Chapter 504: Asking for Help

Su Mei was missing.

When Zheng Erlian discovered Su Mei was missing, she was frantic with worry. She had already guessed that Su Mei must have secretly gone to Beijing.

However, Zheng Erlian knew Su Mei had no money, and none of her own money was missing...

Zheng Erlian involuntarily glanced at Old Su’s room and pursed her lips. She quietly told Su Shengguo what had happened with Su Mei.

Upon hearing this, Su Shengguo’s brow tightened. "Meizi doesn’t have a letter of introduction," he said. "She probably couldn’t have gotten far. I’ll go to the county to look for her. Once I find her, I’ll bring her right back. Don’t tell Mom about this for now."

Zheng Erlian quickly replied, "That’s what I was thinking, too."

Su Shengguo made up an excuse and headed for Xiyuan County.

It was true that Su Mei didn’t have a letter of introduction. She couldn’t go to Zhao Youcai to get one, either, because she had run away after stealing money from Old Su’s room. If she asked Zhao Youcai for a letter, it would cause a lot of trouble once her family found out. So, after stealing the money, Su Mei went directly to the county seat to find Wu Tao.

"Su Mei!" Wu Tao had just gotten off work and hadn’t gone far when Su Mei stopped him. He had dated her for a while, so even though she had wrapped her face tightly in a scarf, he recognized her at a glance. "We’ve already broken up. What are you doing here?"

Wu Tao hadn’t seen Su Mei since Su Shengguo returned to Lihua Village, so he had no idea she had been disfigured. Seeing her approach him so furtively now made him impatient.

"Wu Tao, for the sake of our past relationship, can you do me a favor?" Su Mei didn’t mince words and got straight to the point.

Wu Tao’s brow tightened. "What do you want my help with?"

"Get me a letter of introduction to Beijing," Su Mei said. "It shouldn’t be hard for you."

Su Mei knew that Wu Tao’s aunt was a neighborhood committee director, so getting a letter of introduction would be no problem for him at all.

"You want to go to Beijing?" Wu Tao asked, looking at Su Mei in surprise. "What for?"

"I have some business there," Su Mei said. "Wu Tao, please, just help me with this one thing."

Wu Tao sneered. "Su Mei, don’t think I’m an idiot. You’re back in Lihua Village now. If you needed to go to Beijing, you could have just gotten a letter of introduction from your village committee. There’s no reason to come to me. Are you taking me for a fool?"

Su Mei looked at Wu Tao, knowing she had to say something or he would never help. ’Ever since he broke up with me the moment my dad lost his job, I’ve known he’s not an easy person to deal with.’ All the warmth and gentleness he’d shown her had just been an act. If he’d really liked her, he wouldn’t have broken things off so cleanly and decisively.

Taking a deep breath, Su Mei said, "My face... it’s been injured. I need to go to Beijing to find my aunt. But as you know, my family had a falling out with her a long time ago. They won’t let me go, so I had to sneak out. That’s why I can’t get a letter of introduction from the village committee."

"What!" Wu Tao was startled. "Your face was injured?"

As he spoke, he quickly tugged at her scarf. Su Mei couldn’t stop him, and it slipped down, revealing the scar on her face. Wu Tao recoiled in shock. "Holy crap, what happened to you? You look awful."

Annoyed, Su Mei quickly pulled the scarf back up to hide her face, her voice choked with emotion. "If I wasn’t hurt this badly, I wouldn’t be trying to go to Beijing to find my aunt! The only doctor who can fix my face is in Beijing. I heard my aunt has connections and can get me in to see him. That’s why I have to go. Wu Tao, please help me. I don’t want to live the rest of my life with this scar."

Staring at Su Mei’s face, Wu Tao’s thoughts unintentionally drifted to Su Qing. The first time he’d met Su Qing, she’d also had a deep scar on her face. It had gradually faded over time. ’It must be completely gone by now,’ he thought. It was a shame he’d never had the chance to see her again.

He thought of Su Qing’s eyes, imagined her face without the scar, and his heart stirred. Back when he was dating Su Mei, he couldn’t very well go after Su Qing. ’But I’m single now!’

"That cousin of yours, Su Qing," Wu Tao asked. "Is the scar on her face gone?"

Hearing that Wu Tao still remembered Su Qing, Su Mei grew furious. ’Of course, with that vixen’s face of hers, Su Qing is always seducing men. Maybe she even seduced Wu Tao while he was dating me! Why else would he still remember her after all this time?’

But this wasn’t the time to argue with Wu Tao about that. An idea suddenly struck her. "You like Su Qing, don’t you? If you do, I can give you her address in Beijing so you can go find her. But you have to get me a letter of introduction to Beijing. And... I need to borrow some money. I don’t have quite enough."

Su Mei no longer had any feelings for Wu Tao. All she cared about now was maximizing her own gains.

"You want to borrow money?" Wu Tao frowned.

"I’m giving you the chance to go after Su Qing. I’m just asking for a small favor in return. Besides, I’ll pay back any money I borrow," Su Mei said quickly. "And I bet you didn’t know this, but my aunt reconnected with her parents in Beijing. If you manage to win Su Qing over, you could move to Beijing! She even has a house there. You could become a Beijing resident. Isn’t that better than staying in this county?"

Wu Tao was surprised. ’Su Qing has a house in Beijing? If I can win her over, that’s as good as having a house in Beijing myself.’ Even if he didn’t move there, marrying her would be no loss. ’Still,’ he thought, ’I should ask around about her relatives in Beijing. It would be a pain if they turned out to be a bunch of poor folk.’

With that in mind, Wu Tao said, "I’ll have to think about it."

Su Mei grew anxious. "Wu Tao, I snuck away from home! If my family finds me and takes me back, I’ll never get to Beijing."

"My family has an empty house. You can stay there for a couple of days while I think it over," Wu Tao said after a moment’s thought. ’Either way, I can’t let myself lose out on this deal.’

Seeing his mind was made up, Su Mei knew it was useless to say more. "Alright," she relented. "It’s good just to have a place to stay for now."

"Fine, come with me," Wu Tao said, and led Su Mei to his family’s empty house, getting her settled in.

Meanwhile, Su Shengguo rushed to the county seat and waited at the bus station. He stayed until the bus for Bingcheng had departed from Xiyuan County, but he never saw Su Mei. In the end, he had no choice but to return to Lihua Village.