Chapter 70: Just One Year of Perseverance

“Cough, cough… ha…”

Panting for breath, her left hand shielding her neck, her right arm dangling at her side, her vision was blurred by tears, and the light made it impossible for her to see Ning Wan’s expression.

Tears slid down, and Lu Weizhu closed her eyes.

“…Hiss…”

Her mind cleared a little, but the effects of the alcohol hadn’t faded. Ning Wan held her forehead.

Looks like she overestimated her tolerance…

“You…”

“…I really didn’t know you would be there.”

Before Ning Wan could finish, Lu Weizhu spoke.

Her words carried a nasal tone, her voice hoarse, the suffocating terror of her throat being strangled still vivid in her memory.

It seemed like every time she met Ning Wan, nothing good ever happened.

“You and that person, what’s your relationship?”

Ning Wan grabbed Lu Weizhu’s shoulder, leaning closer to the girl beneath her. At such an intimate distance, she could see the girl’s trembling eyelashes.

“A friend, just a friend, that’s all…”

Lu Weizhu opened her eyes and looked at the person before her.

“I don’t know what I did wrong again, please, let me go, I’m begging you…”

She pleaded miserably for mercy.

Was she becoming weaker and weaker?

Lu Weizhu wondered. Maybe that was true…

“…”

Ning Wan said nothing, staring at the girl begging for forgiveness. Her muddled mind worked slowly.

Did she really have any reason to be here? Alcohol truly was a harmful thing.

But should she admit her mistake? Should she admit fault in front of a toy or a pet and lose her dignity?

Ning Wan didn’t want to admit she was wrong.

Ah, right, the Owner is never wrong—the one at fault can only be the Pet. What does it matter if they’re a Friend? What does it matter if they don’t know anything? Showing up in front of her and Bai Lu and disturbing them was Lu Weizhu’s fault. Being her Pet, yet still having so-called Friends, was even more her fault.

Selfishly thinking this way, Ning Wan had always known what kind of awful person she was.

She easily pushed aside Lu Weizhu’s hand that was protecting her neck. On the once-pale skin, red fingerprints stood out glaringly.

In Lu Weizhu’s terrified gaze, Ning Wan pressed her hand to the girl’s neck.

For Lu Weizhu, this momentary sobriety from drunkenness made Ning Wan seem even more terrifying.

“Ning—”

“You should call me Owner.”

Clamping the girl’s neck, Ning Wan made a shushing gesture with a finger from her other hand.

“Mm… ugh… let… let go of me…”

She had just escaped suffocation, and now the feeling was climbing back over her heart.

Her breath was cut off, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t form fluent words, her vision darkened from lack of oxygen.

Why? Why did she always have to suffer these senseless disasters? Her thoughts drifted, back to more than a year ago—it seemed… Bai Lu was the one who had approached her first?

Struggling was useless, death felt just within reach. Was she going to die?

If she died, maybe that would be a good thing? At least her heart wouldn’t ache anymore.

Lu Weizhu’s gaze became unfocused.

For a moment, she truly wanted to just die here—until she remembered Lu Weiyu lying in the Hospital.

Her little sister was still so young, different from herself, Lu Weiyu’s life still had hope. If she died now, what would happen to her?

Her body gradually grew limp, Lu Weizhu’s struggles weakened.

One more year… In one more year her little sister could be discharged from the Hospital. Lu Weizhu thought, no matter what, she at least had to live another year.

Scalding tears rolled down, tracing her cheeks, landing on Ning Wan’s hand.

“…Own…er…”

Lu Weizhu forced out that word she despised to the core.

She knew, she’d always known—neither Benefactor ever truly saw her as a person. They liked her to call them that.

Lu Weizhu had clung to a shred of self-respect, always trying to avoid using that address.

But now, there was no way to avoid it.

Ning Wan withdrew her hand.

“Cough, cough, cough… cough, cough… ha… ha…”

Lu Weizhu coughed violently, as if she were about to hack up her insides.

Her throat burned, her limbs limp from oxygen deprivation, sweat soaking her long hair, Lu Weizhu could barely move.

“…”

Ning Wan was silent. She quietly admired the girl before her, utterly exhausted, tears streaming down her face.

Wearing a face so similar to her own, yet showing an expression she would never display herself.

Should she say this face really was like her own? Even crying, it was so pretty. Narcissistically, Ning Wan stroked Lu Weizhu’s cheek.

“You said just now you wanted to know what you did wrong? I’ll tell you now.”

Ning Wan pinched the girl’s face.

Her movements were gentle, completely different from the roughness that seemed ready to kill Lu Weizhu before. Her tone also softened, but the words that came out were full of venom.

“Your mistake was appearing in front of Bai Lu, your mistake was having so-called Friends, and even more your mistake was your lousy attitude.”

Ning Wan sat up, kneeling on the tea table. Fortunately, it was sturdy enough not to collapse under both their weight.

Ning Wan slid one hand under Lu Weizhu’s shirt hem.

“First, I told you, didn’t I? You are not allowed to see Bai Lu, whether intentionally or not. Even if I hadn’t said it, so what? Lacking the proper awareness, isn’t that a mistake?”

Ning Wan began listing Lu Weizhu’s errors, of course, most of them made up on the spot to save her own pride.

She didn’t care what Lu Weizhu thought—at least, right now, she didn’t care.

“Second, I paid money. From the day you received it, you became my possession. Did I ever say you could have so-called Friends? And so close at that?”

This was pure, unreasonable nonsense—Ning Wan had never actually forbidden her from making Friends.

“…”

Lu Weizhu didn’t speak. She just sat, listening blankly to these absurd accusations.

“Third, who do you think you are? Do you think you can stand as our equal? Acting all proper in front of your so-called Friends—what, are you afraid of letting them know how base you are in private?”

“I…”

Lu Weizhu couldn’t say a word.

She just cried silently.

Those three mistakes—the first two were utterly baseless, things Lu Weizhu would never admit.

But the third—Lu Weizhu was guilty, just as Ning Wan said. She didn’t want anyone to know the dirty side of her life.

“Tsk. In short, I repeat: know your place.”

Unable to come up with more accusations, all Ning Wan could do was scold the girl before her a little more.

Getting off Lu Weizhu, Ning Wan rubbed her palm.

Her head was still a little swollen, her body feeling weightless.

“Whew…”

She took a deep breath and stood up, her gaze landing on the splint and bandage on Lu Weizhu’s right hand.

“…”

Silently crying, supporting herself on the tea table with one hand, Lu Weizhu sat up slowly. Noticing Ning Wan’s gaze, she cradled her right hand to her chest.

“Mm… nn…”

Ning Wan reached out toward Lu Weizhu’s injured right hand, but halfway there, she pulled back and held her own forehead instead.

Hot water could help sober her up a little, but it wouldn’t do much.

She collapsed onto the sofa, holding her forehead. On the tea table, Lu Weizhu began to see three shadows of Ning Wan—sometimes overlapping, sometimes splitting apart.

Before long, Ning Wan fell asleep.

She let out a faint snore and lost consciousness.

Lu Weizhu didn’t dare move. The fear was etched even deeper in her heart. She sat on the tea table, hugging herself to find some sense of security.

Was she really as lowly as they said?