The Person Who Should Not Have Appeared. 02

Tao Yaoyao sensed something was wrong the moment she stepped her first foot into the room.

Xu Mingyao was kneeling on the bed, her hair a mess, her eyes red.

Seeing her in such a flustered and exasperated state, Tao Yaoyao initially thought Lin Yu had used some trick to provoke her again.

But when she saw the bank cards scattered across the wool carpet, Tao Yaoyao instantly understood what she was so angry about.

Was it because of money?

In some ways, Tao Yaoyao understood Xu Mingyao even better than Xu Mingyao understood herself.

She knew that with her proud personality, no matter how desperate for money she was, she would never open her mouth to ask her for it.

This was actually quite nice.

She could put that sum of money to more reasonable use and plan out a future for the two of them.

To prevent it from being squandered by her.

Rationally speaking, this was what she ought to do.

Tao Yaoyao stood at the doorway of the suite, silently watching Xu Mingyao kneeling on the bed.

Looking at her now, consumed by nothing but irritability and anger, Tao Yaoyao's clear eyes dimmed.

Tao Yaoyao was very clear that, if one strictly looked at it from a rational perspective.

Leaving her would be the optimal solution.

She currently had a massive sum of nearly three million in her hands.

Taking this money, no matter where she went or how she chose to start her new life, she could live very comfortably.

However.

The optimal solution in real life is rarely the optimal solution for the heart.

Tao Yaoyao did not care whether her living environment was luxurious.

Nor did she care how much money was stored in her bank cards.

She hardly even cared about herself.

The people she cared about had long been buried deep underground, peacefully becoming one with the earth somewhere.

Fortunately, thanks to Xu Mingyao's appearance back then.

Tao Yaoyao was able to give the elderly woman who had always loved and pitied her a dignified old age.

In her grandmother's life, which had been riddled with hardship from beginning to end.

Tao Yaoyao felt immensely fortunate that she had the ability, at the very end of her life, to coat her bitter existence with a layer of sweetness.

Yes.

There were no more regrets.

If she had to say there was still any regret.

Tao Yaoyao would only lament the other elderly person who had also endured great hardships to raise her, but had passed away far too soon...

...

If only grandpa could have lived until Xu Mingyao appeared.

Tao Yaoyao lowered her gaze, her eyes falling on the empty floor.

A moment later, her eyes shifted, and she once again focused her gaze on Xu Mingyao.

Tao Yaoyao was very grateful for the help Xu Mingyao had given her in the past.

In the not-so-short years after she appeared.

The smiles that surfaced on her grandmother's face were all given by her.

Tao Yaoyao still remembered how stubborn that old woman, who could barely even read the words on the wall calendar, could be when she got angry.

When she first got the money back then, her immediate thought was to improve her grandmother's life, wanting her to live a little easier and more comfortably.

But that usually amiable and simple old woman suddenly became unusually stubborn.

Faced with the massive sum of money of unknown origin brought back by her granddaughter, she refused to spend a single dime, no matter what was said.

She relentlessly questioned the young Tao Yaoyao at the time, asking her where she got the money.

How did she get it.

How did a child as small as you get such a huge amount of money.

Tao Yaoyao knew what question her grandmother wanted to ask during that endless interrogation, but could never bring herself to voice.

She must have been afraid of hurting her, so she couldn't bear to ask: did you get this money by selling your body...

...

Tao Yaoyao said nothing at the time, because the old woman, who was muddled about many things, had guessed absolutely right.

It truly was a terrifying thing.

In the end, left with no other choice, Tao Yaoyao lied and said that a newly transferred female classmate had given it to her for free.

This explanation made the usually kind old woman furious.

She felt she was being played for a fool.

With no relation and no reason, why would someone who had only known you for a few days give you so much money?

And even give you a cell phone?

Eventually, under Tao Yaoyao's insistence.

The angry old woman told her to bring that newly transferred female classmate to the house tomorrow, intending to expose her lie directly.

Tao Yaoyao had no way out.

She could only beg Xu Mingyao to help her cover up this lie just this once.

Even today, Tao Yaoyao clearly remembered the utter disgust and disdain in Xu Mingyao's eyes when she saw her home.

It was like a swan that had always lived in a palace seeing a house built out of garbage for the very first time.

Tao Yaoyao remembered feeling so embarrassed she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

But to her complete surprise, the swan-like Xu Mingyao was actually willing to stay in that garbage heap and act out the play with her to the end.

Therefore.

The optimal solution in real life was no longer the optimal solution!

Tao Yaoyao stepped her other foot into the room, turned around, and closed the door.

She walked to Xu Mingyao's bedside and bent down to pick up the bank cards scattered on the floor one by one.

After stuffing them back into Xu Mingyao's wallet, she gently placed the wallet back by Xu Mingyao's hand.

Having done all this, she turned around and left the room once again.

During Tao Yaoyao's tidying and leaving this time, Xu Mingyao uncharacteristically did not lose her temper.

She kept her head down, letting her hair half-obscure her vision, silent as a statue.

Only after Tao Yaoyao had completely left the room did Xu Mingyao finally move.

She slowly picked up the wallet by her hand and began to search through it.

Soon, she found the extra bank card...

...

At the entrance of the restaurant, the hurrying Xu Mingyao stopped in front of a piece of glass clean enough to reflect light.

She began to check her makeup and outfit for what must have been the umpteenth time on this trip.

In the translucent glass, Xu Mingyao looked immaculate down to every single strand of hair.

Her wine-red long hair was passionate and flamboyant.

Paired with her exquisite face that naturally carried an enchanting charm.

From a distance, she looked like a heroine stepping straight out of an anime.

Yet, even though she was already beautiful enough to make passersby stop and stare.

Xu Mingyao still felt unsatisfied.

She raised her hand, placed her finger at the corner of her eye, and gently stroked the eyeshadow applied to her eyelid.

After using the pad of her finger to slightly fade the somewhat heavy color, Xu Mingyao finally felt a bit satisfied.

Even though the current her didn't look any different from the her of a moment ago.

After confirming for the final time that there were no issues with her attire, Xu Mingyao tightened her grip on the handles of the bag in her hand and made up her mind.

During this meeting, she absolutely had to seek Qing Mo's forgiveness.

Xu Mingyao had already planned out exactly what to do when she saw Qing Mo in a little while.

She would start by chatting about their friendship during their youth, then bring up amusing anecdotes from the past, and finally transition into the cooperation between their two families over the years.

Xu Mingyao had absolute confidence that she could persuade her.

Although Qing Mo appeared to be icy cold, with a look that kept strangers at bay.

But Xu Mingyao, having known her for many years, knew that she was not a person with a heart of stone.

Furthermore.

Her willingness to see her was already the most powerful proof of her forgiveness.

Otherwise, why would she bother making time to meet?

Thinking of this, Xu Mingyao's grip on the luxury shopping bag tightened.

After today.

She would still be the same Xu Mingyao of the Xu family!

The insults and mockery she had endured these past few days.

She would pay them all back!

Gritting her teeth, Xu Mingyao strode into the sukiyaki restaurant.

Guided by the staff, Xu Mingyao quickly arrived at the private room where Qing Mo was waiting.

Standing outside the door, Xu Mingyao took a deep breath.

After settling her emotions, she reached out and pushed open the door to the tatami room.

The moment she saw the scene inside, all her previous efforts to compose herself vanished instantly.

Standing outside the room, she glared at the grinning man inside. Her hand holding the gift clenched uncontrollably, and her eyes turned bloodshot in a matter of seconds.

Lin Yu!

You damn bastard!

The culprit behind everything!

Why are you here?!

The hatred Xu Mingyao harbored for Lin Yu in her heart had already reached an unprecedented peak.

This was the bastard who had taken her goddess's first time, caused her family's bankruptcy, and even trained Qing Mo into that kind of state!

Xu Mingyao wished she could tear him apart and eat him alive!

But right now, there was nothing she could do.

For the sake of her own future and the Xu family, she even had to bow her head and apologize to this bastard!

Just thinking about this made Xu Mingyao feel as if her heart was suffocating from a wave of pent-up frustration.