Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

Fifteen minutes later.

A Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked at the south gate of the Jinxiu Jiayuan residential community.

Jinxiu Jiayuan was the earliest affordable housing project in Ping County.

Here, the brickwork on the exterior walls is exposed, and many residents have dripping mops hanging outside their security windows.

Stone blocks were placed at the entrance to the residential area, but the Phantom's body was too wide to fit through.

Xie Lingmo pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out.

Bai Li got out of the passenger seat and closed the car door.

"Your car is really comfortable to ride in," Bai Li remarked casually, standing on the curb.

Xie Lingmo walked to his side and handed him the keys to the Flying Goddess car:

"You like it? I can give it to you."

Bai Li pushed the key back.

"never mind."

"I'm afraid my father-in-law will be so angry that he'll run around the whole city."

Bai Li took Xie Lingmo's hand and led her into the residential area.

Li Mengmeng's apartment, Unit 4, is located at the deepest part of the residential complex, where all the units are small apartments with three units per floor.

Bai Li walked upstairs: "302."

When I climbed to the third floor, half of the "福" (good fortune) character on the middle door had fallen off, leaving only half of it stuck on.

Bai Li raised his hand and knocked on the door.

dong dong dong.

The sound of slippers slid in from inside the door, the lock turned, and the rusty hinges made a scraping sound.

As the door opened, Li Mengmeng stood behind it.

She wasn't wearing her usual exquisite Lolita dresses today.

He was wearing an oversized old T-shirt and gray lounge shorts.

The plastic slippers on her feet weren't a pair either; the left one was pink, and the right one was blue.

Her usually smooth hair was now messy, and her eyes were red and swollen.

They recognized the person outside the door as Bai Li.

Li Mengmeng opened the door, stepped out, and threw herself into Bai Li's arms.

"Waaah..."

"Brother Bai Li..."

She buried her face in Bai Li's chest, clutching his clothes with both hands, and cried loudly.

The little princess's usual pride vanished, and she trembled uncontrollably.

Bai Li didn't say anything, but raised his hand and patted her on the back.

Xie Lingmo stood to the side without saying a word.

She silently stepped back half a step, making room in the stairwell.

After crying for a while, Li Mengmeng lifted her head from Bai Li's arms and caught a glimpse of Xie Lingmo standing to the side. She stopped moving.

Li Mengmeng released Bai Li and took half a step back.

She raised the back of her hand and wiped her face haphazardly a few times, then tried to force a smile.

"Lingmo, you're here too."

Li Mengmeng's voice was still trembling, and tears clung to her eyelashes:

"My house is a mess, please excuse the mess."

She's just putting on a brave face.

She used to be a rich girl, but now she's fallen on hard times. When another real heiress saw her in this miserable state, the little girl's self-esteem was hurt.

Xie Lingmo has none of the airs of a spoiled young lady.

She took a step forward and took Li Mengmeng's hand directly.

"What nonsense!"

Xie Lingmo pulled her into the house:

"It's quite clean."

The two entered the living room.

Li Mengmeng lowered her head and let her lead her.

This apartment is a little over 60 square meters, with two bedrooms and a living room, so the space is very limited.

There was a sofa in the living room and a large, bulky television covered with a cloth.

In the middle was a folding square table, and against the wall were a dozen or so My Melody suitcases.

It's estimated that inside are Li Mengmeng's exquisite clothes and plush toys.

"Sit down," Li Mengmeng said, pointing to the sofa, looking bewildered.

Xie Lingmo pulled Li Mengmeng to sit side by side on the sofa.

Bai Li sat down next to Li Mengmeng, but her gaze was drawn to the soft-pack Hongtashan cigarettes on the table.

You should know that Li Fugui used to own at least a mid-range Zhonghua cigarette, but now...

The glass bottle full of cigarette butts indicated that Li Fugui had stayed up all night.

"Where are your uncle and aunt?" Xie Lingmo asked.

Li Mengmeng picked at the edge of her shorts with her fingers:

"Dad... Dad and Mom went out."

She lowered her head and spoke very softly:

"He said he was going to see an old friend to see if he could borrow some money to pay the workers' wages first."

Xie Lingmo took the hand that was picking at her clothes and held it in her own palm.

"It's nothing, Sister Mengmeng." Xie Lingmo's voice was very gentle:

"We're best friends. When something happens, we work together to find a solution, and we'll always get through it."

She called out "Sister Mengmeng" so naturally.

Li Mengmeng's tears welled up again.

"Lingmo..."

Xie Lingmo took two tissues from the table and wiped away her tears:

"Stop crying, your eyes will hurt if you keep crying. Everyone's here, we won't just ignore you."

Li Mengmeng leaned on Xie Lingmo's shoulder, sobbing softly, her emotions gradually calming down.

A few minutes later, Li Mengmeng sat up straight, and her breathing stopped trembling.

She wiped away the last tear with the back of her hand.

Bai Li looked at her and patted Li Mengmeng's thin shoulder.

Li Mengmeng lifted her head off Xie Lingmo's shoulder.

Bai Li stared intently into her eyes, his expression serious.

"Mengmeng".

"Now can you tell me why you went bankrupt?"