Ch 41: Shen Mingyue, You Stole Things?
“Sister-in-law, you truly have a knack for this. Let me teach you how to read the music.”
Qiao Meiling smiled at Shen Mingyue, her eyes curving like crescent moons, looking gentle and serene.
Shen Mingyue couldn’t help but reflect in her heart that, no matter the era, education is quite important. Look at Gu Huilan’s daughter; she’s clearly a well-bred lady, far superior to Gu Sisi.
It’s evident that Gu Huilan and her husband were quite successful in raising their child.
“Thank you, Meiling.”
Qiao Meiling shook her head, indicating it wasn’t any trouble, and began earnestly teaching Shen Mingyue how to read music. Soon, she discovered that Shen Mingyue was practically a genius. After only teaching her four or five times, she already knew how to read it.
Thus, Shen Mingyue practiced the piano until evening. When Gu Huilan and her husband returned home, they were surprised to see the two still sitting by the piano.
“How did your practice go?”
Before Shen Mingyue could speak, Qiao Meiling quickly replied, “Mom, Sister-in-law is amazing! She can now play a complete piece.”
Gu Huilan’s eyes instantly welled up.
She also plays the piano and knows how difficult it is. It requires rote memorization, innate talent, and the passage of time.
Yet Shen Mingyue could play a complete piece in just one day. Although it was a relatively simple piece, it was still enough to show how incredibly talented she is.
“It’s all thanks to Meiling’s teaching.”
After some pleasantries, Shen Mingyue, not one to be ungrateful, helped make dinner. She had spent the whole day at their home learning piano, and felt she had caused them considerable trouble.
The Gu Meiqin family enjoyed the dishes she cooked. Just as everyone was about to start eating, Gu Yuanzhou arrived by car, apparently to pick up Shen Mingyue.
Unexpectedly, he arrived right at dinner time.
Uncle Qiao Hongping couldn’t help but jest, “Yuanzhou, you timed this perfectly! Come sit and eat with us. You can leave after.”
The family was quite close, so Gu Yuanzhou readily sat down and joined them. During dinner, they inevitably asked about Shen Mingyue’s studies. Upon learning about her talent, Gu Yuanzhou was completely stunned.
He wasn’t even surprised anymore. The continuous stream of surprises had overwhelmed him. Now he was almost certain that Shen Mingyue was a genius, a genius whose talent had been buried by rural education.
After dinner, Gu Yuanzhou thanked them and left with Shen Mingyue.
It was quite late. Bai Jingjing had already closed her clothing store and gone home. Along the way, Gu Yuanzhou couldn’t help but mention today’s events.
“I’ve discovered you have a very strong learning ability. This is a wonderful thing. Anything you’re interested in learning, just tell me, and I’ll do my best to help create the conditions for you.”
Shen Mingyue readily accepted the praise. She didn’t need anything else for now. Once she shone brightly at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ conference, she would see who in the Gu family would dare look down on her again.
Because the two returned late, Zhou Xiaofei had arrived home early and was already formulating her plan. She noticed that the Gu family’s impression of Shen Mingyue was improving, which she certainly didn’t want.
If this development continued, would Gu Yuanzhou still divorce Shen Mingyue?
After much deliberation, she decided to frame Shen Mingyue.
She knew that Gu Sisi had a gold lock in her bedroom, a birthday gift from her parents. It was kept on her dressing table and was very precious to her. She usually didn’t wear it to school for fear of losing it; she only wore it on special occasions.
So, when no one was home, she stole the gold lock and placed it in Shen Mingyue’s bedroom pocket.
When Gu Sisi returned, she would surely discover the missing lock and make a fuss.
The first person suspected would naturally be Shen Mingyue, as nothing had ever been stolen from the Gu family before. The gold lock went missing right after Shen Mingyue arrived. Wouldn’t everyone suspect her?
Plus, she was from the countryside and supposedly unsophisticated. If she liked something and wanted to steal it, that would seem plausible.
Thinking about her perfect plan, Zhou Xiaofei almost laughed out loud.
Sure enough, after dinner, Gu Sisi returned to her room to do her homework. When she looked up, she discovered her gold lock was missing. She was immediately alarmed and ran to the living room, announcing the loss of her lock.
“My gold lock was always on my dressing table. How could it be gone? Mom and Dad, please help me find it!”
Gu Sisi was visibly worried, as the gift was quite valuable and precious to her.
Shen Mingyue, who was eating fruit, stood up to help search when she heard about the missing item.
At this point, everyone still hadn’t realized that the item had been stolen; they assumed that Gu Sisi had accidentally misplaced it somewhere.
Until Zhou Xiaofei approached Gu Sisi and whispered in her ear.
“Sisi, do you think someone might have stolen your gold lock? If so, that’s outrageous! We’re family, how could someone steal?”
Prompted by Zhou Xiaofei, Gu Sisi immediately suspected Shen Mingyue. She angrily opened their bedroom door and began searching.
Shen Mingyue was taken aback, but quickly understood that this was clearly targeted at her.
Zhou Xiaofei had put the gold lock in Shen Mingyue’s pocket, so it wasn’t hard to find. Soon, Gu Sisi found it.
The Gu family members crowded at the doorway, watching in silence. An awkward atmosphere filled the room as everyone looked at Shen Mingyue with suspicion.
Gu Sisi, unable to contain her anger, pointed at Shen Mingyue’s nose and shouted, “Explain to me why my gold lock is in your pocket! When did you steal it?!”
Gu Sisi was furious, her forehead veins bulging; it didn’t look like an act.
Shen Mingyue’s face remained calm. She quickly reviewed the entire situation and understood.
Someone was trying to slander her, and there was no stopping it, especially since they lived under the same roof.
“If I say I don’t know, you won’t believe me, but the truth is, I don’t know what happened.”
Shen Mingyue remained calm, speaking slowly and deliberately.
Gu Sisi was even more enraged by her attitude.
“You’re still pretending? If you didn’t steal it, why was it in your pocket? Everyone knows you’re from the countryside, poor and unsophisticated; you’ve probably never even seen gold before! Even if you liked it, you can’t steal other people’s things! This was a gift from my parents for my birthday! How could you be so dishonest?!”
Gu Sisi’s taunts were relentless, essentially humiliating Shen Mingyue.
Shen Mingyue naturally didn’t want to hear this, but it wasn’t the time to argue; she needed to clear her name.