The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 29

Mr. Xiao ended up embarrassed but still put on a cheeky grin as he ate his food.

Xiao San knew her father was afraid of others seeing his sorrow, so he always made a bit of a scene. Beneath that cheerful facade, he was surely struggling to accept things more than anyone else.

Xiao San simply kept her head down and ate in silence.

The more her father pretended not to care,

the more Xiao San felt miserable.

Even if she hated herself for it.

Attending the school gathering was, for Xiao San, a form of escape.

Because, when it came down to the root cause, she was the one responsible for her father losing his leg.

If it weren’t for her actions leading to the merging of two worlds, her father would never have gone through any of this.

The day of her appointment with Lü Yu arrived as scheduled.

“San’er, over here, quick!”

Lü Yu and the others had set out from the hotel, while Xiao San came from her school dormitory, so she arrived a bit later.

As soon as she reached the grand hotel, Lü Yu was already waiting at the entrance, waving for Xiao San to come over.

The moment Xiao San approached, Lü Yu pulled her close and whispered, “Shen Lin and the others haven’t shown up.”

Entering the venue, Xiao San noticed that not only were current students present, but also some seniors and even many middle-aged strangers she had never seen before in the hotel hall.

Lü Yu grinned as she tugged Xiao San along. “Now you can relax. I asked around and heard that the Shen Corporation has a major meeting today. Shen Lin definitely has to attend. You know, after his parents passed away, the Shen Corporation must be in quite a turmoil. He doesn’t have time to come.”

Lü Yu felt no sympathy for Shen Lin’s predicament; instead, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to Shen Lin, Xiao San was far more important, of course.

Almost all of their graduating classmates had arrived, except for one or two who were genuinely busy. The rest were all there.

For one, most of them hadn’t graduated yet and were typically working as interns or in similar roles. For another, having just entered society, whether they wanted to vent or show off, the class reunion was a place they felt compelled to attend.

As soon as Xiao San entered, she caught the attention of most people present.

Their gazes held pity, bewilderment, schadenfreude…

and everything in between.

“Just after graduation, the campus belle is turning into a laughingstock. Look at what she’s wearing coming to a class reunion without even bothering to dress up.”

“I heard her sugar daddy completely dumped her. She used to be so full of herself, even daring to mess with the police. Rumor has it she got a cop fired.”

“Ugh, people like her who play by their own rules are best avoided. Keep your voice down. Who knows, she might latch onto some other rich guy someday.”

“Yeah, someone like her must have plenty of connections.”

“Come on, let’s go over there.” Lü Yu pulled Xiao San toward a corner, and the chatter around them grew noisy again.

Lü Yu felt a bit apologetic. “I shouldn’t have made you come.”

She had only thought about how long it had been since she last saw Xiao San and felt the gathering would be a good opportunity to catch up.

But she hadn’t expected people to still cling to those rumors and talk so loudly, clearly on purpose.

Xiao San felt a pang of discomfort, but only a slight one. “Let them talk. It’s not like I gave myself the title of campus belle.”

“I’m glad you’re not angry. They’re just riding on the fact that they’ve graduated and landed good jobs, thinking they’re above everyone else. They never talked so much before clearly, they’ve gotten full of themselves and just want to feel important.” Lü Yu accurately summed up their mindset as she tugged Xiao San along. “Let’s ignore them. Come on, Senior Weizhong is here too. Let’s go say hello.”

Xiao San didn’t want to go.

She held onto Lü Yu’s arm. “No, Senior Weizhong probably has his own friends to catch up with. It wouldn’t be right for us to disturb him.”

“Senior Weizhong actually mentioned you earlier. Since you’re from the same city, why didn’t you come together? He seemed a bit upset about it.”

Xiao San pursed her lips awkwardly.

She couldn’t very well tell Lü Yu that Senior Weizhong’s fiancée had come to confront her. Even though Xiao San had stood her ground, she didn’t want to get involved in their relationship.

“Our schedules didn’t align, so I came on my own. You know how it is, I have to work part-time and don’t have much free time.” Xiao San redirected the conversation toward Lü Yu. “What about you? Didn’t you say you started dating someone recently? I haven’t had the chance to ask for details. Is he from our school, or did you meet him at work?”

Lü Yu’s face flushed. “He’s from our school. You’ve met him before.”

“I have?”

“Remember when someone was bad-mouthing you, and someone else stood up for you? I thought that guy was a good person back then, so… we ended up spending more time together later on.”

“Oh!” Xiao San teased with a smirk. “So you had your eye on him all along. Wow, you moved on pretty quickly, huh?”

“Stop talking nonsense.” Lü Yu’s face turned even redder. “Du Yitong and I had nothing going on. We were completely innocent.”

“Oh? I never mentioned any names, yet you immediately thought of Du Yitong. Looks like you’ve confessed without me even asking.”

Lü Yu quickly covered her face. “Xiao San, you’re dead! How dare you say that about me? Just wait and see.”

“Well, if it isn’t Xiao San. What’s the matter? No one backing you up anymore, so you have to wear such cheap clothes?”

Just as Xiao San and Lü Yu were playfully bickering, Huang Meiqi walked over, giving Xiao San a once-over before sneering.

Huang Meiqi was the one who had first mocked Xiao San and spread baseless rumors on the forum with such self-righteous conviction that what was initially a small-scale gossip ended up known throughout the entire school.

Later, Xiao San sued both Huang Meiqi and Luo Tengfei.

Luo Tengfei was sentenced to a year in prison for spreading false rumors.

Huang Meiqi, however, claimed she didn’t know the full story and hadn’t reposted anything she had only confronted Xiao San publicly to “verify” the rumors. As a result, she only received a warning from the police and faced no real consequences.

Lü Yu was furious about this but could do nothing to Huang Meiqi.

Unexpectedly, instead of learning her lesson, Huang Meiqi seemed to harbor even more malice toward Xiao San and had deliberately mocked her several times since.

It wasn’t as if she had done anything with serious consequences, but she never missed a chance to say something unpleasant in front of others.

It was like a toad hopping onto your foot not poisonous, but utterly disgusting.

Lü Yu shot Huang Meiqi a sidelong glance and sneered, “Oh, that outfit you’re wearing looks quite nice. Did you buy it with your own money, or was it a gift from your parents or boyfriend? Relying on others for handouts, how could it compare to the clothes our San’er wears? Every piece she has was earned with her own sweat.”

“Oh, so we’re still glorifying hard labor these days? That’s just for the lower class. Even if my clothes are gifts from my parents or my boyfriend, even if I don’t work at all, so what? My parents are wealthy, and my boyfriend is rich!”

When two people with completely different values argue, there’s no way to determine a winner.

For each of them, the other’s flaws are their own strengths, and their own shortcomings simply don’t count as flaws.

Lü Yu had always been loud but not particularly combative, so she quickly lost her footing in the argument.

“Alright, alright, you’re dressed well. Could you, Miss Well-Dressed, please not stand over here? It really doesn’t suit your status,” Xiao San said calmly.

Before Lü Yu could respond, Huang Meiqi flared up first, “Don’t you have any self-respect?”

“Nope,” Xiao San replied in a carefree, dismissive tone.

“Ahem, ahem, can everyone hear me?” The host walked up to the podium and tapped the microphone. The room fell silent, and even Huang Meiqi had to stop her bickering after shooting Xiao San one last glare.

Lü Yu gave Xiao San a thumbs-up.

Xiao San pressed Lü Yu ‘s finger down and whispered with mock humility, “Just average, really.”

“Respected teachers, dear students: Good afternoon! The skies are high, the clouds are light, and the swallows have returned. Green trees and red blossoms greet us, and the magpies sing joyfully. Today, we, the students of A University, gather here to solemnly celebrate our 23rd reunion event.”

“Twenty-third?” Xiao San whispered.

Lu Yu replied, “It’s held every year, open to all graduates not necessarily from the same class. Anyone can come. This year is definitely the best one yet, it’s being held in a hotel. In previous years, it was always on the school playground, so attendance was really low.”

Lü Yu gestured around, “That’s why there are so many people this year because it’s at a hotel.”

“I thought it was just for our class.”

“No way, our class couldn’t afford to book a venue like this. It’s all sponsored.”

Xiao San nodded and scanned the crowd.

No wonder she had noticed some middle-aged people earlier, they were all former A University students.

While Xiao San was lost in thought, the host had already delivered a lengthy speech, and the topic eventually turned to the event’s sponsor.

Yangyun Trading.

Xiao San listened in confusion to the familiar name. So it was related to Ye Ding, did that mean it was connected to Senior Weizhong as well?

Just as Xiao San was about to ask, she spotted a very familiar figure appearing at the entrance.

The figure stood against the light, like a patch of darkness in the brightness. Starting as a small shadow, it gradually grew larger until it reached the doorway, forming a familiar silhouette.

Xiao San squinted, feeling as if everything before her was an illusion.

The light was so bright it almost hurt her eyes.

The figure moved so slowly, as if everything around her had shifted into slow motion.

She wore a moon-white long dress, her hair simply tied up in a bun. Her makeup was not heavy, just a fresh, natural look. Around her neck hung a crystal necklace that rested delicately on her collarbone, accentuating its elegant shape.

Her tall and slender figure was further enhanced by the moon-white dress, giving her an air of grace and gentleness.

She walked in slowly, making her way through the center of the hall, past the crowded audience, and stood on the stage.

Her gaze lingered on Xiao San’s face. After making eye contact, she nodded gently and smiled softly.

That tragic heroine.

That dear friend of hers.

That Zheng Qi, who had suddenly disappeared and been missing for two years.

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