Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As if he could read my thoughts, Song Jingyu patted my head.

“Come on. We’ll leave this patch of ground to them and find somewhere else to date.”

Just as he was about to go, Qin Zhenzhen called to him from behind.

“Jingyu.” She said his name but looked at me. She hesitated for a long time, wearing an expression of great concern. “I’m happy that you’ve found someone you like. But you grew up privileged, so people can easily deceive you. There are certain people you need to see clearly before it’s too late.”

The comments poured in at once.

【The heroine is so kind.】

【Our precious heroine is the best. She saved the male lead from a gold digger, and now she’s trying to protect the second male lead from being deceived too.】

【Exactly!】

Amid the chorus of praise, one comment stood out.

【If I remember correctly, didn’t the heroine get involved with the male lead before he broke up with the supporting girl? You call interfering in someone else’s relationship salvation?】

It remained visible only a moment before being buried under replies.

【A gold digger thinks she gets to call herself the official girlfriend?】

【You’re defending the supporting girl. Are you a gold digger too?】

I lowered my eyes and habitually pressed my lips together.

Forget it. This was hardly the first time I had been cursed. Nor were the comments the only ones saying such things. From the day I began living off Song Jingyuan, those words had followed me everywhere.

Across from me, Song Jingyuan suddenly spoke.

“Five hundred thousand.”

“What can I do for you?” The answer flew out of me on instinct. Then I met the mockery in his eyes.

Looking straight at me, he enunciated each word.

“I’ll pay you five hundred thousand to leave my brother.”

“Jingyuan, why give her money? People like her come from nothing, yet their greed reaches higher than the sky. If you keep feeding them, they’ll never be satisfied.”

Qin Zhenzhen gave him a reproachful look, then clung intimately to his arm in a show of triumph.

Her sleeve slipped, revealing a cheap watch identical to Song Jingyuan’s.

The comments had said the heroine was currently pretending to be a poor, innocent flower to capture Song Jingyuan’s attention. Once he was hopelessly in love but worried about being deceived again, she would reveal that she was in fact a wealthy heiress.

Her stubborn, unbending little flower persona was nothing but a disguise.

The realization nearly made me laugh.

So this was the trick she used to attract Song Jingyuan.

I remembered the day the Qin family cast me out. Qin Zhenzhen had stood at the door to see me off and thoughtfully handed me a battered suitcase she no longer wanted.

“Little Sister, this suits you much better,” she had said.

“Nobility isn’t something blood alone can give you. I was raised with care from childhood. Mom and Dad did so much for me, and that is why I became who I am. But you, Qin Ruxue, have already missed your chance. Instead of racking your brains trying to enter the world of the wealthy, you’d be better off returning to your little town on the edge of nowhere and studying hard. There might be a job paying three thousand a month waiting for you.”

Back then, she had told me that a poor person could cover herself in luxury brands and still never look rich. Yet now this rich woman had begun pretending to be poor.

The world was absurd.

I looked up at the dark sky and drew a deep breath.

Then I spoke softly.

“What business is it of yours?”

“Are you sick in the head?”

Song Jingyu and I spoke at the same time.

His was a question of pure bafflement. Mine was an attack.

We turned to look at each other.

Our eyes lit up in unison.

I raised my chin and stepped toward Song Jingyuan.

“F-five hundred thousand? You make it sound like fifty million! I have five hundred thousand too. It isn’t as if I’ve never seen that much. Who are you trying to impress?”

Then I lifted a trembling finger and pointed at Qin Zhenzhen. I gathered all my courage and barrelled on.

“And you. You’re so noble, aren’t you? It wasn’t enough to steal someone else’s parents and live as their precious heiress. Now you’re pretending to be the small-town student you once despised. You’ve taken every broad road and every narrow one. Apparently every path in the world belongs to you!”

By the final word, nerves had twisted my voice into a squeak.

My nose stung, and tears reddened my eyes.

The truth was, I was a coward.

But no one could endure humiliation without end. I had already tried to leave, and they had chased after me to finish the job.

Besides, I could tell Song Jingyu wanted to stand up for me.

He was the most pampered child in the Song family. Even Song Jingyuan could do nothing about him.

If I did not cling to this powerful thigh now, when would I?

This was my chance to repay every insult and vent every grievance. If I went home without doing it, I would spend another night hugging my blanket, imagining brilliant retorts and replaying the scene until I was so furious my chest seized up.

Nothing could feel as satisfying as calling them both massive idiots to their faces.

Even if I had to curse them through tears.

My nose burned. I grabbed Song Jingyu and turned to leave.

“Let’s go. We’re not talking to them anymore.” I spoke between sniffs and choked when I inhaled too sharply, coughing until my lungs hurt.

Even so, I kept my back ramrod straight, trying to leave the pair with a proud silhouette.