Yu Lan looked at Lou Qing with determination and said, “Sister, please give me a tattoo.”
Lou Qing frowned. “But…”
Yu Lan insisted, “If it’s not realistic, I’m afraid she’ll find out. Besides, I have a plan.” She clenched her fist, her eyes shining brightly. “I want to infiltrate her circle, find the contact information of the other girls, and blow this up. Only when it becomes a big deal will it attract attention from higher-ups and society. Only when it becomes a big deal will she have no chance to turn things around.”
Her decision shook the hearts of the three people present. At that moment, the girl seemed like a resilient rose, evoking a surge of fiery passion in everyone’s hearts.
Seeing the girl’s unwavering resolve, Lou Qing took a long moment before finally responding, “Okay.”
Lu Huan held the girl’s hand earnestly and said, “I’ll help you.”
With her system, she could use it to help the girl find the others and monitor An Ke’s side. If anything seemed off, she could alert Yu Lan to retreat.
Xiao Mu also stepped forward. “And me, I’ll help you too.”
Seeing the sincerity of the three of them, Yu Lan smiled. The feeling of emptiness and helplessness vanished, replaced by a sense of security and strength.
Yu Lan nodded firmly, let out an “Mm,” and smiled.
Since the tattoo had to be realistic, it was a big project and couldn’t be completed in just one day. Besides, it was too late, and Lou Qing couldn’t stay up all night working on it. So, she only tattooed Yu Lan’s arm and gave her some instructions on what to pay attention to.
By the time Yu Lan left, it was completely dark outside, and the streetlights had long been lit.
“Were you waiting impatiently?” Lou Qing asked as she finished tidying up her tools and came out, noticing the girl sitting in a chair idly scrolling through her phone.
Lu Huan shook her head. “No.”
Her gaze fell on Lou Qing’s arm, and her fingers, resting on her knees, twitched slightly. She then looked up and asked, “Are you hungry?”
Though Lou Qing was used to tattooing, the girl’s glance at her arm made her feel the strain for the first time. She subtly moved her arm and replied, “Mm.”
“Let me treat you to a late-night snack.”
At this hour, many shops were still open barbecue, crayfish, noodles, wontons. In the end, the two of them entered a wonton shop and ordered two bowls.
This shop was a well-established one, usually bustling with customers. Even at this hour, there were still many people inside.
At the next table sat a young couple, their faces beaming with happiness, making anyone who saw them smile involuntarily.
“Your wontons are here,” the shop owner said as she brought over a tray with two large bowls of wontons and placed them in front of them.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Lu Huan said politely.
The shop owner smiled. “What a sweet-tongued girl. Eat up now, or it’ll get cold.”
Lu Huan blushed at the compliment and murmured softly, “Okay.”
Lou Qing chuckled quietly. After the shop owner left, she said to the girl who seemed about to bury her face in the bowl, “The shop owner is gone now.”
Lu Huan glanced up stealthily and, confirming that the shop owner had indeed left, let out a quiet sigh of relief. Her eyes met the smiling gaze across from her, and she awkwardly pressed the back of her hand to her cheek, making an excuse for her blush. “She was too enthusiastic.”
Lou Qing rested her chin on her hand, covering her lips with her fingers as she laughed softly. “Mm,” she replied.
That “Mm” was deep and s.e.xy, making Lu Huan’s heart skip a beat as she quietly swallowed.
“Do you need chili oil?” Lou Qing picked up the white ceramic jar nearby and asked.
Lu Huan hesitated for a moment, measuring with her pinky finger, “Just a little bit.”
Lou Qing smiled, “Okay.”
A little bit really meant just a little floating atop the cilantro and green onions, barely noticeable if you didn’t look closely.
Lu Huan tried it. “Not spicy.”
“Want a bit more then?” Lou Qing scooped two spoonfuls into her own bowl; it looked fiery.
Lu Huan glanced at her bowl, then at her own plain, watery one, and nodded. “A little more.”
She spoke hesitantly, afraid of spicy food but wanting to try.
“Let’s start with half a spoonful. If it’s not spicy, you can add more,” Lou Qing controlled the amount.
“Okay.” The girl’s eyes lit up as if she were trying something entirely new, and Lou Qing couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
“Wenshu, how are things with your girlfriend?” her roommate asked curiously.
Seeing her return to the dorm right after class today, her roommates were too curious to resist asking. After all, someone who usually didn’t come back until after 11 p.m. returning so early was highly unusual.
No one else knew about their breakup yet. Jiang Wenshu forced a smile. “Same as always.”
Her reaction made the roommates exchange glances, their curiosity piqued even more.
“I saw you taking your girlfriend to a bar yesterday was that for real? Is that bar fun? Are there dancers? Did you guys drink?” Her roommates were mostly good students who had never been to such places but were curious about them.
They knew Jiang Wenshu liked to have fun and had heard many stories from her.
At the mention of alcohol, Jiang Wenshu’s expression stiffened. Her roommates didn’t notice and continued chatting among themselves, while Jiang Wenshu’s mind flashed back to what the girl had told her last night.
-Your friend drugged me and tried to rape me.
That Pink Lady cocktail,, she had coaxed Lu Huan into drinking it to avoid angering Anke.
[System: Favorability of the target has increased by 10%, currently at 65%.]
Just after finishing the wontons and stepping out of the shop, Lu Huan heard the system’s announcement and couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in surprise.
“What’s wrong?” Lou Qing, who had come out behind her, noticed her odd expression and asked curiously.
Lu Huan smiled naturally and shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
Lou Qing studied her for a moment but didn’t press further, gently patting her back. “Let’s go, I’ll take you to school.”
It was already 10 p.m., and the streets were still filled with people enjoying the cool evening, strolling or even dancing in the square. The aunties waved their arms and swayed their hips with infectious enthusiasm, their joyful expressions spreading happiness to onlookers.
Lu Huan watched the square dancers, while Lou Qing watched her.
The streetlight shone down directly onto the girl’s face, as if casting a glow over her. Her slightly curved eyes and upturned lips made it hard to look away.
When Lu Huan turned her head, she met Lou Qing’s deep gaze and froze in place.
A young couple nearby, about to walk over, paused involuntarily, not wanting to disrupt the beautiful scene.
Noticing the onlookers, Lou Qing snapped out of it and took the girl’s wrist, leading her forward. “Let’s go.”
“Oh.” Lu Huan’s expression remained dazed as she let herself be pulled along.
Unfortunately, just as they reached the school gate, they ran into Jiang Wenshu again.
Jiang Wenshu had originally intended to go out to an internet cafe, but when she looked up, she saw Lu Huan and the woman beside her. Her expression instantly darkened. She opened her mouth to say something but then remembered that she and Lu Huan had already broken up.
Yet, the thought crossed her mind: Lu Huan had just broken up with her last night, and today he was already with this woman. She sneered and said, “So you broke up with me to be with this old woman?”
Yesterday, since it was just a matter between the two lovebirds, Lou Qing had been willing to let it slide. But today, with no relationship left between them, this person still had the nerve to mock her. Lou Qing couldn’t help but laugh. “Little classmate, open your eyes wide and take a good look. I’m not even thirty yet. If I’m an old woman, then you’re not far behind either.”
Jiang Wenshu was left speechless with anger. Feeling inferior due to the disparity in their status, she turned her gaze to Lu Huan. “Lu Huan, did you break up with me because of her?”
Lu Huan pressed his lips together and looked directly at her. “I told you yesterday your friend.”
“Spiked your drink and tried to rape you, right?” Jiang Wenshu widened her eyes angrily. “But damn it, it didn’t even happen! And like I said, that was my friend, not me.”
“Fuck!” Hearing this, Lou Qing, who hadn’t cursed in years, broke her streak today. She looked at Jiang Wenshu as if she were trash. “So what if the drug wasn’t given to you? It’s easy to talk big when you’re not the one suffering.” After saying this, she tried to hold back but ultimately couldn’t resist letting two words slip through her gritted teeth: “Fucking idiot.”
If Xiao Mu had witnessed this scene, she would have been astonished. Having worked under her boss for ten years, she had watched her transform from a short-tempered powder keg into the gentle person she was today. Yet here was a glimpse of her former self.
Jiang Wenshu’s face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.
Lu Huan looked directly at Jiang Wenshu, his expression serious. “Do you even know her?”
“What?” Jiang Wenshu was momentarily confused.
“An Ke,” Lu Huan said. “She has drugged several girls, assaulted them, and recorded videos to blackmail them. These girls were repeatedly threatened by her videos into doing things they didn’t want to do, living without dignity or boundaries. Did you know any of that?”
Jiang Wenshu laughed dismissively. “How could she possibly?” But seeing the unwavering expressions on their faces, she couldn’t finish her sentence.
When it came to An Ke, she truly didn’t know much. Thinking about it carefully, the An Ke Lu Huan described was entirely capable of such actions.
That woman was crazy. Jiang Wenshu had once seen her drunk, forcing a girl to kiss her and even attempting to strip the girl’s clothes off in public before being stopped. At the time, she had thought it was just drunken antics, but now it occurred to her that perhaps the woman had been using alcohol as an excuse to act out.
Lu Huan walked through the school gate, leaving only Lou Qing and Jiang Wenshu behind.
Torn between guilt toward Lu Huan and her dislike for Lou Qing, Jiang Wenshu redirected her resentment back onto Lu Huan.
On her way back to the dorm, Lu Huan kept hearing the system’s notifications about someone’s favorability rating fluctuating wildly. She couldn’t help but laugh before finally muting the system’s alerts. She climbed the stairs, unlocked the door, and entered her dorm. Her roommates were packing their luggage, chatting and laughing among themselves, but when they saw her come in, their smiles froze on their faces.
They had somehow gotten wind of the news. “We heard you broke up with Jiang Wenshu?”
“Was it you or Jiang Wenshu who brought it up?”
“I bet it was Jiang Wenshu. After all, she’s so dull, Jiang Wenshu must have been fed up with her long ago.” Dong Sisi rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with sarcasm, a glint of schadenfreude and amusement in her gaze.
Lu Huan silently gathered her change of clothes and headed to the shower, completely ignoring their teasing.
For a moment, her roommates grew even bolder in their mockery.
Once inside the bathroom, Lu Huan’s facade of obedience vanished, leaving only cold indifference in its place.