Chapter 68: Thunderstorm

When Xu Yunzhu finished speaking, the whole room fell silent; even the barrage of comments paused. The quiet lasted for about three seconds.

Then the comments erupted:

“She says she has ten billion, in that case I must have a trillion in invisible assets.”
“She’s clearly lost her mind, ha ha ha, her mental state is truly ahead of her time.”
“To be honest, I also have ten billion, I’ll cash it in next lifetime.”
“I’m the real heiress abandoned by a wealthy family. My parents saw me as a jinx and left me in the countryside. My fiancé fell for my sister. When the family fell into crisis, they came to reclaim me so I could inherit the billions, only for me to become my sister’s scapegoat. After being brutally murdered and dismembered, I was reborn. Now, in this new life, I only want to reclaim what’s mine. Send me 50 and I’ll tell you my plan for revenge.”

Xu Yunzhu quietly started scrolling through her phone after she finished speaking, just in time to see this comment. Although she knew the netizens were joking, she still felt a chill down her spine.

How could this sound so much like a replay of her life before all this?

She had always avoided thinking about her memories before death.

She’d been afraid of thunder since she was a child.

She hated the rain.

Her memories of being abandoned in the orphanage by her parents were hazy—she only remembered heavy rain, deafening thunder, and the cold that seeped into her bones.

Her days in the orphanage were far from easy. After her memory became clearer, she recalled that occasionally, some elderly residents would show her kindness, but her peers were extremely hostile toward her.

Because she was beautiful.

In the orphanage, being pretty was a crime.

The wealthy ladies who came to adopt children always preferred the prettiest little girls.

Whenever a rich family came to adopt, Xu Yunzhu was always deliberately locked in the basement, or sometimes in a dry, pitch-black well. Sometimes they’d forget about her, and she’d be left there for an entire day.

As she grew, she watched many children leave, but she alone remained. Occasionally, she’d return to care for the aging director, but after the director passed away, she never went back.

As an orphan, she received government subsidies, which allowed her to work and study part-time through college. She had only worked for a year before a well-dressed couple came to claim her.

She only met these so-called parents once. They embraced her in tears, telling her she’d been lost as a child and the family had searched for her in vain, which was why she’d been left to wander.

Both were in poor health, and her older brother had died in an accident just a week earlier. They needed an heir, so they finally found her. Her father had already transferred all his assets to her before she was found.

Over ten billion.

Xu Yunzhu had never seen so much money in her life.

The feeling of becoming instantly rich was so sudden that she hadn’t even processed it.

Because she died the very next day.

It was another stormy, thunderous night.

The murderer dragged her through the mud.

The sensation of her skin scraping against the ground was still vivid.

Bright red blood mingled with rainwater.

Pain soon overwhelmed her senses.

It seemed fate truly showed her no favor.

She counted her twenty-three years of life. Every day, she reminded herself to work hard, to face life with optimism, to swallow down injustice and pain.

Only by making money could life improve.

After a year of working, she’d paid off her student loans.

She once bought a scratch-off lottery ticket and, with some luck, won a hundred yuan.

The lottery shop owner didn’t have cash and sent her the money via mobile payment.

She inherited those ten billion with just that lucky hundred yuan in her account, and took one look at the mansion where she’d spent a single night.

She never liked recalling the memories before her death.

Though her death was quick, the process was excruciating.

Xu Yunzhu took a deep breath.

She felt truly unwilling.

She never got her hands on the money, and lost her life as well.

The thought made her skin crawl, like ants crawling all over her.

She wished she could do something, anything.

But in this world, she’d never see her former parents again—otherwise, she’d be sure to give them a piece of her mind!

“Ha, you sure like to brag. Do you look like someone with ten billion? You’re just seeking attention.”

Gu Qi’s voice broke through Xu Yunzhu’s memories.

Yan Feixing glanced at him, speaking up in her defense, “If Yunzhu doesn’t have ten billion, does your family?”

Gu Qi was momentarily speechless. Although he was a second-generation rich kid, his family’s assets didn’t reach ten billion. He glanced at Yan Feixing but refrained from retorting, unwilling to confront him head-on.

As if he didn’t know, Yan Feixing’s background was particularly well-concealed.

The younger brother of the Yan family’s CEO, the beloved youngest son of the family, spoiled beyond reason.

If he asked for the stars, he’d get the moon instead.

In the business world, Yan Huai, known as the “smiling tiger,” was a devoted older brother.

He doted on his only brother endlessly.

Gu Qi had long been warned by his father—the point of going on this show was to expand his network.

Besides Xie Zhiyuan, there was Pei Jin from the Pei family and Yan Feixing.

That was his real objective.

So Gu Qi’s unusual silence made Xie Zhiyuan study him more closely.

He was like a firecracker—bad-tempered, prone to flattery and snobbery.

If anyone with a lower background angered him, he’d mock them without hesitation. Like his constant needling of Xu Yunzhu.

He knew she had no background, so bullying her came easily.

But Gu Qi’s silence in front of others only revealed his own guilt—his family didn’t have ten billion.

Still, Xie Zhiyuan was shrewder than most. She considered more than others did. After the show, she’d have to investigate Yan Feixing thoroughly, as well as the seemingly low-key yet unpredictable Hu Biting.

As for this Ning Qinghuan—

Truly, just a poor girl.

She’d heard a bit about Xu Yunzhu but paid her no mind.

Just another seductress after men.

To keep the conversation from lingering on “ten billion,” Yan Feixing flashed a smile at the camera, his flaming red hair adding to his wild, unruly charm. “My family owns a company, but I don’t manage it. Other than the pocket money my brother gives me, I have nothing.”

“Haha, Yan Bao is so cute! Having a brother who gives you pocket money must be blissful.”
“Did you catch what he said? ‘My family owns a company.’ Is Yan Bao a rich kid trying his luck in showbiz?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard Yan Feixing mention his family. So they own a company. But he does talk about his brother a lot. Is he a brother-obsessive?”
“Companies come in all sizes, okay? If he were a true rich kid, the tabloids would’ve found out by now. Probably nothing special, just a small business. Look at Pei Jin—now that’s real power. With the Pei family behind him, who could say a word? Even if he quit acting, he could live several lifetimes just by running a company from his family.”

So when it was Pei Jin’s turn—

His handsome face broke into a slight smile, his brows lifting. “Savings? Sorry, I’ve never counted.”