When Shangguan Rong saw Li Churan return, he excitedly pulled her over.

She first took off Li Churan's hat and scarf, and then helped him straighten his clothes and hair. It was clear that she knew Li Churan's biggest advantage was his appearance.

"Mom! What are you doing?" Li Churan was completely confused.

"Chu Ran, come over here and explain to Ye Ning. It was all a misunderstanding. You were deceived by Lin Mengru." Shangguan Rong shoved his phone in front of Li Chu Ran.

Upon hearing the name Ye Ning, Li Churan was struck dumb, her eyes widening as if she had been struck by lightning, and she could barely breathe.

He grabbed the phone.

It's Ye Ning, it really is Ye Ning. On the screen, she sits gracefully and calmly in front of the fireplace, the orange flames adding a touch of soft beauty to her.

"It's been a long time, Brother Chu Ran."

Compared to Li Churan's excitement, she appeared quite calm.

"Long time no see, Ye Ning, how have you been?" Li Churan's voice was low.

"As you can see, I'm doing just fine!" Ye Ning shrugged indifferently, then picked up the warm water next to the table.

To be honest, she really had nothing to say to Li Churan. Their past was long gone, and she felt neither love nor hatred for him now.

"You went to that technology lab because you had a premonition that an extreme cold snap was coming."

Li Churan truly lives up to her reputation as a genius with an IQ of 180. Aside from being a bit love-struck, she's quite intelligent in other aspects.

Seeing that she couldn't hide it from him, Ye Ning simply admitted it directly, "That's absolutely right, Brother Chu Ran, you're still so smart."

Seeing that Li Churan had not spoken for a long time, Shangguan Rong quickly reminded him.

"Chu Ran, hurry up and tell Ye Ning that you were lied to by Lin Mengru!"

Seeing that Li Churan didn't react and was just staring blankly at the screen, Shangguan Rongrong couldn't sit still any longer. She rushed into Lin Mengru's room, grabbed her by the collar, and dragged her out.

Poor Lin Mengru hasn't had a proper meal in over ten days. Yesterday, she only had the soup from a bowl of instant noodles. Now she's so hungry she's dizzy and has no strength left to resist.

"Shangguan Rong, what are you doing!" Lin Mengru called out weakly.

In fact, Li Churan provided Lin Mengru with a packet of instant noodles every day, but unfortunately Shangguan Rong had too much prejudice against Lin Mengru and forcibly withheld the noodles, leaving her only the seasoning packet.

"Lin Mengru, quickly tell Ye Ning that you deliberately deceived and seduced Chu Ran before, and it has nothing to do with Chu Ran." Shangguan Rong pushed Lin Mengru to the ground, snatched the phone, and pointed it at Lin Mengru.

Looking at Shangguan Rong's face, she felt both angry and amused.

It takes two to tango, and she vividly remembered Li Churan's confident demeanor back then.

"Ye Ning, what are you explaining? I don't understand."

After this period of suffering (mainly from not having enough to eat),

And then there was the mental anguish during this period (the abandonment by his older brothers and the verbal abuse from Shangguan Rong).

Lin Mengru is now almost in a daze. Her eyes are sunken, her hair is messy, and her cheekbones are prominent. There is no trace of the once charming and innocent girl she used to be.

It took Lin Mengru quite a while to see Ye Ning clearly on the screen.

Looking at Ye Ning's skin, which was as smooth and juicy as a peach, her heart was filled with resentment.

Why? Why has she become like this, while Ye Ning hasn't changed at all? She's well-dressed, has a round face, and possesses an indescribable charm, seemingly transforming in an instant back into the confident and composed young lady she envied.

How could it have turned out like this?

Ye Ning was clearly the loser.

Ye Ning was clearly the one who cried every day and was a hysterical, resentful woman.

How could Ye Ning be so glamorous now?

Aside from having a better family background, what makes Ye Ning better than her? She's naive and clueless about romance. Why does Ye Ning deserve to live a better life than her? Why?!

Lin Mengru, a top expert in female competition, simply couldn't accept that she had lost to Ye Ning, even though Ye Ning had never bothered to compete with her because she was unworthy.

"Ye Ning, you're the one who made me like this!" Lin Mengru roared from her chest.

"Ye Ning, I'm going to kill you and slash your face." Lin Mengru's face was ferocious and twisted, as if she wanted to tear Ye Ning apart through the screen.

Ye Ning looked down at Lin Mengru. This woman had devoted her entire life to depending on men, so her downfall was inevitable.

Upon seeing this, Shangguan Rong quickly kicked Lin Mengru to the ground, then grabbed her hair to expose his face and slapped her twice across the face.

"You bitch! I'll teach you to talk nonsense, you jinx! It's all because of you that our family has become like this!" A glint of malice flashed in Shangguan Rong's eyes. He thought he might as well just beat Lin Mengru to death, so that there would be no obstacle between Chu Ran and Ye Ning.

If Xiao Jingchen knew what Shangguan Rong was thinking, he probably would have stormed over there and shot her with an AK47.

Shangguan Rong spat on Lin Mengru one last time, then grinned and said to Ye Ning on the screen.

"Ye Ning, how about it! Can you forgive us now?"

"Forgive me? Sure!" Ye Ning replied casually.

"Really? When are you going to pick us up and take us to your place?" Shangguan Rong asked hurriedly.

"Bring you over? Sorry, I don't think I promised you that!" Ye Ning said mischievously.

"Didn't you already forgive us?" Shangguan Rong realized at this point that Ye Ning was playing a trick on her.

"Yes! I forgive you, but I didn't agree to let you come over," Ye Ning sneered.

"How could you do this..." Shangguan Rong finally dropped his mask and became furious.

"Alright! Mom! Stop it!" Li Churan finally couldn't take it anymore and ended the farce.

Late at night, Lin Mengru lay in the corner wrapped in a quilt. Her quilt barely moved, and she was as quiet as if she were dead.

In fact, she was not far from death. If things continued like this, she would starve to death sooner or later. That old woman, Shangguan Rong, was really too vicious, cutting back on her food every day.

She wanted to leave, but none of the men who had previously surrounded her, who had treated her like flies to rotten meat, paid any attention to her.

She had nowhere to go.

In her hazy state, she seemed to smell a fragrance, so sweet! Was she dreaming? But it felt so real.