Chapter 10 – Two Big Pieces of Gossip in One Day, the Male Lead Is Pretty Busy

Bai Huanxi, blushing with shame and anger, quickly turned to leave—only to accidentally bump into someone.

And that someone happened to be Huang Xiaodie, the woman she had fought to the death with in her previous life. If it hadn’t been for her father’s life-saving grace toward someone important, she might never have beaten Huang Xiaodie back then.

But in this life, her father’s hands were crippled. How could she possibly compete with her now? Sure enough, the next second came a sharp, ear-piercing curse.

“Are you blind? You bump into someone and don’t even say sorry?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Tears instantly welled up in Bai Huanxi’s eyes and spilled over. The onlookers, eager for drama, immediately began chiming in.

“Oh wow, this girl’s really fierce. Wonder whose family she’s from.”
“Exactly. She already apologized, and you’re still chasing after her. Look at the car she just got out of—it seems like she’s from the compound…”
“Where are her manners…”

The driver quickly stepped forward, ready to shield her. This was someone you definitely couldn’t afford to offend.

Huang Xiaodie was practically exploding with anger. What was this? She was clearly the one who got hurt, but somehow this woman had flipped the script? When had she ever been treated so unfairly?

“Whose family are you from? How can you be so unreasonable? You’re the one who hit me, but somehow it looks like I bullied you?”

“I… I already said sorry. I didn’t say anything else…” Bai Huanxi’s whole body trembled, tears falling like broken pearls, nonstop.

Her ultimate goal was to ruin Huang Xiaodie’s reputation completely, cutting off the Lu family’s interest in her.

If people started saying the future granddaughter-in-law was a rude, overbearing shrew… they wouldn’t want her. She was seizing the opportunity now to prevent this woman from ever latching onto Lu Tingxiao.

“How shameless can you be?” Huang Xiaodie pointed at her and shouted in fury.

“I’m sorry, don’t hit me, I didn’t mean it… wuwu…”

With Bai Huanxi’s dramatic fall to the ground, her pitiful crying, and the crowd’s scolding, Huang Xiaodie was finally pulled into the car by the driver.

And Bai Huanxi had achieved her aim—within minutes, everyone knew the name and background of this supposedly arrogant, bullying girl. Before long, Huang Xiaodie was grounded by her elders.

Of course, Lu Tingxiao had seen the entire farce. This woman really knew how to put on a show.

After being toyed with by that little fox earlier, she turned her claws on the Huang family now. But Huang Xiaodie clearly didn’t have the same skill as that little fox—otherwise, the one crying on the ground would’ve been her.

Bai Huanxi’s mission for the day wasn’t done yet. She wanted to run into Lu Tingxiao, but she still had no idea where he was.

Thinking of all the grievances she’d suffered since waking up in this life, sorrow surged in her heart. Like a madwoman, she sat down in the middle of the street and sobbed uncontrollably.

She just couldn’t figure it out. Things should’ve followed the path of her previous life—so why, before she even made a move, did everything already feel so out of control? Wasn’t this second chance supposed to be given to her? Wasn’t she the heroine?

—

When Xia Wanwan returned to the guesthouse, Xia Yuwei had already been waiting a long time. Seeing her little sister come back, she finally relaxed.

“Where did you go? Why so long?”

“Ran into Bai Huanxi on the way back… she pestered me for a while.”

Xia Yuwei’s face darkened instantly. That second uncle’s family had harmed them so badly… how did Bai Huanxi still have the face to hover around her sister?

“You’re okay, right?”

“Me? What could happen? The one who’s not okay is her!” Xia Wanwan grinned wickedly.

Xia Yuwei was amused by her sister’s tone. She knew exactly what her sister’s combat power was like.

They might have been close to Bai Huanxi in the past, but now it was different—those people were family enemies, and her sister was perfectly clear on that. How could she possibly hold back?

“All the stuff for going to the countryside is almost packed. If we’re missing anything, we can buy it later. Let’s go eat.”

“Let’s go! I want braised pork.”

“Whatever you say.”

The two sisters cheerfully headed to the state-run restaurant, completely undaunted by the difficulties ahead. No matter what obstacles were in their path—well, you can’t fight on an empty stomach, right?

—

Bai Huanxi wandered back to the hospital in a daze. At home, aside from one bed, they didn’t have a single cent. If she starved at home, there was nothing to eat—at least at the hospital she could get a little food.

Just as she reached the ward, she heard her cousin Liu Wenxin’s voice.

“Cousin, where did you go? Did you borrow money from someone?” Liu Wenxin ran up excitedly.

These past few days had been miserable at home—she couldn’t even eat roast duck from Quanjude anymore, because there was no money. If her cousin had cash, she could borrow some to spend.

“Wenxin, I’m so hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”

“No…” Liu Wenxin’s excited little face instantly fell. Clearly there was no money—otherwise, would she be going hungry?

“Then do you have money?”

“No…” Liu Wenxin pouted. If she had money, would she be sticking around like this? She rolled her eyes and turned away.

And just like that, this pair of “plastic sister flowers” instantly split apart.

Bai Huanxi’s eyes darkened again. In the past, Wenxin loved to cling to her—but now, learning she was broke, she didn’t even want to hang out anymore…

Her lips curled in a pale, mocking smile. How had she never noticed before how mercenary this girl was?

“Dad, Mom~ I went to find lots of classmates, but nobody was willing to lend me money. I’m trying to share the family’s burden, but…” Bai Huanxi burst into tears the moment she walked in, face full of grievance.

Bai Yanlang’s heart ached for his daughter. He wanted to reach out and wipe her tears, but realized he no longer had hands, so he could only sigh quietly.

“Xier, this isn’t your fault.”

“Dad, what exactly happened? How did our family end up like this?” Bai Huanxi sobbed, throwing herself at the bedside.

Bai Yanlang was puzzled too. He didn’t know who they had offended. Everything had been arranged perfectly—once Xia Chengzhi went to the countryside, he could take his place. But at the most crucial moment, this disaster struck. Who could hate them so much…

To destroy him like this was basically driving his whole family to a dead end!

“Dad doesn’t know either. It must have been an enemy…”

Liu Simu had already cried herself dry, but she forced herself to stay strong. With not a single coin in the house, she had to go to work.

Since her daughter was here, she spoke up:

“Girl, you’ll stay here at the hospital to take care of your father for now. I’ll start work tomorrow. We have no money at all—we can’t just not work.”

“Alright.”

Bai Yanlang felt deeply moved. From now on, they would have to rely on his wife’s meager salary. He truly felt useless.

For the first time, regret pricked at him. If he hadn’t gotten greedy back then, would things have turned out differently?

He had even driven his older brother away. Now there was no hope left. After all his scheming, who would end up benefiting?

—

Lu Tingxiao stepped through the door with a few sets of children’s clothes and toys, only to be blocked by a little rascal.

“Brother Lu, have you seen the pretty sister?”