He Zhilan stood to one side, quietly observing for a moment before stepping forward, stopping in front of Gu En. Perhaps, with her confusion now gone, seeing Gu En again made her strangely aware of the passing of time.
Looking at Gu En now, she felt as if she were watching a buffoonish jester.
"Gu En." He Zhilan stood before Gu En, exhibiting an air of indifference. She glanced slyly at Gu En who jumped at the sound of her voice. Almost smiling, she remarked, "Gu En, the saying ’a menace can last a thousand years’ fits you perfectly. You have an extraordinarily thick skin. After all this, you dare to come back to school."
"He Zhilan, what are you so smug about?" Gu En glared at her, raising her head proudly, "Even though I’ve brought you to the brink of despair, you’re still stuck here, pathetically holding on."
"Gu En, who’s the pitiful one, you or me?" He Zhilan’s cold laughter resounded, "Before this, I didn’t understand. Why were you so adversarial with me? Because of that laughable reason you claimed? But, now I know. Gu En, I’m curious, when did you discover that I was Gu Zhilan? Was it when you saw that childhood photograph of mine? Or was it when you learned from Lan Song that I was trying to find the missing daughters from twelve years ago within the families of the Gu’s and Lan’s?"
Just those three words, ’Gu Zhilan’, were enough to drain all color from the previously smug Gu En’s face in a split second.
"You claimed that you unintentionally saw my photo and accidentally left it in your book. You were lying, right? Your desperate attempts to drive me out of the capital were simply because you didn’t want me to have a chance to meet anyone from the Gu family." Each of He Zhilan’s sentences, accompanied by her expressions, seemed to be delivered in a casually dismissive manner. Yet, each word struck Gu En’s heart, shattering all composure.
Finally, there came a time when He Zhilan could watch, calmly and collectedly, as Gu En panicked.
"Gu En, you went to great lengths to stop me from going to Gu Mansion with Zhou Hongjin, didn’t you? Paid three thousand to hire a hitman to take my life. But it failed, so in the end, you had to do the deed yourself. Ironically, it landed you in the police station."
"Quit your baseless accusations! You think I’ll fall for your tricks?" Gu En scoffed coldly, "That night in the dorm, I was the fool and I paid for it. But let me tell you, I, Gu En, won’t always be so unlucky!"
"I don’t know who helped you start those rumors, but remember, justice has a long memory, and nothing escapes it. Believe it or not, one day, you’ll get what’s coming to you." He Zhilan didn’t allow Gu En’s anger to rattle her. In fact, watching Gu En so utterly furious, she felt as though she were teasing a cat.
Even though it was an immature way of getting a minor verbal upper hand, but at this point, when she was powerless to turn her situation around, even this childish tactic gave her immense satisfaction. Seeing Gu En so enraged that she was close to losing her mind, it felt incredibly satisfying!
All the wounds inflicted upon her, she, He Zhilan, would return every single one of them!
"You’ve bullied me time and time again, even attempted to kill me. Gu En, you were simply afraid that I would return to the Gu family one day and that you would end up with nothing, weren’t you? I, Gu Zhilan, am the Gu Family’s biological daughter, whereas you, Gu En, are an interloper from who-knows-where." He Zhilan started laughing softly, as Gu En’s face darkened, "I just remembered, there was one time when Lin Chan came to visit me at school. You happened to see him, and afterwards, Lin Chan noticed that someone was following him for an extended period. I guess, it was you who hired someone, right? You must have been afraid that if I didn’t get any useful information from Lan Song, I’d turn to Lin Chan for help. So, you had people keep an eye on Lin Chan’s movements, right? Later, when you realized that Lin Chan was aware he was being followed and I didn’t discuss my issues with him, you had them call off the tail, right? Isn’t everything I guessed