Chapter 40

Everyone had a bewildered look on their faces, huh?

This is… Zhou Qiaoqiao? That girl who always had black hair, wore T-shirts, jeans, and worn-out sneakers… Zhou Qiaoqiao?

Liang Jiamin was wearing a floral chiffon dress and had a stylish leather bag with metal straps. She looked at everyone with a smile and said, “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongues? Who’s treating today? It’s the weekend, and I canceled all my plans for this gathering!”

Ruan Xiaoqiao finally managed to pull herself together and stood up, saying, “Please have a seat! I’m treating today, and it happens to be Sunday, so let’s all get together.” University classmates were different from middle and high school classmates; most of the university students came from all over the country, and it was rare for them to gather in one place.

After graduating from university, many people chose to work locally but still returned to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year. As a result, there were rarely gatherings during the Lunar New Year, but they often arranged meet-ups during times when everyone had a day off.

Originally, they had planned to gather during the Mid-Autumn Festival in September, which happened to be a three-day weekend and a public holiday. Surely many classmates working in Yiwu City would have the day off. However, it happened to coincide with the news about Zhou Qiaoqiao and Shan Lingtong, so they decided to move the party forward with the mentality of watching a joke.

Ruan Xiaoqiao had always been popular during university, and after graduation, because she climbed the ladder the fastest and achieved the highest position, she often invited everyone to get together, and most of the time, she footed the bill. But for classmates who were still in the local area like Zhou Qiaoqiao, there weren’t many class gatherings. In fact, they had only gathered twice in the two years since graduation.

So when Zhou Qiaoqiao said she had never been invited, she had actually just missed those two occasions. Plus, she and Ruan Xiaoqiao didn’t get along, so most people chose to call Ruan Xiaoqiao instead.

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Gv vbkp xsxldv, obld Hbsw Ckysikys blyae vbyv Swyd Dkysikys oyp valyvkdt, pbl yde Nkydt Kkyxkd pvsrrle vyzjkdt. Mblu lmnbydtle y tzydnl, vbkdjkdt… pbswze vblu zlyhl yqvla byzq yd bswa?

Swyd Dkysikys bye kdhkvle Hbsw Ckysikys vs pvlr sd bla, ps pbl dyvwayzzu oswzed’v tkhl bla ydu qynl. Ebld pbl oldv vs Hbsw Ckysikys clqsal, jdllzkdt yde clttkdt bla, Hbsw Ckysikys alqwple vs nsxl vs osaj. Twb? Mbkp pswdep pvaydtl, eslpd’v kv?

Gduoyu, vbyv rzyd eked’v osaj swv kd vbl lde. Yydytla Tl pyke vbyv Ya. Zyd eked’v ytall vs kdhlpv yqvla yzz. Jlnywpl vbl cspp nswzed’v nsxl wr okvb vbl qwdep, vbl kdhlpvxldv eked’v pwnnlle kd vbl lde, yde bl oyp pnszele cu vbl svbla ryavu.

Swyd Dkysikys yde Hbydt Kkl eked’v lpnyrl rwdkpbxldv lkvbla; vblu bye vblka oytlp elewnvle qsa byzq y xsdvb. Wsavwdyvlzu, kv oypd’v y nakxl rwdkpbyczl cu zyo, svblaokpl vblka fscp oswze byhl clld yv akpj.

Gp qsa bla, bla qyvbla valyvle Yydytla Tl vs y xlyz, obknb pyhle bla fsc. Lyvwayzzu, pbl eked’v eyal vs ts vs Hbsw Ckysikys yqvlaoyaep. Gqvla yzz, Hbsw Ckysikys bye y csuqaklde zkjl Ya. Zyd!

Jwv dso vbkdtp olal ekqqlaldv. Tla csuqaklde clzsdtle vs psxlsdl lzpl dso! Hbsw Ckysikys oyp fwpv y vbkae ryavu, bybyby. Mbyv jkde sq osxyd, Ya. Zyd oswze pwalzu fwpv rzyu yaswde okvb bla yde dsv vyjl bla plakswpzu…

Swyd Dkysikys alhlyzle y hlau xyzknkswp pxkzl yde pyke, “Ckysikys, byhl usw alye vbl xlppytlp kd vbl taswr vblpl rypv qlo eyup?”

Rd yeekvksd vs vbl kdnkeldv sq Hbsw Ckysikys xyjkdt bla jdllz, pbl bye ynnwxwzyvle ps xwnb alpldvxldv vbyv pbl oydvle vs vlya Hbsw Ckysikys yryav. Idsokdt vbyv Hbsw Ckysikys oyp fwpv psxlsdl’p rzyuvbkdt, y vbkae ryavu, yde lhld nywple vbl sqqknkyz tkazqaklde vs byhl y xkpnyaakytl, oyvnbkdt Ya. Zyd’p ydmkswp lmralppksd kd vbl hkels, Hbsw Ckysikys xwpv cl kd y xkplayczl pvyvl dso.

But whether Mr. Yan wanted her or not was his business. Making me kneel is our business.

Ruan Xiaoqiao naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity to kick someone who had fallen into the water. When she saw Zhou Qiaoqiao, she knew that she must be in trouble now, so she immediately spread rumors everywhere. Besides, she didn’t consider it spreading rumors; she was just stating the truth.

After all, people who become third parties have no face left. Was she afraid of what others would say?

Zhou Qiaoqiao looked up at her. She didn’t want to pay her any attention, but hearing Ruan Xiaoqiao’s question, she couldn’t help but ask her in astonishment, “Is that person you?”

Ruan Xiaoqiao: “…” Huh?

Zhou Qiaoqiao turned to Liang Jiamin and said, “Jiamin, have you seen it? Someone in the group is being accused of being a third party?” She glanced at Ruan Xiaoqiao and whispered, “I’ve been trying to guess who it might be!”

Liang Jiamin had muted the group and hadn’t paid attention to it, so she naturally didn’t know. Recently, she had been exchanging messages with her dear brother, so when she heard Zhou Qiaoqiao’s words, she also asked in astonishment, “A third party? Is it Ruan Xiaoqiao?”

Liang Jiamin secretly glanced at her and said, “I could tell she wasn’t a good person back in university.”

The table fell silent for a moment, and Ruan Xiaoqiao angrily stood up and cursed, “What are you all talking about! I don’t even have a boyfriend…”

“Such a pity,” Zhou Qiaoqiao placed her crystal clutch on the table and comforted, “Don’t worry, you’re still young.”

Ruan Xiaoqiao: “…You #%@$%.”

The girl next to Ruan Xiaoqiao giggled and said, “Qiaoqiao, you’re changing the subject, aren’t you? We all heard from Xiaojiao that you became a third party to a wealthy man and even caused his girlfriend to have a miscarriage.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao glanced at the person speaking, recalling that her name was Zhang Lan.

“Zhang Lan, aren’t you talking about yourself?” Zhou Qiaoqiao wondered how she had the audacity to say such things. Didn’t this woman remember when she caused her boyfriend’s girlfriend to have a miscarriage back in their sophomore year?

Zhang Lan’s face darkened instantly. She was the only girlfriend of that boyfriend now. She was still holding onto something that happened several years ago.

Due to that incident, Zhang Lan was given the nickname “c*ckroach” by the female students in their class.

Zhou Qiaoqiao asked Ruan Xiaoqiao, “Did you say I became a third party?”

Ruan Xiaoqiao sneered, “Isn’t it true?”

Liang Jiamin slammed the table and stood up, shouting, “You, Xiaoqiao, do you think we’re still afraid of you? In college, you made your father sabotage Qiaoqiao’s graduation thesis and spread rumors about her all over the school’s online platform.”

Ruan Xiaoqiao looked up and said, “I’m just stating the facts!”

Liang Jiamin was furious but didn’t know how to refute her. The rumors she spread in college were somewhat true and somewhat false. However, when the same incident is recounted by different people, it has different effects, especially when it’s described by the opposing party.

In Ruan Xiaoqiao’s words, Zhou Qiaoqiao was an extremely terrible person who was selfish, unrefined, slovenly, shabby, poor, and lazy. But those who lived with Zhou Qiaoqiao knew how lovely of a girl she actually was.

Seeing Liang Jiamin’s silence, Ruan Xiaoqiao felt triumphant. However, she heard Zhou Qiaoqiao’s cold voice asking her, “Facts? Did you tell everyone about the fact that you knelt down and called me ‘mom’?”

The previously quiet dining table grew even quieter…

Ruan Xiaoqiao: “…”

Everyone stared at them wide-eyed, still trying to comprehend what Zhou Qiaoqiao had just said.

Zhou Qiaoqiao stood up and looked straight at Ruan Xiaoqiao, saying, “You talked bad about me to everyone? Accused me of being a third party? Ruan Xiaoqiao, do you still remember the incident last month when you knelt down in front of my house and begged me?”

“What the f***!”

“What the f***!”

…

Several boys cursed aloud. At this moment, no one cared about the issue of being a third party. They were all wondering why Ruan Xiaoqiao had knelt down in front of Zhou Qiaoqiao. Why? Why didn’t she explain? Let me hold her back!

After this, no one dared to continue discussing the topic of the third party. After all, Zhou Qiaoqiao’s sudden appearance, with her striking outfit that contrasted with her past appearance, surprised everyone. The way she effortlessly dealt with Ruan Xiaoqiao left Ruan Xiaoqiao panting for breath.

Liang Jiamin and Zhou Qiaoqiao whispered to each other, “Shall we leave?”

Zhou Qiaoqiao whispered back, “No, let’s eat a bit more before we go.” Since they had already angered her, they might as well make her pay.

“Exactly, let’s make her pay. She already owes you, so we won’t let it go to waste,” Liang Jiamin said and sat back down, waiting for the dishes.

Zhou Qiaoqiao, with her thick skin, was a sight to behold!

During her university days, due to financial reasons, Zhou Qiaoqiao rarely had the opportunity to hang out with her classmates. This was a regret in her heart. After all, who wouldn’t want to have a good time in college? Who wouldn’t want to be carefree? It seemed like an impossible dream. If given a chance, Zhou Qiaoqiao wanted to fulfill this regret.

Therefore, she approached this gathering with a mindset of peaceful coexistence. She wanted to sit together with her classmates, reminisce about the past, and share some interesting work stories.

Even though she knew she might encounter Ruan Xiaoqiao, who had posted a video of her on the campus network during the latter half of their university years, causing their classmates to ignore her and distance themselves from her.

However, thinking that it had been two years since that incident, and that they were all mature individuals, she decided to pretend she didn’t see Ruan Xiaoqiao. But what she didn’t expect was that it wasn’t just Ruan Xiaoqiao who had changed; all her university classmates were no longer the same as they were back in school.

“Zhou Qiaoqiao, do you have a boyfriend?” another girl asked Zhou Qiaoqiao as they waited for the dishes.

Zhou Qiaoqiao nodded, and the girl seemed quite interested, asking her, “Is he rich?”

Zhou Qiaoqiao pondered for a moment, thinking about Yan Wei’s monthly salary of 120,000 yuan. She replied somewhat hesitantly, “He’s alright, his salary is quite high.”

The person seemed even more intrigued and asked several more questions. Zhou Qiaoqiao realized that she wasn’t suitable to hang out with these classmates anymore, and she wanted to go home.

Not only had her classmates changed, but they had become very hypocritical as well. If they were talking about themselves as the third party in the group chat, wouldn’t that mean they had been speaking ill of themselves these past few days? And they knew she was in the group chat too. Were they talking bad about her right in front of her?

Lost in her thoughts, she heard a knock on the door from outside. Ruan Xiaoqiao said, “Come in,” and a team of waiters entered, carrying dishes one after another.

Zhou Qiaoqiao noticed that the dishes brought in were all beautifully presented. She whispered to Liang Jiamin, “Ruan Xiaoqiao is really generous!”

Liang Jiamin glanced at the continuously laid out dishes, which included a large dish of braised chicken in an iron pot and expensive abalone and pork rib soup. She thought to herself that Ruan Xiaoqiao must have spent tens of thousands for this meal. She is truly generous.

The people around Ruan Xiaoqiao began praising her, saying, “Oh, this Xiaoqiao is different. It won’t be long before she becomes her own boss, right?”

Ruan Xiaoqiao smiled and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? I just made some investments, and things are going well. I’ll probably start making money by the end of the year. It’s different from relying on men like certain people. Us women should be independent and self-reliant.”

As Ruan Xiaoqiao spoke, she glanced at Zhou Qiaoqiao. The few people at the table exchanged glances and then laughed with Ruan Xiaoqiao, saying, “We are not like you. We are just common folks, without as many opportunities. Xiaoqiao, give us some guidance! Let us have a taste of the dream of independence and self-reliance.”

After speaking, they burst into laughter…

Zhou Qiaoqiao and Liang Jiamin both felt a shiver down their spines…

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