Chapter 25: Tea, You Deceived Me

Song Zhuo couldn't help but ask her, "Aren't you scared?"

Today was the first time she had directly experienced that feeling—the sensation of her own physical consciousness slipping out of her control.

She felt like she had become a puppet, with Gu Chacha pulling the strings.

With just one look from her, she had charged forward without hesitation, fighting for her.

It was absolutely terrifying!

He Huanhuan naturally wasn't afraid. In her eyes, this was just a novel.

Although she didn't know why she had been pulled into this book, she had lived seventeen years, and those seventeen years of life experience told her one thing.

She wasn't a lucky girl.

Heaven wouldn't just hand her good fortune for nothing—a rich family's long-lost true heiress.

For the original host, this might have been a nightmare life.

But for her, it was too lucky.

She didn't believe the damn heavens would be so kind to her. She was firmly convinced that this trip into the book was just a few days' vacation.

It was compensation from the wretched heavens for her miserable childhood.

What did she have to be afraid of?

Gu Chacha? She was nothing!

Just throwing out passive-aggressive remarks and orchestrating bullying?

In their mental world, that was all child's play.

Could spiritual bullying compare to the pain of not being able to afford food?

Back in the day, she and Qi Meili had walked twenty miles in anger, gotten into a fight, and won four yuan.

One honeydew ice cream each, then another twenty-mile trek home.

If you asked her, if the original host had just hung out with her for a few days and walked twenty kilometers a day, she absolutely wouldn't have cared about Gu Chacha's snide comments.

No time to care, really—she'd get home and go straight to bed.

Too tired!

But she wasn't going to say any of this to Song Zhuo; they weren't friends.

She just glanced at Song Zhuo. "Don't hang around Gu Chacha anymore. You can't outplay her."

"Mm-hmm!"

Song Zhuo nodded vigorously. Once she got home, she was going to buy a plane ticket and fly abroad immediately.

She wasn't coming back until she figured out what Gu Chacha was really up to.

Soon, a knock came from outside the bathroom—it was the Song family butler coming to pick her up.

Watching Song Zhuo leave with the butler, He Huanhuan let out a soft laugh.

Gu Chacha, one of your right-hand men is gone now~

With a relaxed expression, she returned to the hall. Inside, the atmosphere was harmonious. Everyone held their glasses, clinking toasts and chatting about topics they cared about.

Meanwhile, Gu Chacha sat at the grand piano in the center of the hall, playing with graceful poise.

He Huanhuan listened to the clear, crisp notes of the piano; it sounded nice enough.

But she couldn't really tell anything more than that.

Still, looking at the people around her, most of them seemed mesmerized, so she guessed Gu Chacha must have played quite well.

When the piece ended, Gu Chacha rose elegantly and took a bow.

"Bravo!"

Suddenly, applause erupted beside her, along with a very young man's voice.

He Huanhuan turned to look. A man in his early twenties had appeared right next to her, standing so close that when he spoke, all eyes landed on her.

Here we go again!

She wanted to roll her eyes. Didn't Gu Chacha get tired of this?

Sure enough, after the applause died down, the man turned to her. "Miss He Huanhuan? Chacha just played a piece for everyone. Don't you think you should perform something too?"

Before she could answer, Gu Chacha immediately stepped in to "save" her. "Xiao Rong, big sister has suffered a lot in the past. You shouldn't make things difficult for her."

The words seemed to rescue her, but in reality, they told everyone she was from the countryside.

Inexperienced, untalented, not worth showing off.

Such a childish trick. He Huanhuan rolled her eyes at the man. "I can't do anything. So what?"

The man gave her a contemptuous look. "Not being able to do anything, and you're proud of it?"

"Why can't I be proud of it?"

He Huanhuan curled her lips into a smile. "Why can't I do anything? Because Gu Chacha and I got swapped, and she got all the good years. I was out working before I was even ten, making money crying at funerals to support the family."

She reached out and poked Xiao Rong. "Tell me, how was I supposed to learn piano? Were you going to pay for my lessons?"

"Yo—that's not Chacha's fault! Why are you so petty!"

Xiao Rong hadn't expected He Huanhuan to be cowed by his words; instead, she fired back with sharp-tongued defiance.

"I'm petty?"

He Huanhuan laughed. "Bro, your brain is even smaller, isn't it?"

She pointed at Gu Chacha. "She spent twenty good years in the Gu family, while I was so poor I nearly had to beg."

"Now I'm back, and she's just sitting here playing the piano like nothing's wrong."

"What's the message? Is she playing for me, showing me what a good life she had?"

"Huh? Is that what this is?"

She jabbed at Xiao Rong, pressing him until he was speechless.

Then she turned to Gu Chacha. "Gu Chacha, you sent him to cause trouble for me. Is that what this is?"

Gu Chacha burst into tears instantly. "Sister, no, I didn't send him..."

"You didn't?"

He Huanhuan pressed again. Gu Chacha nodded pitifully.

She immediately turned to Xiao Rong. "You're a simp! You're pathetic."

Xiao Rong got flustered. "I am not!"

"Yes, you are."

He Huanhuan suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Gu Chacha's arm with a smile. "Chacha and I get along great, and yet you came to pick a fight with me. If you're not a simp, what are you?"

She gave Xiao Rong a dismissive look. "You can't even simp right. No wonder Gu Chacha is over here cozying up to Han Mo and ignoring you."

"What did you say?!"

Xiao Rong's face flushed with anger. Gu Chacha cozying up to Han Mo?

Hadn't she always said she couldn't stand Han Mo?

"Chacha!"

He questioned Gu Chacha angrily, and she panicked immediately, trying to pull her arm free from He Huanhuan's grip.

But He Huanhuan was incredibly strong—there was no escaping her.

"No, that's not it..."

He Huanhuan tightened her hold. "Not what? That we don't get along? That you don't like me? That you've been targeting me the whole time? That you sent Song Zhuo and this simp to attack me?"

Gu Chacha let out a shrill scream. "No! I didn't!"

He Huanhuan looked satisfiedly at Xiao Rong. "Did you hear that? She called you a simp."

"No! I—"

Gu Chacha tried to explain, but He Huanhuan was faster. She held Gu Chacha down and said to Xiao Rong, "Being a simp has no future. Gu Chacha likes Han Mo. You don't stand a chance."

"My dad wants to give Han Mo to me as my fiancé, but Gu Chacha is trying to keep him, so she set me up with someone else. That guy, what's-his-name—"

"It's me!!"

Liang Ye made a grand entrance, bounding over to He Huanhuan. "It's me~ Huanhuan and I had a blind date. It went pretty well, you know~"

Once he showed up, Xiao Rong was mostly convinced.

If it was the Liang family, then Han Mo naturally wouldn't measure up.

The Gu and Liang families had never had any business dealings before. Why on earth would Uncle Gu introduce He Huanhuan, this country bumpkin, to Liang Ye?

It could only be Chacha.

She really did like Han Mo.

Disappointment flooded Xiao Rong's eyes. "Chacha, you lied to me."

Gu Chacha shook her head frantically. "I didn't! How could I ever—"

But Liang Ye cut in. "What's this about 'didn't'? Didn't you introduce Huanhuan to me?"

"Shut up!"