Xiao Xiang Jin Li

Two Hundred and Eight: From this day forward, we are strangers to each other.

"Do you... like Yu Wenli?"

Not only Wen Tingxue was shocked, but everyone else also showed surprise.

Only Shang Ziqian frowned, his thoughts complex.

"She..."

He wanted to say a few words for her, but Xie JinYi interrupted him directly, "Yes, I like him very much. So much that I can't do without him.

"Otherwise, why would I have racked my brains to get close to you and target you?

"Everyone in Jiangcheng knows Yu Wenli is unapproachable. If it weren't for you, how could I have gotten his contact information?

"Wen Tingxue, you are so stupid to believe I was sincere with you."

Even she herself felt she had no heart, and only she, this fool, would be good to whoever was good to her.

She wanted to give her heart away, not afraid of it being trampled.

Stupid.

After speaking, Xie JinYi quickly looked away, afraid that even a second more would reveal her true emotions.

Wen Tingxue stared silently at her completely indifferent face, her mind buzzing like an explosion.

Past events flashed through her mind, details she had once been touched or overlooked by, now transformed into invisible sharp blades.

They all pierced her heart, making even breathing an agony.

So, everything was a scheme.

No wonder that bracelet was lost so conveniently, and she appeared... right on time.

She remembered they were discussing calling the police then.

During PE class, she was dragged to the restroom by Yu Yahe and a group of people to record a video.

She had clearly been called away earlier, how could she have found her so quickly?

Now that she thought about it, how could she not have known? She should have known better than anyone.

And she could still act so well!

Wen Tingxue's nose pricked. She remembered the box of White Rabbit candy.

She remembered her squatting in front of her, smiling and saying:

"I wish that whoever eats the first candy will be happy forever, with all their wishes come true..."

She had said it so sincerely, just like when she begged her in the infirmary to let Yu Yahe go.

The two intentions were different.

No wonder when she asked Yu Yahe, "Do you hate me that much?" Yu Yahe had looked at her with a strange expression.

Even in the dark alley outside the school, Yu Yahe, with her eyes bloodshot, said, "It wasn't you who almost lost everything."

"You haven't been in my shoes, how do you know the bitterness in my heart."

It turned out that everything had a trace, she was too stupid, too foolish.

She had been played by her time and time again, never suspecting.

Numbness, shock, and horror felt like an iron shovel, digging into her heart, scoop by scoop.

Only after digging out the feelings that shouldn't have been there, leaving a gaping hole that whistled with wind, did it stop.

Wen Tingxue pushed herself up from the table expressionlessly, her right hand accidentally pressing on the half-eaten cake.

She didn't notice.

Her eyes fixed on Xie JinYi, she asked, "That incident with Wen Bin, did you change your mind halfway through?"

"..."

Xie JinYi was silent for two seconds, her eyes faintly denying, "Of course not. He was timid and cowardly, and backed down on his own.

"I came to you just to clear my name, that's all. Don't overthink it."

Yu Wenli took a wet wipe and was lowing his head to wipe Wen Tingxue's hand. His movements paused upon hearing this.

Shang Ziqian saw her intention, lowered his eyes, thought for a few seconds, and then looked up mockingly.

"No way, you're asking so much, and you still have illusions about her?

"She's just a sophisticated egoist.

"Think about Yu Yahe, who is far away in another country. If it weren't for Xie JinYi, would she have had to leave her homeland?

"Look at me, for six years, I smoothed over countless troubles for her, and yet I was still abandoned by her?

"Wen Tingxue, wake up. She only uses you."

He paused, and Shang Ziqian decided to be more direct, "The reason she's still maintaining a sisterly relationship with you now.

"It's nothing more than that you still have value. Just like Yu Yahe, because she still needs to keep you in the dark.

"So she pays her a monthly sum to keep her mouth shut. Otherwise, why would she bother buying jewelry?"

Paying her...

So she went to the bank that day to transfer money to Yu Yahe?

Heh.

Wen Tingxue recalled her answer that day. Withdrawing money?

Heh heh.

How could she act so well?

Not a single flaw!

No wonder she was played by her so completely.

"Oh right," Shang Ziqian asked abruptly, "Do you remember that black notebook?"

Wen Tingxue nodded hesitantly.

Xie JinYi closed her eyes in silence.

Shang Ziqian said, "Yu Yahe called me a few days ago.

"She asked me to tell you that on the day of the art festival, she deliberately put the notebook on your dressing table."

"Why?" Wen Tingxue looked at Xie JinYi, "What's in it?"

Xie JinYi opened her eyes and smiled maliciously, "Do you want to see it?

"The notebook you personally retrieved from the garbage truck, it's filled with schemes against you."

"Yu Yahe didn't want to harm you, but she couldn't resist my threats, so she wanted you to discover the truth yourself," Xie JinYi raised her hand and played with her long hair.

She smiled flirtatiously yet innocently, "Unfortunately, you didn't open it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been deceived by me for so long."

She covered her mouth with her hair, leaving only her eyes, filled with a mad smile.

Wen Tingxue sat back down on the chair, unable to accept it. Chi Ze Rui reached out to help her.

But as he touched the corner of her clothes, he watched her being carried away by Yu Wenli.

Lin Ling, who was cursing, was pulled away by Fu Shilin, and the private room returned to silence.

Shang Ziqian stood by the table and looked at her deeply, "Why did you have to be so absolute?"

"If I'm not absolute, how can she hate me?" Xie JinYi sat in Wen Tingxue's seat.

She casually picked up a spoon and ate the cake bit by bit.

This was the most delicious part of her birthday cake, which she had deliberately saved for her.

Unfortunately, she only ate two bites.

Shang Ziqian: "..."

Although he came to cause trouble today.

He really didn't expect Xie JinYi to be so crazy.

Seeing that the matter couldn't be hidden, she simply ruined her own birthday party.

She was truly pitiful and detestable.

"Why didn't you tell her the truth?" Shang Ziqian asked, "At least there's still room for reconciliation."

"Truth?"

Xie JinYi elegantly ate the cake, and upon hearing this, she sneered, "What truth? A truth that elicits pity?

"Then I'd rather she hate me. At least, hate will make her remember me forever.

"Moreover, some things, once said and done, can't be taken back."

This was what she had said to Wen Tingxue when she fell out with Yu Yahe.

It was very perfunctory.

However, as things changed, this sentence eventually applied to herself.

Indeed, heaven sees what man does, and no one can escape it.

...

Shang Ziqian quietly watched her finish the cake, "Do you know why I chose today?"

"Hmm? Why?"

Xie JinYi perfunctorily cooperated. Shang Ziqian smiled and asked, "Do you know when my birthday is?"

"I don't know."

Xie JinYi wiped her mouth and stood up, her expression cold.

"I'm in a bad mood. I'm talking to you because you helped me just now.

"If you continue to ask such boring questions, please get lost."

Shang Ziqian still smiled, "Do you know where I spent my twenty-first birthday?"

Xie JinYi walked towards the exit. Shang Ziqian's voice drifted over, "Thanks to you, I spent it in a detention center."

Xie JinYi's steps faltered. Shang Ziqian said, "Of course, that's not the point.

"The point is that you ruined my long-awaited first love and my dwindling passion.

"Xie JinYi, it's not excessive for me to crash your eighteenth birthday party, is it?"

He walked up to her, looked down at her, "But if I had to do it again, I wish I hadn't met you."

After speaking, he slipped the card he had prepared into her pocket.

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand, not a cent more, not a cent less. From now on, we are strangers."