When Xiao Yunhua asked her question, she expected for Han Mi to immediately get fl.u.s.tered or to deny anything related to the Zhou family. To her surprise and astonishment, Han Mi calmly shook her head and waved the question off."Grandmother, be honest with me!" Xiao Yunhua said in exasperation, "I know there"s a connection with you and the Zhou family!"
"Yunhua..." Han Mi"s voice strictly warned, "Do not poke your nose in places that it doesn"t belong."
"But grandmother—"
"Enough!" Han Mi harshly interrupted and closed her eyes, "I"m tired, I want to rest."
Xiao Yunhua could feel tears pooling in her eyes. How was she supposed to save her grandmother if Han Mi wasn"t willing to tell her what she was saving her from? "Grandmother, I thought... you trusted me."
Han Mi"s eyes shot open and she couldn"t help but accuse, "Really? Let"s start with the fact that you"ve been pretending that you"ve lost your memories." Han Mi saw Xiao Yunhua"s gape, but she continued, "I may be old, but my mind is sharper than yours will ever be."
"P-Pretending?" This old woman, how did she know? Xiao Yunhua was amazed and thought about all the times in her memories. None of her memories showed even a little bit where she gave herself away.
"Yes, pretending. I could tell a few months after your doctor"s appointment regarding your amnesia. Although it was only a speculation, so I didn"t say anything and decided to raise you anyway. Who knew that my guess was right by your reaction now?"
Xiao Yunhua"s pale face didn"t cease as she found herself staring shamefully in the face of Han Mi. Finally, no longer about to bear the shame, she turned around and sprinted out despite the yells of Han Mi for her to stop.
All these years she thought she was fooling Han Mi with her so-called perfect act. Yet this was her first mission, she had expected too much. From now on, she would need to be more heartless to make it more believable. Xiao Taotao was right. She shouldn"t have gotten attached to someone in one of her missions. It was dangerous and her heart wouldn"t be aching like it was at the moment.
Unbeknownst to her, Han Mi had also felt pain when she saw her granddaughter"s hurt expression. Her granddaughter hadn"t allowed her to finish her words: no matter if she was pretending or not, Han Mi loved her all the same. Her filial self was better than Han Mi"s actual grandchildren who don"t even know of her existence. Han Mi could feel herself growing weaker and weaker when she thought about hurting her granddaughter with her words.
She sensed people frantically going in and out of her room, but she didn"t bother. Her vision was starting to get hazy until she finally blacked out.
The monitor that showed the stability of Han Mi"s heart suddenly turned into a straight line, and the nurses and Qiang Yue knew that they could no longer save the old woman. Silently wis.h.i.+ng her their condolences, they heaved a deep breath as they saw the lifeless old woman. Thinking of her young granddaughter, sympathy filled their hearts.
All this happened when Xiao Yunhua had no clue. She was surrounded by a depressed bubble as she found herself in front of her school. Realizing that she wasn"t wearing her uniform, she sighed and made a mental note to apologize and to be honest for not coming to school for the past week. As she went inside and walked around in the school, she could hear whispers and accusations made about her. She noticed that people glared at her and couldn"t help but wonder about what she did wrong.
She saw a familiar face and wanted to greet that person, but paused. She had severed any ties with Zhao Meiliang, so her act would have been considered inappropriate.
But she also saw a victorious smirk on the face of Zhao Meiliang when the girl regarded her. Xiao Yunhua frowned and went to the office. Teachers also looked at her with hostility, which was a first. Usually, teachers loved her and spoiled her because she always had the perfect demeanor.
Now, they looked at her like they couldn"t believe that she was so bad which made Xiao Yunhua even more confused.
She saw a familiar teacher and yelled out, "Teacher Rong!" To get her attention. Teacher Rong saw one of her former favorite students and quickly tried to sneak off, but Xiao Yunhua was quicker and stopped her.
"Teacher Rong, I apologize for not coming to school. My grandmother—"
"Does your grandmother know of the awful things you"ve been doing recently?" Teacher Rong harshly interrupted as she eyed the former bright student-turned-immoral.
"Awful things? What do you mean?"
"Don"t bother to lie. Zhao Meiliang has told us everything." Hearing the familiar name, Xiao Yunhua could get a gist of what the malicious girl had told them. It must have been the same thing that she texted Zhou Feng. Teacher Rong saw the shocked expression on Xiao Yunhua and continued, "As of the moment, you"re officially expelled for multiple reasons. We tried to contact your guardian, but since they never replied, instead of suspension, the princ.i.p.al has deemed you as an expelled case."
"Teacher Rong, what is this unfairness!?" Xiao Yunhua couldn"t help but shout in anger. Hearing the former calmly-spoken student behave in such a disgraceful and crude manner, Teacher Rong began to fully believe Zhao Meiliang. Han Yunhua is now too corrupted to save! Her hooligan ways are a disgrace to the school!
"Han Yunhua, out of the respect I had for you before, I will forgive you for yelling at a teacher. Otherwise, if you don"t get out in the next five minutes, I won"t mind calling security to escort you out." Xiao Yunhua bit her retort and turned around to leave.
Her fists were clenched as she strode out of the office with unshed tears. Her former cla.s.smates that surrounded her like bees surrounding honey now shot her looks of hate. Someone in the crowd threw a piece of paper at her. She picked it up and saw the word "s.l.u.t" on there.
Like something had been triggered, more people threw trash at her as she left. Xiao Yunhua didn"t bother to evade the trash because she knew that it would never end. This harsh reality was exactly like her previous life. No matter where she went, who she trusted, she would be the loser in the end. Ultimate G.o.ddess System... what a joke. It couldn"t save her from her current dilemmas, and she didn"t have an overpowered male lead to help her out of every situation like in her novels. Even Han Mi hated her for being too noisy and a big, fat liar.
She was alone... Truly alone. This situation, it was exactly like her previous life. But this time, Xiao Yunhua didn"t want to drown herself in a bathtub nor slit her wrists. She didn"t feel hopeless because a new emotion bloomed in her chest. This emotion was vicious. This emotion was foreign yet felt so right. This emotion was revenge.
And revenge against who? All of those that made her suffer, she would make sure that they would pay. Who said that she can"t have a little bit of side fun while completing her main mission?
Xiao Yunhua gripped the piece of paper that said "s.l.u.t" on it with a wicked glint in her eyes. She scanned the crowd that disappointed her with a harsh chuckle. Indeed, she would have her revenge. And if s.l.u.t is what they called her in either life, then she would make them choke their words.
Mercy?
She has lost it all...