Chapter 123: Side Story 11
Shen Shu and Chen Shu met at the Blue View Western Restaurant, choosing a brightly lit private room.
“I initially thought you were only after Xu Jinnan’s money,” Shen Shu said, stirring her coffee slowly, her gaze meeting Chen Shu’s. “If you hadn’t been so impatient, your true motives might have remained hidden.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chen Shu replied, her fingers tightening around the hem of her dress.
“Do you think we’re fools?” Shen Shu asked, her voice soft, but her eyes sharp.
Chen Shu’s gaze hardened. “Fools? If you’re fools, then there are no intelligent people left in this world,” she retorted.
Shen Shu chuckled softly, putting down her spoon. “Have you noticed? You can barely hide your resentment towards me. I can only imagine how much stronger it is towards Xu Jinnan. Chen Shu, you want revenge, but you’re not capable of it.”
“You can’t even hide your hatred. How can you possibly hope to hurt Xu Jinnan? Let alone come between us. You’ve overestimated yourself,” she said, her voice calm and steady, her words a precise, calculated strike, dismantling Chen Shu’s carefully constructed defenses.
Chen Shu’s face paled. She had even gone to Xu Jinnan’s hotel room, but Xu Jinnan hadn’t stayed. The memory of the original Xu Jinnan’s reaction to her presence, years ago, had made her believe she could still manipulate her, that she could still destroy her marriage, that she could make Xu Jinnan suffer the same pain she had endured.
She had been so consumed by her hatred, her resentment, her desire for revenge.
Why should Xu Jinnan be happy, living a life of luxury and love, while Chen Shu struggled, her life a constant reminder of the original Xu Jinnan’s cruelty?
“I know what you’re trying to do. You think this will hurt Xu Jinnan. But you’re wrong,” Shen Shu said, her voice still calm.
“You have so much faith in her? Do you even know what she did to me? Do you know…”
“I have faith in her,” Shen Shu interrupted, taking a sip of coffee, her gaze meeting Chen Shu’s, “and I have faith in myself. She won’t leave me.”
“She’s a monster!” Chen Shu exclaimed.
“And what do you gain by seeking revenge against a monster? Have you even considered the consequences? Your actions will only make your life more difficult, and you might end up with nothing, especially with your mother still in the hospital,” Shen Shu said, her voice gentle, a hint of pity in her eyes.
“My mother… do you know who’s responsible for her condition?” Chen Shu asked, her voice thick with emotion.
Shen Shu’s heart sank, listening as Chen Shu continued, her voice breaking.
“If the Xu family hadn’t forced us to leave North City, our lives wouldn’t be like this.” Her eyes filled with tears. “My parents asked me why I had provoked that child, what I had done to deserve their wrath…”
She chuckled dryly. “What did I do? I want to know what I did! I always thought the Xu family didn’t want their child associating with me, so they forced us to leave. It seemed absurd, but with their power and influence, we had no choice.”
Moving to a new city, starting over, had been incredibly difficult.
Her father had died shortly after, from overwork, and her mother, heartbroken and lost, had spiraled into depression, her life a bleak, empty existence until she met her wife.
“Just when I thought things were finally getting better, Xu Jinnan appeared,” she said, her voice trembling, her fingers clenching into a fist. “I always thought we left North City because of the Xu family, but then I found out it was Xu Jinnan! She hated me! She wanted me gone! And even after we left, she wasn’t satisfied! She found me and… humiliated me! Do you know what she did?!”
Xu Jinnan had used a syringe, pretending to mark her, then had deliberately told her wife that she had been marked, a cruel and calculated act of humiliation.
She had known her wife wouldn’t believe her, but…
Her wife had been disgusted, refusing to listen to her explanations, accusing her of being… dirty, and had asked for a divorce shortly after.
Life had been a struggle after the divorce, her mother’s illness adding to her burden, forcing her to work two jobs to make ends meet.
But at least she had her mother, her only family, her only source of comfort. Then, her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Her last hope had been extinguished.
“Xu Jinnan ruined my life! And she’s living happily ever after with you! Do you know how much I hate her, seeing your faces online, your perfect little life?!”
Shen Shu listened in silence, then said softly, “What she did was cruel, but you know she’s different now. You can’t affect her anymore.”
She paused, then added, “Your mother’s cancer is still in its early stages. There’s still hope for recovery. I’ll help you find the best doctors. Chen Shu, your life isn’t over. Don’t waste it on someone who doesn’t deserve it, someone who will only bring you more pain.”
Tears streamed down Chen Shu’s face. “You know what she’s like, and you’re still with her?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Shen Shu didn’t reply.
“She’s not even an Alpha! She’s lying to you! Did you know that?!” Chen Shu suddenly exclaimed, her voice rising.
Just then, a voice from outside the room said, “Excuse me, sir, this room is reserved.”
Shen Shu paused, then opened the door. It was just a waiter, no one else.
Chen Shu’s outburst had been loud.
She closed the door and returned to her seat, her brow furrowed in thought.
Chen Shu, her emotions still raw, looked at her. “You knew?” she asked, her voice now a hesitant whisper, a subtle probing.
Having known about Xu Jinnan’s past with Chen Shu, it wasn’t surprising she suspected something.
But Shen Shu couldn’t explain; the current Xu Jinnan was different.
She took out a card from her bag and placed it on the table, then stood up. “You can’t change Xu Jinnan, just like the world won’t change for you. So, live for yourself. Don’t waste your life on someone who doesn’t deserve it. You deserve better,” she said, her voice gentle yet firm, then left the room, not knowing if Chen Shu had even heard her, her words lost in her own despair.
Then, she paused at the doorway, remembering something.
“Do you remember what you said to Xu Jinnan when you were children?” she asked, turning back to Chen Shu.
Chen Shu looked up at her.
– She’s scary. She has blood on her hands. Like a monster. I don’t want to talk to her anymore.
– Xu Jinnan is… creepy…
Shen Shu stepped out of the cafe, the cold wind whipping at her face and hair, sending a shiver down her spine.
She hurried to the waiting van, and Tong Jia, handing her the schedule for the day, noticed her distracted expression. “Didn’t go well?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” Shen Shu replied, shaking her head. Chen Shu’s actions had been driven by a momentary lapse in judgment, a desperate need for revenge, but she wasn’t a bad person.
Before coming here, Shen Shu had already arranged for Chen Shu’s mother to be transferred to a better hospital, and she could see a flicker of hope in Chen Shu’s eyes, a resilience that suggested she wouldn’t resort to such drastic measures again.
“Then why do you look so… upset?” Tong Jia asked, typing on her phone.
“It’s nothing,” Shen Shu replied, leaning back in her seat, her gaze fixed on the passing scenery.
After a moment of silence, Chen Shu’s words echoed in her mind –
“I never said those things.”
During lunch, Xu Jinnan visited Shen Shu at the studio, and Shen Shu told her about her meeting with Chen Shu.
Xu Jinnan, placing a peeled shrimp in Shen Shu’s bowl, said, “Chen Shu was only four years old then. Not everyone remembers what they said at that age.”
Shen Shu poked at the food in her bowl, her appetite gone. “What if she really didn’t say those things?” she asked, her voice soft.
Xu Jinnan picked up the shrimp and held it to Shen Shu’s lips. “Open up,” she said gently, then, as Shen Shu’s lips parted slightly, she slipped the shrimp inside, her fingertip brushing against Shen Shu’s lower lip.
“There are no ‘what ifs’,” she said, wiping her hand with a napkin. “Just eat your lunch. You haven’t been eating well lately.”
Shen Shu licked her lips. “It’s fine. Maybe I just have a slight… stomach bug,” she said.
“Tell me if you’re not feeling well, and I’ll take you to the hospital,” Xu Jinnan said.
“I know,” Shen Shu replied. “And stop giving me all the shrimp. Eat some yourself.”
“Okay,” Xu Jinnan said, then they ate in silence, a comfortable quietness, their hands occasionally brushing against each other.
After lunch, Xu Jinnan stayed with Shen Shu for a while, letting her rest in the lounge before returning to the office.
She sat in her car for a few minutes, lost in thought.
She had deliberately changed the subject earlier, not wanting Shen Shu to dwell on the past.
But if Chen Shu hadn’t said those things, if the original Xu Jinnan had simply misheard, or perhaps it had been another child, their voices similar…
Would things have been different? The original Xu Jinnan’s memory had only shown Chen Shu’s back.
She didn’t know.
And there were no “what ifs” in this world.
Twenty-two years ago.
A beautiful spring day.
Four-year-old Xu Jinnan, her wounds from her father’s beating inflamed, had stayed home from kindergarten for two days.
She had been thinking about Xiao Shu, about the look on her face when she had seen the bruises, a look that had made her feel strangely uneasy.
And Xiao Shu had been distant, avoiding her.
Was she scared? Or disgusted? she had wondered.
So, on her first day back at kindergarten, she had decided to give Xiao Shu the gift she had been saving, a beautiful doll she had named “Princess.”
She had arrived late, the morning activities already over, and after searching for Xiao Shu, she had finally found her by the slide, according to one of the teachers.
Xiao Shu, her face buried in her knees, was sitting at the bottom of the slide, talking to two other little girls.
“Xiao Shu, what’s wrong with Xu Jinnan? She hasn’t been here for two days,” one of the girls asked.
Xiao Shu shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied.
“Why are you still playing with her?” the other girl asked. “Didn’t you see…?”
“See what?” someone asked.
“The blood on her hands,” the first girl replied.
“It was scary. Like a ghost. I don’t want to talk to her anymore.”
“Xu Jinnan is… creepy…”
No one noticed the small figure standing behind the slide, turning and walking away.
And just as she left, Xiao Shu stood up, her voice firm. “Don’t say that about her! She’s not scary! She’s nice!” She hadn’t talked to Xu Jinnan after seeing her wounds. Was that why she hadn’t come to school?
She had been waiting for Xu Jinnan, wanting to tell her she had been scared at first, but she wasn’t anymore.
Because Xu Jinnan was her friend.
She shouldn’t be afraid; she should be kind to her.
That’s what her father had always told her.
As the other girls were discussing what to play, she heard a voice call out, “Look! Whose doll is this? It’s so pretty!”
She looked up and saw one of the girls holding a beautiful doll, its skin pale and its hair dark, a sparkling tiara on its head.
