My Sweet Little Flower Turned Out to Be a Sinister Ghost - Chapter 30

“Why haven’t you brought Bai Qingyu to me yet?” Song Yuelan’s voice dripped with impatience through the phone as she sat in her leather office chair. “Can’t even handle such a simple task? What’s the use of keeping you useless fools around?”

“Boss Song, it’s not that we’re not trying!” The man at the alley entrance pressed the phone tighter to his ear. “Our crew has been taking shifts staking out for almost a week now. Either Bai Qingyu doesn’t leave her home, or she’s stuck to your sister Song Yuehua like glue. She barely even comes downstairs, we haven’t had a single chance to make a move!”

“Song Yuehua!” At the mention of that name, Song Yuelan’s grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white. “That damn girl is getting bolder by the day, daring to oppose me!”

She immediately summoned her secretary and ordered Song Yuehua’s bank cards frozen.

“Boss Song, Bai Qingyu will eventually be alone,” the man pleaded, not wanting to lose this lucrative job. “Just give us a bit more time, we guarantee we’ll deliver her right to you.”

His crew all had criminal records and survived by doing shady jobs for the wealthy. When they took Song Yuelan’s assignment to kidnap Bai Qingyu, they’d already been three months without income, so broke they couldn’t even afford cigarettes. If this job succeeded, they could live comfortably for quite a while, they couldn’t afford to lose it.

“My patience has limits,” Song Yuelan leaned back in her chair. “Three days. I’ll give you three days. If I don’t see Bai Qingyu by then, forget about the final payment, I’ll demand every cent of the deposit back!”

“Boss Song, that’s…” The man’s tone still carried some respect, after all, she was their main source of income. “We’ve been staking out for so many days, even if we haven’t achieved results, we’ve put in the effort! In our past collaborations, the deposit was always ours regardless of success, wasn’t it?”

“The past is the past. Now you useless fools haven’t made any progress, and you still have the nerve to bring up the past?” Song Yuelan sneered, her contempt stinging like needles. “You’re getting worse instead of better. Seems like you don’t want to earn money anymore!”

The man, their leader, flushed dark red with anger, his fists clenching until they cracked.

“Fine,” he gritted out. “Boss Song, we’ve worked together more than once or twice. Are you really going to be this ruthless?”

“Ruthless?” Song Yuelan scoffed, twirling a pen between her fingers, her eyes filled with disdain. “People like you would have starved to death under some bridge long ago without the jobs I give you, you might have even reincarnated several times over. You should be kneeling in gratitude that I pay you at all. How dare you talk to me about loyalty?”

“Heh.” The man laughed coldly. “Song Yuelan, don’t think you don’t have weaknesses. Don’t forget, we’re not that easy to fool either. Did you think we don’t have leverage on you?”

“Oh?” Song Yuelan leaned back slightly in her leather chair, the pen spinning around her fingertips. “Go ahead and try. See what happens.”

A chill instantly shot up the man’s spine.

Working in this business, they knew exactly how vicious Song Yuelan could be.

Some jobs they found too tricky to handle were eventually resolved by Song Yuelan through other means.

In other words, Song Yuelan could easily put them in their place.

Knowing when to yield and when to stand firm, the man instantly switched to a fawning tone: “President Song! How could you say that? I was just joking with you earlier! Given our relationship and all the times we’ve worked together, how could I possibly hold a grudge against you? Three days! I guarantee that within three days, I’ll bring Bai Qingyu safely to you!”

Song Yuelan snorted coldly, her impatience practically overflowing: “Get lost. Don’t make me wait any longer.”

“Get lost.”

“Yes, yes! Of course! President Song, don’t worry, you go ahead with your work!” The man responded obsequiously, but the moment he hung up, the sycophantic expression vanished from his face, replaced by a dark, vicious glare. “Song Yuelan, you’re only relying on your privileged background, aren’t you? Just wait… one day, I’ll make you kneel and beg for mercy!”

“Boss…” one of his underlings sidled up to him, “If we really can’t bring him in within three days, our deposit… we won’t get it back? That’s our food money for the month!”

“Food money, food money! Is that all you ever think about?” The man whipped around to glare at him, unleashing all his pent-up anger on the underling, his voice rising sharply. “It’s all because you’re useless! You’ve been staking the place out for a week and still haven’t found a chance to make a move, and now you have the nerve to ask me? Go stand guard! One more word out of you, and you’re fired!”

“Yes, yes! I’m going right now!” The underling flinched, quickly turning and scurrying to the other end of the alley.

In her office, Song Yuelan tossed her phone onto the desk, twirling a fountain pen rapidly between her fingers. The rhythmic tapping of the pen against the desk, “tap, tap, tap,” betrayed her barely contained irritation.

That wretched girl Song Yuehua actually dared to defy her, merely freezing her bank accounts wasn’t enough to vent her anger! She wanted Song Yuehua to regret it, to come crawling back in tears, begging for forgiveness. She wanted her to understand just how dire the consequences of opposing her would be.

After a long moment, Song Yuelan dialed her mother’s number. She knew Song Yuehua’s weakness all too well.

From childhood, Song Yuehua had always yearned for her parents’ care and affection, but that longing had only been briefly satisfied for a few short years.

From the moment she was born, Song Yuelan had displayed exceptional learning abilities. While other children were still babbling, she had already begun reciting ancient poetry.

But “smart” children were not uncommon, and she wasn’t the most outstanding one. Her parents, Song Fu and Song Mu, were not satisfied and wanted an even smarter child, thus, Song Yuehua came into being.

After Song Yuehua’s birth, her parents placed obvious high hopes on this child. Song Yuelan clearly felt that the attention her parents had once directed at her had diminished.

As a young child, Song Yuehua was adorable, unafraid of strangers, and always liked to cling to her parents. Song Fu and Song Mu seemed to have decided from the start that their younger daughter would be even more intelligent and doted on her especially.

This favoritism, which Song Yuelan had never received, made her hold onto a lingering hostility toward Song Yuehua, even when faced with her sweet calls of “Sister.”

Back then, Song Fu and Song Mu often sent Song Yuelan to various specialized training classes, while they took Song Yuehua to all sorts of gatherings and banquets, where most people adored this well-behaved, cute child.

But Song Yuelan knew in her heart that her parents wouldn’t truly value someone based solely on “cuteness.” So, she studied even harder, trying to win back her parents’ attention.

As Song Yuehua grew older, her development ran counter to her parents’ expectations, she displayed a mediocre temperament and average academic performance, with nothing particularly outstanding about her compared to other children.

Seeing this, Mr. and Mrs. Song gradually shifted their attention away from Song Yuehua, and Song Yuelan once again became the center of their focus, just as she had hoped.

From then on, Song Yuehua was left in the care of a nanny, who took charge of all her daily needs, while her parents paid almost no attention to her circumstances.

Watching the parental attention she had fought to reclaim, Song Yuelan felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

For as long as her parents had gone without seeing Song Yuehua, she too had avoided any contact with her younger sister.

In truth, Song Yuehua had tried hard to improve. She had once studied relentlessly to achieve the top rank in her grade, hoping her parents would notice her progress, but she had no way to contact them.

The nanny responsible for her care had long been bribed by Song Yuelan. Left with no other options, Song Yuehua could only send her report cards to Song Yuelan, hoping her elder sister would pass them on to their parents.

But Song Yuelan never forwarded those report cards and never responded to any of Song Yuehua’s messages.

As time went on, Song Yuehua stopped initiating contact, and the connection between the two sisters completely faded.

At this thought, a barely concealed smirk tugged at the corners of Song Yuelan’s lips.

The phone rang only once before it was answered. Mrs. Song’s voice came through, slightly muffled as if she had just finished applying a facial mask, yet carrying its usual affectionate tone: “Hello? Is that Lanlan? What made you think of calling your mom today?”

In the Song family, she had always reserved her warmth and kindness only for this “promising” eldest daughter.

Hearing that familiar “Lanlan,” the smile on Song Yuelan’s face instantly faded. Her lips tightened, and her tone cooled noticeably as she skipped any pleasantries: “Mom, do you know what Song Yuehua has been up to lately?”

Mrs. Song sighed on the other end, her voice full of disdain: “Why would I bother with her? She’s idle all day, never doing anything worthwhile.”

“I’m telling you, she’s opposing me,” Song Yuelan stated.

“That wretched girl!” Mrs. Song’s voice sharpened instantly, her breathing growing heavier. “I’ve always said she’s disobedient, and now she dares to stand against you? All these years raising her were for nothing, she has no conscience at all!”

“I’ve already frozen her bank cards. She won’t get a single cent. Let her learn the consequences of crossing me, so she doesn’t grow even more unruly in the future.”

“I wouldn’t give her any money either!” Mrs. Song quickly agreed, her voice dripping with disgust. “She never helps the family and only causes trouble and holds us back. It’s good you froze her accounts! Useless and still expecting to spend money? Not a chance!”

Song Yuelan had no patience to listen to further complaints. Her tone was full of indifference: “Alright, I have a project to oversee. I’m hanging up.”

The way she ended calls with Mrs. Song was no different from how she treated Song Yuehua, abrupt and without hesitation.

Mrs. Song was at a high-end spa in the city center, an expensive luxury mask still on her face.

Provoked by Song Yuelan’s call and now hearing that Song Yuehua was “disobedient,” she slammed her phone onto the vanity, ripped off the mask in a few swift motions, grabbed her phone, and headed for the door.

The aesthetician beside her quickly stood up to stop her, holding an unopened bottle of hydrating serum: “Mrs. Song, you haven’t left the mask on for the full fifteen minutes yet, and the follow-up hydration steps aren’t done. Your skin will dry out if you leave now…”

“I’m done with this!” Mother Song yelled without turning her head, her footsteps never faltering.

Meanwhile, Song Yuehua was curled up on the soft bed in her bedroom, holding Song Xiaomi in her arms while scrolling through movie trailers and scratching the kitten’s chin with her fingertips.

Suddenly, her phone chimed, and a bank notification popped up: “Your bank card ending in XXXX has been suspended. To restore it, please contact the issuing bank for further information.”

“My bank card is suspended?” Song Yuehua sat up abruptly.

She had been relying on this card for her expenses lately.

Without it, she would have no source of income.

Song Yuehua quickly called to inquire with the bank staff.

The customer service representative on the other end hesitated, speaking vaguely, “Madam, our records show that your account was suspended at the request of the account holder. The specific reason… cannot be disclosed. We suggest you contact the applicant to confirm.”

Song Yuehua immediately thought of Song Yuelan.

Just then, her phone rang again, and the name “Mom” flashed on the screen.