"Hey, what are you pondering about? Why so hesitant? What happened to Chen Yu’s birthmark?"
Li Ying shook her head again, sighed, and said, "I just went to the counselor’s office, and she was wearing a formal dress, you know, the kind with the large round neckline, even her collarbone was showing, and it seemed like her birthmark wasn’t there!"
"No way, did she get it removed with a laser?"
"I don’t know, maybe."
"Damn, I’ve been so busy dating that I haven’t paid attention to her. I wonder if I can get rid of the one on my leg too. I should ask Chen Yu about it and give it a try."
Chen Siyao’s words made Li Ying even more annoyed, considering she was the most intelligent and emotionally savvy person amongst their trio of best friends.
Had the alliance they’d built over two years really been undone by the transfer student, Tang Xiaowan?
"Are you planning to be a traitor like Song Jiaqi?"
"No, not at all! But Jiaqi is right; we can’t beat Tang Xiaowan. Chen Yu is her bestie, and now even Chen Nan has joined them. It might be better to reconcile; it’s not necessary to fight."
"That sounds nice, but I think you’re just..."
"Alright, alright, I’m wrong. Here, take my newly bought chocolates; they’re all yours. Don’t be mad, my dear, love you, muah!"
"I’m annoyed, just go away and let me be alone for a bit."
Back in the day, the girls would mock Chen Yu’s birthmark for being ugly, fear catching it, and said lots of nasty things about her. Now, times have changed, and it seems like their thoughts have too.
Especially since Tang Xiaowan arrived, an increasing number of people started making friends with Chen Yu willingly, gossiping about celebrities and chatting about everyday life.
Then, the warning bell rang.
The students quickly stopped chit-chatting and found their seats.
Chen Nan and Chen Yu returned to class separately, one after another. Tang Xiaowan made a last-minute dash into the classroom from the back door, sliding in just as the teacher stepped onto the podium. Her timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
However, Song Jiaqi happened to witness the entire scene, and admiration naturally welled up within her.
Wow, she’s no ordinary person!
Skipping classes, arriving late, leaving early, and still never getting caught, that’s too awesome!
Sigh, I really want to skip just once.
The teacher’s loud voice called out, and all the students turned to look at the bewildered Jiaqi.
"Oh, good morning, teacher. I, I..."
"Thank you, teacher."
Jiaqi’s face immediately turned red, so she slowly sat down, keeping her head low, not daring to move.
"Alright, alright, stop making a fuss. What’s so funny? Take out your textbooks and let’s start the class. Today we’ll talk about..."
At five thirty P.M., school was out.
The black SUV slowly drove along the street-side path, heading to the East Suburb Li Garden.
Because Tang Xiaowan wanted to eat shumai, they took a different route and passed through a street they hadn’t traveled before, the north gate of Jin City University, lined with snack bars.
Sausage-flavored, they bought two baskets.
The two guys thought they were too sweet despite the saltiness and refused to eat them, so Tang Xiaowan polished off 8 shumai in a few minutes, relishing every bite.
Before school ended, Li Zishen had sent her a message saying that Bai Long had something come up and couldn’t make it to the school on time, asking Cheng Shi to take a detour to bring his little brother, Li Zihan, back to Li Garden.
Tang Xiaowan didn’t give it much thought and readily agreed.
Therefore, the issue of her not returning to stay at Li Garden tonight was brought up.
Li Zihan was shocked to her core!
"Are you kidding me, moving out tonight? In such a hurry, don’t you need to pack up your things?"
"Yeah, I already told your brother. Actually, there isn’t much to pack up, just some personal belongings. The new house has everything."
Li Zihan found these light and breezy words to be extremely annoying.
First, he looked out the car window, took a deep breath to calm himself, and then turned his head to glance at Tang Xiaowan, who was busy with her phone, suddenly at a loss for words.
"Leaving my brother behind, doesn’t it make you feel bad?"
"Why should I feel bad? I’ve been wanting to leave for a long time, Li Garden isn’t my home."
"But, you two were getting along so well. A few days ago when we went back to Bie Yuan to see my mom, you two were even holding hands. Did my mom say something? Yes, yes, it must have been about that day’s clothes, you were dressed too casually, but then again my mom..."
"What the hell are you talking about? The move has been planned for a long time and I told you. What does it have to do with your mom?"
"Then what’s with the... hand-holding? It wasn’t just once or twice; it has been like four or five times, right?"
"It’s called cooperating, understand? I was just cooperating with your brother, special circumstances require special treatment." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novᴇlfire.net
"Ah, fine, if it’s just cooperation, then... did my brother really agree to you moving out, without saying anything?"
"He personally agreed last night."
"How is that possible? Spill it, are you pregnant or not? Is it because you fear the servants gossiping, affecting your pregnancy, that you are in such a hurry to move out? Otherwise, my brother would never agree!"
Cheng Shi gripped the steering wheel tightly, really wanting to turn around and punch Li Zihan in the face.
How dare he slander the Tang Family’s young miss !
"Just drive your car."
Li Zihan could talk nonsense all he wanted, which naturally irritated Tang Xiaowan to the bone, her face stretching long, wishing she could kick him away.
But she mustn’t lose her composure over something so trivial!
After finally freeing herself from Li Zishen, she couldn’t let this small issue ruin everything.
"Hey, speak up, is it true or not?"
Tang Xiaowan took a deep breath and looked at Li Zihan with a smile, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
"Ah, I really don’t know if it’s your lack of understanding or my inability to express myself. Are you still fixated on that vomiting incident... didn’t I explain it already? It was because of the cold at night, the cold, I’ll stress it again, it was the cold, remember, the cold, OK!"
In reality, it was poisoning, but Tang Xiaowan couldn’t say that just yet; she didn’t want any complications.
The fewer people who knew, the easier it would be to investigate.
What’s more, the substance 8208 was developed by the Leng Family. Once Li Zihan knew, Li Zishen would know too, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
Then leaving Li Garden would become much harder.
At this point, Li Zihan finally believed Tang Xiaowan’s words, realizing he had misunderstood, and quickly changed his demeanor to that of a playful and smiling young master of the Leng Family.
"Xiao Wan, I was wrong, don’t take it to heart, okay? I just felt... it was a little bit abnormal, it’s too out of character for my brother, no offense, I’m sorry, haha."
Lighthearted laughter filled the car.
Tang Xiaowan turned to look at Li Zihan, her mouth curling into a slight smile, "Character? What character, kidnapping a commoner girl or hiding a concubine in a golden house?"
"No, no, that’s not what I meant. Ah, let’s drop it; maybe it’s just a case of compatibility. Let’s not dwell on the past, congratulations on your housewarming, and I’ll treat you tomorrow to make it up to you."
"Tsk, that’s more like it!"
Just as the atmosphere eased, Cheng Shi suddenly hit the brakes hard, giving Tang Xiaowan a scare.
A siren blared as an ambulance sped past.