(Extra Story) Liu Shishi 04

She felt she had been rather foolish in the past, always assuming that what Fang Zhiyi called charity meant simply spending the money that needed to be spent. On the surface, it looked like she had done a great deal of good, but in the end, whether those conveniences had actually reached the people who truly needed help—she had no idea at all.

So it served her right that she had raised a few ungrateful snakes.

Liu Shishi had arrived in a hurry, without notifying anyone, but her presence still caught the attention of those who were paying close attention.

Take Wu Yu, for example. She overheard someone saying a small car had driven into the village, and from a distance, she recognized it—it was Liu Shishi's car. She had fantasized countless times about what it would be like to sit inside that car herself.

"Auntie Liu!" Wu Yu had deliberately lingered nearby, waiting until she saw Liu Shishi emerge from Zhang Xiaolian's house, watching the old woman cling to Liu Shishi's hand while wiping her tears. Wu Yu grew impatient.

How was Zhang Xiaolian so lucky? No wait—she must have secretly written a letter to Auntie Liu!

Wu Yu only had to think for a moment before she wove together a logically airtight story.

It must have been Zhang Xiaolian. She still held a grudge about being locked in the cellar, and even though she had been threatened into silence and never actually said a word, she must have been jealous when she learned that Liu Shishi was sponsoring Wu Yu! Then she must have secretly discovered Liu Shishi's address and written to her to tattle!

Wu Yu's chest heaved violently.

She could already imagine what Zhang Xiaolian had written. Why else would Liu Shishi have called her home? And it had led to her getting beaten! And losing her money! Just two days later, her parents had stormed into the school in a rage and taken the money she had saved with the teacher—her face had been completely humiliated!

So it was all because of this Zhang Xiaolian!

Watching Liu Shishi bid farewell to the old woman, Wu Yu quickly stood up.

"Auntie Liu!" She forced a smile onto her face.

But when Liu Shishi saw her, her expression turned a little strange. Still, she quickly broke into a warm smile: "Hmm... you are..."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Wu Yu's face—she had actually forgotten her! She had once said Wu Yu looked so cute!

"Auntie Liu, I'm Wu Yu." Wu Yu sounded a little hurt.

"Oh, oh, right, Wu Yu, isn't it? Are your parents still hitting you?"

Wu Yu froze. Who opens a conversation with, "Are your parents still hitting you"?

But seeing the look of concern in Liu Shishi's eyes, Wu Yu could only shake her head and squeeze out another smile: "No, they're not. Auntie Liu, come have dinner at our place."

Liu Shishi smiled and shook her head: "No, I have too much to do today. You go on home now, okay? There's a good girl."

With that, she turned and left, pausing to wave at Zhang Xiaolian's grandmother as she went: "Grandma, go on inside and rest. I'll have someone bring over some rice and oil tomorrow."

Wu Yu watched her retreating figure, her mouth opening and closing but nothing coming out. Yet the resentment in her eyes was impossible to hide.

In her view, this Liu Shishi was nothing but a hypocrite chasing fame, and now she had even teamed up with Zhang Xiaolian to go after her! She was so affectionate with that stinking old hag but wouldn't give Wu Yu the time of day!

"Did you see that woman with the surname Liu today?" Wu Yu's mother asked.

Wu Yu nodded, clenching her teeth: "She went to Zhang Xiaolian's house."

"Did you ask her when she's going to send the money? She promised to send it, and it still hasn't arrived!" Wu Yu's father slammed his hand on the table after taking a sip of liquor.

Wu Yu lowered her head: "I don't know either... Maybe she doesn't want to support me anymore."

"That rotten bitch!" Wu Yu's father, Wu Dagou, flew into a rage. "She promised to send you money until you graduated from college! Why isn't she sending it? If she won't, we'll take her to the authorities!"

Wu Yu didn't dare say a word, but resentment still churned inside her.

When she watched her father charge out of the courtyard, she even felt a flicker of satisfaction. Liu Shishi deserved to suffer a little. So what if she was rich? Did money mean she could look down on Wu Yu?

But Liu Shishi had already left the village long before. Wu Dagou found no trace of her and could only end up cursing outside Zhang Xiaolian's door for a good while, scaring the just-returned Zhang Xiaolian into hiding inside her house.

Meanwhile, Liu Shishi sat in the back seat of her car, staring at something in her hand, lost in thought.

"You think she can handle it?" Little Hei said. "If she wanted to just flip the table over, she could—after all, if she wanted, Wu Yu could never get close to her again. Based on her performance so far, she's passed the test."

But the next moment, Little Hei froze, then a sinister grin spread across his face.

Fang Zhiyi was floating comfortably with his hands behind his head.

"Do you want to take a look?" Little Hei's tone was strange.

Fang Zhiyi hummed lazily and looked down. The next moment, he felt his blood run cold.

In Liu Shishi's hand was a photo of him! And judging by the angle, it had been taken without his knowledge!

"For your own safety, maybe we should find someone else," Little Hei said, speaking with unusual seriousness this time.

Fang Zhiyi took a deep breath: "...Fine."

But the next moment, Liu Shishi did something shocking—she slowly tore the photo of Fang Zhiyi to pieces.

Little Hei and Fang Zhiyi exchanged a glance.

"You, you..." Liu Shishi rolled down the car window, speaking as if she were addressing Fang Zhiyi directly. "You made me take such a long detour. But from now on, I'm not going to follow your plans anymore."

Zhang Xiaolian received a sum of money, delivered personally by Liu Shishi. Liu Shitou received some too, and along with them, several other children were also given money.

This made Wu Yu deeply dissatisfied. Watching Zhang Xiaolian's smiling face, jealousy burned in her heart.

Why her?

Her eyes darted around, and a new scheme took shape.

A rumor began to spread at school. All the children who had been sponsored learned that Zhang Xiaolian had spoken ill of them, and that was why she had received Liu Shishi's support—and because of her, their own sponsorships had been cut off.

By the afternoon, the rumor had taken on a darker flavor.

Liu Shishi was supposedly a human trafficker. She used the excuse of sponsoring poor students as cover for selecting "merchandise" to sell abroad.

This flimsy, hole-riddled rumor was being passed around with vivid detail and conviction.

Because the ringleader of this little group was none other than Wu Yu herself. Using her petty cunning, she had rallied all the other sponsored students to a unified cause.

That afternoon, when Liu Shishi arrived at the school, the first person she saw was Wu Yu again. Wu Yu's face was full of worry as she told Liu Shishi about the rumor, speaking with righteous indignation, playing the part of someone completely on Liu Shishi's side.

Only Liu Shishi knew that the only person capable of starting such a rumor was the very one standing in front of her.

"I never thought... you had this talent even as a child..." Liu Shishi sighed softly.

Wu Yu didn't understand. She kept railing against the person spreading the rumor.

"And also, Auntie Liu, that Zhang Xiaolian—she's the most suspicious one!" Wu Yu shouted. "You've been so good to her, and she still isn't grateful!"

Liu Shishi simply looked at her calmly.

She had thought that since Wu Yu was still a child, she would let it go. But now, it seemed Wu Yu was determined to provoke her. This was fate, then, wasn't it?