“Manli, whatever you do, don’t act impulsively later. Just give her a warning. If things blow up…”
The workers’ shift change had already ended that morning, and at this time there were hardly any people on the road.
Still, just in case, Xiao Ling cautiously reminded Wang Manli. If anything really happened, the unlucky one might end up being her.
The small cave-in accident at the mine earlier had already stirred dissatisfaction among the workers. If the mine hadn’t compensated Gu Ye—and since Gu Ye himself, the biggest victim, hadn’t made a fuss—others wouldn’t have found it easy to stir trouble.
If something happened again now, someone might use it as an excuse to make a bigger issue.
“Alright, alright, I know. You’ve said it eight hundred times already.”
Wang Manli didn’t listen at all. “She’s just some country bumpkin. How capable could she be?”
“Besides, you’ll be waiting here. If someone comes, just warn me.”
Lin Wan had just finished eating when she heard an unceremonious female voice from outside the courtyard gate:
“Gu Ye! Brother Gu Ye!”
She called his name loudly, yet made no move to wait for someone to open the door—clearly she knew the person she was looking for wasn’t home.
The next second, the courtyard gate was shoved open with a loud bang.
A young woman in a bright floral dacron blouse, dressed quite flamboyantly, barged in.
Her gaze swept across the yard before landing on Lin Wan. A trace of disdain and jealousy flashed in her eyes as she approached with a clear target.
Wang Manli crossed her arms and lifted her chin high.
“You’re the one Gu Ye brought back?”
Lin Wan set down her chopsticks.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sharply caught sight of a shadow flicker past outside the gate.
Looks like they came prepared.
She had just been thinking life here wouldn’t be boring—yet trouble had already come knocking.
Her expression remained calm, neither timid nor welcoming. She simply looked at Wang Manli.
“Who are you?”
The original novel didn’t describe Gu Ye much. For a moment, Lin Wan couldn’t remember him having any interactions with women. In her memory, he remained single until his death.
Could he have some hidden white moonlight? Some secret romance line?
If that were true, she’d have to reconsider the persona and story she had planned for herself.
Seeing Lin Wan’s indifferent reaction—and that she even seemed distracted—Wang Manli, who had come to make trouble, felt like she had thrown a punch into thin air. Being ignored made her even more irritated.
“I’m the one asking you questions! Who are you? What’s your relationship with Gu Ye?”
…
Alright. She had overthought it.
The moment Lin Wan heard the woman’s impatient tone, she knew Gu Ye’s taste couldn’t possibly be this bad. Even if someone lost their memory, their temperament wouldn’t change.
Gu Ye was the kind of person who yielded to softness but resisted hardness. To put it plainly, he had always been proud—he couldn’t stand someone even prouder than himself. The only way to deal with him was with subtle, gentle tactics.
The woman in front of her clearly didn’t fall into that category.
Which meant she had deliberately come here while Gu Ye wasn’t home—to target her.
Once she realized that, Lin Wan merely raised her brows slightly, a faintly careless smile appearing in her eyes.
“As for me? Of course I’m the person closest to Gu Ye in this world~”
“We eat together, live together, and even sleep together~”
After saying that, she frowned again as if puzzled.
“Didn’t Gu Ye tell anyone at the mine that he has a fiancée? If he didn’t, I’ll have to scold him later. Back in my hometown, I never even talk to other men, let alone barge into someone else’s house. I’d be afraid of people gossiping…”
Wang Manli: “……”
“But he’s out there flirting around. How could he treat me like this? Is he trying to keep what’s in his bowl while eyeing what’s in the pot?”
Lin Wan’s voice was clear—not loud, not soft—but innocent on the surface and dripping with sarcasm underneath.
“Stop talking nonsense! What fiancée?!”
Out of everything she said, Wang Manli only heard the words fiancée. Like someone whose tail had been stepped on, her voice turned shrill.
“What a joke! I’ve been at the mine for so long. Why have I never heard about it? I think you’re just some bumpkin who popped out of nowhere trying to scam people! If you know what’s good for you, get lost now!”
Not only was Lin Wan unfazed, she even sounded mildly curious.
“Miss City Girl, are you the one in charge of household registration at the mine?”
“Or are you one of Gu Ye’s relatives? Does he have to report to you whether he has a fiancée?”
“You—!”
Wang Manli flushed red, choking on her words. She had always been used to bullying others and had never been pushed back like this.
“Don’t think you can win with that sharp tongue! I don’t believe Gu Ye would ever fancy someone like you!”
Her eyes swept over the injuries on Lin Wan’s body. From her delicate face to her slender yet curvy figure, malicious speculation filled her mind.
“Look at you. Did you mess around with some wild man outside and get yourself into trouble? And now you’re taking advantage of the mine being remote and cut off from news to dump the mess on Gu Ye?!”
Lin Wan’s face turned cold.
Victim-blaming again.
She had originally been planning to play along for fun, but now she was annoyed.
What she hated most were dirty rumors.
Normally she didn’t target women—why make things hard for another woman? But if someone started trouble first, she would retaliate without hesitation.
“Oh my, how did you know?” Lin Wan covered her mouth dramatically.
“Well… I really did get involved with a wild man outside.”
“And that wild man is Gu Ye. Now I can only come here and make him take responsibility.”
By the end of her sentence, she looked completely like someone saying, So what are you going to do about it?
“Shut up, shut up, shut up! You’re shameless!”
Wang Manli was practically hopping with rage.
Lin Wan thought: See? If there really were a wild man, she wouldn’t like that either.
Boring.
“Miss—”
“Whether Gu Ye likes me or not is his business. Whatever happens between us is between the two of us.”
Lin Wan’s expression became serious. Her tone was steady as she even stepped forward half a step, looking straight at Wang Manli with a hint of scrutiny.
“But you—an unmarried woman—bursting into a single man’s residence early in the morning and pointing at his fiancée while cursing…”
“If word of this spreads, who do you think people will say is more shameless?”
Wang Manli felt a chill run down her spine under Lin Wan’s sudden sharp gaze. Especially that last sentence—it hit her right where it hurt!
She strutted around the mine relying on her uncle’s influence, but the thing she hated most was people saying she was shamelessly chasing after men.
“You dare insult me?!”
Enraged and humiliated, Wang Manli completely forgot that she had only planned to give a warning. She raised her hand, intending to teach Lin Wan a lesson.
The moment her hand swung down, Lin Wan’s eyes sharpened.
Instead of dodging, she moved first.
With lightning speed, she swung her hand and slapped Wang Manli across the face!
Smack!
The crisp sound rang out.
Wang Manli was completely stunned. Her face burned with pain as she clutched it, staring at Lin Wan in disbelief.
“You… you dare hit me?!”
Lin Wan gave her a malicious smile.
“You delivered yourself to my door. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“A reward for you. No need to thank me.”
Sorry—but she had no intention of letting herself suffer a loss.
The humiliation and pain drove Wang Manli completely mad. With a shriek, she lunged forward, claws out, trying to tear at Lin Wan!
At that exact moment, Lin Wan caught sight from the corner of her eye of the lookout standing outside the courtyard gate, anxiously gesturing toward Wang Manli.
—Someone’s coming.
Lin Wan’s mind spun quickly.
Just as Wang Manli lunged at her, instead of blocking, Lin Wan acted as if she had been violently shoved.
Her feet “slipped,” she cried out, staggered back two steps weakly, and then fell heavily onto the ground with a thud.
Almost the instant she hit the ground, the sharpness and calmness vanished from her face, replaced by shocked fear and pain.
Her eyes reddened instantly, tears falling like broken beads.
“Comrade… how could you hit someone and then push me too…”
Sitting on the ground, she looked up at the nearly hysterical Wang Manli. Her voice trembled, full of grievance and fear.
The next second, an angry shout rang out—
“Stop it! Wang Manli, what are you doing!”