Chapter 528: Yu Xiao's Sweetheart (2)

A few days after the semester began, Zhai Na noticed bruises on Yu Xiao. After pressing him for details, she learned that Li Qing had likely sent someone to ambush him.

That was why Zhai Na had gone to confront Li Qing, which led to a huge fight between them.

Zhai Na took the opportunity to break up with her, but Li Qing unexpectedly resorted to verbal threats, saying she would find someone to break Yu Xiao’s legs and even threatened his parents.

Then, Li Qing switched to a gentle tone and apologized, claiming she only did it because she cared so much about Zhai Na and promised to treat her well from now on.

Under the influence of Li Qing’s carrot-and-stick approach, a muddled Zhai Na was deceived by her once again.

Recalling this incident, Zhai Na felt conflicted.

As it happened, Yu Xiao had invited her to hot pot tonight and offered to introduce her to his cousin. Zhai Na had planned to use this opportunity to persuade Yu Xiao to stop seeing her, otherwise there was no telling what Li Qing might do next.

SIGH… With a long sigh, Zhai Na pushed her hair back and put on a headband. Just then, she saw Yu Xiao walking over with a handsome man and a beautiful woman, followed by several tall figures.

“You guys can sit here!” Wu Yun said, pointing to a large table not far from Zhai Na. He then pulled Wen Meng along and followed behind Yu Xiao.

“Sister Na! Let me introduce you. This is my cousin, Wu Yun! And this is his girlfriend, Wen Meng!”

Hearing this, Zhai Na forced a smile and nodded at the sunglass-wearing Wu Yun.

After Wu Yun took off his sunglasses, he was about to speak when he saw Zhai Na staring at him with a look of shock.

“Yu Xiao! *This* is your cousin?!” Zhai Na forgot all her previous unhappiness, acting just like a starstruck fan.

Yu Xiao laughed and draped an arm over Wu Yun’s shoulder. “Yep! My actual cousin!”

“Hello! President Wu! I’m Zhai Na!” Zhai Na stood up and extended her hand, her mind racing.

“Sister Na! No need to be so formal! Please, sit! Just call me by my name!” Wu Yun said, glancing around and noticing that people were already starting to watch them.

Zhai Na sat down, a smile on her face, and said to Yu Xiao, “I didn’t realize you were hiding such a secret! Wu Yun is your cousin?!”

Yu Xiao shrugged. “He’s him, and I’m me! Besides, I can’t just go around using his name to show off and swindle people! If my dad found out, he’d break my legs!”

This was the first time Zhai Na had ever been curious about Yu Xiao’s family. Seeing him in his simple clothes, she had always assumed he came from an ordinary family and never bothered to ask.

‘But now that she knew Wu Yun was his cousin, his family had to be anything but simple!’

After Wu Yun’s speech, Zhai Na and many of her colleagues had discussed it. For someone as young as Wu Yun to achieve so much, family support was essential!

‘So what kind of family could produce such a genius?’

Zhai Na’s own speculation, by a stroke of luck, had accidentally hit upon the truth that Yu Xiao’s identity was not simple.

“It seems I don’t know you well enough, Yu Xiao. I wonder, what does your family do?”

Yu Xiao said humbly, “My dad is just a public official in Jiangcheng, and my mom is a senior teacher.”

“As for my cousin Wu Yun, he’s my aunt’s son.”

Yu Xiao quickly changed the subject, calling out, “Waiter! We’d like to order!”

Zhai Na had more questions, but seeing Yu Xiao start to order, she swallowed them back down.

After Yu Xiao finished ordering, Zhai Na thought for a moment and finally said, “Yu Xiao, I originally came here today to tell you something! But… well, now I’ve thought things through!”

A flash of joy crossed Yu Xiao’s face. “Sister Na, does that mean you’re willing to be my girlfriend?”

Zhai Na hesitated for a moment before nodding. “But! You know about my situation. I fought with Li Qing a few days ago because I wanted to break up with her.”

Wen Meng, who had been listening quietly, hadn’t expected to hear such juicy gossip. Her eyes widened as she looked at Wu Yun.

Wu Yun made a hushing gesture at her and pointed to the phone on the table.

Wu Yun: “The woman my cousin is chasing has a girlfriend! They were Lalas before! I guess he’s managed to turn Zhai Na straight!”

Wen Meng: “I thought your cousin had a thing for that, you know, poaching someone else’s partner!”

“No, wait! It *is* poaching! And here I thought this Zhai Na was a badass, pulling off a seamless transition like that!”

Wu Yun: “Let’s eat first! My cousin asked me to come tonight to help him deal with the Li Qing situation.”

Wen Meng immediately sent a GIF of someone eating melon.

Their text exchange only took a minute or two. Yu Xiao hesitated for a moment before saying, “One reason I asked you here today was to make things clear! You already know how I feel! I just wanted to know what you think!”

“If you’ve made up your mind to break up with Li Qing, then she’s not a problem! I specifically asked my cousin to come today to help. For him, dealing with Li Qing will be easy.”

A flash of delight appeared in Zhai Na’s eyes as she nodded in confirmation. “I really do want to break up with her! Li Qing is too controlling! I’m only now realizing there’s a reason she has so few friends!”

Yu Xiao was overjoyed to hear this. He couldn’t help but place his hand on the back of Zhai Na’s. He felt her hand struggle slightly before relaxing.

Yu Xiao’s wildly POUNDING heart gradually calmed down. He could be heard saying with a laugh, “Now that you’ve said that, I can relax! Just leave the rest to us! I’ll go find Li Qing tomorrow!”

Just then, a cough came from the side. “AHEM.”

The two, whose hands were clasped together, quickly and shyly pulled apart. A deep blush spread across Zhai Na’s face, adding a hint of charm to her delicate features.

“Cousin! We’re in public, don’t get too carried away!” Wu Yun joked.

“Hahahaha!~” Everyone laughed happily.

In the end, the group ate hot pot while listening to Zhai Na recount her experiences over the past few years.

“I don’t deny that I was grateful to Li Qing! Back then, it was with a heart full of gratitude that I accepted her confession! I had even resolved not to find a boyfriend and just spend my life with her.”

“But the longer we were together, the more I realized Li Qing wasn’t as wonderful as I had imagined.”

“How should I put it… Li Qing has a short temper, and a bit of a… traditional ‘man of the house’ attitude! She’s also extremely controlling! She doesn’t allow anyone to go against her wishes.”

“She was even hostile toward any guy who got close to me!”

“Honestly, I could even live with all that. But then one time, I found out she was being all lovey-dovey with other people—and different people, at that! That’s when I knew everything she’d told me before was a lie!”

As she spoke, Zhai Na took a big gulp of the beer in front of her. “So for all these years, I’ve been doing everything I can—working part-time, taking on side hustles—all because I want to pay back the money Li Qing gave me back then!”

Yu Xiao immediately grabbed Zhai Na’s hand. “It’s okay! I’m with you! How much do you still owe Li Qing?!”

Watching Yu Xiao, Wu Yun recalled the other report that came with the intel on Li Qing that afternoon—it was the file on Zhai Na.

It wasn’t that Wu Yun didn’t trust Yu Xiao, but he was afraid his cousin might get deceived, so he had sent a message to Wang Hao asking him to dig up some more information on Zhai Na.

So, as Zhai Na spoke now, Wu Yun knew she was telling the truth.

“I haven’t paid her back yet. I owe her 680,000 in total, and with interest over the years, it’s about 750,000!”

Zhai Na secretly glanced at Yu Xiao’s face. Seeing his expression hadn’t changed, she continued, “Over the years, from my part-time jobs, writing novels, and ghostwriting papers, I’ve managed to save up 300,000!”

“Right now, I’m working my main job and still writing novels on the side.”

Yu Xiao glanced at Wu Yun, then said with a laugh, “Is that all? I was worried the money I borrowed from my cousin wouldn’t be enough!”

Wu Yun smiled and said, “It’s fine, Cousin! You can keep the rest! Once you start your career, it probably won’t be so easy to have this much cash on hand!”

Yu Xiao didn’t stand on ceremony, laughing as he said, “Then I’ll have to thank my dear cousin! Haha!”

Just then, an angry roar from a magnetic voice echoed from nearby: “Zhai Na! Why aren’t you answering my messages!”