At this moment, Xu Yueyao didn’t care what attitude Zhan Rong Xuan had toward her. Holding her phone, she confirmed the amount in her account once again—one, two, three, four… five zeros in total. A full 500,000 yuan. Xu Yueyao pressed her phone to her chest and chuckled, then lifted it to check again. Perfect—she finally didn’t have to work at the nightclub anymore.
The next day, Xu Yueyao got up, opened her wardrobe, and picked out her clothes. Thinking about moving today, she decided to dress more low-key. The persona of a petty person reveling in newfound success didn’t suit her. She chose a loose-fitting blue striped shirt and jeans. After changing, she looked at herself in the mirror, satisfied—youthful and energetic, yet not too flashy.
Xu Yueyao said goodbye to Wang Ma, telling her she wouldn’t be back for lunch, and headed out.
“Zhang Shu, to the alley at the end of West City Street,” Xu Yueyao said to Zhang Shu, then took out her phone and sent a text to Zhang Beilu.
“Alright, Miss Xu,” Zhang Shu replied, starting the car and heading toward West City.
When they arrived in West City, Zhang Shu stopped the car and said, “Miss Xu, the alley is too narrow. The car can’t go in.”
“It’s fine, Zhang Shu. Wait here for me. I’ll go in and pack up a few things.” Xu Yueyao opened the car door and stepped out. The scene from the book unfolded before her eyes—dirty, messy, and chaotic everywhere. Xu Yueyao took a deep breath and entered the narrow alley.
Imperial Capital University was a standard elite school. Its students were either wealthy or influential, with strict class distinctions. The first category: business heirs. The second category: heirs to company shares. The third category: heirs to prestigious families—children of ministers, members of parliament, chief justices, representatives of law firms, and other notable families. The fourth category: socially supported individuals—those with excellent grades but poor family backgrounds.
Xu Yueyao belonged to the socially supported category. People like her, living in a place as expensive as Imperial Capital, could only afford to stay in places like basements. Every day, aside from their studies, they had to take on various part-time jobs.
Xu Yueyao sighed. Finally, she arrived. She found her room and was about to knock when she ran into An Zhiyi and her best friend Xia Nuannuan coming out of the opposite room. An Zhiyi looked surprised when she saw Xu Yueyao.
“Well, if it isn’t Xu Yueyao? The rumors can’t be true, can they? Have you really been kept by someone?” Xia Nuannuan said, looking Xu Yueyao up and down.
Xu Yueyao sized her up as well. Xia Nuannuan was the female lead’s best friend. The female lead’s friends were undoubtedly good people. She was warm, straightforward, unpretentious, and unafraid to love or hate. In the end, she ended up happily with the male lead’s good friend, Ji Bingxiong.
“Nuannuan, don’t be like that,” An Zhiyi gently tugged at Xia Nuannuan’s sleeve, looking apologetically at Xu Yueyao.
Xu Yueyao shifted her gaze to An Zhiyi. As expected of the female lead—beauty and kindness were her foundation, while strength, decisiveness, and resilience in the face of adversity were her defining traits. Hanging around her neck was a distinctive peace pendant. It was by this pendant that Zhan Rong Xuan recognized her as the little girl who had saved him, leading to his entanglement with the male and female leads.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Zhang Beilu stepped out of the room. Seeing Xu Yueyao facing the two of them, she immediately started yelling, “What are you two little green teas saying? Bullying our Yaoyao again? Shameless… Mmmph—”
Xu Yueyao quickly stepped forward, covered her mouth, pushed her back into the room, and closed the door.Outside the room, Xia Nuannuan and An Zhiyi stood facing each other. Xia Nuannuan pointed at the room and asked, “Was that Xu Yueyao just now? Why didn’t Xu Yueyao curse at anyone today?”
An Zhiyi shook her head. Based on her previous temperament, even if they said nothing, she would have come over to curse at them the moment she saw them. Today, even after Nuannuan had spoken to her like that, she hadn’t gotten angry. How strange.
“Yao Yao, what are you doing?” Zhang Beilu inside the room said angrily, sounding dissatisfied as if she hadn’t had her fill of arguing.
Xu Yueyao released her and began looking around the room. It was dark, damp, and there were mold spots on the ceiling. Xu Yueyao instinctively walked over to her own bed, looked at the thin quilt on it, and touched it with her hand—it felt slightly damp.
“Lu Lu, I’m moving out. I came here today to pack up,” Xu Yueyao said, sitting on the bed and looking at Zhang Beilu.
“Yao Yao, you couldn’t really be…” She didn’t say the words “kept by someone.” Although they were poor, they were both excellent students and carried a certain pride. Being kept by someone was something they despised. Fu Xiao Si was young, handsome, and wealthy, and even when he asked Xu Yueyao to be his girlfriend, she had refused. So, the rumors outside about her being kept by an old man were something she didn’t believe at all.
Zhang Beilu hugged Xu Yueyao and burst into tears. “Yao Yao, what’s wrong with you? Have you been bullied?”
Xu Yueyao was a bit stunned by her embrace. Hearing her words, she felt touched and said with a smile, “Sit down first and listen to what I have to say.”
Zhang Beilu wiped her tears, sat down, and looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
“Do you know what kind of injury I have?” Xu Yueyao said, touching her shoulder.
Zhang Beilu shook her head.
“It’s a gunshot wound.”
Zhang Beilu widened her eyes and covered her mouth.
Xu Yueyao continued, “Do you know Zhan Rong Xuan?”
Zhang Beilu nodded vaguely. She had never met Zhan Rong Xuan, the heir of the Zhan family, the top aristocratic family in the capital, but she had heard of him.
“I got injured saving him,” Xu Yueyao said, quite satisfied with Zhang Beilu’s shocked expression.
Seeing her look of disbelief, Xu Yueyao stopped teasing her and explained, “That night, I wasn’t feeling well and left the nightclub early. When I passed by an alley, I saw someone trying to kill Zhan Rong Xuan, so I took a bullet for him and became his savior. Zhan Rong Xuan took a liking to my beauty, so we got together,” Xu Yueyao said, mixing truth with lies.
Zhang Beilu’s mouth hung open in shock, still unable to believe that her best friend had soared to the top and become a phoenix in just a few days.
“Zhan Shao arranged a place for me to stay. I came here today to move,” Xu Yueyao continued, glancing at the things on her bed. Aside from books, it seemed there wasn’t much else, and her clothes were pitifully few.
Zhang Beilu stood up and was about to run outside when Xu Yueyao quickly grabbed her. “What are you doing?”
Zhang Beilu’s eyes sparkled as she said, “I want everyone to know that you’re now the woman of the famous Zhan Shao. I’ll blind their dog eyes and show them not to look down on people.”
Xu Yueyao hurriedly pulled her back. “My dear, please calm down,” she said, hoping to stop her from going further down the path of self-destruction.Xu Yueyao thought for a moment and decided she had to pull her friend back—she couldn’t let her continue being cannon fodder for the male and female leads. Clearing her throat, she said, “Lulu, I’m different now. I’m Zhan Shao’s woman, so I have to be elegant and dignified in everything I say and do. I can’t use foul language and tarnish Zhan Shao’s reputation. As my best friend, you also need to watch your words and actions. I can’t let others say the friends I make lack class. Lulu, we both need to change.”
Zhang Beilu thought it over and nodded. “Right, right. You’re different now. Everything you say and do represents Zhan Shao. You can’t tarnish his reputation. I’m your friend, so everything I say and do represents you. I can’t let others say you make friends without class. We can’t swear anymore.”
Xu Yueyao nodded, feeling quite pleased. She was teachable—it was great that she could think this way.
“Yao Yao, does that mean I can’t work at the nightclub anymore? I can’t let people laugh at you for having a friend who sells drinks in that kind of place. Wouldn’t it also look bad for Zhan Shao if word got out?”
She really gets it, Xu Yueyao thought. It seemed she wasn’t the kind of brainless friend she’d feared. To change her tragic ending, she had to prevent her from falling in love with the male lead, Fu Zheng. And to do that, she had to leave the nightclub—because it was while working there that she was harassed by a villain, rescued by Fu Zheng, fell in love with him, and met her tragic fate.
“Lulu, quit your part-time job at the nightclub. We’ll find another job together. Also, didn’t you already have your eye on an apartment? Move out of here. How much more do you need? I’ll cover it for you first.” Xu Yueyao truly considered her a friend now and genuinely wanted what was best for her.