Tang Li walked out of her room, following her memory to find Lai Yuaner's bedroom.
Compared to the guest room she had lived in for years, Lai Yuaner's bedroom was the most exquisitely decorated room in the entire Lai Family, with its white princess bed, pink wallpaper, and ivory white solid wood furniture, all exuding a cozy atmosphere.
Tang Li pulled open a drawer in the walk-in closet and placed the dress and brooch inside.
In her previous life, when she appeared in the garden wearing this dress, Lai Yuaner let out a scream.
She didn't understand what was happening, but Lai Yuaner rushed over and grabbed her, trying to strip the dress off her in public while shouting uncontrollably, "Who let you wear my dress! Give it back to me!"
...
Tang Li looked toward the brooch.
It was a gift from Lai Wenyan to Ouyang Qian, commemorating their 25th wedding anniversary.
Ouyang Qian treasured this brooch dearly; she was also the chairman of Tianyi Group and often attended various events, so there were no shortage of people who had seen her wearing the brooch.
At the birthday banquet, when Lai Yuaner discovered Tang Li wearing her mother's brooch, which was given by her father, she pointed at Tang Li and cursed her as a thief, even going so far as to publicly reveal that she was the illegitimate daughter who had disrupted their family!
The slap that Ouyang Qian gave her younger daughter caused an uproar.
And she, foolishly stood there, at a loss.
She wanted to open her mouth to explain, but upon seeing Lai Wenyan's indifferent expression, her throat was too dry to speak.
Tang Li slowly closed the drawer, her eyes cold; she had never experienced the so-called familial affection while at the Lai Family and certainly wouldn't covet what didn't belong to her in this new life.
Just as she stood up, a raucous chatter came from outside the door.
"Did your mom really get you that custom LV bag from France?"
"Why would I lie to you guys? It's just a bag, my mom brought it back on her business trip..."
Through the closed door, Tang Li could hear Lai Yuaner's voice.
It was already too late for Tang Li to leave through the main door, and it wasn't safe to hide in the walk-in closet or the bathroom; at the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the sliding door to the balcony.
When Lai Yuaner opened the bedroom door, there was nobody inside.
On the balcony, Tang Li stood pressed against the wall as the sound of conversation intermittently reached her from inside.
A few girls, after examining the bag, sat on the bed to whisper gossip.
"Yuanyuan, it's your grandmother's birthday today, how come we don't see that poor relative who lives with you?"
Another girl immediately chimed in, "Yeah, Yuanyuan, I was hoping to get a glimpse of her bird's nest hair." She started giggling, "Is she slow in the head or what? You tell her to test out hair dye colors on herself, and she actually goes and does it. You mentioned she has a crush on your sister's classmate, was that true?"
Lai Yuaner snickered, "It's just a toad lusting after a swan's flesh. Jifeng was helping me with my homework, and that toad happened to see him. She's been obsessed ever since."
"Do you guys know what she calls Jifeng? Teacher Han~"
"Ha ha..."
Tang Li felt a dull ache in her heart.
Some truths, even though she later learned of them in her previous life, still pained her when she experienced them all over again in person.
"Yuanyuan, can I go out to the balcony for a bit?"
"To see what?"
"I want to get a taste of what it's like to be Juliet!"
Lai Yuaner commanded, "Then first, go fetch me a pair of silk stockings."
Hearing this, Tang Li looked at the external unit of the air conditioner next to her.
There was another balcony on the other side.
If she didn't leave now, she would inevitably be discovered.
Stepping onto the ornate railing, Tang Li climbed over the balcony of Lai Yuaner's room onto the external unit of the air conditioner. With her heart pounding, she quickly and carefully climbed into the adjacent room's balcony.
Just as she steadied herself, she smelled a faint scent of burning tobacco.
Tang Li looked up—
She saw a man standing on the balcony, smoking.
His interested gaze clearly had witnessed her entire "wall-scaling" entry.