58: save5 If I Can't Think of a Title, Do I Have To?
Even through the screen, Lu Lele could feel the pressure emanating from her sister.
Undoubtedly, facing Lu Lele again were two familiar options.
Tell the truth, or lie and hide it.
This time, Lu Lele had no intention of deceiving Lu Yanyan.
After all, given Lu Yanyan's series of godlike operations during the last attempt, and her unfathomable level of skill, the fact that she called meant she had absolute certainty.
In this situation, it was best to just admit it decisively.
Anyway, Lu Lele knew very well that Lu Yanyan was very tolerant, or perhaps very doting on her precious younger sister, Lu Lele herself.
In the last attempt, Lu Yanyan could forgive her sister even for doing something illegal like kidnapping. Being arrogant like this now counted for nothing.
So, Lu Lele cleanly and decisively admitted defeat and said.
"Sister, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I... I just did something impulsive."
"I'm listening."
Lu Yanyan's voice betrayed no anger or joy; it was flat as water.
"Continue."
"It's like this. This morning, about an hour ago, Liu Lili suddenly came to find me..."
Lu Lele started directly from the morning, briefly explaining the ins and outs of the matter, focusing on what she said to Liu Lili's mother on the phone.
However, Lu Lele didn't mention for now that she and Liu Lili had already become lovers.
After Lu Lele finished, the other end of the phone was silent for a long time. Finally, Lu Yanyan's slightly surprised voice came through.
"Oh, so that's how it is. Lele, I never knew you had such ability. You really are very capable. You actually learned to use your sister's social status to suppress others. My dear sister, I guessed you might have done something, but I didn't expect you to achieve this. Truly, after just one day apart, one must look at you with new eyes."
Lu Lele selectively ignored the sarcasm in Lu Yanyan's words and grasped the key information revealed.
"Huh? So you didn't know, Sister?"
Lu Yanyan said matter-of-factly.
"If I knew, why would I call and ask you?"
Lu Lele froze, feeling like she had been tricked.
"Aren't you afraid I'll lie?"
Lu Yanyan replied instantly.
"My dear sister, I don't think you have the courage to lie to me. Besides, I'm not a fool. What you just said matches the logic perfectly. It doesn't seem like a story fabricated to fool me."
"Fine..."
Lu Lele paused, then opened her mouth to ask about another issue she cared about.
"By the way... Liu Lili's parent called you just now, right?"
"Correct. Liu Lili's mother did just call me. At first, I thought it was a spam call. It turned out to be Liu Lili's parent, saying the number was given by you and that she was calling to discuss a very important matter."
Hearing this, Lu Lele couldn't help but freeze and asked in confusion.
"But I never gave them your phone number, Sister."
Lu Yanyan replied with a cold tone.
"Does this need an explanation? You revealed my identity information when threatening the other party. The phone number can be found with a quick online search, and she called my office landline."
"Y-yes, I'm sorry..."
Lu Lele felt a bit guilty this time. She didn't expect Liu Lili's mother to be capable of such a maneuver. Her sister must be furious right now.
But Lu Yanyan immediately continued.
"The bill can be settled later. You suddenly asked about the call from her, curious about what she said?"
"Mm, Great Sister, can you tell me what she said?"
"Don't call me 'Great Sister.' Those cute tactics don't work on me."
Lu Yanyan mocked Lu Lele's choice of words as usual, then said.
"Liu Lili's mother said that you and Lili have a very good relationship. Lili has been clamoring to come to our house to play on weekends lately, making quite a fuss at home. She wanted to ask if I could just let the two of you live together on weekends from now on, and mentioned that she was willing when talking to you on the phone. She was so respectful when asking, with such an intimate tone, that I almost mistook her for a long-lost relative."
"How did you answer, Sister?"
"I already knew you little rascal definitely did something. But it seems the purpose was just to live with your best friend on weekends, and I don't object to that. So I said, 'I know all this. If Lele likes it, then let's do that. I and she certainly won't let Lili suffer any grievances.'"
Lu Yanyan paused on the other end of the phone, then continued.
"Then, she changed the subject and started praising you, saying you study very well and are very polite. Then she praised me, saying I am young, talented, and have a bright future. She even praised our parents who are 'on a business trip.' Oh, I didn't tell her she was praising dead people. Anyway, Liu Lili's mother praised everything she could. It was even more cheesy than you deliberately calling me 'Great Sister' just now, Sister."
"After a round of praise, she said a lot of circular talk, going round and round. I spent quite a bit of effort to finally understand what she wanted to express."
"To summarize, it was basically, 'For the sake of Lili being good friends with your younger sister, if there is any offense, please forgive me. If you are unhappy, just give a call, and I will come immediately to apologize.'"
"Only then did I realize that you seem to have done much more than I imagined. You actually scared their parent like this, making them call to state their position. Truly good means, my dear sister."
Listening to her sister's account, Lu Lele finally understood.
Liu Lili's mother hadn't complained just now; she had just made a probing call to fish for information.
Obviously, she wasn't sure if Lu Lele's previous phone call had been permitted by Lu Yanyan, and she had absolutely no idea of Lu Yanyan's attitude. She could only judge through this call.
Firstly, it was to verify Lu Lele's words. Secondly, it was to express a submissive, softening attitude to Lu Yanyan based on that verification. That was the purpose of this call.
After all, the threat Lu Lele gave just now was substantive; Lu Yanyan indeed held the lifeline of their entire family.
Liu Lili's mother cleverly used the matter of 'wanting to discuss letting Lili stay at Lele's house on weekends' as the conversation starter. This was also one of the conditions Lu Lele proposed in the phone call earlier.
Regardless of whether Lu Yanyan actually knew about the phone call Lu Lele made, or whether Lu Lele's threat had Lu Yanyan's approval, using this reason wouldn't cause any trouble and was easy to start a conversation with.
For the other party, the most important thing was definitely to clarify if Lu Lele was just using her sister's power to bluff. Next was to say nice things to Lu Yanyan to avoid Lu Lele's threat becoming reality.
Lu Yanyan's sentence "I know all this, if Lele likes it then let's do that, I and she certainly won't let Lili suffer" undoubtedly made Liu Lili's mother believe that Lu Lele dared to make the call because she had Lu Yanyan's tacit approval. So afterward, she decisively started praising people. After the praise, she beat around the bush to express compromise and submission, to show her attitude.
Looking at it this way, Liu Lili's mother wasn't an idiot. She could even be said to be very shrewd, able to prepare such a set of rhetoric to deal with the situation in a short time.
In fact, Lu Yanyan called over just 10 or so minutes after Lu Lele finished her call with Liu Lili's mother. This meant that Liu Lili's mother almost immediately started looking for Lu Yanyan's number after hanging up with Lu Lele, and then dialed it.
Moreover, she slipped in some hidden barbs in the call. The sentences "The number was given by Lu Lele" and "She is very polite" were one instance of sowing discord and one of sarcastic mockery. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't notice. Especially the first sentence; Lu Yanyan was actually influenced by it.
And just as Lu Lele was still reviewing the phone call, Lu Yanyan's cool, clear voice interrupted her thoughts.
"So, my dear sister, why did you do this?"