Chapter 189: Go It Alone

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: Go It Alone

Zhang Yun nodded numbly. She had no reason to refuse.

Mother Su told her to get her luggage. Once Zhang Yun was ready, Mother Su led the way out of the alley toward the newsstand. She saw Zhao Yuan standing at their gate, gave him a brief nod, and said nothing more.

Zhao Yuan, of course, could see that the Su family wanted nothing more to do with Zhang Yun’s affairs.

He curled his lip, not caring in the slightest.

Zhang Yun walked behind, gazing at Mother Su’s stern back. She nervously approached Zhao Yuan, and only felt a little more at ease when he took her hand and led her forward.

At the newsstand, Mother Su made a call to the brigade office.

Aunt Zhang was quite cheerful when she answered the phone. "Sister Su, thank you so much for taking care of our Xiao Yun. I’ll treat you to a meal when you come back."

"I can’t take care of your Xiao Yun anymore." Mother Su got straight to the point, recounting what happened last night without any attempt to spare Zhang Yun’s feelings.

Zhang Yun was mortified.

Before she could hide her expression, Mother Su shoved the receiver against her ear.

Aunt Zhang’s scolding instantly erupted from the phone.

"Mom, I didn’t want to trouble Sister-in-law either, which is why I offered to move out today. Don’t worry, Ah Yuan is here to take care of me. What could possibly happen?"

"You’re just overthinking it. I’m a grown-up now. If I’m going to be managed just for sleeping out one night, how am I supposed to live on my own in the future?"

"Cousin... Cousin went on a mission. He’s not home, and I can’t contact him... I’ll tell him when he gets back. Mom, don’t you worry. If things really don’t work out, I can just marry Ah Yuan. We’ve been together for so long anyway."

"Okay, I’ll take good care of myself. I’ll contact you and give you my number once I get to my new place."

After dealing with her mother, Zhang Yun handed the receiver back to Mother Su.

Mother Su took it, and Aunt Zhang’s awkward voice came from the phone. "Sister Su, I’m so sorry. You all went to the trouble of looking for Xiao Yun all night. I’ve already scolded her. It’s all her fault for not coming back and not even having someone let you know."

"You don’t need to worry about her anymore. Let her fend for herself."

"Since you put it that way, I won’t meddle anymore. I was just worried you’d be anxious, so I had Xiao Yun talk to you herself."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble. I know you’re the one who always handles things so properly, sister," Aunt Zhang said with an awkward laugh.

After hanging up, she didn’t give the matter a second thought and turned to go back to work in the fields.

Back on their end, after Mother Su hung up the phone, Zhang Yun quickly offered to pay for the call.

Mother Su wasn’t a pushover. Seeing this, she didn’t stop her and let Zhang Yun pay. The call cost over a yuan, enough for a day’s worth of food. Besides, it was about Zhang Yun’s own business—if she didn’t pay, who would?

Zhang Yun breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that at least she didn’t owe Mother Su anything now.

"Well, you two get going. I’m heading home to make lunch, so I won’t keep you." Mother Su said a few perfunctory words and turned to go home.

Zhang Yun instinctively looked at Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan reached out, took her luggage, and said, "I’ll take you to drop off your things first, then we’ll go to the sanatorium."

"Didn’t that Zhou Yu guy say to find him to confirm the job arrangements once you’d made up your mind? We should take care of that today, just to be safe. Better not to delay."

"Is it okay that I didn’t tell Sister-in-law about this?"

Zhao Yuan pulled her out of the alley and onto a bus. "What’s not okay about it? Mr. Lu is thanking your whole family for taking care of Lu Zhengchuan, not just Su Wan. You asked yourself—the man didn’t want to see Su Wan. By accepting this from him, you’re actually fulfilling the old man’s wish."

"But..." Zhang Yun was still hesitant.

Zhao Yuan persuaded her, "Why are you so concerned about others? Isn’t your own future important? You just didn’t tell her; it’s not like you did anything to wrong her. Besides, this was Mr. Lu’s idea."

Zhang Yun instinctively wanted to say that Mr. Lu hadn’t said she couldn’t tell her sister-in-law.

But in the end, she said nothing more. She was afraid that if her sister-in-law found out, she wouldn’t let her accept Mr. Lu’s gift of a job.

’She wasn’t talented and versatile like her sister-in-law, who was also a top student and had no shortage of job opportunities. But it was very difficult for her to find a job. With only a middle school education, there was so much she didn’t know.’

Zhang Yun went with Zhao Yuan to the sanatorium to meet Zhou Yu.

In less than half a day, Zhou Yu had the job arranged for her.

"Comrade Zhang, take this letter of introduction and go directly to the director of the textile factory. He will arrange a job for you. As for the type of work, you’ll have to go and see what you’re suited for."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhou," Zhang Yun said, unable to contain her excitement.

Zhou Yu wore a perfectly measured smile. "This is simply the reward for your family’s kindness."

"Go on, Comrade Zhang. If you run into any problems, you can contact me anytime."

"Okay."

Zhang Yun was both excited and nervous. Zhao Yuan took her directly to the textile factory, and with the letter of introduction, she met the factory director with surprising ease.

Zhao Yuan didn’t go into the office building. "Xiao Yun, I’ll wait for you downstairs. Don’t tell the director you know me. He hates it when people use back-door connections."

Zhang Yun was solely focused on securing the job and didn’t think much of it, heading upstairs by herself.

-

Su Wan took a half-day leave from school and only found out that Zhang Yun had left when she returned.

She rubbed her temples. Her head, already aching from lack of sleep, throbbed even more.

"Wanwan, why do you have to get involved? I’ve already made things clear with Zheng Chuan’s aunt. Her own mother said we don’t need to look after her. You should worry more about yourself," Mother Su chided her.

Su Wan nodded helplessly. "I’m just afraid Lu Zhengchuan will be angry when he gets back."

"If my son-in-law is really angry, I’ll go talk to him myself."

"He can’t possibly get mad at you over an immature junior. You’ve already done more than enough. She’s determined to trust Zhao Yuan, so anything more we say is useless."

"I just have a feeling Zhao Yuan is up to no good," Su Wan said, trusting her intuition.

"Then what can we do? Surely Zhao Yuan wouldn’t scheme against Zhang Yun just to get revenge on us because of what happened with Zhao Xiangxiang and your third brother, right?"

Although Mother Su disliked Zhang Yun’s immaturity, she didn’t want an outsider to be dragged into their family’s problems.

"I’ll have Xiao Liu investigate Zhao Yuan. Whatever he’s done, he must have left a trail," Su Wan said, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Zhao Yuan has had so many opportunities, but he never took advantage of Zhang Yun. Yet last night he deliberately orchestrated that scene. I don’t think it was an accident; it was a provocation."

"Of course, he can also use it to win Zhang Yun over."

"If that’s the case, he won’t harm Zhang Yun anytime soon."

"We just need a few days. Once Xiao Liu’s investigation is complete, we can figure out our next move."

Su Wan had no leverage against Zhao Yuan, so she couldn’t do anything for now. But she refused to believe he was innocent.

Sooner or later, she would uncover his scheme.

"Zheng Chuan is missing. Does Xiao Liu have time to help?" Mother Su rubbed her temples. The thought of Zhang Yun marrying Zhao Yuan and being unhappy, of Zhao Yuan truly targeting Zhang Yun just to get back at them, and of Zhang Yun cursing the Su family after learning the truth—just thinking about it all made Mother Su’s blood boil.