Chapter 98 Innocence
Nan Zhiyi noticed that Zhao Yaqin often smoothed her hair in front of a small mirror, her cheeks flushed, and this continued for several days in a row.
The next day at work, Zhao Yaqin's eyes sparkled, and she occasionally revealed a sweet smile.
Her heart sank.
After get off work, only she and Zhao Yaqin remained in the office.
Nan Zhiyi called out to Zhao Yaqin, who was packing her bag: "Sister Yaqin."
Zhao Yaqin turned around: "Hmm? Zhiyi, is something the matter?"
Nan Zhiyi closed the door, lowered her voice, and stared intently at her: "Have you... been seeing Li Weidong these past two days?"
Zhao Yaqin's face stiffened, then blushed, and she didn't deny it, her voice lowering: "...Mm."
"Are you crazy?! Aren't you afraid of being seen? What if it gets to your mother's ears? Have you thought about the consequences? Your job, your reputation, and Li Weidong's future—you'll all be ruined!" Nan Zhiyi simply couldn't believe it.
Zhao Yaqin bit her lip, but her eyes held a stubborn determination: "It's good to send it back! The deed is done, let's see how they can deny it then! They'll have no choice but to admit it!"
Nan Zhiyi felt dizzy and had to hold onto the corner of the table to steady herself.
She never expected that Zhao Yaqin would have such an idea, betting her mother's warning, her own future and reputation, and even Li Weidong's military career on such a dangerous gamble.
"Yaqin, you...you're so foolish! If someone reports you, it's not just a matter of admitting it or not, it's a matter of your conduct! You're both finished!"
"No way!" Zhao Yaqin retorted eagerly, with an innocent conviction. "Someone's helping us! Xu Nannan...she knows, she's covering for us!"
"Xu Nannan? How can she help?"
"She has a distant cousin who works as a guard at that abandoned old warehouse at the west end of the camp. It's a remote place, and nobody goes there usually. Nan Nan talked to her cousin about it... She said it's absolutely safe there, and she can even keep watch outside for us, and if anyone comes, she'll imitate bird calls to warn them..."
Zhao Yaqin's eyes gleamed. "Zhiyi, Nannan said she can't stand being forced to separate couples, and she'll help in any way she can. Isn't Nannan a good friend? She's really helping me! As long as Weidong and I... have already made it a fait accompli, and both families find out, even if they're unwilling, they can't really just ignore us, right? Then..."
A chill ran up from the soles of Nan Zhiyi's feet.
Xu Nannan! It really is Xu Nannan!
This is hardly helping.
This puts Zhao Yaqin on the edge of a cliff, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.
The so-called "lookout" is probably just a way to more easily gather evidence!
Zhao Yaqin, that silly girl, actually treated the poisonous snake as an accomplice and was even smug about it.
“Sister Yaqin,” Nan Zhiyi gripped the table so tightly her knuckles turned white, “you…you’re absolutely utterly foolish! Xu Nannan, she…”
Zhao Yaqin's excitement faded somewhat, and she seemed a little dismissive, but she still nodded: "I know you mean well... but I know what I'm doing."
She glanced at the darkening sky outside the window, "...I have to go."
Zhao Yaqin's hand was already on the doorknob.
"Wait!" Nan Zhiyi's voice trembled. "Are we going again tonight?"
Zhao Yaqin paused, didn't turn around, and her shoulders tensed.
Nan Zhiyi pressed her for an answer: "Why did you do this? What about Li Weidong? Why didn't he stop you? Did he also abandon his future? Did he go crazy too?"
"My family is pressuring me! My mom is dragging me home for a blind date this Sunday!"
Zhao Yaqin turned to look at her, her eyes red-rimmed, "It's the same with Li Weidong... He... he was forced by me... he didn't refuse..."
Nan Zhiyi felt dizzy and disoriented.
Both of them have gone mad!
All that remained in their eyes was love, and they threw their future, reputation, and the discipline and responsibility that their military uniform represented to the brink of disaster.
"What about Xu Nannan?" She leaned on the table. "What if she reports you? Just the fact that she was 'keeping watch' for you, isn't that enough evidence? It's a matter of conduct, a public reprimand, and expulsion! Li Weidong's military career is over! And you? You'll be utterly disgraced!"
“Nannan won’t!” Zhao Yaqin retorted urgently.
"How do you know she won't?!" Nan Zhiyi's vision blurred. "She's just waiting for you to fall completely into the trap! Waiting for you to make a mistake that you can't get out of! It's a trap, can't you see that?"
…Li Weidong is also an irresponsible person… His conduct is problematic; for men it's a matter of romantic entanglements, but for you… it's utter ruin… Think it through….”
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhao Yaqin exclaimed, both anxious and angry, as if her tail had been stepped on. "Nannan is genuinely helping us! You...you just can't stand to see us doing well!"
She reached out to pull the door open.
Nan Zhiyi was sweating profusely, but she still insisted on calling out to her.
"Sister Yaqin, I feel so dizzy..."
Seeing that her face was pale, Zhao Yaqin's anger subsided, and she quickly came over to support her. "...Zhiyi? Are you alright?"
Nan Zhiyi took a deep breath, her voice weak.
"Sister Yaqin, let me ask you, why is Xu Nannan suddenly so close to you? Were you always this close before?"
Zhao Yaqin was taken aback: "Well... we weren't particularly close before, but gradually..."
"She's slowly gotten to the point where she can arrange rendezvous places for you and Li Weidong, and even 'keep watch'? If she's really your good friend and truly cares about you, doesn't she know what this would mean for you if it were exposed? Ruin! Loss of your job! If she really cared about you, would she give you such a 'bad idea' that pushes you into a fire pit?!"
Zhao Yaqin's face paled slightly, and she looked somewhat bewildered and wavering: "She...she said she couldn't stand seeing couples being separated..."
"Can't stand it?" Nan Zhiyi sneered. "Your way of showing disapproval is to put you on the hot seat of moral issues? And tonight? Was she 'keeping watch' for you again?"
“Tonight… she said she had something to do,” Zhao Yaqin’s voice lowered, tinged with unease.
"But she said it was safe there during this time and I didn't need to worry... She even offered to deliver a message to Li Weidong, asking me to meet him there again tonight..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
"She offered to deliver the message for you? Sister Yaqin, she's probably not 'keeping watch' tonight, she's 'closing the net'!"
"Closing the net? What...do you mean?"
"That day at the club, they were showing a movie. I went out for some fresh air and overheard Xu Nannan telling someone, 'Zhao Yaqin is such a naive girl, so easy to fool, she'll believe anything you say!' She's been watching you make a fool of yourself... treating you like an idiot. If you step into that warehouse tonight, someone will definitely 'coincidentally' catch you two! Then you'll have no way to explain yourself..."
Zhao Yaqin felt as if struck by lightning, and her mind cleared up instantly.
Xu Nannan's contradictory behavior and overly "enthusiastic" promotion... all the suspicious points suddenly connect, pointing to a terrible trap.
She swayed, "Then...then Li Weidong...if he...if he goes..."
"We can't let him go...and we can't let Xu Nannan know that you've already seen through it."
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