Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 218; Shopping 2

Behind them, the Lu Group southern branch building grew smaller in the distance. Madam Lu, still visible as a distant figure, was now being swarmed by reporters eager for her reaction to Lin Shuyin’s transformation.

Let them swarm. Let them ask their questions. Let Madam Lu try to explain why the family had abandoned someone who was now apparently rising back to power.

Shuyin settled back into her seat, Chen Xiao tucked against one side, Yuyan on the other, and let herself enjoy the simple pleasure of driving away from people who no longer mattered.

The convoy merged onto the highway, headed toward the Pearl District and an afternoon of normal, mundane, blissfully uncomplicated shopping.

Or as uncomplicated as anything could be when you were a mermaid in a human body, raising stolen children, married to a man in a contract arrangement, and systematically destroying everyone who’d ever wronged you.

But those were tomorrow’s problems.

Today, she was done...

Shuyin had barely settled back into her seat, Chen Xiao tucked against one side and Yuyan on the other, when her phone chimed softly in her purse, an email notification.

She pulled it out, the screen bright in the van’s interior. The subject line made her pause: Acquisition Completion - Chen Manufacturing Ltd.

She opened it immediately, scanning the contents quickly, and felt satisfaction bloom warm and sharp in her chest.

FROM: Chen Family Legal Counsel

SUBJECT: Acquisition Completion - Chen Manufacturing Ltd.

ATTACHMENT: Transfer_of_Ownership_Final.pdf

Ms. Lin,

Please find attached the finalized documentation for your acquisition of Chen Manufacturing Ltd. All ownership transfers have been processed and registered with the appropriate authorities as of 2:47 PM today. You are now the sole proprietor and legal owner of all company assets, contracts, and operations.

The shareholder meeting scheduled for tomorrow at the Riverside Hotel has been confirmed. All major shareholders have acknowledged receipt of the notification and confirmed attendance.

Congratulations on your acquisition.

Respectfully,

Attorney Zhang Wei

Chen Family Legal Counsel

Shuyin tapped the PDF attachment, watching it load. The official documentation appeared, pages of legal language, transfer certificates, ownership registrations, all stamped and sealed and processed with remarkable speed.

Everything was there. Clean, complete, legally binding.

The Chen family manufacturing company, worth sixty-five million yuan at fair market value, with equipment, contracts, established supply chains, and a workforce of two hundred employees, was now entirely hers.

Her first major business asset.

Not borrowed. Not leveraged through family connections. Not dependent on anyone else’s permission or approval.

Well, technically purchased with Lu Yuze’s money. But the ownership was in her name. The control was hers to exercise.

Hers.

"Good news?" Yuyan asked, reading Shuyin’s expression.

"Very good news," Shuyin confirmed, turning the phone so Yuyan could see. "The Chen acquisition went through. Finalized five minutes ago, just before the offices closed. Tomorrow there’s a shareholder meeting."

Yuyan’s eyebrows rose as she scanned the email. "That was fast. Suspiciously fast."

"Money moves quickly when properly motivated," Shuyin replied. "And the Chen family was very motivated to sell quickly and quietly before their other creditors came calling."

"You really did it," Yuyan said quietly, something like respect in her voice. "Your own company. Your own asset."

"The beginning," Shuyin corrected. "This is just the beginning."

Chen Xiao looked up at both of them, not fully understanding but sensing the importance. "Is that good? Did you get something you wanted?"

"Very good," Shuyin assured him, tucking the phone back into her purse. "It means we’re building something. Something stable and lasting."

She settled back into her seat, that warm satisfaction still glowing in her chest. In a few days since her release, she’d secured an executive position at the Lu South Group, acquired a manufacturing company, adopted two children, and put the Lu family on notice that she was not the same woman they’d destroyed.

Not a bad day’s work.

"Ting Fei," she called toward the front seat.

He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Mrs. Lu?"

"Make sure all the Chen acquisition documentation is properly backed up and filed once we return. And prepare a preliminary analysis of the company’s current operations, I want to understand exactly what I’ve bought before tomorrow’s shareholder meeting."

"Already anticipated," Ting Fei confirmed. "I’ll have a full report ready by this evening."

"Excellent." Shuyin allowed herself a small smile. "Then let’s focus on more pleasant matters. Shopping awaits."

The van continued toward the Pearl District, carrying a woman who was rapidly accumulating power, two children who were learning what safety felt like, and the quiet satisfaction of plans falling perfectly into place.

"So," Shuyin said, tucking her phone away and shifting to face the children more fully. "Before we get to the Pearl District, let’s talk about what we’re actually looking for. I don’t want to wander around aimlessly, I want us to find things you’ll actually love."

The van had slowed to a crawl. Traffic was building up ahead, cars packed together in the kind of gridlock that made quick travel impossible. Instead of pulling out her laptop to work, Shuyin decided to use this moment differently.

"I like dull colors!" Chen Xiao said immediately, his voice carrying a certainty that made Shuyin’s chest tighten. The preference matched exactly what he was currently wearing, those muted, gloomy tones that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. A visual echo of the mistreatment and abuse he’d endured in the Chen family. Those years had shaped him, left marks that showed even in something as simple as color preference.

"All right," Shuyin said gently. "You’ll pick what you feel is best and what you like. Nobody’s going to force you into anything."

She wouldn’t impose her choices on him. She knew his fate, understood that his destiny carried bitter edges he’d have to face eventually. But for now, for this moment, he could choose whatever colors brought him comfort, even if they were sad, muted shades.

"Yeah!" Chen Xiao nodded politely, his small face serious. He was adapting faster than she’d expected, settling into this new arrangement, even though everything about this situation was strange and sudden.

"And you, Yuyan?" Shuyin turned to her stepdaughter. "I know you already have an entire collection of clothes. What else do you want to buy?"

With all the wealth the Yuyan family possessed and the way Lu Yuze clearly adored his daughter, Yuyan probably had an entire hall dedicated to her wardrobe.

"Hehehe... Momma, don’t be like that." Yuyan’s laugh was light, almost embarrassed. "I’m not that kind of person. That’s my father’s problem, not mine. I’m not picky when it comes to clothes, I’ll buy anything I like that’s new fashion that came out while I was in a coma."

From her tone and the way she dressed, it was clear Yuyan really was open-minded. Not spoiled despite her circumstances. Not demanding despite having every reason to be.

"All right..." Shuyin hadn’t expected it to be so easy to cater to them. She’d prepared herself for complicated preferences, for the kind of demands wealthy or traumatized children might make. But both of them seemed remarkably adaptable.

"How about food?" Shuyin asked. "Ice cream, KFC, or anything special you’re craving?"

As a mermaid, normal human food wasn’t particularly interesting to her. It sustained this body, served its purpose, but held none of the appeal that ocean-fresh sustenance once had. Still, she needed to understand what these children enjoyed.

"I’m not picky when it comes to food," Yuyan responded politely. "I eat what’s available. And I don’t have any allergies either!"

"I’m also not picky!" Chen Xiao echoed quickly. He’d grown up knowing he had to eat whatever was put in front of him. If he didn’t, he’d simply starve. Pickiness was a luxury he’d never been able to afford.

As they chatted, the traffic continued its sluggish crawl. Shuyin found herself looking through the window at the streets around them, other vehicles packed tight, pedestrians weaving between stopped cars, the city alive with afternoon chaos.

The jam was getting tighter, cars barely moving now.

And then she saw him.

In another luxury car moving in the opposite direction, or trying to move, equally trapped by traffic, a man sat in the back seat. His profile was visible through the window, sharp and familiar in a way that made Shuyin’s breath catch.

He looked just like her brother.

Her actual brother... From the ocean.