"Мhm."
Аnоthеr "mhm" that gavе nоthing аwау.
Lu Sui's hand slowly liftеd.
Wu Мangmang tеnsed up, lеаning bасk slightlу.
Fаced with sоmething that seemed so "сhеaр" and еаsilу аttainаblе, еvеn Wu Мangmаng herself thought sоmеthing might haрpen. But in thе end, Lu Sui onlу raised his hаnd tо rub his tеmрlеs.
Веing drunk must have bееn quite unсоmfоrtablе.
What fоllоwed was аn unusuаlly lоng silence.
Wu Мangmang reаlizеd thаt Lu Sui truly hаd no interest in еngаging in аny соnvеrsаtiоn with hеr, nor аnу interеst in her аs a pеrson.
Sо shе оbediеntlу turnеd hеr gaze to thе car window.
The trеes and buildings raрidly reсeding оutsidе the windоw sent Wu Mangmang's thoughts spiraling back to the absurd and chaotic scene earlier.
Wu Mangmang felt both angry and somewhat afraid.
A heartbroken woman's fighting power was no ordinary force.
If Lu Sui hadn't opened the car door at that moment, Wu Mangmang didn't dare imagine whether her hair would still be intact.
Thinking of this, she straightened her posture, creating space behind her so that Lu Sui's silhouette was cast onto the window. She studied it carefully—he seemed to be resting with his eyes closed.
Wu Mangmang stealthily turned her head, admiring Lu Sui's long eyelashes for a moment, then silently mouthed the words "thank you," even though this person clearly didn't care about others' gratitude.
After thanking the kind-hearted person, her thoughts naturally turned to that scumbag Xia Chenhe.
In Wu Mangmang's "dramatic" career, although she had also directed and acted in the role of a "little mistress," those were mostly harmless jokes. Tonight, however, she had genuinely been mistaken for a mistress and beaten up—the feeling was indescribably sour and humiliating.
All of this was thanks to Xia Chenhe.
He looked refined and intellectual, but who would have thought his heart was so malicious?
But when it came down to it, while Xia Chenhe was despicable, she herself was also foolishly hateful.
This was how the "rent-a-person" industry worked—full of unknown dangers. Although the company required constant safety updates, unexpected incidents still happened frequently.
But before it happened to oneself, everyone thought they would be the lucky one. Once it did happen, crying wouldn't help.
Wu Mangmang felt deeply ashamed of her own naivety. She had once mocked another woman for being too foolish and innocent, but everyone had their moments of stupidity.
Of course, what Wu Mangmang felt most at this moment was anger—a blazing fury. If she didn't make Xia Chenhe suffer, she wouldn't bear the surname Wu.
But why would Xia Chenhe hire someone on the rent-a-person app to impersonate a mistress? Was he bored and trying to ruin his own reputation?
Wu Mangmang reconsidered and speculated that Xia Chenhe probably had another mistress whose identity couldn't be exposed. His wife, Li Juan, had already sensed his infidelity, so he hired someone to pose as the mistress.
If that were truly the case, he was scum to the core.
But this also indirectly highlighted the insecurity of renting oneself out. Walk the night path too often, and you'll eventually meet a ghost.
Wu Mangmang was still planning her "revenge" route when the car came to a smooth stop outside her apartment building.
The driver got out and opened the door.
Wu Mangmang glanced at the motionless Lu Sui beside her. Every time she looked, she seemed to discover another "handsome point" about him. This time, she was captivated by the contour of his profile.Wu Mangmang worked in ceramic restoration and had a particular fondness for lines. At this moment, seeing the perfect curve from Lu Sui’s forehead, down the bridge of his nose, and to his chin, she was as captivated as if she were gazing at Ru ware or Ge ware porcelain.
He seemed to sense her gaze, opening his eyes to glance at her as if asking, "Why haven’t you gotten out of the car yet?"
"Mr. Lu, thank you so much for today," Wu Mangmang said, bowing slightly from her seat to express her sincere gratitude.
But her swaying, peach-shaped breasts seemed to carry a hint of seduction. It was only when Wu Mangmang looked down and saw her exposed chest—due to the missing button—that she realized this.
She quickly covered herself with her hands.
Fortunately, there was no flicker of emotion in Lu Sui’s eyes, as if he were looking at the chest of a gorilla—nothing particularly noteworthy.
Standing by the roadside, Wu Mangmang watched as Lu Sui’s car disappeared from sight, feeling an indescribable sense of loss.
Lu Sui was different from what she had imagined, yet somehow exactly as she had imagined.
Today, Lu Sui had witnessed the most embarrassing and humiliating moments of her life—rescued as a "mistress" being beaten by the wife.
When Wu Mangmang realized it was Lu Sui, she had expected to see contempt in his eyes, much like the subtle disdain she had glimpsed in Shen Ting’s and Ning Zheng’s gazes.
But his eyes were clear and beautiful, holding only indifference and disregard—no trace of contempt.
This brought a wave of relief to Wu Mangmang, who had been so disheveled she wanted to cry.
In truth, at that moment, she hadn’t wanted to speak or explain anything—she just wanted to be alone.
If it had been anyone else, even if they weren’t curious about her story, they would have added their own assumptions and judgments. But Lu Sui’s attitude was the most comfortable for her.
She found it incredible herself. At the time, she had wished she could vanish into thin air, and Lu Sui’s indifference had been exactly what she needed—perfect.
Thinking of this, Wu Mangmang couldn’t help but wonder what mindset had led to Lu Sui’s attitude.
She had some understanding of people in Lu Sui’s circle—aloof, looking down on the world. The rules and constraints that bound ordinary people were nothing but fleeting clouds to them. They could trample on social norms, treat life as a game, and sometimes even play with their own lives, let alone those of ordinary people.
Such individuals often had surprisingly low moral standards, as morality itself was a form of constraint, and their arrogance made them unwilling to be bound by anything.
And because they stood so high above, they remained indifferent to everything.
Perhaps Lu Sui’s attitude stemmed from this mindset, which aligned with Wu Mangmang’s expectations.
But if one were inclined to think the best of others, Lu Sui’s attitude could also be attributed to his reluctance to judge people hastily or draw conclusions about others.
Such individuals were usually magnanimous and wise.
Human complexity and the deceptive nature of eyes and ears often led to countless misunderstandings.
Refraining from hasty conclusions was the only way to avoid such misunderstandings.
And the inherent consistency of human logic meant that once a conclusion was drawn, it was easy to become stubborn and resistant to changing one’s impression.Moreover, without having experienced what others have gone through, you often cannot truly understand their choices. Yet you stand on high ground, pointing fingers at them with a self-righteous sense of morality, as if you were any nobler or more virtuous.
This does no good for anyone, including yourself.
Wu Mangmang glanced once more in the direction the car had left and whispered a thank you.
Regardless of Lu Sui’s reasons, he had not become the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
He hadn’t judged her recklessly.
Moreover, he had saved her. In that situation, Wu Mangmang could hardly believe that Lu Sui had opened the car door for her.
This was different from what she had imagined.
It remained something of an unsolved mystery.
Standing in her bathroom at home, Wu Mangmang looked at the woman in the mirror—her hair disheveled, half her face swollen. Even Ms. Liu might not recognize her if she saw her now.
Looking down at her feet, they were horrifyingly dirty. Her shoes were long gone, her stockings torn to shreds, with her big toe and second toe poking through the holes, and her heels exposed.
What kind of seductress was this? She was only slightly better off than a beggar woman.
Earlier, Wu Mangmang had thought she had left the impression of a seductress in Lu Sui’s eyes. Now, she felt more like a monster. No wonder he had remained unmoved even after seeing a large part of her chest.
Wu Mangmang herself felt so ugly that her face burned with shame.
Perhaps the day had been too intense, for even after washing up and transforming back into a fresh, fragrant beauty, Wu Mangmang lay in bed unable to sleep.
She decided to get up and start writing an explanation to the rental company’s app about what had happened that day.
She also needed to remove her information from the app.
Although this part-time job hadn’t lasted long and was often quite dull, Wu Mangmang felt a pang of reluctance deep down.
When she took her first job, it was mostly out of curiosity and the idea that it might be fun. She hadn’t taken it seriously at all. But her first client was an extremely introverted and insecure man with few friends, no girlfriend, and whose social life mainly existed online. He had always longed for a real person to watch movies with and talk to face-to-face.
Wu Mangmang still remembered the smile on his face that day—somewhat shy, not exactly a big grin, but one that made her feel both pity and heartache.
At the time, she felt as though she was saving his life, though that was likely just her own narcissism. Still, the feeling of bringing him joy was genuinely good.
Her next client was a car mechanic who had been on countless blind dates and failed every time. Though his work was a bit dirty, his income was actually quite decent. For some reason, he never seemed to win women’s favor. He hired Wu Mangmang to play the role of a high-quality girlfriend, to silence his many relatives and friends and give his parents a moment of happiness.
Wu Mangmang had to admit that the feeling of knowing someone’s happiness was because of her was truly gratifying.
If not for that, Ms. Wu, who usually lost interest in everything after three minutes, wouldn’t have stuck with the rental job for so long, even when it became slightly boring.
But all of this had been ruined by her foolish curiosity and Xia Chenhe’s disgusting behavior.
With a sigh, Wu Mangmang clicked the send button on the email.The next day, she personally went to obtain Xia Chenhe's reserved personal information and asked a friend at the public security bureau to check it. The result revealed that he had actually used a fake ID number.
This was premeditated deception, and Wu Mangmang gritted her teeth in anger.
As usual, she went to Wu Yong's place this week. When the nurse invited Wu Mangmang into Wu Yong's office, she was still engrossed in scrolling through Weibo and sending messages on her phone.
Five minutes later, she was still scrolling.
Wu Yong had to clear his throat lightly to remind Wu Mangmang that the time here was paid for by her father at a high price.
"Dr. Wu, wait a moment, I just need to repost this one, it'll be quick," Wu Mangmang said while typing rapidly, feigning a sinister smile. "You little rascal, daring to mess with me."
"What happened?" Wu Yong asked Wu Mangmang, who finally looked up. Although this girl was obsessed with social media, it was rare for her to be so engrossed in Weibo during a therapy session.
"Thanks to the great power of the internet," Wu Mangmang said, the brightness in her eyes and the radiant smile on her face nearly blinding Wu Yong.
Without hesitation, she recounted everything that had happened the previous week to Wu Yong.
"Have you ever seen such a despicable man and shameless woman? I've never encountered such extremes," Wu Mangmang said. "Do you know who Gao Chenhao (Xia Chenhe) cheated with? It was his sister-in-law, the woman who came with Li Juan to hit me that day. The world is full of wonders, and there are scumbags beyond imagination."
"Gao Chenhao was also too arrogant. Although he used a fake ID, he carelessly called his wife's name. However, there are too many people named Li Juan, which made it take so long for me to hire a private detective and uncover the scandal between him and his sister-in-law with solid evidence."
Wu Mangmang shook her phone. With the rapid spread of information on Weibo, she didn't even need to go to Gao Chenhao's workplace to ruin and destroy this despicable pair.
Perhaps Li Juan should even thank her for helping out.
After years of therapy, their relationship had grown somewhat close to friendship. Wu Yong said, "This kind of work is too dangerous. A girl like you, especially one as beautiful as you, really shouldn't be doing it."
"I've already quit," Wu Mangmang said somewhat gloomily. "Actually, sometimes it was quite interesting. It was also a job that helped people. Dr. Wu, do you think quitting my job over someone like Gao Chenhao is too unfair to everyone else?"
Wu Yong looked at Wu Mangmang. "Actually, deep down, you understand that the temporary happiness gained from such deception will only make the other person suffer more when it's exposed."
Upon hearing this, Wu Mangmang first glared at Wu Yong, then helplessly lowered her eyelids and fell silent.
Although life felt somewhat dull, it had to go on.
Moreover, because of the incident with Gao Chenhao, Wu Mangmang had hired a private detective, paid for online posters to spread the story, and bought an expensive skincare treatment to comfort her wounded heart. The money Ms. Liu had given her last time was almost all spent.
Wu Mangmang had to pull herself together and take on another part-time job.
But this time, it was absolutely legitimate—her old profession, antique restoration.
She wasn't leading the project but was assisting Dr. Xiao from the museum with his work.
The only noteworthy detail was that the employer was none other than Lu Lin, the sister of Uncle Lu who had come out of the closet.
OpenNovel