Everyone wears more than one face.
People socialize wearing masks – masks of gentleness, cheerfulness, or cuteness… When angered, they often can’t maintain these masks.
Xia Xiaolan felt she was asking for trouble because she wanted to understand Jiang Yan’s intentions!
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yan remained completely unaffected:
“You’re right, I should introduce myself. Hello, I’m Jiang Yan. I’ve known Zhou Cheng for five years. We used to be friends, though now he probably considers me an enemy… My goal is to become friends with him again.”
Jiang Yan was completely straightforward, not hiding her intentions.
This girl was remarkably forthright and without any pretense—completely different from Gao Fei and Tong Lili.
Xia Xiaolan wasn’t one to be easily fooled by words. “Comrade Jiang Yan, whether you’re Zhou Cheng’s friend or enemy, you’re in the same college. Shouldn’t you have a chance to say these things to him? Why stop me? You want to be friends with my boyfriend and need me to play matchmaker?”
Only when Xia Xiaolan was willing would she be understanding.
When unwilling, she was truly Miss Confrontational, Miss Difficult. Her skill at confrontation was first-rate, and she wouldn’t leave face for others.
The face was something you gave yourself. Though Xia Xiaolan found Jiang Yan’s spirited demeanor likable, Zhou Cheng’s dislike of her must have its reasons. Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t play the role of a saint!
Jiang Yan hadn’t expected Xia Xiaolan to be so sharp-tongued. This time she was genuinely taken aback:
“I cherish my friendship with Zhou Cheng. There was a misunderstanding between us-“
“Wait, Comrade Jiang Yan, telling me this is useless. Why not tell Third Brother Pan?”
Xia Xiaolan trusted Zhou Cheng’s moral standards. In the conflict between Third Brother Pan and Jiang Yan’s cousin, where Jiang Wu was disabled, if the Zhou family was protecting Third Pan, then it couldn’t have been Third Pan’s fault. Even if both were at fault, Jiang Wu must have been more wrong. The aggressor deserves blame – if Jiang Wu had bullied others first, couldn’t Pan San fight back?
Zhou Cheng said there was a gag order, so Xia Xiaolan didn’t ask further.
Jiang Yan was Jiang Wu’s cousin, making her part of the Jiang family.
Even if the conflict didn’t directly involve Jiang Yan, when the Jiang family tried to destroy Third Brother Pan afterward, Zhou Cheng chose Pan’s side, naturally ceasing contact with Jiang Yan.
If Zhou Cheng wanted to rebuild friendship with Jiang Yan, they were in the same college – Jiang Yan had plenty of opportunities to talk with him.
Not finding Zhou Cheng but coming to Xia Xiaolan instead… did she think Xia Xiaolan was easily manipulated?
Xia Xiaolan knew her face often led to misunderstandings. She could only disappoint Comrade Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan had thick, well-shaped eyebrows that naturally curved upward, which, combined with her features and height, made her stand out easily in crowds. Now those beautiful eyebrows were furrowed – Xia Xiaolan’s response had indeed surprised her:
“Zhou Cheng told you.”
So Xia Xiaolan had known who she was but had deliberately played with her.
Zhou Cheng found such a girlfriend – Jiang Yan’s face showed confusion.
“He told me part of it, Comrade Jiang Yan. I can’t help with your friendship issues with Zhou Cheng.”
Xia Xiaolan walked past Jiang Yan. Though Jiang Yan could subdue male students in fights, she couldn’t use force to make Xia Xiaolan submit. Jiang Yan got a bad impression of Xia Xiaolan – not only was she beautiful, but she was also like a slippery loach, impossible to grasp.
Impervious to both hard and soft approaches, completely unswayable.
These eight characters popped into Jiang Yan’s mind as she watched Xia Xiaolan’s retreating figure.
…
She saw Liu Fen again.
Following Xia Ziyu’s advice, Zhang Cui temporarily set aside the snack shop and focused solely on monitoring Liu Fen every day.
Through her careful observation, Zhang Cui indeed discovered a pattern.
Every afternoon around three or four o’clock, Liu Fen would appear at Xidan. She always visited two stores – one called ‘Blue Phoenix’ and the other Luna. While it was normal for women to visit clothing stores, Zhang Cui noticed that Liu Fen never bought anything.
Always browsing without buying, the store staff maintained a good attitude toward Liu Fen.
This was rare!
Even stranger was that Liu Fen would always go to the bank after leaving the stores.
This pattern continued for several days. Zhang Cui wanted to inquire at the stores but feared the uniformed police officer. She had already seen the same officer talking to Liu Fen three times.
Today, finally, she didn’t see that police officer. Zhang Cui hid behind a tree, watching Liu Fen leave the bank and ride away on her bicycle.
She hesitated for a moment, feeling she had figured out Liu Fen’s pattern, and thought about asking at the clothing store today. Just as she lifted her foot, a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Zhang Cui almost screamed, but the person scolded her:
“Skulking around suspiciously – I’ve noticed you following people. Come to the police station and explain yourself!”
Before Zhang Cui could even see clearly, her hands were cuffed behind her back.
From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the same police officer who often talked with Liu Fen. He looked fierce, making Zhang Cui’s legs weak with fear.
“I… I didn’t…”
She stammered an explanation, but Station Chief Ma wouldn’t listen.
As the chief of a police station, even if not dealing with major murder cases, he had handled countless petty thefts. Zhang Cui, a rural woman, trying to surveil someone – Liu Fen might not have noticed, but how could she fool Station Chief Ma?
While Zhang Cui was observing Liu Fen, Chief Ma had been observing Zhang Cui, and today he finally decided to bring her to the station.
Are criminals now using middle-aged women for surveillance?
It was indeed less conspicuous.
If Zhang Cui hadn’t been so obvious, Station Chief Ma wouldn’t have been so certain.
Chief Ma brought Zhang Cui back to the station, deciding to interrogate her personally.
“Confess your situation honestly. Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist! Who sent you to follow Comrade Liu? When were you planning to make your move?”
After throwing Zhang Cui into the corner, Chief Ma began his questioning.
Zhang Cui was both scared and confused.
Who sent her to follow? Of course, it was her daughter Ziyu.
But how could she implicate her daughter?
As for Chief Ma’s mention of “making a move,” Zhang Cui was even more confused. Xia Ziyu had never mentioned anything about taking action.
After Chief Ma repeated his questions three or four times, Zhang Cui finally understood – did the police think she intended to harm Liu Fen? While Zhang Cui did harbor such thoughts, she dared not admit it in front of Chief Ma.
This male police officer was acquainted with Liu Fen – he might even be her lover.
Liu Fen must have discovered her and called the police!
Zhang Cui trembled as she explained, “I wasn’t going to do anything. She’s my sister-in-law, why would I do anything to her… Officer, I’m innocent. I just happened to see her and wanted to follow to get a closer look.”
Sister-in-law?
Would sisters-in-law not recognize each other and need to surveil for several days?
Chief Ma had assumed Zhang Cui was a criminal after money, trying to confirm Liu Fen’s daily schedule of depositing business income at the bank. When he suddenly heard Zhang Cui claim to be her sister-in-law, he didn’t believe it.
“If she’s your sister-in-law, why need surveillance? If you don’t tell the truth, you’ll face serious consequences!”
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! She’s divorced from my husband’s brother, and we didn’t get along well before. I felt too awkward to talk to her directly…”
Zhang Cui secretly studied Chief Ma’s expression. With his fierce appearance and fleshy cheeks, Zhang Cui couldn’t read anything, so she quickly lowered her head again – if this police officer was Liu Fen’s lover, she had to disrupt that too, otherwise, if he took Liu Fen’s side, he wouldn’t let her off!