"You little bitch! I'm going to kill you today!"
She couldn't hold back any longer and charged straight at Lu Wanyin, swinging her handbag hard at Lu Wanyin's head.
The handbag hit Lu Wanyin in the face, and the teddy bear headpiece she had been holding fell to the ground.
Jiang Huai swiftly kicked Wang Meng away and shielded Lu Wanyin behind him.
"Wang Meng, I've seen shameless people, but you are on another level. Turns out, you and your best friend really are two of a kind."
"Jiang Huai! You dare hit me! You're trash! Just wait! I'll have Ning Ning come over and settle the score with you!"
"Settle the score? Fine, we'll settle it, but her score can wait. Let's settle ours first!"
With that, Jiang Huai grabbed Wang Meng by the collar and yanked her up.
What Wang Meng didn't expect was that Jiang Huai, who usually seemed weak and fragile, now had an unexpectedly powerful grip.
As he pulled her, she couldn't resist at all.
"Jiang Huai! You bastard! Trash! You'll always be trash!"
Jiang Huai dragged Wang Meng toward a chair and threw her onto it.
"Let's not talk about being trash for now. Wang Meng, today we're going to settle our past scores."
Lu Wanyin gently touched her cheek where the handbag had struck, and then, watching Jiang Huai's actions, she unknowingly smiled.
"Not just the appearance, even the strength has completely changed. Are you an Awakened... or an Infected, Jiang Huai?" she whispered to herself.
...
At this moment, Chen Ning had just returned home.
She saw her parents sitting on the couch, sighing heavily.
It wasn't for any other reason, but because her father's logistics company had encountered significant problems recently.
They were on the brink of bankruptcy and couldn't even pay their employees' wages.
Her mother and father were both overwhelmed by this issue.
But it hadn't affected Chen Ning much.
She believed that as long as she was with Zhou Qin, the Zhou family's wealth and connections would surely help her father's company get back on its feet.
So, whether emotionally or practically, she was fully devoted to Zhou Qin.
But why, now, was she thinking about someone else?
Someone she had once completely ignored—a pathetic loser, Jiang Huai.
Just then, Chen Ning's phone rang.
She picked it up and saw that it was her best friend Wang Meng calling.
As soon as she answered, Wang Meng on the other end was crying uncontrollably.
"Mengmeng, what's wrong? Who's bullying you?"
[Ningning... you have to come quickly, Jiang Huai... Jiang Huai and that Lu Wanyin, they're going to send me to the police station...!]
Then, Chen Ning heard a voice she was very familiar with.
[Either pay the money, or go to the police. You can call the King of Heaven for all I care, it's useless.]
[Wuwuwu, Ningning, come save me, these two are bullying me together...]
Chen Ning's hands trembled with anger.
Jiang Huai... why do you have to drag my best friend into this?
At that moment, Chen Ning's mother asked from the side.
"Ningning, what's going on?"
"Jiang Huai... and... and his friend, they're bullying my best friend."
"A grown man bullying a woman, how shameless! I'll go with you!"
Chen Ning's mother stood up immediately.
She had never liked that boy named Jiang Huai who kept bothering her daughter.
Jiang Huai had no money, no background, and no decent qualities.
He was just like a toad trying to eat swan meat.
Her daughter was so beautiful, and it was a disgrace if she didn't marry into a wealthy family.
Now that she was in a bad mood, she would vent her frustration on Jiang Huai.
...
...
At the East City Commercial Plaza, on a park bench, Chen Ning and her mother saw Wang Meng sitting there crying.
Standing next to her was Jiang Huai, and beside him was Lu Wanyin, dressed in a full mascot costume.
"Mengmeng." Chen Ning quickly walked over and sat beside Wang Meng, hugging her.
"What happened? Tell me."
"Wuwuwu, Ningning, Auntie, Jiang Huai... and this woman are bullying me..."
"We're bullying you?" Jiang Huai sneered.
"She's here part-time handing out flyers, and you came up, cursing her, saying she's shameless, even breaking her mascot's headpiece. You want her to pay? No problem."
Jiang Huai coldly looked at Wang Meng and said.
"Jiang Huai, you're a man, why are you so petty? Can't you be a little magnanimous?" Chen Ning's mother walked over and said.
But when she saw Jiang Huai standing, she froze.
Strange.
Why did he seem to have grown taller in just a few months?
And his build didn't look as thin and weak anymore.
He also looked more handsome?
"Auntie, who are you?" Jiang Huai turned to look at Chen Ning's mother.
That line made Chen Ning's mother furious. She was about to snap when Chen Ning said,
"Alright, Jiang Huai, stop it! Look, Mengmeng is crying!"
Lu Wanyin had been standing next to Jiang Huai. She gently hugged Jiang Huai's arm with her soft, plush toy hand.
"Jiang Huai... I... I'm scared... that fat girl, she's so fierce..."
Pfft—
Jiang Huai couldn't help but laugh.
Wang Meng really was one of those short, chubby types who looked like a ball.
"See, I'm not the one being beaten, but the one who was beaten is still standing here. You guys come over and don't even ask how the person who was beaten is doing. You just start shouting at me?"
"Mengmeng, why did you hit her?" Chen Ning looked at Wang Meng and asked.
"Wuwuwu, I just wanted to get back at her for you... I couldn't stand it... Jiang Huai has always liked you, why should this woman come and..."
"Enough, stop talking." Chen Ning interrupted Wang Meng irritably.
"Is it just about the money? How much is this stupid mascot outfit? I'll pay for it!" Chen Ning's mother said as she pulled out her wallet.
"Here, 100 yuan! Is that enough?!" Chen Ning's mother threw 100 yuan onto Jiang Huai's chest, then cursed.
"A grown man being so petty, you'll never amount to anything."
Jiang Huai sneered, picked up the 100 yuan, blew on it, and put it away. Then he looked at Chen Ning's mother and smiled.
"Alright, received 100, still have 69,900 remaining."
Chen Ning's mother froze, and Chen Ning, furious, stood up from her seat and pointed at Jiang Huai.
"Jiang Huai, what do you mean? Blackmailing, huh?!"
She then glanced at the mascot outfit on Lu Wanyin.
"This kind of outfit costs a few hundred at most! 70,000, are you crazy?!"
"Jiang Huai! You're just a worthless man! Didn't you want to call the police? Fine! Let's go! Let's go to the police station! Let's see how many years they'll give a blackmailing criminal like you!" Chen Ning's mother was also furious.
But Wang Meng was still crying, not daring to say a word.
Jiang Huai completely ignored Chen Ning's mother's shouting. He coldly looked at Chen Ning and said.
"Who told you that this 70,000 is for the mascot outfit?"
"What do you mean?" Chen Ning asked in confusion.
"You might want to ask this fat girl, how much money she's borrowed from me over the past year, using your name."
Chen Ning was stunned. She turned to look at Wang Meng.
She saw that Wang Meng had stopped crying and was blushing, tightly clutching her chubby hands.
"Mengmeng... is what he said true? You... you borrowed money from him? How much did you borrow?!"
"Alright, don't bother calculating, I've already done the math for you. Every transaction has a record. All in all, it's 69,000, plus 1,000 for the broken mascot outfit. Total, 70,000."
Jiang Huai smiled and said.
"Mengmeng... how could you do this... Jiang Huai isn't my boyfriend."
"So what...?" Wang Meng suddenly gave up and lashed out.
"Ningning, I'm doing this for you! A man's money is meant for women! I'm helping you! I'm training him to spend money on you! So why should I make him return the money...! He likes you so much, I'm your best friend, I'm not going to make him return it!"
"No, you have to return it."
Jiang Huai's gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, staring at Wang Meng.
In that instant, Wang Meng felt a chill down her spine.
Chen Ning took a deep breath.
She decided to stand by her best friend, after all, Wang Meng had always been so good to her. Every time Jiang Huai made her upset, Wang Meng would scold him, and even hit him.
Such a good friend, she had to help.
"Jiang Huai... this money, look, you're a big man... you don't need this money, right? Mengmeng's family is in a tough spot, can't you let her off the hook for my sake, and not make her pay?"
Jiang Huai and Lu Wanyin exchanged a glance.
Then both of them barely managed to hold back their laughter.
Finally, Jiang Huai turned to look at Chen Ning, coldly sneering.
"Chen Ning, where do you get the confidence that you think your face is worth this much in my eyes?"