With two women clinging to his arms at the same time, Fu Yishen instantly became the object of envy, jealousy, and resentment among every man on the bus.
“Let go.”
Fu Yishen’s expression turned cold once again, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
The bus had been unbearably stuffy moments earlier, but now it felt as though ice shards were falling from the ceiling, instantly cooling the entire carriage.
A cold-faced man apparently came with built-in air conditioning.
Gu Li, who had always hated the heat, could not help edging a little closer.
“Brother Yishen told you to let go. Didn’t you hear him?”
The green tea queen herself, Su Baozhu, finally spoke.
No wonder Gu Li had felt the woman looked familiar when she lunged forward earlier.
So it was the original novel’s heroine, Su Baozhu.
“Comrade Fu told you to let go. Didn’t you hear him?”
The human tape recorder, Gu Li, immediately repeated.
The words nearly made Su Baozhu keel over from rage.
“You uncultured country bumpkin. If you don’t know how to speak, stop parroting other people.”
Su Baozhu glared at her furiously.
Rolling her eyes, Gu Li replied, “You keep calling people country bumpkins as if you weren’t born to one yourself.”
She had not forgotten that the original body’s biological mother, Li Liping, had come from the countryside as well.
Whether Su Baozhu had been born from Li Liping’s womb or Liu Zhaodi’s, she was still the daughter of a country woman.
To Gu Li’s surprise, Su Baozhu immediately interpreted the remark differently.
She thought Gu Li was hinting at her status as the fake heiress and planning to expose her identity so she could take her place.
As long as Gu Li remained in Beijing, she was like a ticking time bomb that could threaten her at any moment.
A vicious glint flashed through Su Baozhu’s eyes.
This woman could not be allowed to stay.
The bus driver, whether intentionally or not, slammed on the brakes again.
Su Baozhu staggered forward.
She no longer cared about holding Fu Yishen’s arm.
Using the momentum, she planned to throw herself directly into his embrace.
There was no way Gu Li would let her succeed.
To her, Fu Yishen was currently a shining, golden courtyard house.
How could she possibly hand him over?
According to the novel, once Fu Yishen fell for Su Baozhu, he became incredibly generous.
Judging by his current indifference, however, he had clearly not fallen for her yet.
At this critical moment, Gu Li could only sacrifice herself.
Still holding Fu Yishen’s wrist, she gave it a sharp tug and leaned backward until her back pressed firmly against the bus door.
The tall man did not have time to react.
Forced from his original position, he stumbled toward Gu Li.
Instinctively, he braced both hands against the bus door, preventing himself from crushing her flat.
After all this maneuvering inside the already crowded bus, the short, fat, sleazy man who had been hiding behind Fu Yishen suddenly appeared in full view.
Now, even if Su Baozhu wanted to stop herself, it was too late.
The greasy little pervert had already been jealous of the man standing in front of him.
He had even fantasized that if the tall fellow had not been blocking the way, perhaps he would have been the lucky one enjoying female attention today.
On crowded buses, people bumped into one another all the time.
Stealing a little advantage or being taken advantage of was practically normal and rarely drew criticism.
Now, a woman was literally throwing herself into his arms.
True, she was not the stunning beauty with the gorgeous figure.
Still, he was not picky.
Tall, short, fat, thin, pretty, ugly, it did not matter.
He immediately spread his arms wide to welcome her.
And so, Su Baozhu crashed straight into the pervert’s embrace.
His greasy hands clamped tightly around her waist.
Her skinny frame, thin as a bamboo pole, ended up plastered against his oily body.
Well then, It was truly an assault on the eyes.
Lowering his head, Fu Yishen caught sight of Gu Li’s smug little expression.
Her face practically screamed:
I saved you. You should be thanking me properly.
For the first time, he found her somewhat amusing.
If Zhao Yaqin had not been the one who sent her, perhaps he would not have disliked her quite so much.
Meanwhile, Su Baozhu’s waist was still trapped in the greasy man’s hands.
Looking at the pig-faced creep standing before her, she noticed he was short, fat, and not even as tall as she was.
In contrast, Gu Li was leaning against Fu Yishen like a delicate little bird.
The difference in treatment could not have been more obvious.
“Ahhh!”
Su Baozhu finally snapped.
With a shrill scream, she shoved the greasy man away and glared resentfully toward Fu Yishen and Gu Li.
That should have been her position.
Since when has it become Gu Li’s?
She had deliberately followed Fu Yishen onto the bus today.
Her goal had been to win him over and prove that her charm remained as irresistible as ever.
Then all the women in the art troupe would envy her.
Who could have guessed that Gu Li, this country bumpkin, would ruin everything?
Because of the special nature of Fu Yishen’s work, even though he and Su Baozhu belonged to the same military district, she could not simply meet him whenever she wanted.
Unless Fu Yishen chose to see her.
The bus eventually arrived at the First Military District of Beijing.
Both Su Baozhu and Fu Yishen got off.
The passengers’ attitudes toward them immediately changed.
Their eyes were filled with admiration and respect.
No matter what positions the two held within the First Military District of Beijing, soldiers in this era were universally respected.
Swaying her hips proudly, Su Baozhu strutted toward the military district entrance.
She shot Gu Li a contemptuous glance over her shoulder.
No matter what happened, there was still an enormous gulf between them.
She worked in the highly admired art troupe of the First Military District of Beijing.
As for Gu Li, she was nothing.
She could not even get through the military district’s gates.
Watching Fu Yishen and Su Baozhu disappear into the compound one after the other, Gu Li hurriedly got off the bus as well.
The novel had never explained what Fu Yishen actually did for a living.
She had always assumed he was a wealthy second-generation heir who had more money than sense and spent his days doing nothing.
Who would have thought he actually worked in a military district?
Could ordinary people even enter a place like this?
If she could not get inside, how was she supposed to carry out her plans?
The thought left her deeply anxious.
“Comrade Fu, wait for me!”
As soon as she got off the bus, Gu Li rushed after him, desperately hoping the lunatic would act like a decent human being for once and bring her inside.
Obviously, that was impossible.
The madman did not even turn his head.
Gu Li was promptly stopped by the guards on duty.
They would not even allow her to linger near the gate and ordered her to leave immediately.
Uh…
So Fu Yishen was a dead end. Should she return to the military compound and look for Zhao Yaqin?
She suspected Zhao Yaqin would simply chase her out with a broom.
At the moment, she had only fifteen yuan left.
Acting on impulse had been a terrible idea.
Should she go find the original body’s biological mother, Li Cuihua, and tell her that she was actually her real daughter?
Most likely, Li Cuihua would reward her with a hard slap across the face.
Both Su Baozhu and Fu Yishen had entered the military district.
Meanwhile, she could not even get through the gate.
With nowhere to go and no source of income, she would soon be living on the streets.
What was she supposed to do?
Just as Gu Li was feeling completely hopeless and preparing to leave the military district, a middle-aged man carrying a backpack stepped in front of her.
Wearing a polite smile, he said, “Hello, Comrade. Excuse me, may I ask…”
Gu Li instinctively stopped and gave him a wary look.
He looked exactly like a salesman.
She was dirt poor.
Did she look like someone who could afford whatever he was selling?
Cutting him off immediately, she rattled off, “Don’t know the way, not buying a house, not taking a loan, not buying insurance, not applying for a card, not joining a gym, and not spending money.”
After firing off the entire sentence in one breath, Gu Li sidestepped him and walked away.
The middle-aged man: “…”