In the flood of tears that her breakdown had caused, she thought of Chun Yu, who had run away, and a strong hatred began to burn in the depths of her heart.
Chiang Baohe had initially gone after Chun Yu!
This meant that he had set his sights on Chun Yu today! She had deliberately made herself look unkempt, and it had been effective; Chiang Baohe had given up on her, intending to defile Chun Yu instead.
But where was Chun Yu?
She had actually left her behind and run away!
"Chun Yu! Have you been fair to me?!"
Zou Xiaoling let out a sharp cry.
Meanwhile, Chun Yu, who had stumbled home, climbed into bed, curled up under the covers, pulled the blanket over her head, and continued to tremble.
She didn’t dare to think about the sensation of that disgusting man pressing down on her, nor did she dare to think about what was happening to Zou Xiaoling right now.
"Xiaoling, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!"
"But he was always going to marry you; he definitely wanted to take advantage of you, he just got the wrong person! It’s not my fault..."
"I’m sure I could get away, maybe I did get away..."
Chun Yu mumbled to herself, buried under the blanket.
The door was pushed open, and Elder Sister Yu walked in. "Chun Yu?"
"Don’t come any closer!"
Elder Sister Yu was startled.
"Chun Yu, what’s wrong with you?" She reached out to pull back the blanket on Chun Yu, but retracted her hand when Chun Yu let out another shrill scream.
"I, I want to leave this place..." Chun Yu started to cry as well, her voice breaking with despair.
Chiang Xiao was unaware that Zou Xiaoling’s fate had once again overlapped with that of the past life.
Yet, it was different from the former life.
She only heard about Zou Xiaoling’s situation a month later.
Half of the summer vacation had passed.
Her middle school exam scores had also long been released, and, as many had expected, Chiang Xiao had secured the first place in the entire county once again.
The news caused an uproar.
In Siyang Village, Secretary Yao was quite delighted.
At his insistence, Chiang Xiao reluctantly agreed to receive an award and gave a speech at the village primary school.
All the teachers and students of the school attended.
Song Tianyang stood with the class he taught and watched the girl who spoke with clarity and composure on the stage, feeling immensely proud.
Just now, Chiang Xiao had made a point of thanking him when she arrived at the school, but he felt he hadn’t been much help to her.
He’d only lent her twenty dollars once, which she had promptly repaid.
Recommending her to Principal Chu was also due to her own abilities, which allowed her to seize the opportunity to skip two grades.
Regardless, he would take pride in having taught such a student.
Aside from the teachers and students, many villagers had come to watch the spectacle that day; having a top scorer in the middle school exams was a big deal in the village!
Chiang Songhai had come back that day with a smile on his face, even bringing a string of firecrackers, saying that they would set them off when Chiang Xiao returned home.
Aunt Juan and Doctor Huang were also there to listen to Chiang Xiao’s speech.
"Chiang Xiao has really changed a lot; she’s become quite beautiful now."
"Yes, indeed, and she doesn’t seem as plain and honest as before; she looks smart and assured." Aunt Juan said with a smile, "The Chiang family’s Second couple has really had their fortunes reversed! Now they are doing quite well!"
"They will have good days ahead."
Similar discussions could be heard all over Siyang Village.
Ge Liutao and Chiang Songhai also stood among the onlookers outside, watching Chiang Xiao in the middle of the playground with undeniable smiles on their faces.
And among the crowd were Sun Xiaoxing, Ding Dani, Ji Desheng, and others, who looked at Chiang Xiao and felt as if she were now at a great distance from them, no longer the girl they remembered in their minds.