Chapter 50.1

Ruan Mingfu turned her head.

She saw a shadow standing behind them, silhouetted against the moonlight, making it hard to discern their expression.

In the middle of the night, such a sudden appearance was unsettling, making one think of supernatural events.

The cool breeze made the scene even eerier.

Ruan Mingfu’s hair stood on end.

At this moment, she no longer cared about her disdain for Xie Yanzhao and tightly clung to him.

“Who… who are you?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the resentment from the figure almost materialize.

It was more terrifying than anything she had encountered.

Ruan Mingfu couldn’t help but shiver.

Xie Yanzhao, holding her small frame, gently patted her back. He moved forward to see who had arrived.

Before he could approach, he heard the figure speak slowly.

“…Ungrateful woman, I knew you never truly cared about me.”

This complaining and weeping voice, every word of it was an accusation against her.

Ruan Mingfu didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt guilty.

“I—I don’t know you?”

She had just arrived in this world. How could she know the ghosts of this world? If someone needed to be found, it should be the original owner. She was too timid to be bothered.

Wuwuwu…

She was scared and wanted to cry…

Hearing this, the person grew even angrier.

“You shameless woman, how dare you say you don’t know me!!!”

“What? You really don’t recognize me?!?!”

“Say it again, and even as a ghost, I won’t let you go!!!”

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

This crazy scene was so familiar.

It was settled—it was that great villain Gu Yilin.

As Xie Yanzhao approached, the person’s face was fully revealed.

Gu Yilin had a long face, filled with grievance and fury.

“Damn it! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you, and you dare say you don’t recognize me?!” She rolled up her sleeves, looking like she wanted to bite off a piece of Ruan Mingfu’s flesh, “I’m going to strangle you, heartless woman.”

Xie Yanzhao: “…”

He felt that something about her words wasn’t quite right but couldn’t pinpoint what was off.

Ruan Mingfu saw her and looked pleasantly surprised, “How did you get here?”

The so-called “plastic friend” had come quietly without a word.

Mentioning this matter made Gu Yilin’s resentment rise again.

Xie Yanzhao cleared his throat, interrupting the two, “It’s getting late. Let’s go inside and talk slowly.”

Inside the house.

Gu Yilin was holding Wangcai, petting it from head to tail. While she petted it, her face remained fierce.

“Damn it! Do you know how long I waited outside for you?!”

The more she spoke, the angrier she got, and she pet Wangcai again with increased force.

Wangcai’s eyes grew vacant, and the dog lay on the carpet looking despondent.

Ruan Mingfu swallowed.

She genuinely felt guilty this time.

But then, Ruan Mingfu straightened up again, “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming? If I had known, I wouldn’t have let things turn out like this.”

The more she spoke, the more reasonable she felt.

Ruan Mingfu was confident.

Gu Yilin: “…”

She glanced at Xie Yanzhao beside her.

If her plastic friend’s man wasn’t sitting right there, she would’ve definitely given Ruan Mingfu a piece of her mind!

“Bring it up again, and I’ll get angry!”

Fine then~

“Aren’t you hungry?” Although her plastic friend was a bit dim-witted, Ruan Mingfu felt she should be accommodating, “Do you want me to cook you a bowl of noodles?”

Gu Yilin had only eaten a can of food that day.

At Xu Zhu’s house, she had only drunk a glass of water to maintain appearances.

She was truly hungry now.

She pursed her lips, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Would her plastic friend think she was a glutton? Besides, she didn’t come over just for a bowl of noodles. Gu Yilin swallowed and said firmly.

“Yes!”

Ruan Mingfu patted Xie Yanzhao’s hand.

He resignedly stood up, not forgetting to ask Gu Yilin, “Do you want scallions and garlic?”

Ruan Mingfu didn’t eat ginger, so they didn’t keep any at home. Even when eating out, Xie Yanzhao would help her pick out the ginger.

“Yes,” Gu Yilin didn’t treat herself as an outsider at all, “and make it spicy and hot!”

Seeing Xie Yanzhao leave, Gu Yilin’s eyes sparkled.

“Sister, you’re amazing, so good at training men.”

Hearing this, Ruan Mingfu couldn’t help but shiver.

She was about to brag in front of her plastic friend but suddenly remembered what had happened during the day. Instantly, her enthusiasm deflated, and she swallowed her bragging words, replacing them with a serious demeanor and waving her hand.

“It’s nothing much. He’s been doing it since we got married.”

Gu Yilin: “…”

Damn!

She was tricked by her plastic friend.

Gu Yilin was not one to admit defeat easily.

She decided she needed to find a man like Xie Yanzhao. Not only would he cook, but he would also have to give her foot massages.

Then she would casually mention it like this, making her plastic friend envious.

Gu Yilin hugged the dog and silently gritted her teeth.

Damn it!

Ruan Mingfu poured her a cup of tea.

Her family wasn’t short of vegetables now. Just the ones sent by a few tea factories could last until the next year.

“Speak,” Gu Yilin gulped down a sip of tea, putting on an accusatory expression, “Where exactly did you go today?”

Making her wait so long?

If her plastic friend didn’t give her a satisfactory answer, she would make her understand why flowers are so red.

Xie Yanzhao was in the kitchen, and now there was no one to save her!

Ruan Mingfu recounted the events of the past few days, and Gu Yilin’s expression immediately turned excited, followed by some frustration.

“Such interesting things happened.”

Damn, she missed it.

She should have come a few days earlier, it’s all her mother’s fault!

Since returning to Haicheng City, she didn’t know what had gotten into her mother. Especially after learning about Ruan Mingfu’s marriage, her mother had become even more frantic.

In just three days, her mother had arranged for her to meet over a dozen men, almost making her sick of it. By now, she had a physiological aversion to men. Later, Gu Yilin took advantage of her mother’s inattention and, with her father’s cover, packed up and ran away.

“There’s always next year if you missed this time.”

The fair was held twice a year, so it wasn’t going away.

“You said you received a certificate,” Gu Yilin’s eyes lit up, urging, “Let me see it quickly.”

She wanted to see what the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was like.

It’s not something that can’t be seen. So, Ruan Mingfu took out a piece of red paper from her bag.

Nowadays, award certificates look like this—just a single sheet of red paper. It’s handwritten with the recipient’s name and the date they received the award. Below it is a line of small print detailing her contributions at the Shanghai International Fair.

It is much more humane than the cold medals and trophies of later generations.

Gu Yilin looked at the writing with wide eyes, reaching out to touch each character.

It’s over…

With this thing in her possession, how could she possibly look down on Ruan Mingfu or hold her head high?

Damn!

Was she doomed to be overshadowed by Ruan Mingfu?

Gu Yilin’s face fell.

Just thinking about it was frustrating.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ruan Mingfu was puzzled by how someone could look so distressed over an award.

She found it a bit speechless.

It seemed her plastic friend’s brain really wasn’t functioning properly.

“It’s nothing,” Gu Yilin shook her head and handed back the award, “By the way, did you receive the things I sent you?”

“I did.”

Gu Yilin: “…???”

Something didn’t add up.

Since she received Gu Yilin’s things, why wasn’t she angry? Why wasn’t she cursing her out?

After all, she had mocked Ruan Mingfu mercilessly.

“Do I have something on my face?”

Ruan Mingfu put the award away and noticed Gu Yilin staring at her strangely, prompting her to touch her own face.

Gu Yilin: “…It’s nothing.”

Her plastic friend was so clueless!

Even when she was practically waving it in her face, she didn’t react?

Could it be that her mind was entirely occupied with men, blocking out everything else?

Tsk tsk tsk, she really was a love-struck fool.

Gu Yilin shook her head and began to survey the entire room.

The walls were painted white, making the space feel open and less cramped. The floor was covered with a soft carpet, and she was sitting on a sofa…

Damn it!

Her plastic friend was living better than she was.

Gu Yilin gritted her teeth.

Damn, outdone once again.

As she was inspecting the room, Xie Yanzhao brought over the noodles.

The noodles were ordinary dried noodles, plain and white. There was an egg on top, and a couple of blanched baby bok choy beside it. The noodles were sprinkled with finely chopped green onions. Gu Yilin eagerly took a bite.

“Ah—”

“It’s so hot, so hot!”

Ruan Mingfu was speechless. How could someone, so grown up, burn themselves eating noodles?

“Slow down, it’s all yours, no one’s going to take it from you.”

Xie Yanzhao stood up, “You two chat, I’ll go back inside.”

A good man knows to give his wife space.

Ruan Mingfu was moved to tears.

Her husband was so understanding. If it weren’t for Gu Yilin being there, she would have kissed him.

“I’ve also boiled some water. You can just go and wash up.”

Listen to that!

So thoughtful…

“I understand,” Ruan Mingfu reached out and couldn’t help but pat his hand, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Feeling the softness of her touch, Xie Yanzhao’s gaze deepened. He gave Ruan Mingfu a meaningful look before returning to the room.

Meanwhile, Gu Yilin: “…”

What’s going on? She wasn’t even full yet and already felt stuffed.

Looking at her plastic friend…

Gu Yilin shook her head.

She was definitely a love-struck fool!

In the end, Gu Yilin not only finished the noodles but also drank up all the soup.

She patted her belly in satisfaction.

She had to admit, even though her plastic friend was a love-struck fool, she had an unexpectedly good eye for men. Gu Yilin thought that in the future, she’d have to bring her own partner over for Ruan Mingfu to evaluate.

For the next few days, she planned to stay at her plastic friend’s place.

She would secretly learn her methods for managing men.

By then, she’d personally train her own partner and see if she couldn’t surpass Ruan Mingfu!

Having figured it out, Gu Yilin felt a sense of ease and found her plastic friend’s face more pleasing to the eye.

Soon, she’d be flaunting in front of her plastic friend every day.

She’d make her so angry!

Gu Yilin thought she was being extremely clever for coming up with such a brilliant plan.

With her stomach full, she remembered something else.

She pulled out a newspaper from her bag, pointed at a familiar article, and squinted at Ruan Mingfu, “This article, you didn’t write it, did you?”

It detailed the grievances between the Lu family and the Ruan family.

Especially the part where the Lu family’s second sons misbehaved and bullied the orphaned Ruan girl, which stirred up considerable public outrage.

Even though the article used pseudonyms, thanks to the Lu family’s second daughter-in-law, Zhu Jing, everyone in Haicheng now knew about the Lu-Ruan family feud. Once the article came out, the Lu family’s reputation was in tatters, and the Ruan family had successfully cleared their name.

That’s the power of the written word.

Zhu Jing’s slander meant nothing.

Ruan Mingfu made her understand the power of public opinion.

Now, Father Lu and Li Yuxiang didn’t even dare leave the house. Every day, people came by to smash their vegetable leaves, and their lives were filled with misery.

When Gu Yilin heard this, she was so delighted that she ate three large bowls of rice.

That’s what’s called retribution!

Especially for Zhu Jing.

After finding out it was her doing, Li Yuxiang slapped her twice as soon as she got off the train. Even Father Lu wasn’t treating her well.

Since Lu Yan was put away…

Zhu Jing wanted a divorce, but Li Yuxiang made it clear that unless she died, she wouldn’t leave the Lu family alive.

Every day, Li Yuxiang tormented Zhu Jing, either hitting or scolding her. Zhu Jing wanted to run, but in this era, one couldn’t move without a letter of introduction. Her maternal family was just an ordinary household, without the means to oppose the Lu family.

No matter how tough or exhausting it gets, she can only endure it.

Hearing about the Lu family’s miserable situation, Ruan Mingfu felt a sense of relief.

It’s not right for the good to be wronged while the ungrateful ones continue to enjoy their good fortune.

The two chatted a little longer, and as the night grew darker, Ruan Mingfu pointed to the guest room that had already been tidied up. “You can stay in this room.”

Knowing Ruan Mingfu’s arrangements, Xie Yanzhao placed Gu Yilin’s things directly into that room.

“Got it.”

Gu Yilin took out a large bag and said, “This is for you.”

“For me?”

Ruan Mingfu was a bit surprised, but she was quite pleased.

Her “plastic friend” was quite thoughtful, even bringing her something.

Ruan Mingfu opened the bag and found a mix of items, including a stack of soft cloths similar to the ones used for baby diapers.

She would never forget her feelings when Xie Yanzhao had told her these were baby diapers.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

It’s well-packed, but no need to bring this next time.