Chapter 30: Worthless, Nothing at All

Three days later, the first court hearing for Lin Qingyou and Jiang Zhuocheng’s case took place.

Due to the massive public outcry, the police and court jointly decided to hold a public trial, broadcasting it live nationwide.

This was the first time a rape case was being tried in an open court, exposing everything to the public.

In the past, rape cases were often kept under wraps to protect the female victim from secondary harm. Even if they couldn’t completely hide the case, they would try every possible way to minimize exposure.

But this time, things were different—because it was the victim herself, Lin Qingyou, who insisted on a public trial.

She wanted full transparency.

Back at her apartment, Lin Qingyou found that Yin Hanyu had not returned yet.

At this point, punishing Jiang Zhuocheng was no longer enough to quell Yin Hanyu’s fury.

He wanted to destroy the entire Jiang family.

Late at night, Yin Hanyu stood outside a Jiang family-owned factory.

He glanced at the time, just as he was about to call Lin Qingyou.

Coincidentally, her call came through first.

“Darling, when are you coming back?”

Her crisp voice came through the phone, tinged with drowsiness.

“Are you sleepy?”

“A little bit.”

“Go to sleep then, don’t wait for me. I won’t be coming back tonight.”

“You’re not coming back?” Lin Qingyou frowned. “Will you be in danger?”

“No.”

“Yin Hanyu, you better keep your word. If you dare lie to me, you’re dead.”

Her fierce warning somehow washed away all of Yin Hanyu’s fatigue.

A faint smile appeared on his handsome lips. “Rest well. And don’t look at all that nonsense online.”

Lin Qingyou’s lips curled into an even bigger smile. In bed, she rolled around happily, clutching her phone like a love-struck girl.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you, baby. You don’t have to worry at all—I don’t care what those people say.”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have stirred things up even more.

“Good, then get some rest. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. Mua… mua… mua…”

She blew several kisses through the phone.

Even though they were separated by distance, the man on the other end still felt his heart race, a burning warmth surging within him.

After hanging up, Lin Qingyou was about to go to sleep when the doorbell rang.

She opened the door to find Gu Huai standing there.

The moment he stepped in, she landed a solid kick on him.

“Gu Dog, take this!”

Gu Huai instinctively raised both hands to protect his head—and his handsome face.

“Not the face!” he yelped.

“Hmph.” Lin Qingyou snorted and smacked him on the back of the head. “Do you really think your face is that valuable? If it weren’t for my situation saving your sorry ass, you’d still be getting attacked by the media and the whole internet.”

“Damn…” Gu Huai jumped up in shock. “You didn’t stir up this whole mess just to save me, did you?”

Lin Qingyou rolled her eyes. “Get lost.”

Gu Huai: “…”

He had a strong suspicion—this might really be the case.

Oh god, he had wronged his buddy!

Lin Qingyou smacked him again. “What are you thinking? Where do you get the audacity to think you’re that important?”

Gu Huai: “…”

“Besides, do you really think your little scandal is worth me ruining myself and landing in jail just to save you?”

At worst, his issue was just crazy fans going overboard.

“Then why did you make such a big deal out of it?” Gu Huai asked worriedly. “You’re a girl—your reputation is completely ruined now. This won’t do you any good.”

Seeing the harsh words about her online, he had the urge to crawl through the internet and shut those people up himself.

“What else could I do?” Lin Qingyou sighed. “Take hush money from the Jiang family? Or worse, marry Jiang Zhuocheng?”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“I know you’re worried about me. But the Jiang family is counting on that mindset. They’re certain that I care too much about public opinion and my so-called reputation to fight back. They’re using that to pressure me into giving up.”

Even in a successful rape case, the punishment isn’t that severe. Let alone an attempted one.

If she backed down, Jiang Zhuocheng would be out in no time.

“So I can’t back down. I have to push forward.” She would use public outrage to ensure he faced the harshest consequences.

She also had another reason…

Before she could say it, the doorbell rang again.

Lin Qingyou opened the door—and froze.

Her eyes instantly turned red.

It was Gu Xi.

Back then, because of that incident, Gu Xi had been angry with her and left.

It had been 711 days. Almost two years.

During those two years, she had searched for Gu Xi countless times.

But Gu Xi had always avoided her.

Yet now—Gu Xi had returned.

Had she come back because of the news?

Lin Qingyou’s throat tightened. Just as she was about to speak—

Gu Xi suddenly hugged her tightly.

Lin Qingyou’s tears spilled over. “Xi Xi…”

Gu Xi sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry… Qingyou, I’m so sorry…”

Gu Huai, watching from the side, opened his mouth as if to say something.

But in the end, he chose to remain silent and quietly stepped out.

The two sisters were finally reunited after so long—they would have a lot to talk about.

He was just an extra here.

Gu Huai took the elevator down alone.

Yet, even after stepping outside, he lingered at the apartment complex, unmoving.

His manager, Li Fei, found him like that—standing there, sometimes looking at the ground, sometimes gazing up at the top floor.

His whole body radiated emo energy.

Li Fei felt a pang of sympathy.

“What’s up with you?” He patted Gu Huai’s shoulder. “Didn’t you rush over to see the boss? What, did she kick you out?”

Gu Huai shook his head.

Li Fei was even more confused. “Then what’s wrong?”

Gu Huai said nothing—just got into his car.

But even after getting in, he didn’t drive away.

Instead, he lit a cigarette.

Li Fei was even more puzzled.

Gu Huai hadn’t smoked before.

But in the past two years, he not only picked up smoking but developed a heavy addiction to it.

He’d been caught smoking so many times that he trended for it constantly.

At first, Li Fei tried to stop him. But eventually, he gave up.

The pressure of being a top idol was just too much. If smoking helped him relax, then so be it.

As dawn approached, the lights in Lin Qingyou’s apartment finally went out.

Only then did Gu Huai drive away.

It was obvious—the long-separated sisters had talked all night.

As his car left the complex, Gu Huai glanced back one last time.

Then he scoffed at himself.

Even when he was dating her, he couldn’t get Gu Xi to come back.

But the moment something happened to Qingyou—Gu Xi returned without hesitation.

He finally understood.

To Gu Xi, he was worth nothing.

Nothing at all.