Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 78: Chapter 76 Evidence

From the moment she returned to the dormitory, Huo Sining had been closely watching Du Yanlin’s changing expressions, so Du Yanlin’s scheming against Xue Jingjing was immediately caught by Huo Sining’s observant eyes.

Seeing this scene, Huo Sining couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

People like Du Yanlin treat friends as tools to be used.

They make friends when it’s profitable and step on them when it’s not.

Such people have sinister tactics that are hard to guard against, far more dangerous than the likes of Xu Lian, an ignorant countrywoman, by many times.

For Xue Jingjing to have a friend who sees her as a fool and only uses her, she really drew the short straw in finding such a best friend.

However, during the military training earlier, when she was punished by the instructor for hiding things, Xue Jingjing didn’t hesitate to shift the blame to Du Yanlin, drawing everyone’s accusations onto her.

It was clear that Xue Jingjing wasn’t entirely sincere toward Du Yanlin either.

The two were equally bad, with neither being better than the other.

Luo Jinzhi had thought the skincare set was a free gift as Huo Sining had said, so she didn’t care how it was disposed of.

Now that she knew the skincare set was worth four or five thousand yuan—a high-end product—she suddenly felt both distressed and guilty, thinking that this wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t left her things all over the place.

Seeing Du Yanlin’s pitiful appearance, she felt somewhat reluctant to pursue the matter further, and after a moment’s hesitation, she couldn’t help but suggest, “Ningning, maybe… let’s just let it go.”

Huo Sining knew that Luo Jinzhi was kind-hearted, but she really didn’t like this saintly disposition of hers.

She also understood that Luo Jinzhi’s personality was deeply ingrained and wouldn’t change overnight, so she sighed helplessly,

“Jin Zhi, do you know the story of The Farmer and the Snake? Some people, when you are good to them, won’t necessarily return the favor. They may even bite you in return.”

Luo Jinzhi, having grown up in a fishing village, was surrounded by simple fishermen and thus lacked schemes and manipulations.

But Huo Sining was different; she had experienced rebirth and lived an extra seven or eight years. Her maturity had grown, and she had the Water-Repelling Pearl, so her sensitivity to human nature’s good and evil was much higher than others.

“Pay back the money or compensate with an identical skincare set; the choice is yours.”

Huo Sining didn’t care about the money, but she intended to teach Du Yanlin a lesson, so even with Luo Jinzhi pleading, she refused to compromise.

Because she knew that people like Du Yanlin didn’t understand gratitude and wouldn’t relent until they hit rock bottom.

As expected, when Du Yanlin learned that Huo Sining insisted on compensation and was unwilling to back down, she suddenly dropped her pretense of being pitiful and stood by the bed with her arms crossed, raising her eyebrows at Luo Jinzhi:

“You want me to compensate? What a joke! Isn’t the skincare set something that you, Luo Jinzhi, dropped on the floor because you didn’t hold it properly? What does that have to do with me?”

Luo Jinzhi’s eyes widened in surprise upon hearing this.

She hadn’t expected Du Yanlin to be so thick-skinned, telling bold-faced lies without a blush or a skip of the heartbeat.

Huo Sining knew that Du Yanlin was scheming and cunning, so she had taken precautions.

As soon as she entered the dormitory, Huo Sining had quietly opened the recording app on her phone, just in case Du Yanlin would not admit fault at the end.

Seeing Du Yanlin looking smug and defiant, as if saying, “What can you do to me?” Huo Sining’s lips curled up, and she said with a smile, “Are you sure?”

Seeing the half-smiling, half-serious expression on Huo Sining’s face, Du Yanlin felt a sinking feeling.

Huo Sining then took out her phone from her pocket, opened the recording she had made earlier, and played it back.

Hearing her own hysterical voice coming out of the phone, Du Yanlin looked at Huo Sining with disbelief and a mix of resentment and frustration in her eyes.

She had never expected that Huo Sining would have such a move up her sleeve.

At this stage, Huo Sining held all the evidence and witness accounts, rendering Du Yanlin’s sophistry useless.

However, Huo Sining was still considerate of Du Yanlin’s future and did not want to blow the situation out of proportion.

After all, Du Yanlin was still a student; setting aside the effect it would have if the school learned of the theft, just being processed by the police would certainly leave a mark on her record.

Huo Sining simply wanted to teach Du Yanlin a lesson, not ruin her, and thus she did not call the police.

Worried that Huo Sining would hand over the recording to the police, Du Yanlin stopped being obstinately defensive and promised to compensate Luo Jinzhi for her loss after the National Day holiday.

With the recording in hand, Huo Sining was not concerned about Du Yanlin reneging on her promise and nodded in agreement to her request.

Military training finally came to an end, and what followed was a week of the National Day Golden Week.

As soon as the school issued the holiday notice, the trainees scattered like birds and beasts. The freshman students, returning from military training, hastened to arrange their holidays; those living nearby hurried home, while those farther away prepared to travel.

With the theft incident still lingering, Du Yanlin and Xue Jingjing had no desire to stay in the dormitory and quickly packed their luggage to go home.

Concerned about the business at Xianyu Shop, Huo Sining also planned to tidy up her things and leave, when she turned her head and saw Luo Jinzhi standing at the window, lost in thought.

“Jin Zhi, how have you arranged your National Day holiday?” Seeing Luo Jinzhi alone in the dormitory, Huo Sining couldn’t help but query.

Luo Jinzhi was startled, then smiled, “I don’t have any special plans. I heard that the school library will be open as usual during the National Day, so I plan to spend these days there. Why?”

Because of the skincare set incident, Luo Jinzhi felt a subtle estrangement towards Huo Sining.

Huo Sining had deceived Luo Jinzhi, which indeed made her feel a bit guilty. Fearing that Luo Jinzhi might misunderstand her, she tentatively asked:

“I’m planning to go home, and it might be quite boring for you alone in the dormitory. How about you come with me?”

“Go home? Are you planning to go back to Rongcheng?”

Although the seven-day holiday was not short, the round-trip train journey from S City to Rongcheng took three to four days. Luo Jinzhi was puzzled; was Huo Sining not afraid of getting tired?

Seeing the confusion in Luo Jinzhi’s eyes, Huo Sining knew she had misunderstood and quickly explained:

“Not going back to Rongcheng, but to my place near Chenghuang Temple here in S City. It’s not very big, but if you don’t mind, how about I invite you over as a guest?”

Luo Jinzhi hesitated upon hearing this, “Would your family mind?”

Huo Sining smiled, “No, they won’t. Once you’re there, you’ll see. In my home, I call the shots.”

With most people having left the school, Luo Jinzhi, alone in the dormitory, also felt the boredom and hesitated for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.

Huo Sining took Luo Jinzhi by car back to Xianyu Shop, only to see Wu Jun sitting inside reading a book. Noticing someone entering the store, he asked without thinking, “Are you looking to buy ornamental fish or wild live fish?”

As he spoke, he looked up, only to see Huo Sining standing at the door, and he froze for half a second before coming to his senses, asking with surprise, “Miss Huo, you’re back? Is military training over?”

Huo Sining nodded, “Yes, we have the National Day holiday now. This is my college roommate, Luo Jinzhi. Jin Zhi, this is Wu Jun, Wu (Uncle).”

The moment Luo Jinzhi entered, she was captivated by the dazzling array of fish in the Aquarium. As Huo Sining introduced her, she stood dumbfounded, unsure of what to say.

Fortunately, Wu Jun had made progress in social interaction during his time in business, and he approached proactively, saying:

“Hello, welcome to Xianyu Shop. Would you like me to introduce you to these fish species?”

Luo Jinzhi was unaware of Huo Sining’s relationship with the shop and therefore hesitated to overstep. She glanced awkwardly at Huo Sining, and seeing her nod in affirmation, hesitantly pressed her lips together and nodded lightly.