Chapter 3
“You’re my son. Why would I ever hurt you?”
“You’d be better off spending that money on a couple of new outfits. There must be plenty of rich people at your university, right? With a face like yours, hasn’t some rich executive’s daughter taken a liking to you?”
Half the man’s figure was bathed in the dim yellow light at the mouth of the alley, while the other half disappeared into its darkness.
He wore a well-tailored suit, and his hair had clearly been styled. He looked like some elite professional from one of the nearby office towers.
He was earnestly trying to talk someone around.
Another voice answered with a sneer.
“You mean find myself a rich older woman, like you did?”
The man’s expression darkened, and without another word, he turned violent.
“Where’s the money? That sickly wretch you call a mother is going to die sooner or later. At least if you threw the money into water, you’d hear a splash.”
“You work so many part-time jobs. You must make plenty. Give it all to me!”
“Is this a robbery?”
I stopped at the mouth of the alley.
It was pitch-black inside, so I did not go in.
“Mind your own business!”
The man turned around. After looking me over, the twisted expression on his face quickly eased.
He tugged his suit straight and softened his voice.
“He’s my son. We were only…”
“I recorded it.”
I waved my phone.
“Say one more word and I’ll post this video. Are you sure you want to continue?”
The man forced an ugly smile, picked up the bag from the ground, and hurried away.
The moon emerged from behind the clouds, spilling silver light over the alley.
The person he had shoved leaned crookedly against the wall.
I could now make out the uniform he was wearing.
It looked somewhat familiar.
“If you don’t deal with trouble, it will keep coming back for you.”
My car had arrived.
I left him with that remark and turned away.
“Thank you.”
The voice behind me was a little hoarse.
I waved without turning and got into the car.
That night, my social feed exploded.
Su Wan and Jiang Yan posted the same photo one after the other.
Their hands were pressed together around the handle of a knife as they cut the cake.
Jiang Yan’s caption read:
[Happy birthday.]
Su Wan’s read:
[The best gift.]
Quite a few mutual friends saw the posts and began messaging me.
[It isn’t your birthday today. Who is Jiang Yan cutting a cake with?]
The moment gossip came up, everyone threw themselves into it with reckless enthusiasm. It was the middle of the night, yet who knew how many people came crawling out of the woodwork?
My roommate sent me screenshots from two campus group chats.
[All that groveling, and she still ended up with nothing. Didn’t Qin Jiayi chase Jiang Yan all the way to Su Wan’s birthday party today? I heard she got so angry she left halfway through.]
[A childhood sweetheart never stands a chance against the girl who appears out of nowhere. Word is Jiang Yan has been sick of that little childhood friend of his for ages.]
Someone quickly contradicted them.
[I was at Su Wan’s birthday too. Who said Qin Jiayi went there chasing after Jiang Yan?]
[Jiang Yan made room for her himself, and Qin Jiayi wouldn’t even sit beside him.]
[The person she likes is obviously Song Yaozhou. She only left halfway through because she saw him.]
…
Other classmates who had attended the party confirmed it below.
The gossip spread so wildly that before long, no one cared about Su Wan’s and Jiang Yan’s posts anymore.
Instead, countless people began envying Song Yaozhou.
[First Su Wan, now Qin Jiayi. How did Song Yaozhou get so lucky?!]