After Xie Tao left the police station, Su Linghua and Zheng Wenhong learned the whole story.
When Su Linghua saw that segment of surveillance footage, if it weren’t for Zheng Wenhong’s timely support, she would have been unable to even stand.
Su Linghua almost lost control of her emotions.
Just a little bit, just a tiny bit more… and she would have lost her daughter forever.
Turning around, she heard the father of the girl who almost strangled Xie Tao still asking the police if there was a way to reconcile, she loudly said, “We will never accept a settlement!”
Upon hearing her words, Zhao Yixuan’s father, who was told by the police that they were Xie Tao’s guardians, hurried over, “Please have mercy, my daughter is only seventeen, she can’t go to prison! If she goes to prison, wouldn’t that ruin her whole life?”
By this time, Zhao Yixuan had already been taken away by the police.
Before the trial, she would be detained in jail.
“She almost killed my daughter!”
Anger surged, Su Linghua glared at the middle-aged man before her, tears fell from her reddened eyes, “How dare you still stand here? Want to reconcile? That’s impossible in this lifetime!”
Zheng Wenhong was always excessively calm, even now.
He patted Su Linghua’s shoulder as a form of consolation, then he looked at the middle-aged man, his eyebrows furrowed, his gaze became more solemn, speaking with a very steady tone, also leaving no room for argument, “There’s no need for reconciliation in this matter, if your daughter dares to do such a thing, we will make her pay the price she deserves.”
Zhao Yixuan was accused of intentional harm, sued by the court, and at the same time, Xu Hui in the juvenile detention center confessed to the violence and humiliation she and Zhao Yixuan had inflicted on others before, providing new evidence.
This time, Zhao Yixuan was really going to prison.
When Xie Tao went to see Zhou Xinyue, she encountered Song Shiman in the hospital corridor.
“So, you know Zhou Xinyue.”
Song Shiman had been here many times, but she never dared to step into that ward.
When she saw Xie Tao walk out of the ward, Song Shiman was undoubtedly surprised.
“She is my friend, my best friend,” Xie Tao said.
Standing in front of Xie Tao, she seriously re-evaluated the girl before her. Many images from the past flashed through her mind, and it seemed like she suddenly understood something.
“I… Xie Tao,”
Song Shiman pursed her lips, subconsciously gripping her handbag tighter, “I really didn’t know about the things Xu Hui and Zhao Yixuan did… I only found out about it now.”
Previously, there were many rumors about her, Xu Hui, and Zhao Yixuan.
Song Shiman had never taken them to heart before.
Maybe it was because Xu Hui and Zhao Yixuan were good at pretending, or maybe she thought she was good enough friends with them.
And she believed in friends.
But now, it seems one of them treated her father as an ATM, and the other treated her as an ATM.
Perhaps because of her family, her mother was born a proud heiress, and influenced by her mother, she was accustomed to being arrogant.
She was used to people pleasing her, used to being surrounded by people, but this led her to forget how to treat others as equals.
This was true for others and for those she considered friends.
“So what are you trying to say?”
Xie Tao looked at her steadily, “Do you think you’re innocent?”
“I, I didn’t hit her, I wasn’t involved in any of the things they did…”
Song Shiman said hastily.
“If you really felt at ease with yourself, you wouldn’t be standing here today.”
Xie Tao said, “Isn’t that right, Song Shiman?”
If she truly felt she had nothing to do with the incident, then according to her character, she wouldn’t have appeared in the hospital today, wouldn’t have explained so much to Xie Tao.
As if the fear and unease hidden in her heart were punctured in an instant, Song Shiman’s complexion turned somewhat pale. She moved her lips as if she wanted to argue something but felt like she couldn’t say anything.
“Do you think that aside from physical violence, verbal humiliation doesn’t count as violence?”
Xie Tao stared at her intently, “Song Shiman, do you think why Xinyue would have depression? Why does she have such severe anorexia?”
“It’s because you kept emphasizing in front of her that she was fat, she was ugly, you used all the humiliating words you knew to mock her, insult her, ridicule her… You turned a once bright and happy girl into the self-conscious and sensitive person she is now, do you still think you’re innocent?”
Every word of Xie Tao’s was like a sharp dagger, deeply stabbing into Song Shiman’s heart.
Leaving her no place to hide.
“I, I really never thought things would turn out this way…” Song Shiman’s eyes reddened, and she appeared very panicked.
“Has Zhou Xinyue ever offended you?”
Xie Tao asked her.
Song Shiman shook her head, tears falling down.
“I, I just because of Xu Hui…”
When it came to the reasons for Song Shiman’s targeting of Zhou Xinyue, there were basically those two.
One was because of Xu Hui.
Because the boy Zhou Xinyue liked happened to be the boy Xu Hui was pursuing.
She was merely standing up for her “good friend”.
And the other was because, after knowing that Zhou Xinyue’s parents both worked at the Song Corporation, both being her father’s employees, she couldn’t help but look down on this classmate a bit more.
Facing Xie Tao’s questioning at this moment, Song Shiman couldn’t deny it, because the disdain and sense of superiority that formed in comparison made her prejudiced and dismissive towards Zhou Xinyue from the start.
She never thought that the words she spoke could be like knives cutting into Zhou Xinyue, wounding her.
Harsh words are colder than a winter’s chill.
How much harm can verbal humiliation truly inflict? The former Song Shiman never considered it.
“You can go.”
Xie Tao pointed to the staircase at the end of the corridor, saying.
Song Shiman stood there, crying badly, her teary eyes filled with panic and confusion.
She wanted to apologize to Zhou Xinyue.
But standing here, she felt that she could never step into that hospital room, afraid to face that girl.
Song Shiman knew that she might never receive her forgiveness.
And she must endure the condemnation of her own heart.
Xie Tao didn’t want to say another word to Song Shiman and turned to leave.
Because she injured her knee, Xie Tao couldn’t go to her part-time job for the time being, so she went straight back to the apartment complex she rented.
Around seven in the evening, Xie Tao cooked herself a bowl of vegetable noodles, adding a big spoonful of Aunt Fu’s chili sauce, making her nose sweat a little.
Holding the bowl and taking a sip of the soup, Xie Tao let out a long sigh of relief, and when she looked out the window, her eyes curved slightly, finally adding a smile to her expression.
That night, Xie Tao and Zhou Xinyue hugged each other, and listening to her cry, Xie Tao finally understood the true thoughts in Zhou Xinyue’s heart.
Zhou Xinyue’s parents were always busy, from when she was small to when she grew up, it was always like that.
They had worked at the Song Corporation for so many years, Zhou Xinyue always felt that for her parents, their work was always their number one priority.
Her father, as an assistant, often had to go over with just a call from Song Shiman’s dad, even if it was in the middle of the night.
And her mother, Yan Xiping, in order to get promoted, also tended to treat the office like her home.
“They like this job so much, they’ve worked hard for so many years, it can’t just end because of me, can it?” These were the words Zhou Xinyue said that night.
Losing the job wasn’t just a simple matter. If you add the stain of stealing company secrets, they might never be able to find any job again.
Zhou Xinyue knew that Song Shiman’s father cherished her.
And Xu Hui and Zhao Yixuan were both good friends of Song Shiman. Combined with the various harsh words Song Shiman had directed at her, she had no choice but to believe.
When Zhou Xinyue’s mother, Yan Xiping, found out that Zhou Xinyue was silent because she feared they would lose their jobs, that seemingly strong woman suddenly burst into tears.
The Song’s employment, both her parents resigned from.
They planned to take Zhou Xinyue abroad for treatment.
At the same time, they intended to make up for all the companionship they owed their daughter.
Taking a deep breath, Xie Tao propped her chin and suddenly felt, everything seemed to be getting a little better.
As the sky in front of Xie Tao gradually darkened, the night in another dimension also began to descend slowly.
When Wei Yun had just met the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty — Emperor Qi He, and was passing through the vermilion palace alleys towards the Forbidden City’s main gate, he saw, with the help of the palace lanterns held by the eunuchs beside him, a group of people waiting at the end of the alley.
Surrounded by clusters of palace lanterns, the person in the center, dressed in brocade and wearing a golden crown, was dazzlingly bright.
“Sir, it’s the crown prince,” Wei Jing suddenly said.
Wei Yun paused, not saying a word, just glancing at Wei Jing.
Wei Jing then said to the eunuch, “There’s no need for further escort.”
The eunuch surely recognized the figure in the distance. He immediately bowed to Wei Yun, handed the palace lantern to Wei Jing, took a few steps back, and then turned and left.
When Wei Yun approached Crown Prince Zhao Zhengtan, he bowed slightly, “Your subject, greets Your Highness.”
“Crown Prince, you’ve made me wait.”
As soon as Zhao Zhengtan spoke, his tone was significantly meaningful.
Wei Yun’s expression remained calm and indifferent, “May I know what matters the Crown Prince has?”
“Why pretend with me, Wei Yun!”
Zhao Zhengtan’s sleeves fluttered, a hint of anger appeared on his young and handsome face, “To dare steal from me, you really are audacious!”
“I dare not,” Wei Yun looked up at him, his expression still calm and cold, “Please speak cautiously, Your Highness.”
“You dare not?”
Zhao Zhengtan sneered, taking a few steps forward to stand beside Wei Yun. His voice suddenly dropped very low, almost gnashing his teeth, “The matter of Shao Anhe, you didn’t need to involve yourself.”
“Why, then, concern yourself with this trifling matter?”
Wei Yun, upon hearing this, didn’t reply but instead asked him, “If it’s a trifling matter, then why did Your Highness bother to intervene?”
Zhao Zhengtan’s hand under his sleeve clenched into a fist then suddenly relaxed, he stared steadily at the young nobleman in front of him, whom his father, the emperor, had personally appointed as the Imperial Advisor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the dark light in his eyes weaving into deep shadows.
He never truly saw through this young Imperial Advisor.
For Zhao Zhengtian, whether this matter was trivial or not, he knew all too well.
And the roster had already fallen into Wei Yun’s hands; now, it was too late.
“Wei Yun.”
Zhao Zhengtian, playing with the jade ring on his thumb, laughed in anger, “You really are something…”
Wei Yun was about to say something, but he distinctly felt the copper pendant in his hand under the wide sleeves become scorching hot in an instant.
In just a moment, he was holding a thin letter between his fingers.
By then, Zhao Zhengtian had already bypassed him with his group of people, walking towards the deeper parts of the palace alley.
Clusters of lantern light lingered past him, casting warm hues on his profile under the flickering shadows.
When he got on the carriage, Wei Yun was holding the letter, his brows slightly furrowed.
In recent days, Wei Yun had been receiving dozens of letters every day.
And most of what she wrote was rather mundane.
For example:
“Wei Yun, Wei Yun, it’s raining today!”
“Today I ate two bowls of rice and a plate of braised pork, am I awesome?”
“A little orange cat came to our building today, I fed it butterscotch, it seemed to like it a lot.”
“Dear Wei Yun, I just looked in the mirror, counting the scars on my face, and as I counted, I cried at my ugliness…”
“Did you have breakfast, Wei Yun?”
“What about lunch?”
“And dinner?”
“Perhaps, do you have a habit of eating supper?”
…
Why is she always thinking about eating?
At first, Wei Yun would patiently reply with a word or two, but later he couldn’t be bothered to reply anymore.
But this seemed not to have dampened her enthusiasm.
“Wei Yun, what are you doing?”
This was the content of the letter that had just fallen into his hands while talking with Crown Prince Zhao Zhengtian.
Wei Yun held the letter, his eyes downcast, his expression obscure.
She was in a world completely different from his, something he had known all along.
She seemed like an overly simple young girl.
Wei Yun keenly perceived that perhaps she harbored the very truths he had long sought about the mysterious screens he had occasionally glimpsed since childhood.
After pondering briefly, Wei Yun extended his distinctly jointed fingers and lightly pressed against his brow.
It seemed, then, that he must maintain this enigmatic connection with the loquacious girl.
Xie Tao waited for more than ten minutes without a reply from Wei Yun, so she simply grabbed her phone, went downstairs, and headed to the supermarket outside the community to buy some yogurt.
When she came out of the supermarket, Xie Tao, looking at her phone while drinking yogurt, failed to notice that everything around her seemed engulfed in black fog, turning into blurred shadows, much like an ink painting’s most expressive stroke.
When she looked up, nothing remained before her, not even the streetlights retained their glow.
Only a warm yellow light shimmered from a lantern in front of an ancient house not far away.
???
Xie Tao thought she might be hallucinating.
So, she rubbed her eyes, but when she opened them, the house remained, and everything around vanished, even the road beneath her feet turned into bluestone slabs.
When she cautiously approached the front of that house, she noticed a sign hanging between the ancient brackets.
It bore two gilded words: “Little Tavern.”
The stone lions by the open door looked somewhat sinister in the dim light, sending a chill down Xie Tao’s back.
It wasn’t until a youth in a dark green hoodie emerged from the open door that Xie Tao, upon seeing his face, dropped her yogurt in shock.
Wasn’t he the mysterious youth who appeared suddenly when Zhao Yixuan was choking her?
The youth leaned against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow at her:
“Welcome to the Little Tavern, please come in.”
