It was a black card, rimmed with gold!
Ming Mu's expression tensed as her scrutinizing gaze swept over Ming Zheng.
Then, she walked towards the coffee table in her high heels, the "da da da" of her steps echoing, and picked up the black card.
After examining it carefully.
Her expression changed drastically: "Ming Zheng, how do you have this card?"
A black card from Xia Country Bank requires a deposit of at least fifty million to be issued!
This meant…
Ming Zheng's black card contained at least fifty million.
This meant…
Ming Zheng possessed more than fifty million!
Ming Mu's face darkened. Her well-maintained hand, still delicate and soft despite her age, held the black card and waved it in front of Ming Zheng.
Her demeanor was accusatory: "You still won't admit you have a sugar daddy? As a nineteen-year-old girl, how could you possibly own a black card from Xia Country Bank? This black card must have been given to you by your sugar daddy!"
It was as if she had finally found Ming Zheng's weakness, becoming overbearing.
She pointed the black card at Ming Zheng: "Tell me, who is your sugar daddy? He can afford to let you live in 'Biyun Xianju' and also give you this black card… Your sugar daddy is someone from one of the four great families, right?"
No wonder Ming Zheng had suddenly become so defiant.
No wonder Ming Zheng, inexplicably like a changed person, left the Ming family without hesitation.
So it turns out… she had latched onto a bigger backer than the Ming family!
Was she afraid that the Ming family would rise with her?
How could she, An Youran, have given birth to such a selfish daughter?
Why couldn't Rou'er be her own biological daughter!
Ming Mu's heart was filled with resentment, and her gaze towards Ming Zheng became increasingly scolding and dissatisfied: "Do you think your sugar daddy will still protect you after knowing you've offended the Song family?"
The repeated mention of "sugar daddy" sounded as if she wished to hammer home that Ming Zheng was a lowly woman who clung to her sugar daddy.
This, was the kinship and maternal love she had always yearned for.
Ironic, wasn't it?
She certainly found it quite ironic.
She had no idea what she had been so fixated on in her previous life.
The coldness in Ming Zheng's eyes grew more intense, her dark pupils calmly resting on Ming Mu.
Still and placid, sending a chill to the bone.
"I don't care about your thoughts," a clear, cold, and distant voice emerged from Ming Zheng's ruby-red lips. "My affairs have nothing to do with you."
She raised her hand and pointed towards the door: "I don't want to lay a hand on you. Get out yourself."
"You… you!" Ming Mu trembled with anger, her fingers shaking. "You've really climbed onto a high branch, speaking to your own mother with such an attitude!"
She decided to drop the pretense. With a stern face, gnashing her teeth, she spoke word by word: "I don't care who your sugar daddy is, you must come with me today."
"Ming Zheng, you are my daughter, the daughter I carried for ten months. As your mother, you must do whatever I ask!"
"You must come with me to the Song family today, and you must swap Rou'er back!"
Ming Mu emphasized the word "must" with immense force.
Her self-righteous and stern demeanor actually made Ming Zheng laugh.
The darkness in Ming Zheng's eyes glinted with a chilling light as she looked at Ming Mu, who stood there with such an entitled air.
She gazed intently, unblinkingly.
As if trying to etch the person she had been fixated on for so long into her very bones.
"Mother? Have you ever truly considered yourself my mother?" she chuckled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "No, you are only Ming Zhi Rou's mother, not mine."
Ming Mu's brow furrowed, and she opened her mouth to retort.
Ming Zheng, with another light laugh, interrupted her.
"Do you know… if it were when I had just returned to the Ming family, I would have given you my life if you had asked for it."
At that time, her heart was filled with a yearning for blood ties, for familial affection.
She only wanted to integrate into the large family of the Ming household as quickly as possible.
She was willing to break her own wings, to give up everything she possessed.
Including… her own life.
As long as the Ming family asked.
She would have given it without hesitation.
Her words paused slightly.
Ming Zheng let out a low, soft laugh, tinged with mockery and a hint of etherealness: "But now… I'm tired. I don't want to give anymore."
"I no longer crave your so-called familial affection, nor will I be fixated on your love."
Her gaze turned cold, and the poppy blooming on her crimson lips held a hint of wicked chill: "So, on what grounds do you think you can use the title of 'mother' to suppress me?"
Originally, upon meeting Ming Zheng's dark eyes, Ming Mu seemed to see deep sorrow and disappointment in them.
Such a gaze made Ming Mu's heart clench.
She felt panic and an inexplicable guilt, wanting to explain herself.
But…
All her guilt vanished into thin air the moment Ming Zheng uttered her last sentence.
What remained was the fury of being played for a fool: "Ming Zheng!"
Even at this point.
Ming Zheng was still toying with her!
Did Ming Zheng have no heart?
Ming Mu felt that Ming Zheng was nothing like a member of the Ming family.
The Ming family valued familial bonds above all else.
Family was their weakness.
But Ming Zheng, selfish and calculating.
Where was the bearing of a Ming family member? Where were the virtues of a Ming family member?
Ming Mu's thoughts were all written on her face.
Ming Zheng found it utterly laughable.
Weakness?
Valued familial bonds?
But… their weakness and familial bonds had never included her.
Ming Mu had never given her any semblance of familial affection.
So how could she so readily demand familial affection from her?
Forget it.
She had long been utterly disappointed in the Ming family, and had no further aspirations.
"I have nothing to do with whatever happens to Ming Zhi Rou. Since she has been taken away by Song Zhe Kun, given Song Zhe Kun's temperament, she will naturally become an outlet for his anger."
"If you have the leisure to cause trouble here, you might as well find a way to stake out the Song family's doorstep. You might even pick up Ming Zhi Rou's corpse."
These cold, heartless words completely broke Ming Mu.
"Ming Zheng, how could I have given birth to such a heartless disaster!" Ming Mu looked at Ming Zheng's impassive face and found her terrifyingly unfamiliar.
Her voice trembled as she accused, word by word: "From the moment I knew Rou'er was not my biological daughter, from the moment I knew I had a biological daughter living out in the world, all I thought about was finding you!"
"Everyone disagreed with me finding you, but I am your mother. I gave birth to you after ten months of pregnancy. You are a piece of my flesh and blood. I only wanted to see you… my biological daughter."
Her voice was choked with sobs, and tears streamed down her face.
"If I had known you were such a stone-hearted disaster, a jinx who was spoiled in the countryside, I would never have brought you back! I would never have let you harm the Ming family!"
Ever since Ming Zheng returned to the Ming family.
The Ming family had been in constant turmoil.
Ming Zheng was jealous and petty, completely unable to tolerate the kind-hearted Rou'er.
She regretted it…
She truly regretted it!