RYEY -Chapter 460 Escape

Fortunately, Cheng Liguo and his grandson had gone to Cheng Qiao’s place. Yuan Guangming offered his cave dwelling to Yuan Mengzhi to sleep, while he took Cheng Liguo’s cave.

After two days at Yuan Guangming’s, Yuan Mengzhi could no longer endure the dryness or the ever-present sand-laden wind blowing into her eyes, mouth, and hair.

Only then did she understand why everyone—men and women—wore hats or scarves here. It was to protect against the relentless, intrusive wind and sand.

“Brother, can you find me a job somewhere away from the sand? And you shouldn’t stay here either—it’s too harsh.”

“There is one. At the military district in Liangzhou. There’s a newspaper there; the editor is my classmate. You can go find him. I’ll recommend you.”

“Newspaper? Can I be an editor?”

“Dream on. Even if he takes you out of my face, you’ll be just a temp. Full-time positions are hard to get.”

“I see… will I be able to support myself?”

“Not like before. If you live frugally, you can manage. You can apply for dorms; they also have a cafeteria.”

“Any other jobs?”

“I don’t have any. Maybe try Zhu Qingde; he’s a doctor at the military district clinic.”

“What! How did he come here?”

“His ancestors were the Zhu family, the big shopkeepers. It was only because your brain was full of nonsense that you divorced him. Do you even know how he came here?”

“How did he come here?”

“On one hand, Shen Sanleng had his eye on him and invited him. On the other hand, he donated a large sum of money to this health clinic.”

“What? He even has money? How come I didn’t know?”

At this moment, Yuan Mengzhi didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She was clearly holding a gold ingot in her hands, yet she still had to go hunting for nothing.

No, it was Zhu Qingde who had deliberately hidden it from her. Yuan Mengzhi calmed herself, recalling everything from back then. So at that time, he had already started to dislike her.

But he kept it hidden, waiting for her to speak. After all, he was Zhu, the big shopkeeper—whether it’s cunning or intelligence, Yuan Mengzhi was no match.

Now that she knew where this man was, should she go? Yuan Mengzhi thought about it all night and decided to go—what if Zhu Qingde regretted it?

Early the next morning, Yuan Mengzhi left with a letter written by Yuan Guangming. Editor Liu, after reading the letter, reluctantly let her stay.

From then on, the newspaper gained a proofreader. Yuan Mengzhi’s work was endless, tedious, and hard on the eyes, with a pitifully low salary.

She had several times wanted to look for Zhu Qingde, but after all, Yuan Mengzhi came from a wealthy family. A fine horse doesn’t go back to eat the grass—it was against her remaining pride to demean herself.

But in the end, Yuan Mengzhi did demean herself. When she saw Li Huan’s photo in the newspaper and learned that the couple had now grown to the point of being able to run a family farm, she truly felt unbalanced.

Also, she could tell from Lu Xiaoyan’s words that this woman had intentions toward Li Huan. So she started preparing.

Sure enough, fortune favors the diligent. She saw Li Huan coming to stir trouble by the window, secretly grabbed a colleague’s camera, and quickly found a good spot to shoot, pressing the shutter in time.

Li Huan had originally heard the camera and wanted to chase, but Lu Xiaoyan wouldn’t let go, giving Yuan Mengzhi a chance to escape. At that moment, she confirmed that Lu Xiaoyan was truly attracted to Li Huan.

Yuan Mengzhi knew a bit about Lu Xiaoyan’s family. That night, after everyone left, she secretly returned to the office, opened a colleague’s drawer, took the camera, and went to the construction site.

She waited for a long time, and when she saw a few figures, she thought to herself that fate was indeed just, finally giving her a chance for revenge. She took the photos and quickly escaped.

Back at the office, she developed the film, returned the camera, wrote the article that night, and sent it to the small newspaper by slipping it under the guard’s door.

Then she quietly returned to the dorm, pretending she had just come back from the bathroom. Remarkably, no one in the dorm realized the magnitude of what she had done.

It wasn’t until Hantong appeared, using her powers, that Yuan Mengzhi’s dizzy mind cleared. Now, all she had to do was escape, otherwise when that woman realized she had lied, there would be no mercy.

Thinking this, Yuan Mengzhi panicked. She went straight to the office, packed her things, and left the newspaper.

“I’ll go find my brother. I believe he will forgive me.”

Yuan Mengzhi went back to the dorm, packed some luggage, and left that place that day, heading once again to Yuan Guangming. This time she was prepared—no matter how harsh the conditions, she wouldn’t leave.

Zhu Qingde had actually long known Yuan Mengzhi was coming, told by Shen Sanleng, who had even attended Zhu Qingde’s wedding back then. That wedding was grand enough to make anyone envious.

“Dr. Zhu, I need to ask you—is Yuan Mengzhi your wife?”

Zhu Qingde looked up, saw Hantong, and smiled wryly:

“She’s my ex-wife.”

“Ex-wife? You mean you’re no longer married?”

Zhu Qingde nodded. Hantong was furious. This woman dared to lie to her. She wanted to drag her to the police station and let her serve a couple of years, to see if she dared lie again.

“Comrade Hantong, what happened to Yuan Mengzhi?”

Though a night of marriage brings a hundred nights of kindness, and the past had passed, there was still concern. Hantong moved her lips but didn’t say a word.

She thought for a moment and decided to ask Cheng Qiao. Cheng Qiao learned it was Yuan Mengzhi’s doing and didn’t know how to react. The world was so small—she had left Xiangyang Village thousands of miles away, and still ran into this woman from the past.

“Cheng Qiao, you decide—should we catch her?”

“I guess she’s already left.”

“What? I warned her not to leave!”

Hantong was furious. This was the first time anyone had gone against her will, and the first time someone had successfully escaped from her grasp.

“She used to be a young lady; both her IQ and EQ were higher than average. Unfortunately, she couldn’t handle such a huge gap and acted impulsively.”

“This kind of person is selfish, thinking only of herself. Even a minor loss will make her resentful. And she still had the audacity to say she disliked Lu Xiaoyan’s jealous attitude? What nonsense!”

Cheng Qiao chuckled silently. Yuan Mengzhi truly was that kind of person.

“So, what now? Should we catch Yuan Mengzhi?”

Cheng Qiao nodded. Anyone trying to ruin her man’s reputation was her enemy. But they still needed to inform Zhu Qingde, despite the divorce.