Who is the real Mrs. Lu? - Chapter 3

Walking out of Yungong Estate, it was already past one o’clock.

The security guard in the guard booth was dozing off. After all, with the most precise facial recognition access control and a comprehensive security system, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this the safest estate in Hai City.

Everyone living around here was either rich or powerful, all with private cars, so taxis were rare in the vicinity.

I walked nearly three kilometers before I managed to hail a cab from five kilometers away.

The driver, sir, wasn’t happy when he arrived, complaining all the way that the ride was forcibly assigned to him by the system.

After getting off, I paid him an extra 50 yuan. He was a bit embarrassed, “Forget it, I’m not blaming you, just saying the system’s arrangements are unreasonable.”

“Please take it,” I said softly, “it’s late at night, it’s not easy for anyone.”

Early the next morning, I received a message from Lv Qingqing.

“I bought you a train ticket for 7 p.m. tonight to An County, train number XXX. Pack your things during the day and set off early, don’t miss the train.”

I looked around–pack my things?

In this room, apart from my phone and the keys to my old home, what truly belonged to me?

What was there to pack, really?

Five minutes later, Lv Qingqing sent another message.

“Che, you’ll arrive in An County at ten tonight. Be careful. Call me when you get home so I can rest assured. Absolutely do not text.”

I stared at my phone for a minute and replied with a single word: “Okay.”

But in the end, I still didn’t leave.

Just as I was about to go out, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door. The person outside was wearing a dirty woolen coat, hair messy, standing there nonchalantly, looking at me.

“Long time no see.” As he spoke, a waft of alcohol hit me.

“Liao Fan?” I blurted out.

He suddenly pushed the door open, pinned me harshly against the wall, and grabbed my chin. “What? It’s not even two months since you left, and you don’t recognize your own husband?”

“Liao Fan,” I said softly, “you’ve got the wrong person. I’m Che.”

“Che?” He froze for a moment, then suddenly squeezed my neck. “Why are you here? Where is Qingqing?”

His grip made me cough uncontrollably. “I live here…”

“You live here?” He was stunned for a while, then slowly loosened his grip as if talking to himself, “Switched back? It’s switched back?”

“Yes,” I crouched down, gasping for air, “we’ve switched back.”

“So…” he murmured, “she’s Lu Zhan’s wife now?”

I said nothing.

“Hahahahaha…” He laughed maniacally, then suddenly hurled the vase on the table to the ground, shards flying everywhere. He didn’t stop, sweeping everything else from the table onto the floor.

“Switched back, switched back. What right does she have to switch!”

“You!” He suddenly rushed over and grabbed my shoulders. “Why did you switch back with her?”

“She wanted to switch,” I said softly, “so I did. After all, those things…” I paused, “they were never mine to begin with.”

“You really are the world’s best little sister.” After a while, he sneered, lifting my chin. “You married in your sister’s place, now you help her get rid of me. Since you’re so kind, how about helping me think–now that my wife is gone, what should I do?”

“Liao Fan, your breakup is between the two of you. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Nothing to do?” He smiled and pulled out two marriage certificates from his pocket. “Look for yourself–does it have nothing to do with you!”

I stared at that marriage certificate in disbelief. “You two got married using my identity? She said she would never do that…”

“Heh…” He let out a cold laugh. “So, you still think it has nothing to do with you? Yin Lanche, from a legal standpoint, you,” he gently breathed into my ear, “are my wife.”

I abruptly turned my head away. “Liao Fan, you know full well this is between you two, it has nothing to do with me!”

I struggled with all my might to break free, but he yanked open my collar, right hand gripping my bare shoulder. “How is it not related? Lv Qingqing ran away, and you’re still here, aren’t you? Aren’t you the best at pretending to be her?”

“For the past year, haven’t you been sleeping with Lu Zhan on her behalf? You’re her good little sister–if you can sleep with him, why not sleep with me? What’s the difference?”

“Liao Fan,” I was trembling all over, powerless to break free, “please, you’re drunk, Liao Fan, please let me go, okay?”

“You’re unwilling?” he murmured, suddenly gripping my shoulder harder. “Why not? Huh? Is it because I don’t have as much money as Lu Zhan? He’s rich, so you can sleep with him for a year, but because I’m poor, you won’t?”

He suddenly threw me to the ground, staring at his trembling right hand, his voice shaking, “You heartless bitch, wasn’t it for protecting you that my right hand got crippled? How could you run away? How could you!”

I fell to my knees, shards of glass piercing into my palm.

I gasped in pain, “Liao Fan, look closely, I’m not Lv Qingqing.”

“Aren’t you?” He looked at me in a daze, then suddenly knelt down again, hugging me, “Qingqing… Qingqing… I was wrong, I shouldn’t have drunk, shouldn’t have lost my temper. I was just too upset about not being able to paint. I was wrong, Qingqing, I won’t treat you like this again, forgive me this once, okay? This really is the last time.”

Tears streamed down my face as I let him hold me, slowly sliding down beside me.

He passed out drunk.

I gently pushed him away, enduring the pain in my palm, found my phone, and with trembling fingers, called Lv Qingqing.

The first two calls were cut off, but the third finally connected. Before I could speak, her angry voice came through, “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t I say not to contact me…”

“Liao Fan came,” I said.

There was sudden silence on the other end.

“You married him using my identity, why didn’t you tell me…”

“Qingqing?” Lu Zhan’s voice came through the phone, “Bring me a tie.”

I was stunned.

“I can’t talk much tonight,” Lv Qingqing whispered, “I’m about to go to a charity gala with Zhan, try to calm him down for now, I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

“Wait…” Before I could finish, the busy tone already buzzed in my ear.

Blood from my palm dripped onto the floor, I tilted my head back, wiped away my tears, put on some clothes, and went downstairs to the pharmacy to buy iodine and cotton swabs.

“Girl,” the woman selling the medicine said, “you should really go to the hospital to check that out, you might need a tetanus shot.”

I nodded, “Thank you, ma’am.”

By the time I returned from the hospital, it was already eleven at night.

Liao Fan was sprawled out on the floor, snoring heavily, deeply asleep.

I thought for a moment, then took a knife from the kitchen, locked the kitchen door, and slept leaning against the cabinet with the knife in hand.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when I heard the sound of the kitchen door handle turning.

Startled, I jumped up to find it was already daylight outside.

“Click!” The door lock opened, and I gripped the knife tightly, watching the door warily.

Liao Fan opened the door and came in, holding a small piece of wire.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said softly, “I mean no harm, I was just worried something might happen to you in there.”

I still held the knife up, not lowering it.

“I drank too much yesterday, I’m really sorry.” He paused, “I cleaned up outside, you don’t have to worry, really, I’m sober now, I won’t do anything to you.”

“Do you know who I am?”

He nodded, pausing, “Che.”

The living room was indeed spotless, as he had said.

“I’m sorry.” Sitting across from each other at the table, he apologized once more.

“Liao Fan,” I began, “since you’re sober now, let’s go get a divorce.”

To my surprise, he shook his head, “No.”

“Why not?”

“Che,” he sniffed, “I was hospitalized for drinking too much recently, and Qingqing left secretly during that time. I’ve been looking for her ever since I was discharged.

“Che, can you help me arrange a meeting with her? I just want to see her one last time, we shouldn’t end like this.”

I thought of Lv Qingqing’s expression every time she mentioned Liao Fan, paused, “She’s already Mrs. Lu, I don’t think she’d want to see you.”

“She will see me,” he said calmly, “tell her I’ll give her seven days, if she doesn’t come to see me, I’ll tell Lu Zhan everything from a year ago.”

“What are you saying…”

He nodded, “I’ve got nothing left to lose, Che. I’m really sorry for the nonsense I said to you last night, but if you help me meet her, as long as she’s willing to see me, I’ll go with you to get the divorce.”

Liao Fan left me a phone number and then left.

I waited all day, and Lv Qingqing still didn’t contact me.

At six in the afternoon, I called her several times, but she didn’t answer.

I sent her a text: “I’ll be waiting for you at the usual place, if you don’t come, I’ll go to Yungong Estate.”

At eight in the evening, she arrived.

Sitting in the car, it was silent for a moment.

“Why didn’t you tell me you married Liao Fan using my identity?”

She paused, not answering.

“Do you know what kind of life I was living before I came back?” She tilted her head back, seemingly trying hard to hold back her tears. “Liao Fan injured his right hand and can never paint again. It was because one time, when we went out, some thugs bullied me, and he got his hand smashed with a brick while trying to protect me.”

“In your eyes, I’m a heartless woman, aren’t I?” She turned her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I really wanted to stay with him. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t paint or become a great artist, as long as we could be together. But when I went online to submit resumes for him and look for jobs, he refused to go to any of them. All he did was stay at home and drink.”

She kept wiping her tears with her hands, looking out the window. “Whenever he got drunk, he would curse his right hand, calling himself useless, and he would smash things at home, over and over again. When he sobered up, he would kneel and beg for my forgiveness, saying he would never drink again, never act like that again. But the next day, it was the same…” She covered her face. “Every time I saw him like that, I was really scared. I blamed myself, thinking it was because of me that he became like this. I knew I should stay with him, but I really couldn’t take it anymore…”

She covered her face, tears flowing through her fingers. “I really couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t even have the courage to break up with him, so when he was in the hospital, I left him a letter. I really explained everything in the letter. I never thought he would come looking for me…”

“A letter… explained everything…” I said softly. “But you didn’t divorce him because you thought, after all, the marriage certificate doesn’t have your name on it, right?”

“Che.” She took my right hand. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”

“Go see him,” I said. “Liao Fan said he would give you seven days. If you don’t see him, he will tell Lu Zhan everything that happened a year ago.”

“I really can’t see him…” She cried even harder. “Che, help me, help me one more time, please?”

“Help you with what?” I turned my head, speaking calmly. “Sister, what do you want me to help you with?”

“Can you… pretend to be me, go, and live with him for a while…”

Silence fell.

After a while, I laughed, feeling a sharp sting at the corners of my eyes.

“Sister,” I looked at her. “What do you really take me for?”

She was stunned for a moment.

“Am I your sister, or just a tool for you?”

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly shouted hysterically, “A tool? A tool! Is that how you see me? I treat you as a tool, and I ran to An County to find you, help you pay off debts and medical bills? I treat you as a tool, and when you fell into the water, I jumped in to save you without thinking? I treat you as a tool, and insisted you quit your job at the KTV, bringing you to Hai City for a better life?”

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.

I said nothing.

“Che,” she cried, “I really have no other choice. Liao Fan… but now I’m Mrs. Lu, I really can’t see him. Help me, please help me, I’m really at a dead end.”

A dead end.

A year ago, she said she was at a dead end, and I helped her.

Now, I didn’t want to help anymore.

“Sister,” I said softly, “I remember all the good you’ve done for me.” I turned my head. “But I really can’t help with this.”

“Why can’t you?!” She turned my body around. “Che, for the past year, haven’t you been helping me, pretending to be me with Lu Zhan? Just act as me again, Liao Fan won’t notice, it’s the same as being with Lu Zhan…”

“I can’t do it.”

She raised her voice, “Why can’t you? You can sleep with Lu Zhan, why can’t you with Liao Fan?”

“Because I like Lu Zhan!”

As the words fell, both of us fell silent.

“I like him. Over the past year, I wasn’t just playing you,” I turned my head away. “I considered myself his real wife. I really like him.”

“Heh, heh heh.” She suddenly laughed. “No wonder, no wonder…”

She leaned back. “So this is what you’ve been thinking all along. Have you been hoping I would never come back? Are you happy that Liao Fan came? Because as long as I go back with him, you’ll be Mrs. Lu again…”

She chuckled, “No wonder you agreed so quickly a year ago. You wanted to take my place, right? After all, the Lv Family’s daughter, Mrs. Lu, was a status you could never reach.”

“Raising a tiger to court disaster?” She laughed loudly. “So this is what it’s called, raising a tiger to court disaster? This year, did you hope I would die out there, so you could be Mrs. Lu forever?”

I shook my head. “You know very well, I’ve never thought that way.”

She turned her head to the side and stopped talking.

After a while, I sighed, “Sis, you should know better than me what kind of person Liao Fan is. He said he’d give you seven days. Whether you want to see him or not is up to you.”

She remained silent for a long time, staring out the window.

“I understand. I’ll figure something out myself.”

With that, she got out of the car.

Three days later, I didn’t receive a call from Lv Qingqing but instead got a call from the caregiver.

The caregiver said my father’s condition had suddenly worsened and asked if I could come back.

I immediately booked a train ticket for that day and returned to An County.

My father’s condition was indeed not good. That night, I didn’t close my eyes and stayed up all night, but thankfully, there was no danger.

By noon the next day, the situation finally stabilized.

The caregiver advised me to eat something and rest. As I walked out of the hospital entrance, someone suddenly called out to me.

I turned around, “Xiao Xi?”

“It really is you.” Xiao Xi walked over with a smile, “I almost didn’t dare to recognize you.”

I glanced at the slip in her hand, “You…”

“I’m pregnant,” Xiao Xi said with a smile, “Just found out, but the doctor said the fetus isn’t very stable yet and advised taking some medicine to protect it.”

“Congratulations,” I smiled, paused, “Are you still going to work over there…”

“I resigned,” Xiao Xi smiled, “How can I do that kind of work while pregnant? Besides, I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to live somewhere else. This place is small, and everyone knows each other. It wouldn’t be good for the child in the future.”

I nodded.

“It’s been a long time since we met. Want to grab a meal together?”

I hadn’t slept all night and was actually a bit tired, so I shook my head, “Maybe another day.”

“Just a quick meal, won’t take long.” Xiao Xi grabbed my hand, “I’m leaving soon, and you don’t know when you’ll be back. Once we part, we might never see each other again.”

I needed lunch anyway, so I nodded, “Alright, let’s just eat something nearby.”

Xiao Xi took me to a restaurant near the hospital.

“Is there a private room?”

“1105.”

The waiter led Xiao Xi and me to private room 1105. As the door opened, a thick smoke immediately made me cough a few times.

When I saw the scene inside the private room, I was stunned.

It was a large private room, with several men sitting on a sofa smoking.

“Sorry, we went to the wrong place.” I pulled Xiao Xi to leave.

“Wait a minute!” The man in the middle stood up, his tone playful, “Isn’t this Xiao Xi and… Che?”

Xiao Xi gently squeezed my hand and turned to smile, “Oh, it’s Mr. Zhou. We went to the wrong place and disturbed Mr. Zhou. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” He stepped forward, “We’re all here to eat anyway. Let’s eat together. I own this restaurant, and I used to take care of your business. Now you can take care of mine.”

I turned back, smiling, “Mr. Zhou, we’re really not convenient today.”

“Oh?” He raised his head, “How so?”

Xiao Xi pinched my hand. I knew she was telling me not to confront him directly.

The man in front of us was Zhou Yong, a local big shot in An County and a regular at the KTV back then. He had a trait: he only responded to softness, not hardness. If you went along with him, he’d buy as much alcohol as you wanted. But if you resisted even a little, he’d turn the whole place upside down.

“Che,” he walked up to me, “You left without a word back then. I was really sad, you know. Seeing you today is fate. If you don’t want to eat with me, I won’t force you. Just have a drink with me, and I’ll let you go,” he took a drag from his cigarette and slowly exhaled a smoke ring, “How about it?”

He slowly walked back to the sofa, sat down, and quietly watched us.

I took out my phone, ready to call the police, but Xiao Xi pressed it down.

“Che, what would you say if you called the police? He hasn’t made us do anything… Don’t confront him. Just endure the disgust and have the drink. Don’t forget, your father is still in the hospital. You’re not usually here, and Zhou Yong is a thug and a pervert. If he holds a grudge against you and does something to your father…”

I took a deep breath, remained silent for a while, and finally put my phone back in my pocket.

I turned to Zhou Yong with a smile, “Alright, I’ll have this drink with Mr. Zhou.”

“Refreshing!” He took a drag from his cigarette and patted his thigh, “Come, sit here and drink.”

I didn’t move.

Xiao Xi nodded at me. I knew she was telling me to endure.

I walked over, sat on his thigh, picked up the glass on the table, “Mr. Zhou, let’s drink.”

“Little princess,” a man beside him teased, “Your sincerity is lacking. You should feed Mr. Zhou mouth-to-mouth.”

Zhou Yong raised his head, eyebrows raised, looking at me.

I smiled, “Mr. Zhou, don’t make it difficult for me. You know me, I used to just sell drinks, nothing else…”

“Che,” Zhou Yong’s greasy hand touched my waist, “I’m not going to make things difficult for you. You can either feed me mouth-to-mouth or…”

His hand reached under my sweater, rubbing my waist, “Take off this bothersome sweater and let the guys have a look at your little waist.”

“Ah…” Xiao Xi suddenly clutched her stomach, her expression pained as she squatted down.

“Xiao Xi?” I hurried to check on her, but Zhou Yong pulled me back.

“Drink this glass with me, and I’ll let you go immediately. You know,” Zhou Yong said in a low voice, “I care about my reputation. If you give me face in front of the guys today, I’ll keep my word.”

“Che…” Sweat like beans rolled down Xiao Xi’s face.

I looked at Xiao Xi, biting my lip, “Mr. Zhou, if I drink this glass with you as you said, you’ll let us go immediately, right?”

“Deal,” he said.

I took a deep breath, removed my sweater, and threw it on the ground.

“Mr. Zhou, please drink.”

“Wow,” a man whistled, “What a figure.”

“Don’t mess around,” Zhou Yong typed a few words on his phone, glancing at the man, “This is a legitimate place.”

I endured the nauseating feeling of his hands roaming over me, just wanting him to finish the drink quickly.

At that moment, the door suddenly opened.

“Che!”

I froze at the sound of the voice.

Lv Qingqing rushed in, her face full of anxiety, “Who are you? Let go of my sister!”

“Sister?” Zhou Yong looked at her, then at me, “Oh, Che, you have a twin sister?”

“You guys better let her go.”

“Hey, hey, hey, girl, you’re saying it wrong,” a man beside said, “Which eye saw us forcing her? She willingly drank with Mr. Zhou. Didn’t she sit on Mr. Zhou’s lap herself? Didn’t she take off her clothes herself?”

“Willingly?” Lv Qingqing was stunned, then said with disappointment, “Che, didn’t you promise me not to do this kind of thing anymore?”

I didn’t answer her.

My gaze was fixed on one person.

Lu Zhan stood at the door, his eyes coldly watching.