The recording program has already begun, and Shi Su, being the grand finale, along with her young contestants, is scheduled to appear last. The recording is expected to take about three hours. As a mystery VIP guest arranged by the program team, she doesn’t need to show up during the first few hours of recording.
This period of ti has conveniently freed up for her to sort out her thoughts.
She made a phone call to Chujio, who stayed in Jiang City and did not co to the Imperial Capital, asking her to find so important items and a small box at the bottom of a cabinet in her apartnt near the studio.
Chujio knew the password to her ho, and following Shi Su’s instructions over the phone, she rummaged through the cabinet for a while and indeed found an old small suitcase among the items.
"I found it, so what should I do next? This is locked, and I can’t open it."
"The key is in the drawer below the cabinet, look carefully."
"Okay, let check." Chujio tilted her head, clamping her phone between her head and shoulder, holding the suitcase in one hand while opening the drawer under the cabinet with the other. She found an envelope and then saw the key inside: "Oh, is it this one? I found it!"
"Open the box and check if there’s a booklet inside," Shi Su instructed calmly.
Following her instructions, Chujio stated, "Yes, there is."
However, she noticed there was also a very old photo fra inside, and the color photo inside was evidently taken twenty years ago. Due to poor preservation and the passage of ti, even though it was now kept in a fra, so old traces were still visible. The photo depicted a very beautiful young woman holding a child, smiling happily at the cara.
At a glance, Chujio recognized the beautiful young woman in the photo was likely Shi Su’s mother, because of their striking resemblance. It turns out not only is Shi Su a beauty, which explains how the cute and pretty Shi Mianmian was born, but Shi Su’s mother was equally beautiful. Even in those days over twenty years ago, such natural beauty would shine even when standing quietly among a crowd.
The suitcase contained the relics of Shi Su’s mother, with very few items left behind by her mother.
Initially, this suitcase was left to gather dust in the attic of the Shi Family villa in Jiang City. Shi Su had opened it several tis, and then, before the Jiang City Shi Family villa was sealed and all the contents were taken away, she made ti to retrieve her mother’s belongings.
However, she could count the contents here with her eyes closed, as she had curiously opened it a few tis in her childhood.
Besides the photo of her mother holding her at the age of one, there was an account book of unknown records, a few hairpins her mother used in life, and so clothes. There wasn’t much else. These clothes were specially placed in there by Shi Su, who had secretly worn them in her childhood, but was reluctant to make them dirty, so they were well-preserved even until now.
Even in that small booklet, it only recorded so things that seed necessary for work while her mother was working at Rubin Company in Jiang City. Most of the content comprised the company’s major and minor matters and leadership itineraries.
So Shi Su always knew her mother was a woman highly dedicated to her work in her lifeti, and seemingly quite notable within the company at the ti. Nevertheless, as a child, when Shi Su looked at the booklet, she primarily noticed how beautiful her mother’s handwriting was, as it was the only thing where her mother’s handwriting could be seen. Hence, the booklet was placed at the bottom compartnt of the suitcase to avoid it getting dirty, wet, or losing pages.
Through the phone, Shi Su, although unable to see the booklet, could recall so broad contents from mory. She instructed in a deep voice, "Open it and see the pages written with a blue fountain pen in the middle. Is there a record up to March 1999, with no further log of Rubin Company’s cooperation with other partners after that?"
The sound of pages being cautiously flipped ca through from the phone, followed by Chujio’s voice, "Yes, there’s no further entry, and afterwards, it’s all written in ballpoint pen. Because it’s so old, the text looks sowhat smudged."
"Turn past the ballpoint pen entries, check if there’s anything about the Imperial Capital the Shi Family."
Minutes later, Chujio replied, "No, but I looked carefully, and it only ntioned soone from far away, Mr. Shi, attending so major banquet in Jiang City. The subsequent text is too blurred for to see clearly. The blurring seems to be because the words ’Mr. Shi’ were written with too much pressure, causing the surrounding paper to yellow and blur due to the heavy ink."
"Every previous work record has exact dates, but after March 1999, when the Rubin Company signed a contract with the Shi Family, no specific dates were noted, only the year and month at most, right?"
"Yes, that’s exactly it."
"Open the transparent cover outside of the booklet, there’s a receipt hidden in it."
Following the instructions, Chujio carefully extracted it. The receipt was so thin that it seed it could crumble in the next second due to its age. She opened it cautiously, looked closely, and said, "The writing on this receipt is also blurred, but it appears to be a recorded receipt of two million."
"Who is the remitter?"
"Tan..." Chujio carefully identified the handwriting on it: "Seems to be soone nad Tan... the text after that is unreadable."
Indeed, it was unreadable, and since Shi Su did not know anyone with the surna Tan in her childhood, she couldn’t discern who had given her mother such a large sum of money over twenty years ago even when she saw it.
"Take a clear picture of the receipt and send it to . Look again to see if it’s Tan He?"
"Tan..." Chujio’s voice was tinged with doubt, "Yes, it’s He as in Lotus!"
Shi Su instantly closed her eyes.
Indeed.
It was Shi Wancheng’s wife, Shi Dongyang’s mother, her second aunt, Tan He.
She had been feeling a familiarity seeing the na of Shi Wancheng’s wife during her recent investigations into the people around Shi Wancheng, and it turned out it was here.
Before she was born, Shi Wancheng and his wife had given her mother such a huge sum of money. What was it for?
-
"Shi Su! Shi Su! Shi Su!"
Shi Su had never participated in such programs because she wasn’t involved in music, nor had she much exposure to the current popular sing-and-dance idol circle. Besides performing the classical dance of the past "Red Effect" in a live broadcast aid at Shi Yunyin and so incidental dance moves required in so films and TV dramas, she had never danced on a stage surrounded by so many people.
The ergency rehearsal that lasted all day led to a re three minutes on stage. Starting from when she stepped on stage as a surprise guest perforr, fans watching the finals began to boil with excitent.
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