s that energy you had when you were dealing with us?” She played with a string of keys in her palm, mocking, “Did you become shy when you met your elders?”
Sheng Jia didn’t raise her head, only slowly answering, “If you were starved for a whole day and then embarrassed yourself in front of elders you’re a little unfamiliar with and admire, you wouldn’t necessarily perform better than me.”
“Admire?” Julia became interested. “Which one?”
“Every one,” Sheng Jia said softly. “Aren’t outstanding female seniors in the forefront of their industries worthy of admiration?”
“Looks like you know Ms. Fu and Auntie Song,” Julia stroked her chin, thoughtfully. “Looking at your expression, you seem to know my mom too?”
“I have seen Ms. Grando’s photo in magazines.”
Grando didn’t often appear in domestic financial magazines, but Sheng Jia had seen Julia’s family rescue a group of trafficked Scandinavian women on the Nordic transport route and assist the police in destroying a maritime human trafficking route in the North Sea and Baltic Sea area. Grando was the one in charge of this matter for Julia’s family back then.
She had seen the article about this incident in a magazine she was gathering writing material from a while ago. Because she was interested, she searched for the real person online and was deeply impressed. She recognized her almost as soon as she entered the conference room.
Julia, however, gave her a meaningful look, but she cleverly didn’t continue, instead asking, “Aren’t you hungry? We drank some sugar water to warm our stomachs, let’s go to the restaurant to eat something. Speaking of which, I’m really hungry too.”
“You’re hungry?” Dong Zhen, who was sitting next to her, interjected, “You ate a lot after you came back last night, and then slept soundly until this morning. Your complexion is rosy and glowing now.”
On the contrary, Dong Zhen and Sheng Jia were the ones who looked particularly weak, especially Dong Zhen. Even though she had replenished some food in the car, she hadn’t recovered yet, her face was excessively pale.
“You don’t have to stay here with us,” Serena waved her hand when she saw this. “You can go out and play like Martha and Hong Yue, or go eat something. Anyway, Ji’an and Yeran should be back at noon. The auction will be held as usual tonight, come and watch together.”
Julia and Dong Zhen responded in agreement. Sheng Jia looked up at the two giant screens. Song Ji’an and Meng Yeran had already entered the crater and had split up and moved forward at some point. The giant screen had been divided into two screens for them, clearly showing close-up overhead views.
The inside of the crater and the observation deck were inaccessible, but there were also several observation decks outside the crater. Song Ji’an had abandoned most of her equipment, leaving only a mask and walking up the easternmost observation deck along the steps, but it was obviously empty, with nothing in sight, and didn’t look like it had anything hidden.
Julia pulled Sheng Jia and Dong Zhen out. Sheng Jia withdrew her gaze. After they left the banquet hall, Dong Zhen asked, “Sheng Jia, where do you think Ms. Serena hid the things?”
Sheng Jia pondered for a moment before answering, “The soil.”
Looking down from above, there was basically nothing unusual. There were no plants near the crater, and the observation decks outside the crater were all of the same specifications. If one was like this, then the others must be the same. The only place that could be used to hide things was under the volcanic ash and soil.
As the three were talking, they had already arrived in the manor outside. What came into view was a refreshing green lawn, next to the windows of the banquet hall that hadn’t been closed. In the two giant screens, Meng Yeran was rushing to another observation deck, while Song Ji’an, after Sheng Jia’s words, accurately found the unusual new soil in the area of land where she was standing and quickly dug out a wine bottle, which obviously contained a rolled-up parchment scroll.
Julia whistled when she saw this, “What excellent chemistry. If you two were to meet in a real competition, how unlucky would your opponents be.”
As she said this, she turned her head to question, “Dong Zhen, why didn’t you ask me just now?”
Dong Zhen looked at her expressionlessly, “To be able to be double-killed by Sheng Jia with two bullets, what’s the point of asking you?”
“Is that my fault?” Julia retorted, “The task you gave me was to capture Sheng Jia alive, do you know how difficult that is?”
The two of them started bickering beside Sheng Jia. Through the window, Sheng Jia could see Song Ningqiu’s profile, with a gentle and proud smile. Fu Minglang didn’t know what she said, causing her to look at the other with some helplessness. At this moment, Song Ji’an took out the parchment scroll, scanned the contents, and her eyes showed some relief.
The drone above her head buzzed. She accurately found the camera above, took off her face covering, and raised the corners of her lips at the camera.
Even though the dark circles under her eyes were ridiculously heavy at the moment, the high-definition lens still captured her high spirits and vitality.
Her eyes burned with a determination to win, which was the unique vigor of a young person.
Song Ningqiu made eye contact with her through the screen, smiling modestly at the people around her, but the expression on her face was incomparably proud.
Sheng Jia stood outside the window, quietly watching this pair of like-minded mother and daughter, no one knowing what she was thinking.
Only Julia, who had finished bickering with Dong Zhen, put her arm around her shoulder and asked in confusion, “Sheng Jia? What are you spacing out about? Let’s go, let’s go eat delicious food. Auntie Serena’s cuisine is absolutely amazing here. You didn’t even taste it that day before the game started. You’ll definitely regret not eating it sooner if you don’t eat it now.”
Sheng Jia came back to her senses. The sunlight above her head fell on her face, which, after the blush had subsided, also looked a little pale. She let Julia pull her forward, unable to help but laugh.
It was a very light laugh.
Only Julia, who was walking side by side with her, heard it. The other raised her eyebrows, “You and your mom don’t have a good relationship either?”
“My mom and I have a good relationship.” Sheng Jia replied.
“Is that so? But just now your envy almost overflowed.” Julia said.
“Who wouldn’t envy Ji’an and her mom’s kind of relationship?” Sheng Jia said, “Don’t you envy it? I think you’re also very envious.”
“Who said I was envious,” Julia muttered, but probably thinking of Ms. Grando sitting inside, she had shot herself in the foot with Sheng Jia, so she stopped talking.
Sheng Jia didn’t look back. The three of them walked forward side by side. The sun at seven or eight o’clock was inexplicably dazzling, causing her to squint her eyes.
Yes.
Actually, she was super envious.
Envy almost overflowed from my eyes.