Chapter 36

Ye Yao walked back about ten meters and saw a tall figure standing not far away.

It was Li Cheng.

His gaze was deep and unreadable—she hadn’t expected that he would also come out to watch the “drama.”

She really didn’t know he was such a gossip.

Since they weren’t close, she had no intention of warming up to someone who was giving her the cold shoulder. She treated him like air and walked right past him.

“Tonight’s incident…”

Li Cheng suddenly spoke, forcing Ye Yao to stop even though she didn’t want to.

“You planned it, didn’t you?”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

Ye Yao turned her head and looked up at him, her smile not reaching her eyes.

“You’re overthinking it.”

Her tone was just as certain as his.

“Trapping a girl like this—don’t you feel guilty?”

Ye Yao’s expression instantly darkened.

Listen to him—does he even hear himself?

For more than ten years, she had been bullied by Zhao Qingqing in the compound. And now, Zhao Qingqing had tried to manipulate her again!

In that moment, Li Cheng was immediately classified in her mind as someone she would never associate with.

“Ha! Do you really think that just because you assume something, it makes it the truth?”

Everyone else might suck up to him, but she wouldn’t!

Without waiting for his response, she snorted coldly and left, thinking she was quite dashing.

Li Cheng furrowed his brows deeply. Initially, he hadn’t planned on coming out tonight, but his mother had insisted he check on what was happening.

After all, since they all lived in the same compound, it wouldn’t look good for the Li family to completely ignore an incident.

And then, he had witnessed this absurd drama unfold.

On his way over, he had already asked around and heard that someone had seen Zhao Qingqing sneaking out late at night to meet a man.

No one had bothered to question or verify who first spread the rumor because it was “true.” But now, he was sure that person was Ye Yao.

He had never been close to Zhao Qingqing and had never paid attention to gossip in the compound. The only reason he had spoken to Ye Yao earlier was because of what had happened tonight.

A girl’s reputation was crucial. After tonight, Zhao Qingqing’s name would be completely ruined.

During dinner, his mother had said that Ye Yao was different from what they had initially thought. Now, he could see that she truly was different.

Her schemes ran deep, and her actions were ruthless—definitely not what an 18- or 19-year-old girl should be capable of.

It seemed that her proposal to break off the engagement in six months must have some hidden agenda too!

—-

Zhang Qiufeng stood at the doorway, craning her neck and anxiously looking outside into the courtyard.

Before Ye Yao left earlier, she had repeatedly warned her not to go outside no matter what happened. Zhang Qiufeng had already been worried, and then, moments later, the alley had erupted into chaos.

She had wanted to go check but remembered the serious expression on Ye Yao’s face before leaving. In the end, she held herself back.

Now, more than half an hour had passed, and the alley had long since quieted down, but Ye Yao still hadn’t returned. Zhang Qiufeng was so anxious that her palms were sweating and her vision was spinning.

Just as she grabbed a flashlight and was about to go out to search for her, Ye Yao finally returned, muttering under her breath.

“Stupid man, acting all high and mighty! If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have agreed to the engagement cancellation—just to disgust him for the rest of his life…!”

“Yao Yao! You’re finally back! What on earth happened out there?”

Zhang Qiufeng’s anxious questioning finally pulled Ye Yao back to reality.