Chapter 121: The Prepared Outwits the Unprepared

“I know, I know, it’s really heartbreaking. Here, wipe your tears—you’re crying so much it’s almost like a river...”

Zhang Xiaoman pulled out a tissue and handed it over. She glanced at the young mother, then at the little flower painting alongside Huang Xiaoxiao on the sofa in the Love Volunteers Association’s living room. She sighed softly and spoke gently, “You’re poor relatives from the countryside, right? People won’t exactly be warm to you. All those jokes online talk about poor rural relatives coming to the city to borrow money, find jobs, or look for wives—as if rural folks only ever visit city relatives to take advantage of them.”

“But I’m not here to take advantage of her,” the young mother said, accepting the tissue and wiping the tear streaks from her face. She stiffened her neck and said, “I just want to know if she knows where my husband is...”

Zhang Xiaoman walked over to the water dispenser, poured a cup of warm water, and placed it before the young mother. She softly asked, “She didn’t answer you?”

“She did, but all she said repeatedly was those three words: ‘I don’t know...’” The young mother stared into her reflection in the water and murmured, “How could she not know? My husband clearly said before he left that he was coming to City A to ask for her help...”

“Perhaps, like you, she only met your husband once.” Zhang Xiaoman pursed her lips. “After all, in the old days, a woman followed her husband’s family. Count back a few hundred years, she’d be Mrs. Yang Jin, with everything prioritized for her husband’s household. And since her husband’s family is a wealthy clan, there must be many rules. Your husband’s purpose in coming to City A wasn’t pure; most likely, he ran into a brick wall. So it makes sense that she wouldn’t be warm to you now.”

“Even so, she should at least know roughly where he is,” the young mother pouted. “My husband has only this one relative in City A; even casual talk should have included some plans for the future. How is it that she knows nothing? Besides, my husband told me he and she had already met and that she was willing to help. But I don’t know why she changed her mind later... And my husband’s mother and her late mother were sisters. There’s no kindness at all—it really proves that city people have half a face of humanity and half a face of a dog.”

Zhang Xiaoman touched her nose and cleared her throat lightly. “Not quite. You can’t judge everyone by the same brush.”

Only then did the young mother realize that Zhang Xiaoman and Aunt Huang Xiaoxiao were the city people she had just described. She lightly slapped her own mouth and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I’m not good with words. Of course, you and Aunt Huang aren’t like that. Honestly, I hesitated a lot on the way here, thinking if even my own relatives won’t talk to me, and Aunt Huang only chatted briefly, would you really want to help me? Or just be polite... But I didn’t expect you actually would.”

Zhang Xiaoman chuckled and pointed to the large characters across the living room reading “Love Volunteers Association.” She said with ease, “As volunteers of goodwill, how could we not lend a hand when we see someone in distress? We’ve been caught in the rain ourselves, so we just want to hold an umbrella for others—it’s just a small effort... But I do want to ask, what are your plans moving forward?” She gestured to the little girl absorbed in her drawing. “Nothing else matters as much as the child’s schooling, right?”

“School isn’t urgent,” the young mother lifted the cup, blew on the steam, took a sip, and sighed. “For poor kids, going to school or not doesn’t make much difference. Either way, they end up working for others. Look at those university graduates struggling to find jobs—so-called white-collar workers in the CBD, but their salaries don’t even compare to what I earn packing bags in the countryside.”

“That’s called the CBD...” Zhang Xiaoman frowned. “No, no, schooling is necessary. Only by studying more can the little flower leave the village and live a better life than the generation before. Even if she leaves and returns, it’ll be completely different. Without education, she’s stuck packing bags in the village; with education, she’ll have more choices. Besides, the Compulsory Education Law clearly states that children of school age must receive nine years of compulsory education. If you don’t send her to school, that’s illegal... By the way, how old is little flower now?”

“There’s such a rule?” The young mother scratched her head and held out a hand. “Five. She just turned five this year. My husband and I married seven years ago, and shortly after, he left the village...”

“Then there’s still time. Wait...” Zhang Xiaoman coughed several times, her expression odd. “Let’s think this through... Little flower is five; you married seven years ago, and your husband left right after the wedding... That’s odd. You can’t have been pregnant for two years, can you?”

The young mother blushed deeply and hurriedly waved her hand. “Don’t think wild things. I have nothing going on with Old Wang next door. My husband did leave for the city after marriage, but he went to Green Vine City back then. He worked for a year, earned nothing, and was scammed out of all his savings. He came back to the village in shame. Later, when I got pregnant with little flower, he decided to come to City A to ask Jin Yue for help. After all, Jin Yue graduated from university, so she must have better connections.”

“I see,” Zhang Xiaoman rubbed her chin thoughtfully and asked seriously, “Did he contact you at all over the years?”

“No,” the young mother shook her head. “He only called once when he first arrived in City A, said he had found Jin Yue and told us not to worry—that he’d soon bring us to the city for a better life. But after that, nothing. Men’s words are lies—can’t trust a single one.”

“Six years ago... Jin Yue had just graduated and hadn’t married into the wealthy family yet. Why would your husband say he’d soon bring you here for a good life?” Zhang Xiaoman narrowed her eyes, pressing further. “Did he say anything else? Think carefully—was there anything that seemed strange to you?”

“Strange?” The young mother furrowed her brow, then suddenly brightened with excitement. “I remember now. My husband said women’s hearts are like needles in the sea. Jin Yue wasn’t the same Jin Yue he knew as a child. He told me about some things he secretly saw when following Jin Yue...”

Zhang Xiaoman sat up straight and asked urgently, “What did he see?”

“I don’t remember clearly. Something like Jin Yue disappearing every day for a while,” the young mother recalled slowly. “He said he found that during those times, Jin Yue was following a man driving a luxury car... I didn’t pay much mind then, thinking everyone has their secrets. I often sit alone on the village hill staring into space myself. But now that I think about it, it was strange. I thought Jin Yue just didn’t want to help, so my husband made up rumors. But before hanging up, he said Jin Yue had agreed to help—just needed some time...”

After hearing the young mother’s story, Zhang Xiaoman immediately took out her phone, opened the browser, and typed “City A Yang Group” and “romance” into the search bar. A search result popped up: an entertainment news article from six years ago titled “Exclusive: Yang Group CEO’s New Romance—The Woman Is Actually...”

Pursing her lips, Zhang Xiaoman clicked the link and stared. The first image was an intimate photo of Yang Hai and Jin Yue leaving a hotel. Below was a lengthy narrative describing their romantic encounter at a winery—a typical “tyrannical CEO falls for naive sweetheart” storyline.

After skimming the article, Zhang Xiaoman exhaled heavily, her gaze dim. “So it was all fake. No love at first sight—just one driven by lust, the other by calculation, whether intentional or not.”