“Help me follow this woman and see who she’s meeting with!” Su Wan took out a photo of Zhao Mengxue.
After thinking it over, she still felt she should be more cautious, so she decided to hire a detective to keep an eye on Zhao Mengxue.
The detective, being paid for the job, naturally agreed.
Zhao Mengxue went to the factory to request leave, but as soon as she arrived, everyone was pointing and whispering. She was puzzled.
It wasn’t until a closer colleague told her that the whole factory knew about her brother being arrested for theft. They even said the manager wanted to see her in his office.
Zhao Mengxue was fired from the factory. After receiving the wages for the past few days, she was told to leave immediately.
She had always known how competitive this job was and had been proud of having a good position, which also made finding a partner easier.
But now, because of her brother, everyone at the factory knew, and she had lost her job.
Zhao Mengxue felt like everything was slipping out of her control. She had the sense that this shouldn’t be happening.
Biting her finger anxiously, she hurried toward the Su family villa.
Along the way, she encountered many familiar faces—neighbors from next door. Zhao Mengxue forced herself to greet them.
“Aunt Zhang.”
But they just glanced at her and walked quickly past, their eyes full of unmasked disgust.
Zhao Mengxue didn’t know what to do and lowered her head, quickly running to the front of the Su villa.
She knocked on the door, and Sister Wu opened it. Zhao Mengxue peeked inside. “Wanwan, where are you? I need to see you.”
She tried to push past Sister Wu to get in, but Sister Wu blocked her. “Miss doesn’t want to see you. You should leave!”
Knowing that Zhao Chengren had broken into the villa last night to steal, Sister Wu had already disliked Zhao Mengxue. Now, she truly despised her.
Her brother could do something like that. Who knew what she was thinking, always pestering Miss for this and that? Miss had been so good to her, and yet her conscience seemed to have been eaten by dogs!
“Wanwan! Wanwan, are you home? I’m here to apologize!” Zhao Mengxue shouted.
Sister Wu didn’t expect her to be so shameless. She tried to push her out, but Zhao Mengxue’s strength was considerable, and she barely managed to hold her back.
Su Wan appeared on the second floor and looked down at the two of them. “Sister Wu, let her in.”
Sister Wu turned to look at Su Wan, feeling some disapproval, but still stepped aside. Zhao Mengxue glared viciously at Sister Wu.
Su Wan had asked Sister Wu to buy fish for dinner and had sent her away.
Su Wan picked up a teacup, sipped her black tea, and looked at Zhao Mengxue across from her. “What do you want to say to me?”
Zhao Mengxue rubbed her hands together, staring at Su Wan’s delicate, jade-like hand holding the fine porcelain, and at her cold expression.
She couldn’t believe it. Su Wan seemed like a completely different person. She had never been like this before, never looked at her with such indifference.
“Wanwan, I’m sorry. I apologize to you on behalf of my brother, but it’s the first time he’s done this. I just found out that he owed a gambling debt. If he didn’t pay it, someone would cut off his hand!”
“Wanwan, for the sake of our many years of friendship, could you write a letter of forgiveness?”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller, because she couldn’t bear Su Wan’s mocking gaze.
Su Wan didn’t even bother pretending anymore. Zhao Chengren was already in custody and about to be sentenced. What reason did she have to act?
“Zhao Mengxue, do you find what you’re saying funny?” Su Wan’s voice was extremely cold, her eyes full of ridicule.
Zhao Mengxue’s expression gradually hardened. She snapped upright, no longer showing any trace of her former gentleness.
“Su Wan! Was this on purpose?!”
Su Wan smiled slightly. “On purpose? What did I do? Your brother broke into my house to steal, and you want me to write a letter of forgiveness? Am I that stupid?”
Zhao Mengxue looked at the woman in front of her, trembling all over, a wave of sheer terror sweeping through her. The pain from her fingernails digging into her palms barely kept her conscious.
“No! You’re not Su Wan! Who are you?!”
Su Wan raised an eyebrow. “If I’m not Su Wan, then who is? What, only I am allowed to be deceived by you? Now that I see through everything, you don’t even recognize me? Weren’t you my best friend?”
Zhao Mengxue took a deep breath. “So… you refuse to write the letter of forgiveness?”
Su Wan: “Whoever wants to forgive can, but I’m not Mother Mary of the West. What your brother did is his fault, not mine.”
Zhao Mengxue stared at Su Wan with the eyes of someone seeing a monster, unable to look away from her delicate, beautiful face.
She remembered the story Liaozhai Zhiyi: Painted Skin, when Su Wan had read it and been so scared she couldn’t sleep, even asking Zhao Mengxue to sleep with her.
Zhao Mengxue took a few steps back, her pale face looking as if she had seen a ghost.
Su Wan watched her flustered retreat and smiled with satisfaction.
“Ha ha ha ha…” Su Wan laughed, and tears slid down from the corners of her eyes.
She had no siblings. Since meeting Zhao Mengxue, she had treated her as her closest sister, her family.
This was the last time she would cry, for her own past blindness and for the lost bond of sisterhood.
At eight in the evening, the Su family’s phone rang. Su Wan answered. After listening, she hung up.
She hadn’t expected Zhao Mengxue to be pregnant!
And carrying Zhou’s child, no less—a clever move.
The next day, Liu Yingzhuo came over to tell Su Wan something. He spoke with clear indignation on her behalf.
“Wanwan, Zhou Chongming wants to bail out Zhao Chengren. Can you believe he’s sticking his nose in this?”
Su Wan wasn’t surprised. After receiving that phone call yesterday, she had guessed something like this would happen, just not so quickly.
Zhou Chongming was the youngest son of the Zhou family. Zhao Mengxue actually managed to get involved with him—Su Wan had underestimated her. Fortunately, she had been cautious and anticipated this.
Since she had the initiative, she wouldn’t let Zhou Chongming interfere.
Zhao Chengren was definitely going to prison! Nothing anyone did could change that!
“Brother Yingzhuo, if someone owes money and doesn’t pay, what happens if I sue them?” Su Wan asked, seemingly off-topic.
Liu Yingzhuo immediately understood her meaning. “You want to sue Zhao Mengxue?”
Su Wan nodded. “No one’s money grows on trees. Over the years, she borrowed a lot from me. What I gave her before, fine—that was me being blind and misjudging her—but money she borrowed from me should be repaid, right?”
Liu Yingzhuo clicked his tongue. “Wanwan, I never expected you to be so ruthless now. I really misjudged you. I thought you were still the innocent girl you were in school.”
He looked nostalgic, as if remembering something.
Su Wan held her teacup, her gaze blurred by the drifting smoke, making her expression hard to read.
Her voice had always been soft and gentle, carrying the warmth unique to the Wu dialect, the voice of a delicate woman.
But now, a faint chill had crept into it.