"You let me out when you want me out, and send me home when you want me home. Is that how money is used, Lu Mingzhe?"
Lu Mingzhe thought every woman would like to hear "I'll support you."
He was just kindly hoping Xiang Wan wouldn't be so tired and wanted to give her a sense of security.
He never expected to "insult" her.
Alas, he came all this way just to be met with a cold shoulder.
"Did I say something wrong? I just wanted you to go home and rest, and I'd handle everything."
"It was all for your own good, why are you getting angry?"
Xiang Wan's face was cold.
"Earning money gives me a sense of security, earning money allows me to feel my own worth. What does what you give me count for?"
"Can a pretty face last forever? I don't agree with your view. So don't tell me to go home and stay put, listen to you, and give up my job. I don't like hearing that."
She was used to being independent and strong. The thought of suddenly staying at home, living a life of leisure, was something she surely couldn't bear.
Lu Mingzhe reflected and realized he had spoken out of turn.
Seeing that he had upset her, he quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
"What do you mean by 'a pretty face can last forever'? Why are you speaking so harshly? Isn't it natural for a husband to support his wife?"
"Forget it, forget it, I won't say it again. Do whatever you want, I'll support you fully, alright?"
"Are you hungry? I bought you a cake, would you do me the honor of eating some?"
That was more like it.
Xiang Wan sat in the car with him, leaned on his shoulder, and let him feed her bite by bite.
Lu Mingzhe was content.
"This is how it should be. You're pregnant, and the baby is inside you. I don't feel much involved. When I can't help out in normal times, I feel so lost."
"When the time is right, you should also act a little cute, act a little vulnerable, so I have some room to show myself."
Xiang Wan also felt she had overreacted just now and apologized to him.
"Oh, a friend I've known for many years was beaten by her boyfriend last night and kicked out. I've been a bit emotional today, it wasn't directed at you, I'm sorry."
Lu Mingzhe was a little surprised.
In this day and age, men still hit women?
"Your friend couldn't be a fool, could she?"
"Almost. She let that man film those kinds of videos, and now he's blackmailing her with them. I don't know if their breakup will go smoothly."
Lu Mingzhe became even more worried.
"People like that are usually very possessive, the kind of extremists you see in the news who commit impulsive murders."
"I'm telling you, let alone you being pregnant now, if something happens, it'll be two of you. Even if you weren't pregnant, you should stay away from your friend."
"Stay away from trash, cherish life. We can't afford to mess with people like that, you absolutely must not try to be a hero."
Lu Mingzhe's words made Xiang Wan's heart skip a beat. She looked up at him.
"But she's like me, she came from out of town, she has no friends here, and no money. If I don't help her at a time like this..."
"Then give her money, and let her leave with it quickly."
Lu Mingzhe said with a serious expression.
"The most effective way to break up with scum like that is to disappear. Once he finds you, he'll feel betrayed, and the next news report will be about you."
Thinking about those news reports, Xiang Wan felt he had a point.
"Then I'll call her now, before that guy finds her, and tell her to leave quickly."
"Okay, I'll watch you make the call."
As it turned out, when Xiang Wan dialed, the phone was turned off.
Her face instantly changed in fear, and she looked at Lu Mingzhe anxiously.
"It's over, her phone is off. Could something have happened to her?"
"Is this guy so capable that he found her so quickly?"
"Where did you hide her?"
Xiang Wan told him the name of the residential complex.
"What do we do? Should we call the police?"
Lu Mingzhe pondered for a moment.
"Didn't you say she left in a hurry? What if her phone just ran out of battery?"
"Let's not call yet. You and I are public figures, and filing a false police report has serious consequences."
"Then we just stand by and do nothing?"
"How about this. You go up and change your shoes, and I'll go with you to take a look. In broad daylight, under the bright sun, with me here, I don't believe he can do anything."
Xiang Wan quickly went upstairs to change her shoes and grabbed a bottle of makeup remover.
Lu Mingzhe drove, and she sat beside him, removing her makeup.
The two rushed to the residential complex, and seeing that the surroundings were peaceful, with grandmothers leisurely playing with their children, it was as if nothing had happened.
They breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Mingzhe stopped her from going up.
"You wait down here, I'll go up and see. If anything happens..."
"No! You can't get into trouble either! How about this, I'll call the landlord to come over. With more people, we'll have support."
Xiang Wan pretended she lost her key, and the landlord arrived quickly.
The three of them went upstairs together.
As the key went into the lock, before it could be turned, the door opened from the inside.
Mai Wenhui, with a bruised and swollen face, appeared at the door.
"Why was your phone turned off? You scared me, I thought something happened to you!"
"I didn't bring my charger, and I was up all night yesterday. I was so tired, I just fell asleep."
After apologizing to the landlord and seeing him off, they sat together to talk.
Lu Mingzhe offered her 10,000 yuan and told her to go back to her hometown to hide for a while.
Mai Wenhui sobbed again, crying.
"Go back to my hometown? Wanwan, you know, my family is long gone."
"My mother is dead, and my father remarried. It was because she beat me all the time that I left. If I go back looking like this, won't she laugh at me?"
"My education isn't high. If I go back to a place like that, what can I do besides wait tables?"
"Besides, I'm almost thirty and not married yet..."
"I'm not going back!"
"But it's not safe for you like this. Anyone can come up in this complex, and you have no defense at all. If something happens..."
"Then that might be my fate. This is how my life is supposed to be, I accept it."
Mai Wenhui continued to cry.
"Now that it's come to this, I've seen through it. No one in this world truly loves me. If I die, then I die."
She sounded so pitiful.
As one of her few friends, Xiang Wan naturally couldn't just watch her die.
After thinking about it, she said to Lu Mingzhe.
"How about letting her stay at my place for a while? After all, the security in my complex is quite good, and ordinary people can't get in."
"After this period passes, I'll find someone to help her find a job in Hangzhou. The short video industry is developing quite well there, and with her looks, she's sure to find work."
Mai Wenhui's eyes lit up.
"Oh yes, yes, I heard several of our sisters who used to be together went there to become streamers."
"Sigh, it's also my own fault for being too vain. I always thought that finding a good boyfriend meant I didn't need to work hard anymore, so I didn't have the nerve to ask them."
"After these few days pass and my face heals, I'll go find them and ask them to take me in for a few days."
To be honest, Lu Mingzhe quite disliked this woman.
Her looks and voice were gifts from her parents, so he wouldn't comment further.
But her personality and her mind were truly contemptible.
He didn't understand how someone as smart as Xiang Wan could be friends with her.