“Ahhh…!”
A shrill, ear-piercing scream, as grating as a broken loudspeaker, suddenly rang through the room.
Everyone immediately turned toward the source of the sound.
Lin Miaomiao, who had been sleeping soundly just moments ago, was now sitting upright in bed. She clutched the blanket tightly around herself, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at everyone in the room.
She looked as though she had suffered an enormous shock.
Seeing her like this, everyone couldn’t help but look at her with contempt.
The middle-aged woman who had entered earlier curled her lip and sneered.
“Hmph. You were having such a good time with that man just now. What? Feeling ashamed now?
Where was your sense of shame before?
You’re already a loose woman, yet you still care about saving face? That’s hilarious.
I don’t know how your parents raised you. You’re a complete disgrace.
If I had a daughter like you, I’d hang myself with a rope!”
As soon as the woman finished speaking, the shirtless man chimed in.
“A shameless woman with such corrupt morals should be sent to a labor reform camp. Better yet, strip her naked and parade her through the streets.
Otherwise, others will copy her, and society will fall into chaos.”
“What labor reform? She should be arrested outright and thrown in jail.”
Another person added.
Under the barrage of accusations from all directions, Lin Miaomiao finally regained her senses.
She also remembered everything that had happened before she lost consciousness.
The moment she recalled it, she glared fiercely at Lin Jiaojiao.
“Lin Jiaojiao, you set me up!”
Meeting Lin Miaomiao’s murderous glare, Lin Jiaojiao immediately shrank back toward Gu Tingzhou with a frightened expression.
“Sister… why would you say that?
I… I don’t understand what you’re talking about.
Is it because I didn’t give up this blind date to you like I always give you everything else, so now you’re deliberately trying to smear my name?
But even if you wanted to frame me, you didn’t have to use your own body as the price.
What you’ve done is immoral. It’s disgraceful and harmful to society. Don’t you know that?
I’ve often heard Auntie tell you that as a girl, you should do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.
But… this really isn’t right.
Besides, you’re not the only daughter in our family.
You may not care about your reputation, but I do.
Father and Auntie care too.
How am I supposed to explain this to Auntie when we get home?
After all, you’re her biological daughter. She’ll definitely beat me to death…
Waa…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Jiaojiao trembled all over and covered her face as she burst into tears.
Her pitiful appearance immediately stirred sympathy among the spectators.
From her few words, everyone quickly pieced together the situation.
“Poor girl. Having such a shameless stepsister is bound to ruin her reputation too.”
“Exactly. They say once there’s a stepmother, the father changes too. This poor child must have had a hard life.”
“Didn’t you hear her? That loose woman brought by the stepmother is always stealing her things.”
“Just look at all the patches on that girl’s clothes. It’s obvious how badly she’s treated at home.”
“Hmph. How many good stepmothers are there? Just look at the child she raised. Shameless trash.”
Listening to the relentless insults from the older women, Lin Miaomiao was so furious she wanted to tear Lin Jiaojiao apart.
But she knew she couldn’t.
She had no idea why things had turned out this way, but the priority now was to leave this place and redirect everyone’s attention toward Lin Jiaojiao.
Thinking this, she glanced in disgust at Liu Quan, who was still unconscious beside her.
Then she turned angrily toward Li Xiaoyan, who stood frozen in fear.
Useless fool.
The moment Li Xiaoyan met Lin Miaomiao’s furious gaze, she shuddered violently.
She hurried over, picked up the clothes scattered on the floor, handed them to Lin Miaomiao, and frantically explained,
“Miaomiao, I… I really don’t know why things turned out like this.
After I followed our pla—”
“Shut up!”
Seeing Li Xiaoyan was about to let something slip, Lin Miaomiao immediately interrupted her.
The viciousness in her eyes made even the older onlookers shiver involuntarily.
It only made them believe Lin Jiaojiao’s claims of being bullied at home even more.
Li Xiaoyan, who had personally witnessed Lin Miaomiao’s ruthless side before, was so frightened by the shout that she instantly clamped her mouth shut.
But how could Lin Jiaojiao possibly let her off so easily?
She noticed one of the older women hurrying away and was just about to speak.
However, before she could, Lin Miaomiao had already looked at everyone with tear-filled eyes.
“Aunties… I know that no matter what I say now, none of you will believe me.
After all, everyone saw me in a room with another man. I can’t deny that.
But…”
She turned to Lin Jiaojiao.
“Sister, I don’t know why you’re slandering me and our parents in front of so many people.
But I want to say that parents are never perfect.
No matter what, Father and Mother raised you.
Even if they’ve occasionally done things that upset you, doesn’t that balance out the good they’ve done?”
Lin Jiaojiao said nothing.
She merely raised an eyebrow as she watched Lin Miaomiao, curious to see what else she intended to say.
Seeing that Lin Jiaojiao remained silent, Lin Miaomiao wiped away another tear and continued weakly,
“Besides, today I only came to accompany you on your blind date.
I drank a cup of water that you handed me, and then I lost consciousness.
When I woke up… I was like this.
Shouldn’t you be the one giving me an explanation?”
The moment everyone heard that, they all turned to look at Lin Jiaojiao.
Their eyes were filled with unconcealed suspicion.
Of course, many of them were simply eager to watch the drama unfold.
Lin Jiaojiao couldn’t help sighing inwardly.
As expected of the female lead.
She’s quick-witted.
But I’m not someone who’s easy to deal with either.
With that thought, she looked at Gu Tingzhou, who had been quietly watching her, and smiled faintly.
“Comrade Gu, as a soldier, I believe you’re an upright and honorable person.”
Gu Tingzhou simply smiled without saying anything.
But inwardly, he admired Lin Jiaojiao’s intelligence.
She knew exactly how to use his identity to clear her name.
After all, in those days, soldiers were regarded as the very embodiment of justice.
If the same words came from him, they would naturally carry far greater credibility.
Lin Jiaojiao continued,
“When we were on our blind date, was it Lin Miaomiao who handed water to you and me, or was it me who handed water to her?
You saw everything from beginning to end, didn’t you?”
Gu Tingzhou nodded before addressing the crowd.
“Comrades, I swear upon this military uniform I’m wearing that Comrade Lin Jiaojiao is telling the truth.
It was Comrade Lin Miaomiao who handed water to both Comrade Lin Jiaojiao and me.
As for Comrade Lin Miaomiao herself, who was accompanying the blind date, she didn’t drink a single drop of water the entire time.”
His words exploded like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
In an instant, public opinion swung back in Lin Jiaojiao’s favor.
Seeing this, Lin Miaomiao was so enraged she nearly ground her teeth to pieces.
Damn it.
Still, she quickly wiped away her tears and looked pitifully at Gu Tingzhou.
“Comrade Gu… I never imagined that you… you would actually…”
She glanced at Lin Jiaojiao before looking back at him.
“You two only just met, didn’t you?
I never expected my sister to be so capable. In such a short time, she actually managed to make a soldier like you say something against your conscience.
But then again, she’s always been impressive.
Back at school, almost every boy did whatever she told them to.
Once, several boys even got into a fight over her.”
After saying that, she noticed Gu Tingzhou’s expression turn cold.
Immediately, she flashed Lin Jiaojiao a smug smile.
As if declaring herself the victor.
The sight only made Lin Jiaojiao chuckle.