The meal afterward had ended on a sour note.
Everyone had their own hidden thoughts.
Especially Song Xinyan, who had a dark, cold glint flash through her eyes. She had not expected Song Xinyu to actually fight back.
Did she think she could rely on Lin Ting now that she was engaged to him?
Hmph. Whether she could even marry into the Lin Family was still uncertain.
It seemed she would need to carefully plan how to ruin her completely.
Of course, she did not understand why Lin Ting was helping Song Xinyu. Had he been “conquered” after a single night?
But clearly, nothing had even happened between them.
On the other side, Mother Song was explaining to the Lin Family: she had two daughters, and both were equally precious to her.
However, the elder daughter was sensible and well-behaved, while the younger daughter always caused trouble, so she had no choice…
Everyone responded: “We understand, we understand…”
In truth, they all saw it clearly: she was simply biased toward the elder daughter.
They just also disliked Song Xinyu and did not bother to expose it.
The banquet finally ended, and everyone went their separate ways.
Lin Ting suggested sending Song Xinyu home personally.
He even had her placed in the car first.
Leaving Song Xinyan standing there in complete disarray.
To everyone else, Lin Ting had clearly lost his mind—abandoning the well-mannered and dignified Song Xinyan while paying special attention to the “troublesome” younger sister.
What happened that night could not be explained cleanly.
Those with sharp eyes all seemed to reach the same silent conclusion: that little vixen must be extremely skilled in bed.
Old Master Lin even casually remarked from behind: “I told you—men still prefer beauty.”
Those words made Song Xinyan clench her fists tightly in the shadows.
Inside the car, Song Xinyu finally had a chance to speak alone with Lin Ting. She had something to say and went straight to the point.
“About what happened that night… I’m sorry.”
“If you don’t believe me, that’s fine, but I was being used as a pawn.”
“In fact, my sister found out you intended to break off the engagement. She was afraid that if it was announced, she would lose face, so she encouraged me to seduce you. Of course, I was stupid enough to fall for it…”
She decided to be honest with Lin Ting.
Whether he believed her or not was up to him.
Of course, she also had another purpose.
“I know you don’t truly want to marry me either and are only under pressure from the elders. We can negotiate first—for example, after marriage, you don’t have to go home if you don’t want to. I won’t interfere. Just give me some pocket money. And if one day you fall in love with someone else and want a divorce, I’ll fully support it. I’ll move out immediately and make space for you two.”
【This time, I won’t end up like last time, crying and killing myself. That was too painful. If I were going to die, I’d at least take sleeping pills…】
In her previous life, Song Xinyu had died by cutting her wrist. The pain had been unbearable, leaving her in despair.
In fact, when her mental state had completely collapsed, there had been a brief moment of clarity after she harmed herself—but by then, it was already too late.
If her previous life had been tense and suffocating, then this time she only wanted to live more loosely. Even if it lasted 300 days, it did not matter.
She treated it as if death had given her a limited-time promotion.
The moment Lin Ting heard the word “die.” he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
Yet her inner voice continued.
【My wrist-cutting hurt so much. If he jumped off a building, wouldn’t it be even worse? Like bungee jumping—but with that feeling of weightlessness… and then splattering everywhere like tofu pudding…】
“Stop talking…” Lin Ting’s handsome face twisted slightly as he could no longer endure it.
“Huh?”
“Why would I jump off a building and kill myself?” he asked—but his voice suddenly vanished mid-sentence.
Lin Ting froze, then abruptly understood.
It was absurd.
Song Xinyu’s inner voice was like a prediction of the future.
But some force did not allow it to be spoken aloud.
“What are you saying?” Seeing his lips moving without sound, Song Xinyu asked in confusion.
He could only ask instead: “Why are you so sure I’ll fall in love with another woman?”
“I was just saying… maybe, possibly, perhaps?”
【I knew it. You’ll fall in love with Song Xinyan. She’s the female lead after all.】
Lin Ting understood instantly.
Their world seemed to be a novel. Song Xinyan was the female lead, while he and Song Xinyu were cannon fodder.
How ridiculous.
He still could not fully accept this reality.
But his usual calmness forced him to remain composed.
“I will not fall in love with her.” He spoke with unusual force.
“You’re not just disappointed in her today because I let you see her true nature, are you?”
【If I change the plot, can cannon fodder awaken? Can their fate be changed?】 Song Xinyu muttered inwardly.
At the mention of changing the fate of cannon fodder, Lin Ting’s eyes lit up.
It was as if he had just signed a billion-dollar contract.
The gloom he had accumulated earlier vanished completely.
So, if he did not fall in love with Song Xinyan, the tragedies that followed would not happen, right?
Of course, Lin Ting still could not understand—how could he ever fall in love with Song Xinyan? It was impossible.
Especially after what he had seen today; he was now even more certain.
So that was the real Song Xinyan.
Truly hypocritical.
“Then… thank you for inviting me to watch that little performance.”
“You’re welcome.” Suddenly, Song Xinyu had an idea. “Not satisfied with just one show? Want to see another one?”
Thinking of today’s original plot, Song Xinyan was supposed to frame her by smashing the bracelet, which would have led to a miserable outcome for her.
Although she had slightly changed the course of events, based on her understanding of Song Xinyan…
There would definitely still be trouble waiting for her at home.
The original owner, aside from her beauty and empty mind, had barely been able to resist half of it.
But now things were different.
She, Song Xinyu, had become a different person—call her Empress Dowager Cixi reborn, Song Xinyu.
Thus, Lin Ting was led secretly into a corner of the Song Family residence.
It was an excellent vantage point to watch the drama unfold.
A rarely used window, covered with wooden blinds. Earlier in the day, Song Xinyu had deliberately left a small gap in them. The window itself was also slightly open, allowing Lin Ting to see everything through the horizontal slats and hear the sounds through the vertical gap.
Meanwhile, he—the young master of S City always surrounded by attention—was now completely unnoticed.
As soon as Song Xinyu entered the house, a sharp voice called out: “Stop right there.”
This was the same woman who, at the banquet earlier, had claimed to treat both daughters equally.
Mother Song sat with her arms crossed and legs elegantly crossed on the most prominent sofa, asserting her authority within the Song Family.
Song Xinyu ignored her, changed her shoes, and walked further inside.
“Song Xinyu, you’ve grown bold, haven’t you? You don’t even listen to me anymore?”
She was clearly agitated.
Song Xinyu let out a cold laugh before turning back. “So you were calling me.”
“Do you realize your mistake?” Mother Song immediately scolded her. “How long are you going to keep bullying your sister? You already took her fiancé, and now you won’t even let go of a bracelet. Come over here and apologize to your sister.”
Again with apologies.
It turned out that Song Xinyan had been forced by Lin Ting to apologize to her earlier at the banquet.
She had been holding onto resentment ever since.
All the way home, she had cried on her mother’s shoulder.
And her mother had promised to stand up for her.
“What am I apologizing for?” Song Xinyu asked in return.