Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

"I'm not familiar with her."

The man interrupted her coldly: "I'm keeping you away from the Ji family so you won't have to listen to their nonsense."

After saying that, the man turned and strode away.

With a "bang," the door slammed shut.

The word "divorce" stuck in Lin Qingmian's throat, and she hadn't had a chance to say it.

After a long while, she looked away, gave a wry smile, and turned back to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

He and Su Tingwan were both engaged and had exchanged diamond rings, so how could they not be familiar with each other?

Are you kidding me?

Half an hour later, Lin Qingmian tidied up the kitchen and then did a quick tidy-up of the house before heading out to school.

Not long after breaking up with Ji Xingye two years ago, the Lin family went bankrupt, and she was forced to drop out of school for various reasons.

Six months ago, she finally had the opportunity to return to school and complete the studies she had not finished before.

"Good morning, Qingmian!"

When she arrived at the lecture hall, there were still ten minutes before class started, and several of her roommates had already arrived.

"morning."

After greeting them with a smile, Lin Qingmian took her water bottle and books and sat down in the front row of the classroom.

She had just sat down when her phone suddenly rang.

It's Su Tingwan's number that I just saved last night: [Didn't Lin Zhou go to the hospital last night?]

Lin Qingmian then remembered the request Su Tingwan had made to her last night.

Actually, she was still thinking about this when she went downstairs last night.

Whether Ji Linzhou listens or not, as long as she has given her advice, she has fulfilled Miss Su's request.

However, as soon as she got in the car, everything went wrong.

At first, I didn't have a chance to say it, and later I completely forgot about it.

The man was too fierce, giving her no chance to think about anything else.

But since she hadn't kept her promise, Lin Qingmian felt a little guilty seeing the message from Su Tingwan.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally replied to Su Tingwan, thinking it best to avoid trouble: "I tried to persuade him, but he didn't listen."

After sending the message, she immediately opened Ji Linzhou's chat window and sent him a message, concisely explaining Su Tingwan's request: "Remember, I advised you last night, but you wouldn't listen."

The message had barely been sent when Ji Linzhou replied: [I just saw her downstairs at the company.]

Lin Qingmian paused for a moment and subconsciously glanced at the time.

It's 8:30 in the morning.

At this time, Su Tingwan ran to the downstairs of his company, probably to check up on him.

Considering her failed attempt to get Ji Linzhou to escort her upstairs last night, and her subsequent request for him to persuade her to go to the hospital...

It seems that Su Tingwan was aware of the drugging incident last night.

[Qingmian, did Linzhou come into contact with any woman on his way home last night?]

Just then, Su Tingwan sent another message.

Lin Qingmian raised her hand and pinched the space between her eyebrows, feeling a strange headache coming on.

She knew what Su Tingwan wanted to know.

But she just happens to be the person Su Tingwan is looking for.

Just then, the bell rang for class.

With a sigh of relief, Lin Qingmian gave Su Tingwan a simple lie, saying she didn't know, then turned off her phone and focused on her lesson.

Because she had lost the opportunity to study, Lin Qingmian cherishes her time on campus all the more.

In class, she always sat in the first row, listened attentively, took careful notes, and answered questions diligently.

Her grades in all subjects were far ahead of others.

Her excellent grades, pretty and well-behaved appearance, and her experience of taking a year and a half off from school made her a popular figure in the college.

Wherever I go, I get stared at and talked about.

The morning classes ended quickly.

The bell rang, and the students packed up their things and left.

"Qingmian, want to go to the cafeteria together?"

My roommate Yao Yingyu chimed in, "The place we ate at last time, the Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles, they're having a promotion! Buy one get one half price!"

Lin Qingmian smiled, closed the notebook, and put it in her bag: "Okay."

As Lin Qingmian walked out of the classroom, she listened to Yao Yingyu tell her funny stories about the dormitory while turning on her phone.

Countless messages flooded into her phone in an instant, and the notification sounds kept ringing, making Lin Qingmian's fingers numb.

Yao Yingyu stopped gossiping and looked at her with some curiosity: "Qingmian, are you that busy?"

Looking at the 99+ notifications for text messages and WeChat messages on her phone, Lin Qingmian frowned deeply.

The last time she was bombarded with such news was a year ago when loan sharks were harassing her, and her mother, Ms. Zhang Yuzhu, was demanding money from her.

About two minutes later, the barrage of messages finally stopped.

Lin Qingmian frowned and clicked on the messages.

All the senders were the same person.

Zhang Yuzhu.

The message was densely packed with insults and accusations against her.

The long-lost feeling of suffocation surged up again. Even though it was midday with the sun shining brightly, Lin Qingmian felt as if she had been dragged back into that dark, cold, rainy night.

There were too many insulting words; they were all just venting emotions.

Lin Qingmian couldn't even understand why Ms. Zhang was bombarding her with messages this time.

"Qingmian, are you feeling unwell?"

Yao Yingyu looked at her pale face with concern and asked with care.

Coming to her senses, the woman forced a smile at Yao Yingyu: "I'm fine."

"Lin Qingmian!"

At that moment, a sharp female voice rang out in my ears.

The familiar voice and tone made Lin Qingmian feel her blood rush backward.

She mechanically raised her head and looked in the direction of the sound.

A tall, thin woman was striding towards her in high heels, cursing and swearing.

It had been a year since I last saw Zhang Yuzhu, and she seemed to have gained some weight. She had also changed her clothes from cheap street vendor items to designer brands.

But the sharp and sarcastic look on her face didn't diminish at all.

"You slut!"

She walked up to Lin Qingmian and, without saying a word, slapped her across the face with a resounding "Smack!": "Why aren't you staying home and having children for your nouveau riche husband? What trouble are you causing everywhere?!"

"If you don't want to live, don't drag the entire Lin family down with you!"

Zhang Yuzhu slapped Lin Qingmian with great force, catching her completely off guard. She was forced back several steps and almost fell.

Yao Yingyu quickly caught her from behind, asking, "Qingmian, are you alright?"

"fine."

Lin Qingmian's head was spinning, her face was burning, her mouth tasted metallic and sweet, and she felt a warm liquid flowing from her nose.

She reached out and touched it; it was red.

"You're still okay? Your nose is bleeding!"

Yao Yingyu hurriedly pulled out tissues, frantically wiping Lin Qingmian's nosebleed while glaring angrily at Zhang Yuzhu: "Who are you? Can't you talk things out? Coming to a university campus to beat someone up? I'm calling the police!"

"Why are you calling the police? I'm her mother!"

After coldly uttering those words, Zhang Yuzhu glared at Lin Qingmian with chilling eyes: "She's caused me so much trouble, I've already shown mercy by not killing her!"

Yao Yingyu paused, glancing at Zhang Yuzhu with disbelief, then at Lin Qingmian: "Qingmian, she..."

Lin Qingmian wiped the blood from her nose, a self-deprecating smile playing on her lips: "This Ms. Zhang is indeed my biological mother."