"Shu Lanzhou."
The sudden question caught her off guard, and the name slipped from her lips before she could stop it.
Mu Ronghe's mouth twitched slightly. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
"Silly girl, he was asking what you call him," Qin Xi's voice rang out as she appeared behind her.
Shu Lanzhou's face flushed red. She looked up at Mu Ronghe's stern, solemn face, her heart racing with nerves. She felt like a student caught misbehaving in front of a strict teacher—an awkward, helpless kind of embarrassment.
But now that things had reached this point, retreating wasn't an option.
So she braced herself, swallowed hard, and summoned all her courage.
"Dad," she said quietly.
"Mm."
Mu Ronghe gave her a small nod. He then reached for Qin Xi's hand, and the cold severity on his face melted into warmth as he looked at his wife.
Once he'd helped Qin Xi sit down, he bent to retrieve a red envelope from under the coffee table and handed it to Shu Lanzhou.
"Take it."
Shu Lanzhou blinked, confused. Is this… another gift? A separate one just for me?
Although puzzled, she obediently reached out and took it from him.
"Call-change gift," Qin Xi said with a bright smile.
"We were going to give it to you at the airport, but now works too. Keep it safe—it's from both of us, from Mom and Dad."
When Shu Lanzhou heard the words Mom and Dad, her emotions snapped.
The tears came without warning, spilling over like broken beads on a string.
"Thank you… Mom, Dad. Thank you…"
Thank you for raising such a wonderful son.
Thank you for accepting me.
Thank you for every bit of kindness you've shown me.
Even though I never knew what parental love felt like growing up, at this moment, I finally understand what it means.
So this… this is what having parents is like.
As she stepped out of the living room, Shu Lanzhou ran into Mu Side, who had come looking for her.
Seeing the red envelope in her hand, he breathed a visible sigh of relief.
"Did Mom and Dad give you that?"
"Yeah," Shu Lanzhou replied, handing it toward him with a grin.
"They called it a 'call-change gift.'"
Mu Side took her hand and led her back to their room.
"Aren't you going to open it and see what's inside?"
"You're more curious than I am," she teased, laughing.
Once they returned to the room, she opened the envelope.
Inside was not cash, but a bank card.
Of course. Who gives cash anymore these days?
The password was written on the back of the card. Not a number, but a few simple words—Mu Side's birthday.
Shu Lanzhou froze for a second.
"This card… looks kind of old."
"When I turned eighteen, Dad deposited a lump sum into that account. Every year since, the company's dividends were added to it. He said it was a dowry fund, to be given to my future wife one day."
Mu Side chuckled.
Back when he returned to the country, he was still young, and his parents' overseas company had just gotten off the ground. His name hadn't even been added as a founding shareholder yet.
When he came of age, his father transferred part of the company shares into his name—his 'coming-of-age gift'. The dividends from that very first year were placed into this card, and every year after, more was added.
He'd never really paid attention to the overseas company, not with his shares in the Mu Group from his grandfather. He didn't expect his parents to be so literal about their promise.
They said they'd give the card to his wife—and they really did!
"Looks to me like Dad just wanted to save money," he joked.
"Turning my coming-of-age gift into your dowry? Tch… I should go give him a piece of my mind."
Shu Lanzhou pulled him back, laughing through her tears.
"Alright, alright. It's the thought that counts. Besides, it's been, what—ten years since you turned eighteen?"
Mu Side took the card from her.
"Well then, let's see how the old man managed the company all these years. If it's not up to par, I won't let it go."
As he spoke, he checked the account balance.
Even someone like Mu Side, who had never wanted for money and never really paid attention to material things, was a little stunned by the number on the screen.
"Ha… Looks like the old man did pretty well overseas."
He handed the phone to Shu Lanzhou.
"Guess what, Shushu—you're a little rich lady now."
All she saw was a dizzying string of zeroes.
She couldn't even count how many.
Billions? Tens of billions?
She jumped in shock.
"That's… That's way too much. No, I have to give it back!"
"Silly girl," Mu Side pulled her back.
"It's yours now. Besides, it's my dividend money. My parents didn't add a single cent of their own. They're using my money to win over my wife—and they don't even feel bad about it!"
Shu Lanzhou laughed through her embarrassment.
"Then take it back if you're upset."
"I'm not upset," Mu Side said with a straight face.
"My money belongs to my wife. Always has."
He wrapped his arms around her.
"Didn't you always say you wanted to build your own acupuncture team?"
"Well now you've got the funds. You can do it your way—build an institute, select your people, buy top-grade equipment…"
"There's already an acupuncture team at the Traditional Medicine Hospital," Shu Lanzhou replied thoughtfully.
"I built it recently with my mentor."
"But you're right. If we want to fully develop the Mu-style acupuncture techniques, that place isn't enough. The space is limited, and the personnel aren't specialized enough."
"I've had an idea since the moment I entered the attic.
Mu-style medicine is vast and complex, and it's divided into two main branches: pharmacology and acupuncture."
"No one person could ever master both in one lifetime.
But if we divide students according to their strengths, our team will become far more specialized."
Mu Side nodded.
"You're absolutely right. Let those with a knack for acupuncture focus solely on that, and those with a talent for pharmacology do just that. Pair them up as partners—they'll be able to tackle much more complex medical challenges."
Not everyone had Shu Lanzhou's photographic memory or her instinctive grasp of all traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, formulas, acupuncture points, and techniques.
Shu Lanzhou smiled and stood up.
"I'm so glad I have your support. I'll draft a proposal soon. With the money from Mom and Dad, I can finally scout a location and build a proper team for Mu-style medicine."
The next day, Mu Ronghe personally reached out to the Zhang family.
The two families soon met and had a private discussion.
Shu Lanzhou didn't know the exact contents of the conversation, only that when Mu Ronghe returned, he immediately sought out Mu Side.
Soon after, Mu Side withdrew his private lawsuit against Zhang Chengyou and handed the matter over to the state prosecution.
Zhang Chengyou's production and distribution of fake goods already constituted market disruption, and with so many consumers affected, it was no longer a matter Mu Side could waive on his own.
Afterward, Mu Ronghe led the legal team in personally handling the Zhang family case. The eldest son of the Zhang family seemed to have put full trust in him.
Zhang Zhe even tried—twice—to approach Shu Lanzhou privately.
After a warning from Mu Side and being taken away by his uncle, he never appeared before her again.
The investigation into Zhang Chengyou's case had long since concluded, and it was now in the judicial process.
He knew his older brother had contacted the Mu family and promised that, after this, the Zhangs would never trouble them again.
Zhang Chengyou, however, was bitter and frustrated.
He had believed that, with his own efforts, he could build a research center in Shen City that would one day surpass the Mu family.
He thought the Zhang family could rise to the top once more.
But now—not only had he lost, he was entangled in a criminal case.
Yet none of that was the most humiliating part.
The real shame was that the Mu family still had to step in to clean up his mess.
Are we Zhangs all just a bunch of useless trash?
He looked at the man before him.
"Why are you helping me? Don't you hate me? Don't you hate the entire Zhang family?"