“You can’t leave!”
Seeing that Ye Zhiqiu and Lu Shuangshuang were about to go, Xu Wan stepped forward and grabbed Ye Zhiqiu’s hand. “You go and testify for A-Can. Just say that he rejected your seduction, and that you deliberately slandered him.”
Ye Zhiqiu was so angry at Xu Wan’s words that she almost laughed. “Xu Wan, do you really think all the leaders are fools?”
“Not to mention that I would never go and do something as ridiculous as that with you, but even if I agreed to go, do you really think the leaders would believe it?”
“I don’t know where you heard this news, but since it’s already being spread openly, that means they’ve already obtained solid evidence.”
“So what if they have evidence? That evidence could be fake, made by you!”
Xu Wan pulled hard, trying to drag Ye Zhiqiu towards the car. “No, you have to come with me today.”
“Xu Wan, have you lost your mind?”
Ye Zhiqiu shook Xu Wan off, and Lu Shuangshuang stepped forward, spreading her arms to shield Ye Zhiqiu behind her.
“Yes, I have lost my mind! You drove me to this!”
Xu Wan pointed at Ye Zhiqiu and shrieked hysterically, “What is so good about you? Why can’t A-Can forget you? I’m the one who likes him the most, but his heart only has room for you!”
Seeing Xu Wan like this, you really couldn’t help but feel both pity and hatred for her.
“Xu Wan, Chen Can has gotten over me. If he truly loved me, if he truly couldn’t forget me, he wouldn’t have had a child with Shen Liya while he was still in a relationship with me.”
“I don’t know why you think this way, but I hope you can understand that the problem between you and Chen Can isn’t me. Matters of the heart are always just between two people. If he let someone else into your relationship, that’s his problem!”
“A man who truly loves you wouldn’t let you bear the reputation of being ‘damaged goods,’ and he wouldn’t let you turn into this.”
“Loving someone is like raising a delicate flower. You should take good care of it, hoping it stays beautiful forever, not letting it wither away.”
Ye Zhiqiu looked Xu Wan straight in the eyes. “Blaming me for the problems in your relationship is utterly ridiculous.”
And truly, utterly pathetic.
She didn’t know what Xu Wan was like before, but she was sure she wasn’t like this.
She changed shortly after getting together with Chen Can.
Whether that says Chen Can is manipulative, or that Xu Wan puts love above everything else…
Regardless of the reason, Xu Wan is in a miserable state. It’s the kind of misery that doesn’t even earn sympathy, because she brought it upon herself.
“Xu Wan, if you really love Chen Can and want to save him, shouldn’t you figure something out yourself? What are you dragging Zhiqiu into this for?”
“If Zhiqiu’s testimony actually helped, then in the end, wouldn’t Chen Can just be grateful to her? And that would make him feel even more attached to her, leaving you with no hope at all.”
Xu Wan hadn’t listened to a single word Ye Zhiqiu said, but she heard what Lu Shuangshuang said.
She glanced at Ye Zhiqiu, then turned, got into her car, and drove away.
Only when her car disappeared around the corner did Ye Zhiqiu and Lu Shuangshuang finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Ye Zhiqiu shook her head helplessly. “Seriously, what is it with these days?”
“Shuangshuang, that was good. Impressive.” Ye Zhiqiu put her arm around Lu Shuangshuang’s shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up.
“You, don’t bother reasoning with Xu Wan in the future. It’s useless. If she could listen to reason, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
Lu Shuangshuang said, “You should just use Chen Can as the talking point. That’s what works.”
“Got it. Lesson learned.”
Ye Zhiqiu realized that Lu Shuangshuang had changed a lot recently.
Not only had she become much more mature and steady, but she also seemed to have suddenly become a lot sharper.
Before, frankly speaking, she was a bit naive. She’d do whatever Shen Liya and Kang Zhixin told her to do, making her really easy to take advantage of.
“What? Is there something on my face?” Lu Shuangshuang saw Ye Zhiqiu staring at her and raised a hand to touch her own cheek.
“No.” Ye Zhiqiu honestly told her what she was thinking.
Lu Shuangshuang chuckled softly. “Haven’t you changed a lot too?”
“My aunt said I was just immature before. She said that after someone goes through things, they can grow up overnight.”
Lu Shuangshuang didn’t tell Ye Zhiqiu that she’d been having dreams lately.
Dreams about some really terrifying things. Things similar to what she’d overheard Yaya thinking, but even more detailed.
And in the dreams, it felt like she was really living through those events. Extremely real.
Besides that, she also had some other strange dreams, and from those, she learned a lot of new things.
The next day, Lu Guangrong and Sun Lanzhi showed up at Feng Wan’s house again.
“Big Sister, Shuangshuang says she wants to cut ties with me. Do you think you could talk to her?” Lu Guangrong asked.
“You already cut ties with her before. This time, Shuangshuang just doesn’t acknowledge you either. Since neither of you wants to acknowledge the other, isn’t that just perfect?”
Feng Wan waved her hand and stated her position directly: “I’m not going to persuade Shuangshuang. You said it yourself, I spoil her. She can do whatever she wants.”
“Big Sister, but Shuangshuang also wants to get back Juan’s dowry. Do you know about that?”
“Yes, I know. We have a rule about that. Juan’s dowry is meant for the children. Shuangshuang is right to want it back.”
“Alright, I’ll be blunt. Some of Juan’s dowry is missing. Could you ask Shuangshuang not to hold it against Xiao-Xu for now? Let him get out first, and we’ll make up for the missing dowry later.”
Lu Guangrong didn’t want Lu Xu to suffer hardship. The longer he stayed inside, the more shame he brought to the family every single day.
Now the whole neighborhood was gossiping. Even when he went to work, people pointed fingers behind his back.
He couldn’t stand this humiliation.
After thinking it over, he figured the only reason Lu Shuangshuang dared to act this way was because Feng Wan was backing her up.
So, Lu Guangrong decided to come directly to Feng Wan to negotiate. If Feng Wan was willing to back down a bit, then Lu Shuangshuang wouldn’t insist on making things so irreparable.
“Big Sister, even if Shuangshuang cuts ties with me, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s my daughter and Xiao-Xu’s older sister.”
“Her making Xiao-Xu go to jail looks bad for her too. Outsiders won’t know the real story. They’ll just say she has a brother in prison. She’s not young anymore, she should be thinking about marriage.”
“If people hear she has a brother in jail and then dig a little deeper… which family would want a daughter-in-law like Shuangshuang?”
Just as Lu Shuangshuang walked into the house, she overheard Sun Lanzhi’s words. She gave a cold laugh. “Don’t you worry your heads about that. Since we’ve cut ties, there is no relationship. What other people think is their business, none of mine.”
“If someone minds, then fine. I’ll find someone who doesn’t. And if I can’t find anyone, then I just won’t get married my whole life.”
“Getting married isn’t exactly a great thing anyway.”
Lu Shuangshuang sat down next to Feng Wan. Feng Wan poured her a glass of water, patted her hand, and looked at Lu Guangrong and Sun Lanzhi. “Shuangshuang is right. You two, don’t use arguments like that.”
“Wanting Xiao-Xu to get out… it’s not impossible.”
Feng Wan deliberately paused. “Besides the conditions Shuangshuang already put forward, I want to add one more condition.”
