Scarlett's voice broke out, "I've already told you that Xu Lang is coming here. Xu Lang already suspects me, and I couldn't get a word in edgewise during the situation just now. He's a very opinionated person, and once he's made up his mind, he won't change his mind. Even if I speak up for you, he still won't agree to you being together."
Lin Shuwan snorted, "You're just making excuses and refusing to help me. Now that you're all high and mighty, you look down on someone like me, a fellow villager and old classmate? Do you really think Xu Lang truly loves you and will actually marry you? He has so many beautiful women around him. You might be Mrs. Xu now, but he might get tired of you and kick you out tomorrow, and you won't get a single penny of his property. Xu Yi is, after all, his biological son, and Xu Lang's assets will ultimately belong to Xu Yi."
Upon hearing such explosive news, Zhou Luming and Xu Yan exchanged a silent glance in a dark corner.
Scarlett asked, "Do you really like Xu Yi?"
"What does it matter whether I like him or not?" Lin Shuwan retorted coldly, suddenly grabbing Scarlett's wrist and snatching her phone. "Were you recording?" She deleted the audio from the phone. "Xu Yi loves me to death, don't even think about making him leave me."
Chapter 60
===================
The air in the storage room was suffocating. Zhou Luming had just opened his mouth to sneeze when Xu Yan quickly covered his mouth and nose, forcing him to suppress his sneeze. He glared at Xu Yan, clearly uncomfortable.
Xu Yan looked at her, her brows furrowed. She hadn't even scolded Zhou Luming for getting her hands dirty yet, so why was she complaining to her instead? Letting go of her hand, Xu Yan took out a tissue and wiped her palms.
The two continued to eavesdrop in the storage room. Fortunately, Scarlett, who was standing at the door, blocked their view, so they didn't notice that there was a hidden door to the storage room in the bathroom.
After snatching Scarlett's phone, Lin Shuwan relaxed her guard considerably and said with a hint of smugness, "Xu Yi is young and handsome. He likes me and is willing to marry me even if it displeases Xu Lang. He is very serious about relationships. I know he doesn't have any other female friends besides me. He will definitely be a good husband in the future."
She glanced at Scarlett with disdain, "Xu Lang is quite different. He's powerful and influential. Even though he's a decade older than you, many women still flock to him for his money. And he's used to this kind of life. I dare say he definitely has many other women besides you. Even if you control him now and become his wife, who knows if he'll divorce you and find a younger, prettier woman later... Lin Fang, do you think you've won by hooking up with Xu Lang and marrying him? There's plenty of time. You'll still lose to me in the future."
As she spoke, her eyes sharpened, like a needle trying to pierce Scarlett.
I thought Scarlett would be furious after hearing this, but her eyes remained indifferent, as if she didn't care about these things at all.
Scarlett said, "Shuwan, after all these years, you're still as competitive as ever. We haven't been in touch since graduating from junior high, and to see each other again in such a sorry state—you've become Xu Yi's girlfriend, and I'm Xu Yi's father's fiancée… You don't need to compare Xu Yi and Xu Lang. They are father and son, but they are also two completely different people. You have the freedom to date Xu Yi, and I have the freedom to marry Xu Lang. Wouldn't it be better if we didn't interfere with each other and went our separate ways?"
"But you're blocking my way! You're preventing me from continuing my relationship with Xu Yi in front of Xu Lang, and you even asked Xu Lang to open a design studio for you, trying to swindle Xu Yi's assets from him! If I let you marry Xu Lang, Xu Lang won't leave Xu Yi anything in the future!" Lin Shuwan said fiercely.
Scarlett said calmly, "But doesn't Xu Yi disdain his father's wealth and want to live by his own abilities?"
Lin Shuwan scoffed, "Xu Yi is too delusional. He harbors resentment towards Xu Lang because his mother was neglected by him, and he constantly opposes Xu Lang. He chose to take the college entrance examination, but ended up getting into an ordinary university. After graduation, he applied for jobs, but ended up working for a small company under Xu Lang... He wants to escape Xu Lang's control, but if he leaves Xu Lang, he will achieve nothing. He can't completely do without Xu Lang, so I persuaded him to come back and introduce me to Xu Lang, so that he can accept me as his daughter-in-law. In this way, I can become the future of the Xu family together with Xu Yi."
Scarlett crossed her arms and said calmly, "You still haven't answered me: do you love Xu Yi or not?"
Lin Shuwan was taken aback, then laughed inexplicably, "You don't seem like the type to dwell on this kind of question. I'd like to ask you in return, do you love Xu Lang?"
“Love,” Scarlett blurted out.
Lin Shuwan was stunned again; she hadn't expected such an answer to come from Scarlett's mouth.
"Are you kidding me? He's so much older than you, how could you fall in love with such an old man?"
Scarlett said, "You know I dropped out of high school, right? Do you remember why I dropped out?"
"Because your house caught fire, which also burned down a nearby street, your father was burned to death, and your mother is still hospitalized with severe burns that require long-term care. At the time, you were admitted to a top high school, which exempted you from tuition and fees, but you couldn't afford the medical expenses or the compensation for the damages caused to the neighbors, so you left high school to work in another city..."
Lin Shu-wan recalled.
She and Scarlett, whose original name was Lin Fang, went to the same elementary and middle school. Scarlett had excellent grades and was a star in the eyes of her classmates and teachers. She won many awards in competitions representing the school and graduated with excellent grades. She was admitted to a key high school in her hometown with tuition and fees waived.
Lin Shuwan was a relative of Lin Fang and also sat in front of her in class. She became friends with Lin Fang and often asked her for help with her studies. Although she worked hard, her grades could never catch up with Lin Fang's. After graduating from junior high school, she didn't get into a high school she wanted, so her parents arranged for her to attend a very famous private high school, hoping that the strictness of the private high school would help her get into a better university.
She met Xu Yi at that private high school, but Xu Yi had his own circle of friends, unlike Lin Shuwan, who came from an ordinary background and had spent almost all of her family's savings to get in.
She knew Xu Yi during high school, but Xu Yi didn't know her at all.
When Lin Shuwan heard that Lin Fang had been accepted into a top high school, she appeared very happy, but secretly she was very jealous. They worked just as hard, so why did Lin Fang get into a top high school while she had to go to an ordinary one?
When she got home, her parents scolded her, calling her useless.
Lin Shuwan was later sent to a private high school, carrying the high hopes of her parents. But then she heard that Lin Fang's house had caught fire, burning down an entire street, and Lin Fang dropped out of high school to work.
She thought darkly that at least she wouldn't have to be compared to Lin Fang by her parents anymore. Lin Fang dropped out of high school and went out to work, and she could never catch up with her.
However, during her university years, she saw that long-lost face in a magazine that her classmates were passing around. Lin Fang had changed her name to Scarlett, and her features had matured. She appeared in the magazine wearing a designer dress and expensive jewelry, looking confident, elegant, and beautiful, and the image was captured forever...
Lin Shuwan tore off that magazine page, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash can.
Both are from rural areas, but one didn't even graduate from high school. Why is she so popular? What makes her the fiancée of wealthy businessman Xu Lang?
Using her high school connections, she tracked down Xu Lang's son, Xu Yi. It turned out he had gone to work for a building materials company, a small one. Lin Shuwan had turned down an offer from a large corporation to join the same company, and then, according to her plan, she gradually got closer to Xu Yi...
She wanted Lin Fang to know that even if she became Scarlett, she could still beat her.
Returning to the present, Scarlett smiled calmly. "At first, I was grateful to Xu Lang because he reached out to me when I was most helpless, helping me pay my mother's medical bills, helping me set up my designer studio, promoting my work, and securing runway opportunities. I thought he was just like everyone else, only after my looks, only interested in a fleeting infatuation. But so what? He helped me save my mother and eased my burden... Actually, I was quite surprised by the marriage. When he knelt down on one knee and said 'Marry me,' I clearly felt my heart flutter for him. I realized I had truly fallen in love with him, so I accepted his proposal, not for the reasons you're thinking of."
Scarlett lowered her head slightly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, seemingly recalling the proposal scene, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"Shuwan, if you agree to marry Xu Yi, I hope it's because you truly love him, not because you're angry with me. Someone like me isn't worth wasting your future happiness comparing yourself to. If you want to get married, I only hope it's because you want the happiness you desire. Let others say what they want; you're fighting for your own life, and they won't be responsible for it."
Lin Shuwan pursed her lips, and after a long moment of shock, she said, "I don't want your fake compassion. You've said so many high-sounding principles, but you just want me to break up with Xu Yi so you won't get in the way of becoming a rich wife, right?"
Scarlett was speechless. She didn't know how her studious classmate had become like this.
Lin Shuwan scoffed, "To be honest, I don't like Xu Yi. I hate his cowardly and spineless appearance. But even so, he is still Xu Lang's flesh and blood. He is Xu Lang's heir. I'm going to marry him and take everything you want. Just you wait and see."
After her outburst, she angrily threw the phone back at Scarlett, believing that as long as the phone was in her hands, Scarlett wouldn't be able to record audio or video.
Xu Lang and Xu Yi were still talking, but they ran into a wall with Scarlett. She needed to go back and check on Xu Yi's progress.
Scarlett, left in the bathroom, walked to the sink, turned on the tap, and slowly washed her hands.
Xu Yan and Zhou Luming, who were hiding in the storage room, looked at each other for a while. Listening to the sound of running water from the faucet, Xu Yan sighed, pushed open the door, and said, "You knew we were here all along."
Scarlett looked at Xu Yan and Zhou Luming through the mirror's reflection and smiled slightly, "I'm sorry to have kept you two holding it in for so long. The air inside must have smelled bad, right?"
Xu Yan also went over to wash his hands.
Zhou Luming said, "Aren't you afraid we'll find out your secrets?"
Scarlett slowly and carefully pulled out a tissue to dry her hands. "Oh? What secrets did you all overhear?"
Zhou Luming thought about it and belatedly realized that Scarlett was actually very cunning. She lied to Lin Shuwan and said that she didn't love Xu Yi at all, but told everyone that she truly loved Xu Lang. Apart from something as insignificant as her dropping out of high school, it seemed that there was no information that could hit her nerve.
Scarlett glanced at the phone in Zhou Luming's hand. "Could you give me that recording of yours? In exchange, I can give you a secret about Xu Lang."
Zhou Luming was surprised that she would make such a request and subconsciously looked to Xu Yan for help.
Xu Yan began, “You already knew we were coming to the restroom when we were at the restaurant, so you deliberately brought Lin Shuwan there to talk, and blocked the secret door of the storage room where we were hiding, helping us to conceal ourselves. Then you deliberately let Lin Shuwan take your phone, thinking that no one was there and there was no recording equipment, so you lowered your guard and let you get information out of her… In fact, you knew we were recording, and this recording was enough to shut Lin Shuwan up and stop bothering you.”
Zhou Luming almost applauded Scarlett after hearing this, silently awarding her the Best Conspiracy Award in his mind.
This woman truly lives up to her name, "Black Widow"; that name and nickname are well-deserved.
Scarlett smiled faintly. "I don't know what you're talking about, but are you going to do this deal or not?" She extended her hand, indicating that Xu Yan would shake her hand if he intended to make the deal, and ignore it if not. However, she felt that Xu Yan and Zhou Luming would definitely make the deal with her, as it would be a win-win situation.
Xu Yan, however, put his hands in his pockets and unexpectedly ignored the other person.
Scarlett withdrew her hand, somewhat surprised that they would refuse.
However, Xu Yan said, "I can give you the recording, but I want to know first whether Xu Lang's secret is worth giving us this recording."
Chapter 61
===================
Scarlett smiled slightly and said lightly, "I would like to speak with Miss Xu alone."
Zhou Luming felt like an outsider and was somewhat resentful, but since the other party insisted on making a deal with Xu Yan, he had to avoid suspicion. In the end, he was just working for Xu Yan and had no right to interfere in Xu Yan's private affairs.
Xu Yan didn't waste any words and silently followed Scarlett through a glass door into an open-air backyard of the restaurant, where there was no one else.
Scarlett gazed at the distant horizon and said, "I can tell you're the one in charge, which is why I called you out alone. There are some things I can't tell a lot of people; the more people know, the more dangerous it is for me."
Xu Yan nodded and said, "I understand, but why did you choose to tell me?"
Her intuition told her that the secret Scarlett was about to tell was very important, and might even threaten her life, but she chose to take the risk, which surprised Xu Yan.
Scarlett smiled and said, "Because I know you're a good person, you're different from them."
Xu Yan was taken aback. A good person? Is that a compliment or an insult?
Scarlett continued, "I'm also a semi-artist. Artists sometimes act on intuition and arbitrarily according to their personal preferences. If I like you, I'll talk to you. If I don't like someone, I won't reveal a word even if there are many benefits."
Xu Yan remained noncommittal and listened quietly.
Scarlett continued gazing into the distance. "I lied about my age. Everyone else would love to see their age decrease, but I increased it. That's because I was a minor when I dropped out of high school, and no one would hire me. So I found a way to lie and got a job as a cleaner at a magazine. Later, I successfully became a photographer's assistant. Although there was an element of luck involved, I feel that I earned it all through my own efforts, and I have a clear conscience."
"Xu Lang is not completely unaware of what has happened over the years. I even think that my career has been able to proceed so smoothly thanks to his secret help. But I will not pursue the truth of all this. Since he chose to help me silently, I will go with the flow and accept his kindness, agree to his marriage proposal and become his wife. This is the best outcome for both of us."
Xu Yan agreed with Scarlett's idea. Some things don't need to be said outright. As long as there is affection between the two, everything will fall into place naturally.
Scarlett turned to look at Xu Yan, “But the closer I get to Xu Lang, the more I realize that there is a force around him. Outsiders think he has power and influence and can do whatever he wants, but I know that he seems to be monitored and restrained. He is being manipulated.”
Xu Yan was startled. "Manipulation? What did you discover?"
Scarlett moved closer to Xu Yan, making a hugging motion, resting her head on Xu Yan's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "I accidentally discovered that he had a secret cell phone, one of those old-fashioned machines that can only send text messages. One night he opened his phone to check his messages, and I saw a text message."
Her soft words and breath gently brushed against Xu Yan's earlobe, turning it pink. Xu Yan put his hands in his pockets and obediently let Scarlett hold him.
Scarlett said, word by word, "The text message said: Implement Plan B for the deer."
Xu Yan was taken aback, quickly realizing that the text message was related to Zhou Luming. The "Lu" in question referred to Zhou Luming. But what was Plan B? There must be a Plan A that was the counterpart to Plan B. What made them abandon Plan A and pursue Plan B?
When did you see this text message?
Scarlett replied, "Middle of last month."
Xu Yan's mind flashed back to the events surrounding Zhou Luming in the middle of last month. Luke was arrested and imprisoned at that time, and the Lu Group also disintegrated during that period, with its market value plummeting.
Therefore, their Plan A is likely to have Luke marry Zhou Luming, while Plan B is to have other potential suitors marry Zhou Luming. Or perhaps they simply want to get rid of Zhou Luming altogether.
Xu Yan's thoughts raced. If Zhou Luming died, the biggest beneficiaries would be her two aunts—Zhou Jiayi and Zhou Jiasang; if Zhou Luming got married, the biggest beneficiary would be her husband.
The consequences of these two paths are drastically different. Which of these two options is Plan B?
Should she kill Zhou Luming, or marry him?
Based on the clues obtained so far, both the Lu father and son and Xu Lang have close ties with the Zhou family. Their appearances around Zhou Luming are undoubtedly for the sake of the vast Zhou family estate that is closely related to Zhou Luming.
"What else is there besides these?" Xu Yan asked. She wasn't used to Scarlett's scent and wanted to finish asking quickly and leave.
Scarlett replied, "I only saw it once, and I haven't seen that old-fashioned phone since."
Xu Yan said, "If I want you to help me continue monitoring Xu Lang's mysterious phone, what conditions would you offer?"
Scarlett smiled. "What good would it do me to help an outsider like you keep an eye on my fiancé?"