HBWMA -Chapter 339 The Best Way to Hold the Chessboard

“Zhao Si?”

Sitting on the sofa in the bedroom, Jiang Huashan tilted her eyes toward the harbor night view. “So Su Li confessed everything?”

Shen Mianzhi had just come out of the bathroom after a shower. Seeing her on the phone, she mouthed, “Miaomiao?”

Jiang Huashan nodded and switched the phone to speaker.

Su Miao’s voice came through from the other end.

“Mm. I tricked her by saying I’d plead with Grandpa, and she believed me. She said that not long after she escaped from the hospital back then, a group of people found her and forced her to take care of a baby girl. That baby girl was Su Yun. At first she refused, but those people were fierce and used both threats and inducements—she couldn’t resist, so she eventually agreed. The man called Zhao Si was the leader of that group.”

“On the day of the incident, there was a group outside providing support. Zhao Si was among them. But he’s already in Grandpa’s hands now. Grandpa said Zhao Si has been secretly helping Fu Jiaming. The underground casino in the shantytown district was also managed by him.”

Fu Jiaming?

Jiang Huashan was slightly surprised. She had always thought all of the Fu family’s decisions were made by Fu Jiasheng and Fu Lingnan.

“And… and what about that day? How did Su Li explain it?”

Su Miao paused. “Su Li doesn’t know the full details. She only said Zhao Si had always wanted her to introduce Su Yun to some kind of church. But Su Yun always found excuses to avoid it. Later Zhao Si got impatient and said he couldn’t wait anymore, so he… he sent a group of people to prepare…”

She couldn’t continue.

Jiang Huashan immediately changed the topic. “It’s all in the past.”

Su Miao gave a soft “mm.” “Yeah, it’s in the past.”

Jiang Huashan’s thoughts shifted, and suddenly she sensed something was wrong.

“Why is the Fu family so intent on getting Su Yun into that church? What’s inside it?”

Su Miao replied, “I asked Su Li, but she doesn’t know. She only said most of the girls in the shantytown area went there. They attend worship four times a month, and their families even get paid.”

Jiang Huashan lowered her eyes, her expression gradually turning serious.

For some reason, an unprompted fragment of the rewritten storyline flashed through her mind.

Could it be… those girls were in the church?

Su Miao asked, “What’s wrong? Why did you go quiet?”

Jiang Huashan took a deep breath. “Miaomiao, this might not be over yet. You…”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Shen Mianzhi suddenly let out a short, sharp gasp.

“Shan Shan, something’s happened!”

“Aaahhh!!!”

“She jumped! Someone’s dead!”

Panic-stricken screams echoed across the entire Yucai campus. The crowd surged like ants on a hot pan, chaotic and frantic.

Su Yun stood frozen, staring at the body beneath her feet. That face was mangled beyond recognition, yet still felt eerily familiar.

Blood spread across the ground in a wide pool, staining her newly changed white shoes.

Three minutes ago, Su Yun had received a message.

[Zhao Tang: I’m in a lot of pain right now. Since you’re the Su family’s eldest miss, you must be able to help me. I’ll be waiting for you on the rooftop of Yingcai. My dear friend.]

She deleted the message and walked out of the classroom with her backpack.

[Zhao Tang: You don’t dare come? Are you scared? The one who pushed me into hell is actually afraid?]

[Zhao Tang: Don’t try to escape. I’ll be waiting for you in hell forever.]

Message after message appeared on her screen. Just as she deleted the final one, a sudden black shadow dropped in front of her eyes. With a loud crash, something blocked the path beneath her feet.

The world fell out of order. It felt like no matter which way she tried to go, her path would never be clean again.

Jiang Huashan and Shen Mianzhi sat in front of the television in the living room. The Nanwan local station was broadcasting the campus incident live.

Amid the chaotic crowd, Su Yun stood like a small boat that had lost its direction, frozen in a pool of blood—until Su Zhuo rushed forward and pulled her into his arms, shielding her from the camera.

An hour later, Zhao Tang’s parents tearfully appealed to the media, demanding justice. They also released Zhao Tang’s suicide note that had never been delivered. It detailed everything she had experienced inside the church, exposing the Westwood Church’s sexual misconduct scandal.

As the story behind the note was further investigated, a hidden internal video from the church suddenly went viral online. It clearly recorded the entire moment Zhao Tang was pushed into the abyss.

Because of this, Su Yun’s so-called “crimes” were also exposed to the public. The citizens of Country A were outraged.

[Oh my god! What did she even do wrong? She just trusted her friend and was pushed into hell!]

[I can’t even imagine how desperate she must have been. That so-called friend wore a hypocritical mask and deceived her!]

[Evil parasite—die!]

In less than three hours, Su Yun’s identity had been completely exposed. Some even posted intimate photos of her with Su Zhuo, pushing the Su family into the center of public outrage.

[Looking at the video, the parasite clearly planned this in advance. That means she knew what was going on in that church from the start. The Su family and the church are definitely connected!]

[If we stay silent today, the next victims of these monsters will be our own families and children! We demand a full government investigation and that the murderer be brought to justice!]

The situation escalated rapidly. Citizens began protesting outside the government building in Whale Harbor, demanding an explanation from the Su family. Some extremists even sat in front of the Su residence holding signs that read: “Hand over the murderer.”

…

Shen Mianzhi turned off the television and looked at Jiang Huashan.

“The school has always been heavily controlled. For the media to capture the scene like that—it means the Su family and Su Yun have been set up.”

Jiang Huashan said nothing, her eyes fixed on the chessboard on the coffee table.

In her previous life, Zhao Tang’s suicide note had painted her as a vile school bully. Everyone believed that a dying person would not lie, and without any real evidence, she was condemned.

Back then, she was confused and wronged. Why would someone who wasn’t afraid of death be afraid to tell the truth?

Now she understood. Zhao Tang had never been a warrior—she was merely a puppet manipulated by the Fu family.

To her past self, Zhao Tang had been the real “parasite.” At the final moment of her life, she did not resist, but instead dragged another person into the abyss.

She had thought that if Zhao Tang stayed in Nanwan and Fu Xiaoxiao remained recuperating at home, Zhao Tang’s storyline would not unfold. She hadn’t expected it would simply be transferred onto Su Yun instead.

Zhao Tang still died. The “script” that was meant to happen over these three years had not been avoided at all.

“Shanshan?” Shen Mianzhi noticed her unusual silence and called her softly.

Jiang Huashan came back to herself and turned to her.

“Zhizhi, I need a favor.”

“Tell me.”

Jiang Huashan said, “Go back to Whale Harbor now. Help me…”

Night fell, and the city was lit up like daylight.

Jiang Huashan sat cross-legged on the carpet, idly playing with a chess piece in her hand.

This was the domain of the scripted world. Within this storyline, no matter how much she struggled, she could not change the ending.

So… she needed to change her approach.

Maybe she could try writing a new script.