Chapter 67: Chapter 67: I Am Your Acknowledged Great-grandmother

In all her years in the entertainment industry, Zhang Xiaoxue had never seen a beauty so innocent and radiant, as lovely as pristine snow.

She couldn’t resist the urge to step closer, but just as she moved, the young woman suddenly performed a standard Tibetan salute before turning into a wisp of smoke and vanishing into the vastness between heaven and earth.

“No! Wait! I still have something to tell you!”

Zhang Xiaoxue snapped back to reality, only to find she was still in her home. Everything she had just seen had been a hallucination.

Shen Zhiyao, standing to the side, spoke calmly, “The spiritual deliverance is complete. She has gone to be reincarnated.”

“Reincarnated? She’s gone? But I wasn’t finished talking!” Zhang Xiaoxue recalled the scene from moments ago.

Before she could say more, Shen Zhiyao quickly explained, “She was very grateful to you for helping set her free. That’s why she let you see her as she was in life before she departed.”

Zhang Xiaoxue recalled the girl’s graceful dance under a blue sky and on green grass. It had only been a fleeting glimpse, but the image was deeply seared into her memory.

But alas, the departed was gone without a trace, leaving only a hollow emptiness in her heart and an indescribable sadness.

Shen Zhiyao shot her a sidelong glance. “Sad to see her go?”

Zhang Xiaoxue nodded, her voice filled with sorrow. “She’s just… gone! I wish she could have said something to me. She was so beautiful. It’s such a shame…”

And so, Shen Zhiyao offered her the small, patterned drum. “This was made from her remains. You can keep it to remember her by.”

Zhang Xiaoxue’s face instantly changed. “Take it away, take it away! I’m not keeping this human skin drum! It’s terrifying just to look at!”

“This reminds me of a saying,” Shen Zhiyao said.

“What?”

“Your expression changes faster than you can flip a page.”

“…”

Once the matter was settled, Zhang Xiaoxue, true to her word, immediately transferred 11 million to Shen Zhiyao for her trouble.

Shen Zhiyao had just left Zhang Xiaoxue’s place when she got a call from Jin Fan.

“Great-Grandma, why aren’t you home? Didn’t we agree yesterday that you’d come to my family’s birthday party today?”

“I haven’t forgotten. I was just about to call you.”

Shen Zhiyao gave Jin Fan the address and told him to come pick her up.

When Jin Fan arrived, he saw Shen Zhiyao dressed in a golden-yellow cheongsam, with two matching golden hairpins in her hair. She looked both incredibly regal and otherworldly.

Yet this noble lady was munching on an egg-filled pancake with one hand while holding the worn-out little drum in the other.

Regal yet down-to-earth—two completely contradictory styles that somehow blended in unprecedented harmony on her.

“Great-Grandma, why are you eating an egg-filled pancake on the street?” Jin Fan had been busy and had missed yesterday’s livestream.

“I worked some overtime and didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast.” Shen Zhiyao finished her last bite and tossed the wrapper into a trash can for sorted waste.

“Whoa, where’d you get the drum? It looks awesome!” Jin Fan’s interest was piqued by the drum in her hand.

“Do you like it?” Shen Zhiyao asked. ’She’d just been wondering how to get rid of it.’

“My dad likes collecting antiques. If this is one, it’d make a great birthday gift for him.” In previous years, the gifts Jin Fan had painstakingly prepared for his father’s birthday had all been coldly cast aside.

But not giving a gift at all felt wrong.

This was why Jin Fan was always wracking his brain over it.

“This… counts as an antique, I suppose. If you like it, it’s yours!” Shen Zhiyao generously handed the small, patterned drum to Jin Fan.

Jin Fan took the drum, liking it more and more as he examined it. “This patina, this texture… it’s absolutely incredible! What a drum!”

He tapped the drumhead and its body and fell even more in love with it. “I’ve played a lot of drums, and this one’s tone is, without a doubt, the best I’ve ever heard!”

He was just wondering if he should buy an exquisite box for it when he heard Shen Zhiyao say, “Things made of human skin are very fragile. Be careful not to damage it.”

“Hu… hu-hu-hu… human skin?”

“That’s right. The drum you’re holding was made from the skin of a young girl.”

Hearing this, Jin Fan shuddered and hastily shoved the drum back into Shen Zhiyao’s hands. “I just remembered! I already got a birthday present for my dad, so I won’t be needing this drum!”

’If his dad found out he’d been given a human skin drum for his birthday, he’d be scared to death.’

Shen Zhiyao frowned. “It really is a bit much. I have no idea what those people were thinking, flaying a living person to make a drum.”

Jin Fan’s curiosity was piqued, and he asked about the drum’s origins.

Although he found the human skin drum creepy, he felt even more sympathy for the poor girl.

He sighed heavily. “It’s a good thing the Liberation happened. Otherwise, who knows how many more people would have suffered such a cruel fate.”

On the way to the Jin family estate, Jin Fan gave Shen Zhiyao a brief rundown of his family’s situation.

“My dad’s birthday party is tonight, but most of the guests will start arriving this afternoon. The dinner is secondary; the most important part is the networking.”

“As close family, we’re supposed to be there by noon. The reason I wasn’t there earlier is because I’m not exactly the favorite. Going back would just mean getting an earful, so I skipped lunch at home.”

“Actually, my grandfather’s generation was extremely poor. I heard that when my grandpa was seriously ill, they didn’t have a single relative they could borrow money from.”

“Then my family struck it rich, and all these relatives suddenly appeared out of the woodwork.”

“My dad has eight paternal aunts, seven maternal aunts, five older male cousins, ten younger male cousins, and a ton of great-aunts. Anyway, I can’t list them all off the top of my head. There are a lot I don’t even know.”

“My dad is very good to all of them. He’ll lend a hand whether they deserve it or not. As a result, all those relatives are thriving. They all show up for my dad’s birthday every single year.”

“There are fewer relatives on my mom’s side—just one uncle. But he’s always scowling and looks really intimidating. I was terrified of him when I was a kid. Oh, right, Kang Naixin is his daughter. Lately, she’s been getting really close with Zhou Ye.”

As he said this, he watched Shen Zhiyao’s expression.

When he saw she had no reaction to hearing Zhou Ye’s name, he breathed a sigh of relief.

’Damn,’ he thought. ’An idiot like Zhou Ye is nowhere near good enough for my Great-Grandma. Thank god she’s over him now!’

“I also have a younger brother. He’s my full brother, but our parents sent him abroad to be educated when he was little. We barely ever see each other, and even when we do, we just give each other the cold shoulder.”

Jin Fan glanced at Shen Zhiyao again, almost instinctively. “Great-Grandma, do you want to change your outfit?”

It wasn’t that he thought her clothes were bad, but high-society families were particular. Attending a banquet without formal wear would inevitably attract gossip.

Even he, who normally dressed in sportswear or a punk-rock style, had put on a formal suit for the occasion.

Shen Zhiyao’s eyes swept over Jin Fan. “I’m not you. I won’t change my style just to curry favor with Jin Huai Zhong.”

’She had a point,’ Jin Fan thought. ’If he weren’t trying to protect Jin Huai Zhong’s image, he would’ve worn what he wanted long ago.’

Jin Fan asked Shen Zhiyao another question. “So, how should I introduce you later?”

Shen Zhiyao replied, “Just say I’m your Great-Grandma!”

Jin Fan: “…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep