Chapter 51
Zhu Yu found the location of the film crew as the person had told her, but she did not find Tan Lingling.
"Zhu Yu? What are you doing here?" Turning around, the person she was looking for was already standing behind her.
Seeing Tan Lingling's wary look, Zhu Yu found it somewhat amusing. "Why are you looking at me like that? Shouldn't I be the one who's wary?"
When Zhu Yu brought up that matter, Tan Lingling lowered her eyes guiltily: "I really did wrong you about that matter, so are you here specifically to see me make a fool of myself?"
Looking at Tan Lingling, who was still dressed in the play but looked disheveled, Zhu Yu felt complicated.
She should have hated her.
"Want to find a place to talk?" Tan Lingling glanced at the film crew who were filming and had no time to pay attention to her.
"Okay, anyway, I'm out of luck."
The two didn't go far, hiding on a deserted rock by the sea. The waves crashed against their feet from time to time, and in the distance, there was a noisy crowd.
"Can you tell me why? You weren't like this before." The two were no longer the same as before, and for safety reasons, Zhu Yu stood behind Tan Lingling.
Tan Lingling's back looked even thinner than before. She couldn't imagine that such a frail girl would willingly become that person's accomplice.
"Does Zhou Ye have some kind of leverage over you? If you had told us from the beginning, we could have worked together to figure something out."
"Think of a way?" Tan Lingling sneered. She was dressed in thin clothes and felt a bit cold from the sea breeze while standing by the sea. She simply squatted down and hugged herself with her arms.
"What can you do? Can you find a way to get my mother out of the ICU, or can you find a way to keep that beast dead in jail?"
Looking down at Tan Lingling, Zhu Yu suddenly noticed that Tan Lingling's eyes held a deep hatred.
Why?
"Your mom? What happened to Auntie?" Zhu Yu still remembered the somewhat weathered-looking auntie who had even diligently made up the beds for several roommates so that they could take better care of Tan Lingling.
Judging from their clothes, they weren't from a very wealthy family, but they still invited them to dinner.
I haven't seen her since the first day of school.
"She brought me to school, and on the way home..." Tan Lingling didn't look at Zhu Yu. At that moment, the sun was gently kissing the horizon, and seagulls were circling in the sky, crying mournfully.
"That person had been drinking and was speeding in the city at 180 miles per hour, hitting a total of 8 people, and in the end he was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve."
Her voice was so soft that the wind lifted the hem of her dress, as if she were telling a story, or as if she were trying to hold on.
"What can you do to help?" Tan Lingling stood up and questioned Zhu Yu. Every time she thought of her mother's passing, she felt heartbroken.
She didn't know who to blame, or who she could blame, so she couldn't help but think about what if—what if her mother hadn't made their beds, hadn't invited them to dinner, but instead had taken her to her dorm and then rushed to catch the bus home.
At that time, his mother was already at home talking to him on the phone, instead of lying on the cold ground letting the rain wash over him.
"But does that mean he'll help you if you do bad things with Zhou Ye?"
"At least he can make that beast get the punishment he deserves!"
"..."
Looking into Tan Lingling's eyes, Zhu Yu didn't know how to describe the feeling in her heart at that moment. She really had no idea what Tan Lingling had gone through, and in the years they had been roommates, Tan Lingling had never revealed a word about it.
Zhu Yu was both angry and helpless. How could you stand here and accuse them of being unable to help when you never even thought of asking them for help?
"So why are you still working for Zhou Ye now? If I'm not mistaken, you've been by his side for quite some time now, haven't you?"
"Zhou Ye... Ha, do you even know what Zhou Ye's last name is?"
"Huh?" The abrupt question left Zhu Yu completely bewildered.
"You actually think I can just leave someone like him whenever I want?"
Zhu Yu disliked Tan Lingling for not seeking help when she encountered problems, but Tan Lingling also disliked Zhu Yu for talking without understanding the situation.
"You're really lucky. You went into his room and came out standing up. Only you could do that. I bet you didn't even see what his room looked like, right?"
Tan Lingling turned around and approached Zhu Yu step by step: "That Shi Ru really cares about you. He's willing to break ties with Zhou Ye just to save you."
"Why is it that you get to meet someone who truly loves you, while I can only crawl around like a dog on that building!"
"There are so many people, and there are plenty of women more beautiful than you, so why did you manage to escape?"
Tan Lingling reached out and tried to touch Zhu Yu's face, but Zhu Yu, who was already on guard, quickly took a few steps back.
They were on the shore, and judging from Tan Lingling's current mental state, Zhu Yu was worried that she might suddenly go crazy and push herself into the sea.
"Calm down." Zhu Yu cautiously kept an arm's length distance from Tan Lingling, but Tan Lingling, who had been deliberately hinted at and had been treated unfairly, was now on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"Heh, you're not afraid of me, are you? You think I'll push you down?"
Amidst Zhu Yu's wary expression, Tan Lingling laughed and left.
Although Tan Lingling was gone, Zhu Yu was still bothered by what she had said, such as "crawling around like a dog" and "of so many people, she was the only one who escaped."
While at the beauty salon, Zhu Yu was almost unconscious, likely due to something being done to her. She only regained some consciousness when Shi Ru found her.
Zhu Yu had no recollection of the hellish place Tan Lingling had described.
"So that's why you insist on walking into the lion's den?"
Shi Ru rejected Zhu Yu's request without hesitation.
"If you just go there like that, who can protect your safety? That's a beast who would even send his own fiancée in there to wreak havoc!"
"So, you know what kind of shady business is going on inside? Then why don't you go find the inspector?!"
"Find the inspector? What do you think Lin Yuanyuan's father, whom you saved last time, does he do? After you did that to Lin Yuanyuan, did the Zhou family, and Zhou Ye, face any consequences?"
"...You mean the Zhou family has more power than a mere department head?"
Shi Ru was amused by her naive idea: "Those above the level of director can't do these things. The Zhou family's business behind the scenes is not that simple."
Zhu Yu was even more puzzled. Why did Shi Ru always seem to know everything, yet he just watched all of this happen and never made any effort to change it?
"Are you questioning me?" It turned out that Zhu Yu had already voiced the question while he was thinking.
"Of course not, I just want to know why."
"Hmm... if I had to give a reason, it would probably be to protect myself. I could have said it the moment I saw it, but what about the evidence? I don't have any."
"The only remaining possibility is that they can't solve the problem, but they can solve the problem of me raising it."
Zhu Yu suddenly realized that she could do things herself, but she couldn't let others do them, because it could really be a matter of life and death.
Zhu Yu nodded thoughtfully, and seeing that she had given up, Shi Ru quickly added a few more words of advice: "You absolutely must not go! Zhou Ye's beauty salon is very complicated, and you might not be able to get out if you're not careful. He has always been eyeing you."
"Okay, I understand."
Although Zhu Yu outwardly agreed, an urgent voice in her heart kept urging her to go and see.
It was as if something terrible would happen if they didn't go there immediately.
The moon was bright and the stars were few. Shi Ru had already gone home from get off work, while Lu Xiaoxiao was still living at school. At this moment, Zhu Yu was the only one in the dormitory, which was a good time to do something that would be stopped by others.
In the past few days, as the chain of evidence has gradually become more complete, most of the members involved in the Loyal Souls System have been mobilized to investigate all the relevant personnel involved in this matter.
Therefore, only three people remained on duty to monitor Zhu Yu's movements within the Loyal Souls System.
Is she going to that beauty salon?
"It seems so."
"On the timeline, this beauty salon is having a party, we can't let Comrade Zhu Yu go there."
A staff member quickly brought up the beauty salon's screen to check.
"Let her go if she wants to. Maybe she'll find some clues that will help the case!"
"It's too dangerous! Comrade Zhu Yu has already sacrificed herself for us once, are we going to let her sacrifice herself again?!"
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, the other quickly spoke up to mediate: "Alright, alright, stop arguing. Comrade Zhu Yu certainly wouldn't suddenly decide to go and take such a risk. Maybe she remembered some crucial evidence."
"That's right!"
"Even so, are we just going to stand by and watch her die again? Yesterday at the meeting, we all voted to let Comrade Zhu Yu experience a different life in the system!"
"Experience is not about not experiencing. But experiencing a new life does not mean completely abandoning old habits."
"Yeah, and besides, if we're worried about her getting hurt, we can just clear all the data in the beauty salon."
That's a good idea. The group exchanged glances, then turned around and began to perform their respective duties.
When Zhu Yu arrived at the beauty salon, she noticed that although the main door was closed, the windows next to it were not.
I carefully climbed through the window and went inside. The whole building looked pitch black, but the elevator was working perfectly fine.
Everything here is eerie.
Zhu Yu was too scared to take the elevator and groped around in the dark for a long time before finally finding the emergency exit door.
"Pat-pat, pat-pat, pat-pat."
Even though Zhu Yu tried to walk quietly, the sound of her shoes hitting the concrete floor in the empty and silent stairwell was still deafening.
Zhu Yu dared not stop, holding her breath as she walked up to the 4th floor. She had learned from her conversation with Tan Lingling that the beauty salon's normal operating area was only the 1st to 4th floors, and the 5th floor and above was a completely different world.
Where is the entrance?
Zhu Yu couldn't find the light switch and regretted not being prepared enough, but in order not to attract attention, she had to act as if she had never existed.
After carefully searching the entire fourth floor, Zhu Yu still couldn't find the entrance to the fifth floor.
Which way should we go?
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