Chapter 394 - 407: There’s a Buyer
An Ning unfolded the acceptance letter. The sharp creases on it made Lin Cuihua unable to stop herself from rushing forward.
"SLAP!"
A slap left a five-fingered handprint on An Jing’s face.
"You rotten-to-the-core, heartless beast! You have absolutely no shame! How dare you do something like this!"
"F—"
Her sister-in-law grabbed Lin Cuihua. Any more cursing and she’d be cursing her own family.
"Pah!"
Lin Cuihua spat hard on the ground, then stormed back over to An Ning. "Keep it safe now, you hear? Keep it safe!" she urged.
"I know, Mom."
An Ning had everyone turn to look as she presented the creased acceptance letter—irrefutable proof laid bare for all to see.
"An Jing, why don’t you explain yourself. Why did you do this? And who were you stealing it for?"
An Ning released An Jing’s wrist. An Jing rubbed her hands together, showing not a hint of embarrassment or remorse at having been caught.
"I didn’t steal it. I was just curious and wanted a look. I was going to put it back after I was done."
An Jing’s words made An Ercheng and Du Guijuan realize, with absolute clarity, that their daughter was rotten to the core.
Her shameless words and utterly unrepentant attitude made everyone stare at her in a new, strange light.
"I’d like to speak with An Jing. Would you all mind stepping out for a moment?"
"I don’t want to! No! I don’t want to!"
An Jing shrieked in protest, but no one stayed. In a matter of moments, only she and An Ning were left in the room.
An Jing leaned against the wall, drawing a sliver of security from it.
"An Ning—what are you going to do?"
"So now you’re scared?"
An Ning smiled with a hint of malice, looking like the ultimate villain from some TV show as she advanced on An Jing, one step at a time.
"An Ning—if you dare do anything, I’ll call the police!"
"Go on, then. Be my guest." An Ning’s smile was triumphant, her voice laced with a sinister charm. "But you’d have to be able to leave to do that, wouldn’t you?"
"And it’s no use screaming. Everyone will just think you’re faking it. Once people have a certain image of you, it’s very hard to change their minds. Take me, for instance. By all accounts, I’m a good person."
"And a good person... would never do anything bad, right?"
An Jing, who had been pressed against the wall, slid to the floor without even realizing it. She pointed a trembling finger at An Ning, her eyes filled with terror.
"You... you... you’re a devil!"
"You guessed it. Too bad no one can hear you."
In An Jing’s vision, An Ning’s form elongated, turning into a black shadow. An all-consuming pressure bore down on her, suffocating her, rendering her breathless and mute.
Wielding the pressure of her spiritual power, An Ning leaned down and whispered in An Jing’s ear, "Who did you steal the acceptance letter for?"
An Jing’s pupils were unfocused. She spilled everything, down to the last detail.
As it turned out, An Jing had been consumed with jealousy ever since she heard An Ning was the top scorer. While out with friends, she’d overheard someone talking about the acceptance letter. Partly to show off and partly to badmouth her, she’d claimed to know An Ning, painting her as some swarthy, nerdy bookworm who did nothing but study.
Regardless, the fact that An Jing knew An Ning was noted by an interested party.
She was contacted and promised two thousand yuan to buy an acceptance letter—An Ning’s acceptance letter.
As for what would happen next, the other party told her not to worry. They only wanted the acceptance letter.
An Ning got the name and a description of their appearance, which she noted down. She even drew a sketch on the spot. After An Jing confirmed the likeness, An Ning carefully put the drawing away.
Having gotten the information she wanted, An Ning looked at the terrified, vacant-eyed An Jing before her and implanted a suggestion with her spiritual power.
"From now on, you will diligently clean toilets."
An Ning retracted her spiritual power, took the sketch and the notes, walked out of the room, and gave them to An Guoming.
An Guoming looked at the information on the paper, a corner of his mouth turning up in a smile that was uncharacteristic for him.
"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it."
"We’re the ones in the right."
"Don’t worry, I understand."
When you had the moral high ground, you had to press that advantage, not squander it. An Guoming was an old hand at this game.
An Ning had nothing to worry about. An Guoming had always been excellent in this regard.
An Jing emerged from the room in a daze. She knew what she had said, but the jealousy and vengefulness in her heart hadn’t lessened one bit. It was just that now, whenever she saw An Ning, she felt like a mouse seeing a cat—an instinctual, deep-seated urge to run and hide.
An Ercheng and Du Guijuan were too ashamed to stay any longer. After apologizing profusely, they took An Jing and boarded the truck An Guoming had arranged, ready to leave for home that same night.
An Xiaoming, who had been keeping a low profile, had at some point walked over to An Ning, looking at her nervously.
"Sister Anning, I’m sorry."
"It’s not your fault. Why are you apologizing?"
"I’m her brother," he answered, tilting his head up. "People won’t separate the two of us."
An Ning understood at once. People were judging him based on his sister; because of An Jing’s character, An Xiaoming was being ostracized as well.
"I can’t tell you that the world is wonderful and everyone is kind. That would be a lie."
"An Xiaoming, the only thing we can do is make ourselves stronger, and change ourselves."
It was unclear if An Xiaoming understood, but he thanked An Ning and left with An Ercheng and the others.
As the truck drove away, Lin Cuihua was still fuming, even a little angry at An Ning.
"It was one acceptance letter! How could you not keep it somewhere safe!"
An Ning didn’t dare say a word. She just clasped her hands together, promising she’d be more careful this time. Then, she told Lin Cuihua that from now on, An Jing would be stuck cleaning toilets. Lin Cuihua leaned in and asked secretively, "Was that your doing?"
An Ning nodded firmly. When Lin Cuihua heard this, she pictured the appearance-obsessed An Jing having to clean toilets every day, and her delight was plain to see.
And with that, the college acceptance celebration came to a close.
Meanwhile, after An Jing got home, she was uncharacteristically quiet, with no crying or tantrums. The very next day, she woke up and went out to look for a job.
At first, An Ercheng and Du Guijuan thought it was just another one of An Jing’s tricks. But three days later, when she actually became a temp cleaning the public toilets, they were convinced she had lost her mind.
The thing about public toilets is that much of what belongs in the latrine pit often ends up... elsewhere.
An Jing’s bizarre behavior once again convinced An Ercheng and Du Guijuan that she had gone mad.
Still, if being mad meant she would actually work honestly, they could accept it. They resigned themselves to taking care of her for the rest of their lives.
When Lin Cuihua heard about An Jing’s new state of affairs, she celebrated by drinking, something she rarely did. She drank for the sheer joy of it.
An Guoming also got a favorable result. The plot to buy the acceptance letter was exposed. While it didn’t escalate to a criminal matter, vicious gossip can be a killer in its own right.
As for An Ning, after the celebration ended and following a heated family discussion, she and An Guoping went to the university by themselves, without their parents.
The siblings packed their bags, boarded a train alone, and set off for Beijing.
As for Jiang Xia, who was recovering in the county town, he called Grandpa Jiang to report that he was safe, then shouldered his backpack and headed north alone to face the people and matters he would have to face sooner or later.