Although she did not get along with her cousin, she was still uncomfortable when she heard others cursing her cousin.
"What? Am I not speaking the truth? Why are you still defending that sl*t? She has bullied you your entire childhood. She took everything of yours that you liked; your elementary school bag, your new skirt. Oh, and this necklace you're wearing? If your grandmother hadn't left it just for you, do you think you'd get it back even if you went crying to your grandfather? Forget the material items—these can be bought again anyway—she even stole your man. Are all the men in the world dead? Is the only good one that belongs to you? She's a sl*t, through and through. She could loiter at nightclubs if she craved the attention from men so much. Didn't she say she was the prettiest girl in all of S City High? Did she not claim that men were lining up for her? Why steal what was yours?"
Su Ran got very upset whenever Xia Ziwei was mentioned. Jing Wushuang was not someone who would take something lying down, but she was extremely tolerable when it came to Xia Ziwei. Su Ran could not help but get riled up when she recalled every ill-treatment Wushuang had to endure over the years.
"You're always like this every time she's mentioned, Ranran. Others would think you were the one she has bullied."
Su Ran proudly wrapped her arms around Wushuang's shoulders. "You're under my protection. Whoever bullies you, bullies me."
Wushuang felt a certain warmth when her friend showed her support in such a way. She had no regrets in life; she had a friend who knew her as much as she knew herself, after all.
"I know you love me. You should know that I'm not going to be anyone's punching bag. The reason I tolerated her was that she didn't go behind my back, always coming to me openly. Therefore, I'll accept it if I had lost fair and square. If it comes to scheming, Ranran, you know I won't be bested. Even in an actual fight, it'd take several of her to beat me."
Su Ran chuckled. "That's precisely why I can't bear to see you taking crap from her lying down."
"Sister, she's from the Xia family, and my last name is Jing. I'm staying with her family. Would I be so shameless as to quarrel with her every day and make my grandfather's life harder than it is? Grandfather's love for me is real, and she's just jealous." It was not that Wushuang did not mind; she genuinely did not want to make things difficult for her grandfather. Her EQ was at such a high level because of her cousin's antics.
"Still, that doesn't mean she can steal your man." Su Ran still brooded on the matter, especially since she just came face-to-face with him. She always longed for a chance to defend Wushuang, yet she never thought that her first encounter with that heartless b*stard would be in this particular situation.
"It's true that I hated him, Ranran, but I understand now. A man that can be stolen was never mine to begin with. Can we not talk about it anymore? He wasn't that good of a catch anyway."
Reaching twenty-five was the turning point for women; they only realized what they truly wanted at that age. The type of men that they preferred would change drastically from before. She believed that this would be the case for her.
"You dare say you haven't thought about him as of late? You've never once forgotten about him all these years."
Jing Wushuang held on to Su Ran's arm and walked forward. "I also thought that I hadn't let it go before this, and I won't say that I have no feelings whatsoever. It's still part of my past and an important part of my life, after all. However, I can't return to the past and relive my twenty-two-year-old life. Humans are strange. It seemed like I was enlightened and everything became clear at once. I'm no longer sad, really."