Chapter 112: Is This the Truth?
Su Zhaozhao was so shocked that she didn’t push Xu Jiaming away immediately.
’He actually investigated everything about me?’
It wasn’t just that he knew she was living here.
He even knew about her family situation!
In an era where information was so hard to come by, Su Zhaozhao had no idea how Xu Jiaming could have possibly found out everything about her in just a few short days.
’Besides, isn’t he supposed to be in love with the female lead?’
’What’s he doing pestering me like this now?’
The excitement in his eyes, the way he stared at her like a prized prey, made Su Zhaozhao’s skin crawl.
He was treating her like prey.
And the kind that looked like he wanted to bite her to death and drink her blood the very next second.
Goosebumps broke out all over Su Zhaozhao’s skin.
She had never been one to just sit back and take it, so she raised her hand and slapped Xu Jiaming across the face.
*SLAP—*
The crisp sound echoed as the blow knocked Xu Jiaming’s head to the side.
At the same time, Su Zhaozhao ripped his hands off her.
"Xu Jiaming, have you lost your mind? Will any woman do? What’s wrong with you, coming all this way!" Su Zhaozhao cursed at him.
’Isn’t the female lead’s intelligence, gentleness, and ambition what Xu Jiaming is supposed to like?’
’If she just acted a little cruder, maybe he would stop staring at her with those wet, sticky eyes?’
Although, she had studied some abnormal psychological behaviors before. Some people only got more excited the more you cursed them out.
’I hope Xu Jiaming isn’t one of them.’
Xu Jiaming was naturally frail, while Su Zhaozhao had been eating well, sleeping well, using the spiritual spring water to recuperate, and exercising diligently.
Dealing with Xu Jiaming was no problem for her.
Xu Jiaming was shoved forcefully away by Su Zhaozhao. He stumbled back two steps, nearly losing his footing.
The fiery sting on his face was a stark reminder of what Su Zhaozhao had just done.
He couldn’t help but clutch his cheek, his light, tea-colored eyes darkening as he stared at Su Zhaozhao.
His eyes narrowed, but a smile bloomed on his red lips. "You hit me?"
"That’s right, I hit you," Su Zhaozhao said. "Don’t you think you’re acting like a pervert? Do we even know each other well? You came all this way just to find me, talking about helping me break my engagement so I’ll go with you to Shencheng City? Are you crazy? I already have a fiancé. Please don’t be a homewrecker and destroy our relationship!"
Xu Jiaming let out a low laugh.
His cheek still hurt, but since Su Zhaozhao was the one who hit him, he wasn’t angry at all.
Instead, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
’It’s as if my cheek now carries the scent of jasmine. It smells so good.’
’What a bizarre experience.’
He had always been well-behaved, smart, and sensible his whole life. No one had ever hit him.
Su Zhaozhao was the first.
’How interesting.’
"Zhaozhao, do you really love this man? You haven’t known each other for very long, have you? Are you just looking for someone to depend on? I can give you that. The Xu Family is quite wealthy and influential in Shencheng City."
"I don’t need it." Su Zhaozhao stared at him coldly. "Stop pestering me. Since you investigated me, you should know my fiancé’s identity. If you keep this up, he can have you thrown in jail!"
’Military marriages are protected by law.’
"But I don’t think he’ll necessarily marry you."
Xu Jiaming smiled. He looked docile and harmless, yet his smile sent a strange chill down Su Zhaozhao’s spine.
Su Zhaozhao stared at Xu Jiaming in astonishment. "What do you mean?"
"He doesn’t know about the things you’ve done, does he? When you get married, he has to submit a report, and his superiors will investigate your background. Your entire past will be laid bare before him."
"The things I’ve done..." Su Zhaozhao’s heart began to pound wildly.
’According to the original owner’s memories, many parts are blank. Nothing strange could have happened, right?’
’Other than breaking off the engagement with the male lead, being a gold-digger, and her family issues, what else could there be?’
After finishing his training, Xie Huaizheng was called into Li Jian Country’s office.
Li Jian Country tossed an envelope to Xie Huaizheng. "Huai Zheng, are you really in love with that Su Zhaozhao?"
Xie Huaizheng asked, "What is it?"
"It’s a letter from the investigators in Jiang City. See for yourself," Li Jian Country told him, sighing deeply.
"I’ve met her, and I thought she was a good girl, but you can know a person’s face without knowing their heart. I never expected she could be such an actress." As Li Jian Country spoke, he shook his head in disappointment.
Xie Huaizheng’s thin lips tightened. He lowered his gaze to the envelope in his hand.
"She ran away after stealing money from her family, sneaking around the whole way. Her family even reported it to the police, but because it was a domestic dispute and they couldn’t find her, the matter was dropped."
Xie Huaizheng said, "I know about that. She did take money from her family, but only because they treated her poorly."
"Treated her poorly? Before she left, she was romantically involved with another man. He works at the meat processing plant and is quite well-off. They were seeing each other for about a month. But after she took a hundred-yuan betrothal gift from him, she just vanished."
"Now, her family is struggling to pay the money back."
Xie Huaizheng remembered this. Su Zhaozhao seemed to have mentioned it to him at the beginning.
But when Su Zhaozhao brought it up, it was to explain why she had come to find him—because she didn’t want to marry that other man.
She had said it was a man her father and stepmother had randomly arranged for her...
’But now, they were seeing each other for a month?’
"Wasn’t it that her parents were forcing her to marry that man and she refused?" Xie Huaizheng asked, surprised.
"Of course not. They even wrote love letters to each other. Look, this was written by Su Zhaozhao. It’s a letter from her to that man."
Xie Huaizheng opened the envelope and looked at the words inside.
The page was covered in dense script, the entire letter an expression of affection.
It was all rather sappy.
In such a conservative time, the affection expressed between the lines was quite explicit.
Xie Huaizheng finished reading it with a deep frown.
Even with the evidence right in front of him, he still couldn’t believe that Su Zhaozhao had written this letter.
"We also questioned Su Zhaozhao’s parents. When they learned she was getting married here, they strongly objected and said they were coming to bring her back. And that boyfriend of hers is still looking for her. What do you think we should do? She’s two-timing. With your special status, this could get messy. She could even be charged with hooliganism."
Li Jian Country’s expression was extremely grave.
Xie Huaizheng was not just his subordinate but also a junior he had watched grow up. If he was truly being deceived by a con woman, Li Jian Country felt it was his duty to help him handle it.
But he saw that Xie Huaizheng’s expression was quite calm.
He just clutched the letter in his hand and said, "Uncle Li, don’t you worry about this, and please don’t tell my parents. I’ll go and confirm things with her first."
His heart felt heavy, like the sky just before a downpour—damp and oppressive.
But no matter what, he needed to get a clear answer.
’Is Su Zhaozhao really a liar?’
’It just doesn’t seem like her. From the very beginning, she said she came to marry him.’
’If she already had someone she liked, why would she come looking for him?’