SES Chapter 110 Part 2

So he echoed, “Exactly! Someone set you up. Whoever it was has no idea who they messed with!”

That night, Yan Hongsha and Mu Dai shared a room, Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua another, while Luo Ren took his own.

Once Yan Hongsha’s initial excitement wore off, she began scrutinizing Mu Dai. But being straightforward, she just blurted out her thoughts.

“Mu Dai, are you really better? Is this really… you?”

It was a clumsy question. Mu Dai said, “What do you think?”

“I don’t know… something feels a little…” Yan Hongsha frowned, words failing her. The more she thought, the more tangled it got. Finally she shrugged it off. “Anyway, as long as you’re still a good person, as long as you don’t go making big mistakes, it doesn’t matter. We’ll always be friends.”

Mu Dai felt a small tremor in her heart.

She thought of Dr. He Ruihua’s words.

—When it comes to being accepted again, in general: family > friends > lovers.

Yes. Family would always be family.

And in a lifetime, you could make countless friends.

So…

She sighed softly and turned off the light. “Sleep.”

As she lay down, her head felt pressed against the pillow awkwardly. Her tied-up hair was still bothering her. In the dark, she reached up, slipped off the elastic, and let her hair fall loose strand by strand.

Yan Hongsha suddenly remembered. “Mu Dai, did you know Lian Shu got caught? And what really happened with your car accident?”

She propped herself up. “We figured, even if she did something, she must’ve been influenced by Xiong Jian. You can’t totally blame her. But Luo Ren…”

Mentioning him, she flopped back down. “Luo Ren was ruthless. He said he wouldn’t go after her, but he wouldn’t speak a word in her defense either. And you can’t really talk about Xiong Jian to outsiders—they’d never believe it.”

Car accident?

Mu Dai had nearly forgotten.

She thought back. Lian Shu must’ve drugged her. When she woke, it was dark, and she was out by a rural roadside, the car already gone.

“She probably wanted to strangle me, but didn’t have the strength. The rope was around my neck, and she was dragging me toward the side, maybe looking for an easier spot to do it. And then…”

Mu Dai exhaled. She remembered the pendant hanging from Lian Shu’s neck.

Another piece of blood-red amber.

“Lian Shu had a piece of rouge amber, just like the wild man’s.”

“We know,” Yan Hongsha said. “So then what… you woke up, and that’s why she failed?”

“Yeah. I waited for a chance, used every bit of strength I had to shove her away, then crawled. But the drug was still in me; I was dizzy and weak. I kept crawling until I collapsed. Then I heard a car coming and realized—I must’ve made it onto the road.”

After that, her memory blurred. She only recalled a voice in her head: Get up! Get up! Or you’ll die!

Mu Dai shook her head lightly, as if to shake off the bad memories. “This stretch… I must really be out of luck. One thing after another, nothing is going right.”

Yan Hongsha hesitated, then asked softly, “So… you and Luo Ren, what’s going on?”

Mu Dai’s heart sank.

She bit her lip, didn’t answer. Just closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

Yan Hongsha didn’t press her.

The next day, Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan’s task was to find Ma Chao.

Things weren’t nearly as harmonious between them. Both refused to share a bed, so after rock-paper-scissors, the loser got the couch.

Late that night, Cao Yanhua still tossed and turned on the sofa. It wasn’t uncomfortable—he was just too riled up to sleep.

“Brother San, I know this kind of brat. Rotten to the core, lies pouring out of his mouth, tricks in his belly. Normal people can’t handle him!”

Yi Wansan was stretched comfortably on the bed, finally able to rest after rushing along on Luo Ren’s orders. A real luxury.

Distractedly, he asked, “So what’s your plan?”

“I’ve already got it worked out,” Cao Yanhua said. “Just back me up tomorrow.”

In the darkness, an aura of menace spread around him. “I’ll show that punk what it means to cross Grandpa Cao from Liberation Monument!”