Her heart was pounding violently, and her sixth sense was warning her that something big was about to happen.
Liang Rou hesitated once more.
Having interacted with Xia Rui for over a month, she didn’t think Xia Rui was the kind of person who would hurt someone.
Whenever Xia Rui helped her, her gaze was always so sincere… Liang Rou felt that Xia Rui might also be a victim.
What if someone else had given the candy to Xia Rui, and Xia Rui, with good intentions, had handed it to her to help her sober up? She mustn’t wrongly accuse a good person.
So, Liang Rou stretched out her hand and displayed the candy in her palm.
“This candy seems a bit off, doesn’t it? The candies inside this packaging box are completely different from before—they’ve definitely been switched. Xia Rui, do you know what’s going on?”
The moment she said this, Xia Rui froze completely.
Her gaze slowly moved from Liang Rou’s face to the candy in her palm, and then from the candy back to Liang Rou’s face.
Liang Rou’s expression was very serious.
It’s over. Did she really notice something wrong?
However, without any evidence, Xia Rui would absolutely never admit she was behind this.
As long as Liang Rou wasn’t certain, she could still muddle through and talk her way out.
“Ah…”
Xia Rui showed a look of terror, one hand pointing at the candy in the other girl’s palm, while the other hand covered her own mouth.
“What—what’s going on? How come I never noticed before that the candy inside this wrapping paper is different from before! Th-this… Did I run into a scammer?!”
Saying this, she spun around in place in fear.
Liang Rou quietly observed Xia Rui, feeling that the fear on the girl’s face didn’t look fake.
“Hoo~”
Liang Rou let out a sigh of relief.
She knew it. What reason would Xia Rui have to harm her? She hadn’t offended her, wasn’t rich, wasn’t particularly pretty, and wasn’t outstanding at work. Someone like Xia Rui—a rich, beautiful heiress—had no reason to pick on her.
“Senior, you didn’t eat the candy, did you?!”
Seeing Liang Rou silent, Xia Rui became anxious and immediately grabbed Liang Rou’s hand, her eyes full of sincerity and concern as she asked, “You don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere, do you? Let me take you to the hospital!”
After saying this, she lowered her head in guilt.
“It’s all my fault. I just bought some candies randomly on the road and didn’t check what was inside, nor did I pay attention to whether there was a problem with the packaging paper. I only thought you might feel unwell after drinking, so I just shoved it into your hand… I should’ve checked carefully and tasted it myself first. It’s all my fault…”
Xia Rui lifted her head, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at the girl in front of her.
“It’s all my fault! Senior, if you want to hit or scold me, go ahead! This candy really does seem suspicious… If, if you really ate it, I’d feel guilty for the rest of my life…”
A teardrop slid from the corner of her eye.
Seeing Xia Rui looking so pitiful, Liang Rou instantly softened and trusted Xia Rui’s words even more.
Yes! There must be someone else trying to hurt her!
So, Liang Rou held Xia Rui’s hand in return and said seriously, “Don’t worry, as soon as I opened the wrapping paper, I noticed something was wrong, so I didn’t eat the two candies. No need to go to the hospital… But I think we’d better go to the police station tomorrow and report this, so no more girls get hurt like this.”
She waved her little fists indignantly in the air.
“If this really is some kind of bad candy! Then that damned person is just too wicked! They must be brought to justice! Severely punished! Let them sit in jail for a few years, that’ll teach them a lesson!” Liang Rou shouted.
She really was furious.
Xia Rui guiltily averted her gaze, since the person Liang Rou was cursing was her.
“Ahem, okay, Senior, you keep those two candies. After work tomorrow, I’ll go with you to the police station and report it together.”
Even though she was saying such righteous words, Xia Rui was scheming in her heart about how to pull a switcheroo—swap the real for the fake—otherwise, once they got to the police station, things would be hard to explain…
Although it was unlikely the investigation would lead back to her, and the matter would probably be dropped, she didn’t want to take that risk.
“As for today, let’s go back inside first and deal with this client before anything else.”
Xia Rui had her own plan.
Once Liang Rou went in, she’d sit next to her, and with so many people, and the noise, and Liang Rou distracted by all the drinking toasts, she’d have a perfect chance to swap the candies for ordinary ones.
Liang Rou didn’t hesitate.
Right now, handling this client was the priority—if she messed up, that old bald guy would definitely scold her.
“Alright, let’s go in first.”
Liang Rou rewrapped the candy carefully and put it into her left pants pocket.
Xia Rui noticed this movement and silently memorized which pocket Liang Rou used, then followed her into the private room. But as they neared the seats, Xia Rui made sure to sit on the left side first.
Liang Rou didn’t pay this any mind, casually sitting on Xia Rui’s other side.
She even thought Xia Rui sat there to block the drinks for her (since that spot was closer to the client).
She shot Xia Rui two grateful looks, which only left Xia Rui feeling baffled.
Right now, Xia Rui was thinking only about how to steal the candy.
“Luckily, I still have a few pieces of this kind of candy in my pocket. I just need to mix up the wrapping paper and swap them.”
Xia Rui was relieved she hadn’t bought any knockout candies, but instead had injected some syrup into the soft candy with a syringe.
She still had a few pieces of this kind of soft candy and hard candy in her pocket; as long as she swapped the wrapping paper, it would work.
While she was plotting, Liang Rou continued to handle the client.
Although the client had become more restrained, she kept pushing her luck with Xia Rui.
Seeing Xia Rui with her head down, focused on who-knows-what, ignoring the situation at the table, the client’s courage grew.
She started acting up again, ordering Liang Rou and the male colleague to do this and that.
For now, Xia Rui was happy to let the client make things difficult for Liang Rou—it helped distract her.
Sure enough, after Liang Rou drank three more glasses, her eyes grew hazy again.
Xia Rui knew her chance for a switcheroo had come.
“Bang bang bang”
“Bang bang bang”
Her heart was pounding as she gulped nervously and slowly reached out, her hand moving towards Liang Rou’s left pants pocket.
Closer… closer… she was just about to touch it…
At that critical moment, Liang Rou suddenly leaned in.
“Smack~”
Xia Rui froze in shock.
Liang Rou: +2 stunned.
Xia Rui’s hand landed squarely on Liang Rou’s fair, tender thigh.