Chapter 61: The Sharp-Tongued Wen Leyu

At 5:30 p.m. in winter, the sky was completely dark.

The few lights along the street stretched Wen Leyu and Lu Jingyao’s shadows long and thin.

The two had wandered the street for a long time, neither speaking first, as if competing in a silent breath-holding contest.

Finally, the younger Wen Leyu broke the silence.

“You shouldn’t have come to find Li Ye. Sending money to County No. 2 High School already caused him great trouble,

and now you’re coming to see him—do you want that whole school-wide joke to be remembered forever?”

“........”

Lu Jingyao suddenly stopped walking, staring at the calm, indifferent Wen Leyu, feeling the last dam inside her heart slowly crumble.

Since leaving the Second Grain Store, Lu Jingyao’s heart had never settled.

The hostility from Hu Man, Han Xia, and others left her both confused and heartbroken.

They had once studied and struggled together, encouraging each other to seek freedom and change their fates—but now that Lu Jingyao had succeeded, why couldn’t she receive even a word of congratulations?

But that wasn’t the worst. Strong-willed Lu Jingyao could ignore Hu Man’s attitude; after all, they no longer lived in the same world and would never cross paths again.

But Wen Leyu was different—she was the “little sister” Lu Jingyao truly cared for.

Yet now, this little sister, in the cold winter, spoke words so cold and heartless.

“Little Yu... I thought you’d understand me... We’re both people abandoned by fate... We must strengthen ourselves, change our destinies...”

Lu Jingyao sniffed hard, lifted her head, and stiffened her neck: “Is it wrong to strive to change your own fate?”

Wen Leyu stared at the resolute Lu Jingyao without expression, coldly saying: “Changing your fate is your freedom, but hurting others is your fault.

Don’t use some bullshit notion of freedom to cover up your betrayal, and don’t turn it into a weapon to hurt people again and again.”

Hearing Wen Leyu’s words, Lu Jingyao felt a sudden panic, but she shouted loudly: “I never meant to hurt anyone—it’s Li Ye who’s useless!

Everything I’ve done is legal. The law guarantees marriage freedom; I’ve repaid everything I owed him...”

“No~!”

Wen Leyu cut her off sharply, raised her arm, and pointed straight at Lu Jingyao’s chest.

“You betrayed him. You betrayed pure, sacred love.”

“........”

Lu Jingyao froze as if struck by a spiritual acupuncture point, stumbling backward several steps.

“Love”—in literature, such a noble word—but for over half a year, Lu Jingyao had deliberately avoided those two syllables.

The two fell silent again. After a long while, Lu Jingyao smiled bitterly: “Little Yu, you’ve only known Li Ye for a few days—how did he steal your soul?”

“A few days? Hmph...”

Wen Leyu sneered softly: “People aren’t that complicated. Sometimes, you see through someone in just a few minutes.”

“..........”

Lu Jingyao thought the girl had been possessed—but then Wen Leyu began recounting an old story.

“Do you remember last year, when you took me to steal corn?”

“Uh~~”

Lu Jingyao froze, embarrassed by what Wen Leyu mentioned.

When Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke had just arrived in Liuqiao Township, they’d met because Lu’s father and Teacher Ke both taught at the school.

That late summer, Lu Jingyao and Lu Zixue invited Wen Leyu to eat “green ears.”

In an era of severe food shortages, sweet-tasting green corn was one of the few delicacies in the countryside.

Unable to resist the “enthusiasm” of the Lu siblings, Wen Leyu followed them to the cornfield north of the township government—only to learn the “invitation” was actually theft.

In those days, stealing corn wasn’t unusual; many sent-down youth had done it.

But Wen Leyu had never done such a thing! What if...

As if fate mocked her, perhaps the cornfield had been raided too often—someone was on watch that day.

The watchman was an old man with bad legs, but he had a big dog.

The clueless little mute, with zero experience in theft, was chased by the dog, panicked, failed to leap over the small ditch, and tumbled in.

Lu Jingyao ahead wanted to turn back and pull Wen Leyu out, but the old man was already approaching; her brother Lu Zixue yanked her away desperately, even losing a shoe.

But Wen Leyu wasn’t caught. Lu Jingyao only remembered her returning soaked in mud, her face unrecognizable, like a mud monkey.

Meanwhile, Li Ye, who had come to Liuqiao to find Lu Jingyao, was caught red-handed and branded a “corn thief.”

At the time, Lu Jingyao couldn’t understand it. She asked Li Ye, but he said nothing. It wasn’t anything good, so everyone soon chose to forget.

But now Wen Leyu brought it up—Lu Jingyao instantly sensed Li Ye and Wen Leyu had crossed paths that day.

Indeed, the previously icy Wen Leyu’s eyes grew moist.

“Do you know my ankle was sprained, my foot stuck in the muddy bottom, unable to stand? And that big dog was barking right above my head.”

“Do you know how much trouble it would’ve caused my mother if I’d been caught stealing, given my status?”

“But you didn’t come back to help me... You just told me to run. Am I an idiot? Don’t I know to run?”

Large tears poured from Wen Leyu’s big eyes, sliding down her small face, freezing into tiny ice flowers on her cotton coat collar.

She would never forget that moment.

The dog feared water and didn’t jump into the ditch to tear at her—but it kept circling and barking, drawing the old man closer.

Wen Leyu struggled desperately, but to no avail; she kept falling, swallowing filthy water, her face caked in stinking mud.

At that moment, Wen Leyu was utterly hopeless. Tears fell steadily, but she dared not make a sound.

She hoped her ostrich tactic would delay capture, praying the Lu siblings would return to save her.

But the Lu siblings never came. Instead, a tall, straight-backed boy sprinted over and kicked the dog so hard it lost its life.

He truly kicked its heart out—the dog died.

Wen Leyu wiped her tears with her coat sleeve—and smiled.

A mocking smile.

“Do you remember what happened? Li Ye was caught, admitted to killing the dog, and even admitted to stealing the corn cobs we’d dropped by the ditch.”

“And you, Lu Jingyao—Li Ye’s fiancée—didn’t care for him. You mocked him for being stupid, blamed him for making your father lose face.”

Lu Jingyao remained silent.

She had only forgotten the scene by choice—how could she possibly forget?

Li Ye was dragged to the township square, shoved back defiantly at the old man, and boasted: “So I kicked your dog to death? So I stole a few cobs? I’ll pay you!”

The townsfolk of Liuqiao, tightly bonded, surrounded Li Ye, shouting to beat him up.

But even with black eyes, Li Ye remained arrogant.

Only when Lu Jingyao’s father intervened did Li Ye pay compensation and walk away.

At the time, Lu Jingyao had indeed resented Li Ye.

“You’re so strong—why didn’t you run? Your grandfather’s a bureau chief—why didn’t you name-drop him?”

Li Ye said nothing, only chuckled dumbly.

Now she realized—he’d saved Wen Leyu that day.

Lu Jingyao bit her lip and defended: “I wasn’t mocking him for being stupid—I just thought he could’ve avoided that embarrassing scene with a better approach.”

Li Ye’s grandfather had already resumed his post—he could’ve simply said he didn’t steal, and no one would’ve doubted him.

But Wen Leyu sneered: “If Li Ye didn’t steal, who did? Do you think you’re the only smart one?”

Though younger than Lu Jingyao, Wen Leyu had experienced far more complexity.

In your own hometown, who can you fool? Lu Jingyao being local was one thing—but Wen Leyu, an outsider, could she have escaped?

If Li Ye hadn’t taken all the blame that day, Wen Leyu might’ve faced serious trouble.

(The author once did this—ran off successfully, but then how the hell did they track me down? I was home for summer vacation; strangers stood out. Three questions, and they knew it was me.)

“Huh~ huh~”

Lu Jingyao breathed deeply, using the cold air to cool her inner anxiety and heat.

“So back then, you and Li Ye...”

“No. Li Ye didn’t even know me. I was covered in mud—he kicked the dog and didn’t even look at me.”

Wen Leyu was certain of this, because in later interactions, Li Ye rarely even glanced at her properly.

Only this year, when she entered County No. 2 High School, did everything suddenly change.

Lu Jingyao was speechless again. After half a minute, she spoke to Wen Leyu in an adult tone: “Little Yu, you’re still young—you don’t understand many things.

There’s no such thing as love without reason. Every benefit comes with a price. If someone treats you well, they always have a motive—they want something...”

She’d only realized this truth after being humiliated by Qian Shun.

But before she finished, Wen Leyu shot back: “Then what did Li Ye gain from treating you so well back then?”

“........”

Lu Jingyao was dumbfounded—when had the quiet, mute Wen Leyu become so sharp-tongued?

[Li Ye wanted to marry me? Isn’t that obvious?]

But Lu Jingyao had accepted benefits and broken the engagement—she couldn’t now state that reason with any moral certainty.

Too humiliating.

But worse was yet to come.

Wen Leyu asked Lu Jingyao directly: “You keep talking about self-strengthening, self-reliance, changing your fate—so how did you get into university?”

Lu Jingyao paused, then answered calmly and confidently: “I got in through hard study and Teacher Ke’s help. I’ll never forget his kindness.”

“No, that’s not it.”

Wen Leyu slowly shook her head, staring into Lu Jingyao’s eyes: “You got into university because I ate a piece of candy.”

“..........”

Lu Jingyao was completely stunned; she couldn’t understand why Wen Leyu would say something so absurd.

But in an instant, a memory flashed through her mind, striking her like lightning and shattering her soul.

Originally, Lu’s father, Li Ye, and Lu Jingyao had brought gifts to ask Teacher Ke to tutor Lu Jingyao in English.

Teacher Ke had refused calmly, leaving no room for further pleading.

But just as they were about to leave, Wen Leyu opened the gift Li Ye had brought and ate a piece of milk candy.

Teacher Ke immediately agreed, devoting herself wholeheartedly to helping Lu Jingyao get into university.

【The turning point of fate was because of a single piece of candy?】

Lu Jingyao looked up helplessly at the sky; all her self-reliance, self-respect, and self-confidence now seemed like a joke.

Without Teacher Ke’s help, she could never have gotten into university—certainly not into Jingcheng Foreign Languages College.

And that candy belonged to Li Ye.

After a long, long time, Lu Jingyao smiled bitterly and asked Wen Leyu: “Do you regret eating that candy back then?”

Wen Leyu smiled, ignored Lu Jingyao, and turned away.

【Regret it? Of course not!】