RGL – Chapter 173

“She’s her assistant. But since you weren’t around, I only scheduled a time to contact her. If you’re free tomorrow, get in touch with them.”

Liao Zhaodi was now already very familiar with the assistant’s responsibilities.

Su Min nodded, calculating that if she could get featured in the weekly magazine again, maybe she could take advantage of the opportunity to gain some additional benefits.

After all, Li Weisi had said that if she could make it to a Paris fashion show and showcase her designs to the audience there, then the future of Xiuse (秀色) would undoubtedly reach a new level.

That night, after eating, the two of them lay in the same bed under one blanket, chatting with the lights off.

Su Min didn’t hide it from Liao Zhaodi. She told her about her relationship with Xue Mian.

Anyway, it would be discovered sooner or later, so there was no need to keep it a secret.

As soon as Liao Zhaodi heard it, she let out a delighted cry. “That’s great! I knew it—you two were definitely going to end up together.”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure if this counts as love. I don’t dislike him, and I’m happy when we meet. It’s a bit awkward sometimes, but once you get used to it, it’s not unbearable.”

She had to admit, deciding to be with Xue Mian had caused quite the internal struggle for her.

Liao Zhaodi pinched her fingers thoughtfully, her face showing a bit of sentiment. “If it were up to me, I’d rather choose someone who loves me. That way, he’d treat me well. Over time, the feelings would naturally develop. Besides, Xue Mian isn’t lacking in any way. If you two are together, the chances of you falling in love with him are honestly really high. Just compare him with the boys in your class, and you’ll see how good he is.”

Hearing this, Su Min mentally ran through the list of her male classmates—and suddenly realized that if Xue Mian were in her class, he’d really stand out from the crowd.

Liao Zhaodi turned over to face her. “I’m serious, Su Min. We should cherish our blessings. Since you’ve already decided to be with him, then treat the relationship properly. Even if it doesn’t work out in the end, at least you can say you gave it your all. Don’t back out halfway and end up regretting it.”

She was genuinely a bit worried about Su Min. After all, in this relationship, it was clear Su Min was the one in control. If she decided to break up, Xue Mian would probably be the one left heartbroken.

Having been classmates once and knowing them both well over the years, she truly didn’t want to see her two friends hurt each other.

Su Min smiled. “Don’t worry, once I’ve made a decision, I don’t go back on it. I’m not made of stone—if someone treats me well, how could I treat them coldly?”

Liao Zhaodi giggled. “You say that, but who knows? You’ve shown him quite a bit of coldness already. Only someone like him could stay so devoted to you.”

“Oh? So you’re teasing me now? Just wait, I’m going to tickle you!”

As she spoke, Su Min reached out and started tickling her.

“Ahh—alright, alright, I was wrong!” Liao Zhaodi burst out laughing too.

The room was soon filled with the sound of their laughter and playful scuffling.

Classes had just begun, so the coursework wasn’t intense yet.

The next day, school ended a little after ten in the morning.

Su Min saw that it was still early and decided to head home to rest for a bit before meeting up with Xue Mian for lunch.

She was just about to leave after packing her things when her homeroom teacher, Ms. Zhou, walked in.

“Su Min, come with me to the office for a moment.”

Su Min was slightly taken aback, then instinctively glanced at Sun Manli. Seeing that Sun Manli still had her head lowered, seemingly unable to recover from yesterday’s blow, she didn’t spare her another look. She picked up her things and followed Ms. Zhou to the office.

Su Min was still wondering why Ms. Zhou had called her over when she stepped into the office and saw the woman sitting inside. Then she immediately understood.

Xue Mian’s mother was here.

Although there was a bit of awkwardness on Ms. Zhou’s face, she couldn’t delay things any further. She led Su Min to one side of the office. “Shall we go to the meeting room?”

Li Aiyun, dressed in full military uniform, nodded coldly. She didn’t even glance at Su Min and followed Ms. Zhou into the adjacent meeting room.

Ever since Su Min had decided to be with Xue Mian, she’d expected something like this to happen, so she didn’t feel too repulsed. She quietly followed them in.

“Su Min, this is Director Li from the A Military District Hospital. She’s here to have a conversation with you. I’ll leave you two to talk. If anything comes up, just call me.”

Ms. Zhou smiled and left the room.

“You probably know why I’m here,” Li Aiyun said coldly, her face stern.

Su Min glanced up at her features and thought to herself, This Li Aiyun really does have the same temperament as that Sun Manli.

She placed her schoolbag on the chair, then pursed her lips and gave a light chuckle. “I know. You want me to leave Xue Mian.”

Right after saying that, Su Min suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. And then it hit her—wasn’t this just like those melodramatic soap operas that air at 8 p.m.?

The poor Cinderella, hated by her wealthy boyfriend’s mother, only to be confronted with a check slammed onto the table.

She couldn’t help but wonder how much money Xue Mian’s mother was planning to throw at her.

Amused by her own imagination, Su Min’s mood lightened a bit, and a trace of a smile naturally appeared on her face.

Seeing her like this made Li Aiyun even angrier.

She felt that Su Min was deliberately provoking her, flaunting her victory, as if stealing her son meant she had won.

“Don’t get cocky. Let me tell you this—I will never approve of you and Xue Mian. Don’t even think about stepping through the gates of the Li family.”

Same old line.

So cliché.

Su Min rubbed her head and smiled. “I don’t think this is something that depends on your approval. This is between Xue Mian and me. Besides, I don’t have to marry into the Li family. I can earn my own money and buy my own house in the future.”

She had no intention of backing down to Xue Mian’s mother.

She didn’t believe she was charming enough to change Li Aiyun’s mind. One look at how Grandma Xue had ended up was all the proof she needed.

So she might as well be tough from the beginning, rather than let herself be bullied later. She was in a relationship with Xue Mian—not signing up to be Li Aiyun’s submissive child bride.

“This is your idea of being well-mannered? Is that how you used your sharp tongue to seduce our Xue Mian?”

Li Aiyun was already so furious she could barely contain herself.

Even her legs were trembling slightly.

But Su Min paid no attention to her reaction and continued, “If you don’t approve of me and Xue Mian being together, then go talk to him directly. There’s no need to come to me. If he chooses to leave me, I won’t cling to him. But if he doesn’t, then I certainly won’t back off either. Auntie, there’s no need to threaten or pressure me. When it comes to this matter, you and I have no connection. The only person you can influence is Xue Mian!”

Hearing the firmness in Su Min’s tone, Li Aiyun felt a twinge of panic. “So that’s your final decision?”

“That’s right.”

“Fine. Don’t regret it. I know your family runs a supermarket back in your hometown. Do you really think things will always go smoothly for them?”

“What are you trying to say?” Su Min’s voice turned colder.

She didn’t care about most things, but when it came to her family being threatened—she wouldn’t tolerate that.

Li Aiyun sneered. “Running a supermarket like that, wouldn’t they be worried if something went wrong? If they had to shut down, how would they do business? And if they found out their daughter’s love affair outside ruined everything for them, would you even have the face to go back?”

Su Min stared at her for a long moment. Both women wore equally cold expressions and refused to back down.

After a moment, Su Min suddenly let out a scoff, a mocking smile tugging at her lips.

“That won’t work. Even if our family’s supermarket shuts down, you gain nothing. Abusing your power—you know what that leads to. I don’t like being threatened, nor do I like seeing my family threatened. But if someone really does try to threaten us, we won’t be afraid either.”

Li Aiyun involuntarily shivered at the coldness in Su Min’s eyes. She hadn’t expected such bold words to come from such a young girl.

Wasn’t it normal for people to fall apart when faced with threats like hers? And yet this girl was even trying to drag her down.

What a difficult one.

Seeing that Li Aiyun had no more to say, Su Min no longer felt like continuing the conversation.

There was no result to be had from this talk anyway—any more of it would just be a waste of time.

“Wait.”

Just as Su Min was about to leave, Li Aiyun stood up and called out to stop her. “My stance hasn’t changed. I will never accept you.”

“Whatever.” Su Min replied casually, then turned and walked out of the reception room.

Outside, Teacher Zhou had been waiting nervously. When she saw Su Min coming out, she quickly asked, “How did it go? Where’s Director Li?”

Su Min pointed toward the reception room. “Still sitting in there. I’m heading back now, Teacher.”

Teacher Zhou didn’t even bother responding. She rushed into the reception room to attend to Li Aiyun.

After such a delay, the second period was already nearly over.

When Su Min reached the school gate, she immediately spotted a familiar car.

Xue Mian was sitting inside, the window rolled down, eyes fixed on the school gate. As soon as they saw each other, they locked eyes.

“Why are you only coming out now? Didn’t you just have one class?”

“How did you know?” Su Min asked curiously as she got into the car.

“I have your class schedule,” Xue Mian said proudly, then started the engine.

By the time they arrived, the restaurant was already quite full.

Luckily, Xue Mian had made a reservation, so they were able to sit down right away.

As they were looking through the menu, a loud bang suddenly erupted from a nearby table as everything on it was knocked over.

Startled, Su Min instinctively shrank back, pressing against Xue Mian, and turned toward the source of the noise. She saw a middle-aged woman leading a group of women, angrily smashing up the table. Meanwhile, a few men stood off to the side, looking rather embarrassed.

When Su Min looked more closely, she noticed that among those men, there was a middle-aged man in a leather jacket—and standing next to him was a woman she recognized.

It was Su Wenwen.

Su Wenwen happened to be nervously looking around for a place to hide. Her eyes swept the restaurant—and landed on Su Min.

The moment she saw her, she froze. Then her expression shifted drastically, becoming utterly unpleasant.

It had been nearly two years since they’d last seen each other, and Su Min had almost forgotten this person. When she caught a glimpse of her just now, she even thought she’d mistaken someone else for her.

But it was because Su Wenwen had changed so much.

In the past, Su Wenwen had always dressed somewhat maturely, but now she was entirely grown-up in appearance.

Winter hadn’t even passed yet, and she was already baring a patch of pale skin in front. She wasn’t wearing much—just a tight, thin inner shirt and an expensive-looking leather coat on top. Her makeup was also shockingly bold.

What had Su Wenwen turned into?

Xue Mian hadn’t recognized her yet.

Back then, they hadn’t been classmates for long, and Xue Mian never made an effort to remember anyone. So, he only glanced at her and looked away. “Let’s find another place.”

This noisy scene was ruining the romantic atmosphere he was going for.

Su Min didn’t want to bump into Su Wenwen either, so she nodded, picked up her bag, and prepared to leave.

“Su Min, Su Min!”

Su Wenwen’s voice called out from behind, but Su Min didn’t even look back. The situation was clear enough—Su Wenwen had ended up following the same path as in her past life: becoming a despised mistress.

And now, the man’s wife had come to confront her.

As soon as Su Min left, before Su Wenwen could stop her, she was grabbed by the hair and slapped repeatedly by the man’s wife.

The middle-aged man beside them saw he couldn’t stop the fight, so he didn’t even try. He just stood there, helplessly watching her get beaten.

When Su Wenwen’s expensive coat had been torn, her hair was a mess, and her face was swollen like a pig’s head, the attackers finally spat on her and left with their companions.

Seeing her in such a state, the middle-aged man lost all interest, shook his head, and left with his friends.

Su Wenwen was left all alone.

A few waitstaff came over quickly to clean up the mess on the floor. When they saw her sitting there, they looked at her with disgust. Those people just now had said this woman was a shameless mistress who seduced someone else’s husband. Dressed like that, she really did look like a seductive vixen—disgusting.

Su Wenwen got up from the floor, carrying her now deformed, trampled handbag, and walked out step by step.

As she heard the insults still coming from behind her, the hatred in her eyes grew more and more intense.

Why? Why was Heaven treating her like this?!

She hated that man, hated his wife—but she also hated Su Min! Su Min was still a Su, related to her by blood, yet she had just stood by and watched, even laughed at her misfortune.

If it hadn’t been for Su Min ruining her family back then, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a state, with no one to rely on, living this kind of life.

The more she thought about it, the less she could bear it. Her chest burned with rage, and her body, weakened and exhausted, started to sway.

“Comrade, are you all right?”

A man who looked honest and reliable rushed over to help her. Seeing that she had fainted, he quickly waved down a car and rushed her to the hospital.

After Su Min left the restaurant, she didn’t think about Su Wenwen anymore.

City B was big, and she had no plans to see Su Wenwen again. Even in the same city, they could live their lives separately in peace.

She had spent years entangled with Su Wenwen; she didn’t want to live like that anymore.

After their meal, Xue Mian drove her back to the company.

“Xiao Min, I’ve explained everything to the Xue family. Don’t worry—no one will come looking for trouble anymore.”

After parking the car downstairs, Xue Mian reported the situation to her.

Su Min looked at him. “You really explained it clearly?” She wanted to say that talking to the Sun family was pointless and that he should talk to his mother instead. But considering that his mother had already come to confront her today, she figured he had probably already handled it, so she didn’t say more.

Xue Mian reached out and held her hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone trouble you. I’ll take care of all of it. I won’t let you regret being with me.”

“I never said I regretted it. Why are you in such a rush?” Su Min laughed, picked up her bag, and said, “I’m good now. I’m heading into the office. See you after work.”

Both she and Xue Mian had their own careers. They were never going to be like real college students who could fall in love without a care in the world.

Xue Mian nodded and let go of her hand.

A few new hires had joined the company. When Su Min walked in, the employees all stood up to greet her.

Even though their boss was young, no one dared underestimate her.

As soon as Su Min entered her office, she asked Liao Zhaodi to contact the Fashion Weekly team.

Clearly, if they could make it into Fashion Weekly again this time, it would further strengthen Xiuse’s image in the West. And if they applied to attend the fashion show in Paris next time, their chances of success would be even higher.

Liao Zhaodi made an overseas call and, after confirming everything according to Su Min’s arrangements, quickly brought over the materials.

Just as the two were preparing to discuss the next step, a receptionist walked in. “Sister Zhaodi, someone’s here to see you.”