Chapter 45

Yue Tang, Why Do You Always Ignore Me?

“Status?” Hu Ouhua sneered.

Yes.

As a diligent student from a small county, she had struggled relentlessly to reach where she was today. Even so, in front of these high-status individuals, she was nothing more than an insignificant ant.

Anyone could trample on her at will.

But was she afraid?

No.

Those with nothing to lose had nothing to fear.

Because she had nothing, because her fate was like a boulder, she was more fearless than anyone else.

“I don’t care who you are or what kind of great figure you claim to be. I, Hu Ouhua, am just a small-town girl—not even worthy of being crushed by the hands of the truly powerful. Instead, it’s the clowns who can’t wait to put on a show.”

“You—you, who are you calling a clown?” Zhao Minghui clenched her fists.

“Whoever responds is the clown.”

“You—”

Hu Ouhua had no intention of sitting idly by any longer.

She stepped in front of Yang Jiaojiao, noting how she wore a gold earring in her left ear while her right ear was bare. Smiling, she said, “Comrade Yang Jiaojiao, since you suspect that I stole your earring, then call the police. Let them search me personally.”

“But—”

Hu Ouhua abruptly paused.

The onlookers turned their eyes toward her, unsure of what she was about to say.

“You have no concrete evidence that I stole your earring—only suspicion. Therefore, the police should also search everyone you’ve been in contact with, including yourself, to prevent you from framing someone else.”

Hu Ouhua’s gaze swept over the men and women present.

“Yes, she’s right!”

Li Suyun quickly chimed in.

“There are so many people here, so many hands—everyone is a suspect. If there’s going to be a search, it should be fair. Search everyone. Anning and I will fully cooperate with the police.”

“Right. Anning agrees to the search.”

The little rascal Chang Anning waved his fists, his voice loud and fierce.

Unlike their firm stance, the others erupted into chaos.

“Why should we be searched? Why would I want her gold earring?”

“Hah, my house has plenty of those. I can have as many as I want—why would I need to steal?”

“If anyone dares to search me, I’ll fight them!”

“Has Yang Jiaojiao even checked properly? What if she dropped it under her seat?”

Their attitudes changed in an instant.

A body search? How humiliating.

No way in hell!

Yang Jiaojiao widened her eyes, staring at Hu Ouhua as if she were insane.

She hadn’t expected the other woman to be unafraid—to even dare offend so many powerful people. She must be out of her mind.

“You’re crazy,” she snapped.

Hu Ouhua let out a mocking laugh.

“Am I crazy? You should know better than anyone. We come from the same place. Your mother sold me to your brother for money. Your brother teamed up with her to frame me. Every incident is documented at the Public Security Bureau. Oh, and I forgot to tell you—your dear mother and brother also said that if they could sell you for a good price, they could cover his gambling debts…”

A scorched-earth approach?

Mutual destruction?

She was all alone. What did she have to fear?

“You—you shut up!” Yang Jiaojiao panicked.

She was terrified that Hu Ouhua would expose more explosive scandals and bring shame to the Lu family. Frantically, she turned to Gu Wanyu and pleaded, “Mom, maybe we should go back and search again. If I lost it somewhere, wrongly accusing others wouldn’t be right, would it?”

At that moment, a female soldier hurried over, holding up a gold earring. “Excuse me, is this your earring?”

“Ah, yes! Yes, thank you so much—”

Yang Jiaojiao’s face lit up with joy as she repeatedly expressed her gratitude.

Then, Gu Wanyu stepped forward to mediate. “You child, you’re far too careless. Losing something that was on your ear… If you lost it, so be it. You almost falsely accused an innocent person.”

Yang Jiaojiao quickly nodded and lowered her head apologetically. “I’m sorry, I almost wronged everyone.”

Tap, tap, tap.

Lu Yuetang and Shen Fubai approached.

Seeing the man she hadn’t seen in days, Yang Jiaojiao immediately lowered her head shyly and greeted, “Yuetang, you’re here.”

The scene was sickening.

Even Lu Yuetang found it revolting.

His expression was cold as he said, “Comrade Yang Jiaojiao, apologize to her!”

A-apologize?

To whom?

Yang Jiaojiao was dumbfounded, and so were the others.

Wasn’t this woman Lu Yuetang’s fiancée? Shouldn’t he be defending his wife-to-be?

“Yuetang, what do you mean?” Yang Jiaojiao’s voice trembled.

This man said he liked her.

Yet, he had never truly defended her…

It made her heart ache.

“Oh? You were quite arrogant when you were slandering someone. I admit I made mistakes in the past, but that doesn’t mean you get to exploit my family’s weaknesses. At worst, I’ll take full responsibility for everything myself!” Lu Yuetang’s voice was filled with rage.

Hearing this, Gu Wanyu’s face turned pale.

She couldn’t let her son destroy his future just to vent his anger. She quickly scolded Yang Jiaojiao, “I’ve told you before—you were just being too careless and lost your earring. Now, you’ve wrongfully accused Ouhua. How does that make you look? Apologize properly! Otherwise, don’t bother coming home with me. You’re embarrassing us!”

Splat, splat.

Tears streamed down Yang Jiaojiao’s face.

Humiliation, coldness, self-inflicted disgrace, grievance—all surged within her. She could no longer hold back her sobs.

But the situation was against her. She hadn’t even married Lu Yuetang yet…

Facing Hu Ouhua, she bent at the waist and bowed deeply. “I’m sorry. I wrongly accused you. Please forgive me.”

Hu Ouhua cast a glance at Lu Yuetang.

Then, she turned away and said coldly, “Yang Jiaojiao, though we both come from Ning City, remember this—we are not the same. You are you, and I am me. We have nothing to do with each other.”

With that, she took Li Suyun’s hand and walked away.

Lu Yuetang’s fingers, tucked into his pockets, clenched slightly.

If only that incident in Ning City had never happened…

He cast a deep look at Gu Wanyu and muttered, “Don’t push too far. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what I might do.”

Then, without sparing Yang Jiaojiao another glance, he turned on his heel and walked away without hesitation.

The onlookers were bewildered.

Even Zhao Minghui approached, confused. “Jiaojiao, why does Colonel Lu seem to dislike you…”

“Waah—”

Shame, indifference, disgrace, and grievance overwhelmed Yang Jiaojiao. She finally collapsed into tears.

Never in her wildest dreams did she think that the beautiful, dreamlike life she had been enjoying would come to such an abrupt and inexplicable end.

Because of this spectacle, Gu Wanyu lost all interest.

Her heart pounded anxiously. She feared that her son might disregard his future and expose everything, so she decided to act quickly.

Besides, if this dragged on any longer, people in the compound might start assuming her son had a messy personal life, which would cause even bigger trouble.

She took Yang Jiaojiao back to the compound.

As soon as they arrived, the family guards reported in detail about the scandalous incident at the event.

Gu Wanyu felt a chill run down her spine.

She had expected those two idiots to cause trouble, but she hadn’t thought they’d create such a disaster.

Close call.

If Yuetang hadn’t been there, the Lu family’s reputation would’ve been utterly ruined, and he might have lost his entire future.

Those brainless fools.

Just then, Qingfen burst in, crying. She grabbed Gu Wanyu’s arm and wailed, “Dear in-law, you must save my second aunt’s son! Jiaojiao’s only brother! Those people are so cruel! They only know how to bully us—this is clearly an attack on the Lu family!”