"How's life in the slums for the high and mighty Miss Tang?"
"You!" Before Meng Zhilian could finish speaking, he saw Meng Wan step forward and grab Sun Lu's collar.
She looked down at Sun Lu, her eyes showing no anger, only calm. Sun Lu, on the other hand, had pupils that trembled unconsciously, her eyes revealing fear and panic.
"What...what do you want to do?"
"You slut, let go of my daughter!" Li Ying struggled while bound, but Meng Zhilian grabbed the rope and pulled her away, ignoring her cursing and showing no intention of letting go. He just frowned and remained silent.
“Sun Lu, without the Tang family identity, I am still me, but without the Sun family identity, are you still you? It’s like comparing heaven and earth… Who is the cloud? Who is the mud? Want to see?”
"You're just relying on having Lanxing backing you up. Do you think you're good enough for Yan Nian now? Forget Yan Nian, do you really think the people in the class will still treat you with the same sincerity as before? Everyone's just putting on an act for their own benefit!"
"Really? You're really pitiful then." Meng Wan looked at her with pity.
Sun Lu, who should have had the upper hand, was unknowingly led astray by Meng Wan. Emotions controlled her, and the outcome was already decided.
"Go back and get a good night's sleep. That's enough for today. You can do whatever you want, as long as you want to remain a well-behaved young lady of the Sun family. Do you understand?"
"What do you want to do? You think you can threaten me with your current status?"
"Threat?" Meng Wan seemed to have heard a joke. "You're not enough for me to threaten you. This is just advice. The Sun family has a big order recently, right? Consider it a small lesson. If you behave, this will end here. If you don't, it won't be just a small lesson."
Sun Lu's face paled. The Sun family had indeed secured a large order recently, and her father was very confident that they would be able to sign it. That's why he had been in a good mood lately and had even given her a large sum of pocket money. If the order fell through...
"You expect me to kneel down and beg you? Don't be ridiculous! Tang Wan, you've lost all your status now, and you still want to use my father's orders to threaten me? Fine, I'll see what else you've got up your sleeve!"
Sun Lu gritted her teeth, as if she wanted to tear a piece of Meng Wan's flesh off. She simply didn't believe that Meng Wan had such abilities, but having been in a subordinate position in front of Meng Wan for so long, she felt inexplicably uneasy.
Meng Wan didn't answer her. Instead, she curled her lips into a smile, appearing calm and collected as if everything was under her control.
"star."
"Hmm?" Lan Xing responded and immediately walked over.
"Throw it out."
Lan Xing's eyes lit up upon hearing this. She took the rope and grabbed Sun Lu by the back of her collar with her other hand, catching Sun Lu off guard.
She struggled, but Lanxing was surprisingly strong. Neither of them could subdue her; instead, they were locked up even tighter by her.
"Oh, right."
As soon as Meng Wan spoke, Lan Xing stopped. Several people turned to look at her, some with doubt, others with hostility.
"Remember, my name is Meng Wan. Don't call me by the wrong name next time we meet." Meng Wan had a friendly and gentle smile, like a girl next door, but the others all seemed to see black wings with feathers floating behind her.
After saying that, Lan Xing pushed the two of them out. Sun Lu and Li Ying staggered a bit before barely regaining their balance, while Lan Xing neatly closed the door, holding a rope in her hand, which she had untied when she pushed Li Ying out.
Having dealt with the two, Lan Xing clapped his hands and casually tossed the rope into a basket nearby.
"I'll reimburse today's expenses; the rest is up to you."
Lan Xing didn't say anything, but clenched his fist and bumped fists with her, their tacit understanding was self-evident.
Apart from a few close friends who knew that Meng Wan had invested in the store, everyone else assumed that it was a practice project given to her by her family so that she could inherit the family fortune in the future.
But Lan Xing can confidently say that this store didn't cost the Lan family a single penny.
It wasn't that the Lan family was unwilling to contribute; it was just that she was strong-willed by nature and simply wanted to prove herself and let them know that she, this spendthrift woman, wasn't someone who could only rely on the Lan family for a living, and that no one could control her.
"We're leaving now."
"Okay, see you when school starts." Lan Xing glanced at Meng Zhilian, who was following behind Meng Wan, and knew that the two siblings had something to talk about, so she didn't linger any longer.
After exchanging greetings, the two siblings left the tavern. Neither of them spoke, and Meng Zhilian simply followed silently beside her with his guitar on his back, his expression somber, lost in thought.
Meng Zhilian stopped only after they left the alley. "Tonight's events were caused by me. As for the money... I will compensate you."
"Want some ice cream?" Meng Wan didn't answer him or wait for his reply before walking into the convenience store across the street. Meng Zhilian's words were stuck in his throat, but he could only obediently follow Meng Wan.
Meng Wan chose her favorite, and at his suggestion, Meng Zhilian also picked a cheap ice cream. Meng Zhilian paid for it willingly, while Meng Wan waited for him outside. Only after seeing Meng Zhilian come out did she continue walking towards home.
Meng Zhilian took long strides and soon caught up with her.
"I'll transfer the money for the ice cream to you later."
Meng Zhilian frowned. "Even if we're poor, we can't afford ice cream. Besides, it's only natural for an older brother to buy ice cream for his younger sister. Why transfer money?"
"Oh, I thought you didn't consider us a family. Sorry." Compared to Meng Zhilian's somewhat abrupt tone, Meng Wan seemed completely unconcerned, as if it were nothing at all.
Meng Zhilian wasn't stupid; he realized that Meng Wan was responding to his initial offer to pay compensation. He pursed his lips, looking somewhat uneasy.
“I’ve never treated you like family. Besides, it was my fault, so why should my sister have to deal with it?” Meng Zhilian tried to reason with her, but Meng Wan was unreasonable and only cared about her mood.
"Then I'll transfer the money to you?" Meng Wan asked innocently, which successfully shut Meng Zhilian up. If Meng Wan transferred the money, the meager kinship between them would probably be severed.
"Ahem." Meng Zhilian coughed, trying to cover his discomfort. "What...what are you doing at the tavern so late at night?"
“My friend told me that she recruited a resident singer, which brought her a lot of customers, and asked me to go and check it out.”
"You and Boss Lan are childhood friends?"
Meng Wan nodded. "So you'll be a resident singer at night now, and what about during the day?"
"I do odd jobs during the day. I heard about the family situation from Zhili. I'm sorry you've had to go through all this trouble."
"I find you guys quite interesting."
Meng Wan's words puzzled Meng Zhilian. He turned his head to look at Meng Wan and saw that her little face was wrinkled and squeezed together by the ice cream, which was so cute that he couldn't help but laugh.
Meng Wan pressed her brow and looked at him, hissing, her eyes filled with displeasure.
Meng Zhilian put his hand to his lips, silently looked away, but couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.
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