Chapter 58: Is her weakness a weakness or a source of comfort...?
Yu Kui showed no intention of approaching to talk to them, and simply asked the sales assistant to wrap the gift before leaving.
"Yu Kui?" A slightly surprised voice came from behind.
Yu Kui slowly turned around, and Tao Jiang was walking towards her, asking familiarly, "Haven't you gone to school yet?"
Yu Kui was surprised that she would greet her, and nodded lightly, "I'm leaving soon."
Seeing that she was carrying the same shopping bag as her, Tao Jiang smiled slightly. "You use this brand too? I use it often, and I quite like it..."
"I bought it for a friend." Before she could finish speaking, Yu Kui interrupted her.
Tao Jiang's expression stiffened slightly. "Really? Is it for Sun Shuya?"
Yu Kui did not deny it, "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
She and Tao Jiang had long since lost contact, and her words now puzzled and even made Yu Kui wary.
"I just wanted to talk to you," Tao Jiang said instinctively as she saw her about to leave. "I won't hurt you."
Yu Kui: "You didn't say that last year at the cake shop."
At that time, she and Qin You were inseparable. He looked at her as if she were a fool. She couldn't believe that she was so forgetful.
"I was too young and impulsive back then, don't blame me," Tao Jiang said, finding an excuse with ease.
“It has nothing to do with me,” Yu Kui said, having no intention of arguing with her. “Let’s leave it at that.”
After saying that, she turned and left.
"Yu Kui!" Tao Jiang caught up with him. "Qin You and I broke up, did you know?"
Yu Kui kept walking, as if she couldn't hear her voice.
"You can go back to Qin You now, he will accept you, and I can wish you both well."
Upon hearing this, Yu Kui paused, turned around, and looked into her eyes. "What do you take me for? A trash can for picking up trash?"
Tao Jiang was taken aback for a moment, "That's not what I meant..."
“Even your high school classmates know why you broke up with Qin You, so you don’t need to pretend to be magnanimous in front of me,” Yu Kui said, not giving her any face. “You don’t think I’m still as naive as before, do you?”
If Tao Jiang hadn't said those things, Yu Kui wouldn't have wanted to argue with her, but since she wanted to disgust her, why should she give in to her?
“Your affair with Qin You has never had anything to do with me. If you want to reconcile with him, you don’t need to test me. I’m not that unreasonable.”
"You!" Zhou Xiao mocked her, but she didn't expect Yu Kui to dare to laugh at her too. Tao Jiang's chest heaved with anger, and her eyes instantly turned gloomy.
The reason she stopped Yu Kui was not to reminisce or to set her up with Qin You. It was simply because Tao Jiang was feeling uncomfortable and wanted to vent her anger on someone. The moment she turned around and saw Yu Kui, she stopped her without thinking, wanting to use Qin You to provoke her and prove that she still had the upper hand and could control Yu Kui's emotions as easily as stepping on an ant.
To everyone's surprise, Yu Kui dared to contradict her.
"I just feel sorry for you," Tao Jiang said, suppressing her anger and feigning composure. "I know you still like Qin You. For the sake of our past friendship, I'm willing to give Qin You back to you. Don't you think that's a good thing?"
Yu Kui was amused by her words, "Give it to me? The news about him and your lover fighting at the hot pot restaurant has even made the news. Do you want me to find it and show it to you? Or should I call Qin You now and hear what he has to say?"
Tao Jiang's expression changed slightly, but she pretended to be calm and said, "He and I are in the past. You don't need to use this to make fun of me."
“On the contrary,” Tao Jiang said meaningfully, “now that Qin You and I have broken up, your opportunity has come, hasn’t it? You don’t need to pretend to be indifferent in front of me.”
"Is that so?" Yu Kui said unhurriedly, "It seems you already know that Qin You took the initiative to contact me, begging me to give him a chance."
"What did you say?" Tao Jiang's eyes widened, unable to believe what she had just heard.
"You didn't know?" Yu Kui feigned surprise. "I thought you knew about his choice. He never mentioned it to you, only saying that he regretted everything he had done and that if he could do it all over again, he would definitely study hard and get into his ideal university."
Tao Jiang was so angry that her hands were trembling.
If she had only called out to Yu Kui to seek attention and embarrass her, she felt deeply offended when she heard her ex-boyfriend say those words to Yu Kui.
Qin You was easier to control than Zhou Xiao, and his feelings for her were more focused than Zhou Xiao's. Even after the incident at the hot pot restaurant, she was certain that Qin You would not change his mind. She believed that as long as she turned back and coaxed him, he would come back to her. Therefore, when making a choice, she prioritized Zhou Xiao.
But she didn't expect that less than a month later, Qin You would come back to Yu Kui. Where did he place her? Who gave him the confidence to do these things?
Tao Jiang's eyes flickered uncertainly, and the cold light in them seemed to want to kill Yu Kui.
"He's only saying these things to you because he's angry with me. How could he possibly be with you?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Kui realized that she hadn't truly let go of Qin You; her feigned magnanimity was merely a ploy to provoke her.
"Didn't you say you'd give him to me?"
Tao Jiang pursed her lips, looking at her calm, even mocking eyes, as if she had returned to the scene where Zhou Xiao had wantonly belittled her.
But what is Yu Kui?
She was her defeated foe from her student days, a stepping stone she could easily manipulate. What right did she have to provoke her?
"Even if I gave it to you, would you dare take it?" Tao Jiang finally dropped the pretense and said with a cold laugh, "I could snatch him away before, and I can do it again. Do you think you can keep him?"
“Tao Jiang, do you still think you’re in high school?” Yu Kui was almost amused by her. “Do you think you’re the most popular person in school, and everyone likes you and indulges you? You’re an adult now, no one will continue to spoil you.”
Before she could finish speaking, Yu Kui left the mall, completely ignoring her.
"What right do you have to judge me?" Seeing her walking further and further away, Tao Jiang chased after her and said bitterly, "Do you know how much Qin You has done for me? As long as I'm here, you will never be with him!"
The streets were bustling with people in early spring. Tao Jiang seemed to have forgotten her usual reserve, becoming somewhat hysterical. "From the first time we met, he liked me. He refused to tutor you for my sake. On the surface, we were all friends, but privately he chatted with me all day long. Even though he knew you weren't feeling well, he still made you take my place in the long-distance race. He bought me luxury jewelry, took me to eat all sorts of good food, and watching you being played like a dog made us feel extremely happy..."
As she chattered on and on, smugly recounting what had happened, Yu Kui remained expressionless, simply gazing quietly into Tao Jiang's eyes. Watching her reminisce about the past as if that would give her the confidence to crush her, Yu Kui sighed softly.
“I know,” she said. “I’ve known all along.”
Tao Jiang's body stiffened.
Yu Kui said, "I know he fell in love with you at first sight, I know you two secretly contacted each other by phone, and I know that you didn't have your period on the day you ran the long distance for me. You lied to me and made me look like you had defeated me."
"How do you know?" Tao Jiang asked, somewhat surprised. "Did Qin You tell you?"
“No,” Yu Kui said, “What you and he did is none of your business to tell me, but you have no secrets from me.”
Yu Kui thought to herself, Tao Jiang has an arrogant and condescending attitude, but so does she. If she wanted to take revenge on her, she could make her die countless times just by relying on the plot of the novel.
"You still want to lie to me?" Tao Jiang sneered. "Even if Qin You told you, so what? He's been on my side from the beginning."
“Tao Jiang, I actually know what your family of origin is like,” Yu Kui said calmly. “I also know what kind of person you are. You don’t need to pretend in front of me. The reason I don’t expose you is because I feel sorry for you.”
"Your family of origin?" Tao Jiang's pupils contracted sharply for a moment. She had hidden it so well. "You couldn't possibly know!"
Yu Kui slowly uttered two words: "Mistress".
Tao Jiang froze on the spot, unable to believe what she had just heard, her eyes filled with extreme fear.
“Don’t bother me anymore,” Yu Kui continued. “Your affair with Qin You has nothing to do with me. I won’t get involved, and I won’t develop any relationship with him. Just stay far away from me, or I don’t know what I might do.”
After saying that, she turned and left.
"How do you know?" Tao Jiang snapped out of her daze, her earlier arrogance completely gone. "There's no way you could know this..."
“I have my own methods,” Yu Kui said coldly. “Don’t treat everyone like fools.”
Tao Jiang stood there, her mind replaying only the two words Yu Kui had said, and she felt like she was about to collapse.
"Impossible..." How could the person she hated most know about her family? "This is impossible..."
However, Yu Kui did not continue to explain and soon disappeared into the vast crowd.
Actually, when Yu Kui mentioned Tao Jiang's family background, she felt that she had gone too far. She shouldn't have used this to attack Tao Jiang. But the moment she said it, seeing the look of surprise and fear in Tao Jiang's eyes, she felt a sense of relief.
She is no longer the kind and beautiful little girl she once was; her heart contains both sunshine and dark corners.
If Tao Jiang wants to continue to belittle and bully her by calling her "Qin You," then she will not leave her any dignity.
Doesn't she love the feeling of being the center of attention? She can grant her wish and make her completely famous.
The only thing that makes me feel sorry for Tao Jiang is that the plot of the novel has changed, and everyone has the opportunity to make choices, but she is still stuck in the same place.
Is her family of origin her Achilles' heel, or simply a comfort zone she's unwilling to step out of?
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