Chapter 223: I’ve Already Taken A Step Back, Miss Xu, I Ask of You to Do So Too

“Zhu Hexuan, the real person who brought you into this situation is yourself. This has become too much of a habit for you. You had the choice of solving this by facing it head-on in the light, but you chose not to and took the dark route instead,” Lin Chu said grimly.

Yes, she would have suffered a huge blow to her reputation once the pictures were exposed, but Zhu Hexuan was not a public figure. How many would remember her even after she lost her reputation?

This was not something Lin Chu thought about just because she was not the one experiencing this. She had commented it based on herself as a member of the public who had read scandals exposed online. All she could remember in the end were the celebrities and not the scandal. As for commoners, they might not even remember what the person involved looked like, much less the scandal.

This was an era of online business. There were so many people doing so well with the business online, and they were making good money. As long as one puts in the hard work and effort, one would be able to live a good life. Besides, this was considered legitimate work.

There was nothing that Zhu Hexuan should be wailing about.

She was a victim of this, but she did not want to fight against the bad guys. She did not even think about how these bad people deserved punishment for their wrongdoings. She had given in readily because of those pictures, only to dig a deeper hole for herself and get bullied further.

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Zhu Hexuan suddenly stood up from where she was and rebutted angrily, “It’s so easy for you to say this, isn’t it?! It’s not you who is in this situation, which is why you can stand here in front of me being all high and mighty! You have Yan Beicheng protecting you. You always have people protecting you since young. That’s why you can stand here in front of me being haughty with your words!”

Lin Chu was stunned by Zhu Hexuan’s words. Zhu Hexuan seemed to realize what she had just done. Not only did she not get Lin Chu’s help, but she had also just destroyed her last hope. She should have waited until Lin Chu helped her before going off on her like that.

“Lin Chu, think about the child in your belly!” Zhu Hexuan suddenly said as her gaze turned toward Lin Chu’s belly.

Lin Chu thought she felt a sudden twitch in her belly when Zhu Hexuan gazed intently at it. Lin Chu felt a chill coming from within her belly as if a venomous snake had set its sights on it.

“Just treat it as accumulating blessings for the baby in your belly. You should start doing good for its sake. Helping me is like giving blessings to your child. You can help, but you refuse to even when you see me in trouble. This… This…” This meant destroying any future blessings the child might have.

Zhu Hexuan was still aware that she was here to ask for Lin Chu’s help and did not say the last sentence out loud despite her thinking so.

If Lin Chu did nothing to save her, then retribution would come to her baby!

Lin Chu was lucky the last time that someone had helped her. She might not have the same luck the next time something similar happened to her. She might suffer her retribution then.

Lin Chu’s eyes turned red with rage. Even during this trying time, Zhu Hexuan still did not harbor good thoughts and attempted to threaten her!

Zhu Hexuan might not have finished her sentence, but it was not difficult to guess what she wanted to say. Did she think everyone else around her was stupid?

At the end of the day, Zhu Hexuan still chose to make threats.

Lin Chu had initially thought to help her despite her scolding Zhu Hexuan. Some things should not go unmentioned. Zhu Hexuan needed to know that problems could always be solved. It would do her no good to go through life blaming everyone instead of doing something.

Lin Chu had planned to tell Yan Beicheng about this when she got home and get him to help destroy the pictures and videos of Zhu Hexuan to prevent it from being leaked. It would be her last time helping Zhu Hexuan. She was not Mother Mary, she couldn’t help Zhu Hexuan every time, especially since she had tried to hurt her child.

This time, Lin Chu would cut ties with Zhu Hexuan after helping her one last time. She would no longer have any ties with Zhu Hexuan after this. No matter what trouble she created in the future, it would have nothing to do with Lin Chu and she would not help her anymore. Even if Zhu Hexuan got herself killed, there would be nothing much Lin Chu could do. It would be Zhu Hexuan’s doing and it would be impossible for Lin Chu to bail out Zhu Hexuan for the rest of her life.

Yet, Zhu Hexuan continued bringing her child into this. She was now cursing her unborn child instead. If she did not help Zhu Hexuan, then her child would suffer retribution.

Even if Lin Chu was an atheist and did not believe in any religion, she was disgusted by the behavior! It was the same as gambling with the life of her child!

As a mother-to-be, she had already developed maternal instincts even before the child was born. She could not bear to see anything happen to it. She felt frightened for anything bad that could happen to her child, and it made things worse to hear Zhu Hexuan said something like this!

Zhu Hexuan was harboring ill-intentions all this time!

Lin Chu pointed at Zhu Hexuan angrily, her whole arm was trembling in rage as she said, “I will protect my child well. Bad things will only happen to me if I helped a bad-hearted traitor like you!”

Zhu Hexuan glared at Lin Chu. “You! You’re denying your child blessings just because of your selfish spite for me? Don’t regret it when you suffer retribution in the future!”

Zhu Hexuan had on an expression that said, ‘It would not be too late for you if you agree to help me now’.

Zheng Yuntong was so stunned that her mouth was agape.

She could not fathom what was going on in Zhu Hexuan’s brain. She started with pitiful begging and ended up threatening. Who could take it when their child was being threatened?!

Zheng Yuntong initially pitied her, but now, she hated her!

“I don’t know what retribution awaits me, but I do know your retribution starts now,” Lin Chu said coldly.

She turned towards the two security guards and said, “Can I please trouble both of you to make sure she does not enter the office building? There’s something wrong with her brain.”

The two security guards, who were present throughout the whole conversation, shared the same opinion. Normal people would not spout such words spoken by Zhu Hexuan. They nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Miss Lin. We’ll call the police if things get too difficult to handle. We’ll never let her barge in here.”

Lin Chu thanked them both and left with Zheng Yuntong.

Work hours were about to start very soon. They had wasted their free time in the morning on Zhu Hexuan. They both walked into the office building and the rush hour crowd was lesser now.

Not a soul could be seen in the elevator when they got in.

Zheng Yuntong asked quietly when she saw there was no one in the elevator with them, “Lin Chu, you’re not going to help her?”

Lin Chu was silent for a while before asking her, “What do you think?”

Even though this was Lin Chu’s business, but Zheng Yuntong tried to put herself in Lin Chu’s shoes. She scratched the side of her head and replied, “Don’t blame me for being heartless. When I first saw her crying, I took pity on her. As a woman, it’s easy to emphasize with the horrifying situation she had to go through. You were right to say though, that when such a thing happens, it would be best to make sure those who had bullied you get their just desserts instead of trying to hide what had happened, even at the cost of losing one’s reputation. It’s better than being taken hostage and living life in the dark. We should never constantly depend on others. How can someone live their lives expecting others to save them? If one can’t save themselves, do they expect others to save them? I pitied her when I found out she was being threatened, but what she said later, about those threats she made on your child, it just proved that she had no remorse even though she claimed to be in the wrong.”

“She came to you for help when you are still of use to her. She will say anything to get you to help, but the moment she realized she lost that help, she started cursing you and making threats. It’s obvious by her actions that even if you did help her, she would never be grateful to you. She would even think that it was all your fault that she ended up the way she did, and you should be obligated to help her. She might even continue hurting others after getting out of this situation. I don’t even know if it’s the right thing to do by helping her.” Zheng Yuntong shook her head at the thought of Zhu Hexuan’s actions. She could not help feeling a little afraid as a chill went through her and she trembled.

She hugged herself with her arms and continued, “Even I was scared about what happened just now. It felt a little unbearable to leave her in the lurch, but if you did help her, she might find some way to continue hurting you. It’s like saving a wolf and when it gets better, it would bite you to death. You mentioned that she did something to your baby last Friday?”

Lin Chu still felt a little scared thinking back about what happened last Friday. She briefly explained what happened to Zheng Yuntong.

Zheng Yuntong could not help trembling over it. “Lin Chu, if you helped her now, would she stop harming people? Would she stop doing bad things?”

Lin Chu shook her head as she smiled bitterly. “I can’t tell either. I was serious about what I told Zhu Hexuan before. It’s not because this didn’t happen to me that I was able to tell her all that easily. If it was anybody else, even if it was me, I’d do exactly what I said. I can’t allow bad people to get away from justice because I was scared or afraid to lose my reputation. It would just push me into a deeper end if I allowed the bad guys to get away.”

She licked her dry lips. “I don’t know how much of my words she took in. If she is willing to listen to my advice and does not want to continue her life this way and have the courage to walk away from it, then I will get Beicheng to help. I would ask him to obtain all her pictures and videos to stop them from being leaked. If she refuses to listen to me and chooses to live her life in the dark and become those men’s plaything, then it would be her choice. I won’t help her when I know she is out to get me. I did want to help her out for one last time. After that, I would draw a line between us and I’ll no longer be concerned about her, but she threatened my baby. I’m so disgusted with her. I don’t think I can help her now.”

Zheng Yuntong felt the same way. This Zhu Hexuan was truly one-of-a-kind to be able to stop someone willing from helping her out. To be honest, it was not something easy to accomplish.

Lin Chu placed her hand protectively on her tummy. She was still reeling from disgust over Zhu Hexuan’s words and was truly worried that her child was cursed by Zhu Hexuan.

…

Yan Beicheng picked Lin Chu up when it was time to go home.

Lin Chu told him about what happened that morning when they got home. She felt angry over it, and even a little uneasy.

Yan Beicheng hugged her. “I understand. I’ll get someone to watch her. If she wants to fight this, even if it was choosing to make a run for it, I’ll help get all her pictures and videos. If she continues to take it all in, then we’ll just leave her be. Don’t worry. People like her will suffer whatever retribution that is meant for them. Heaven knows who is good and who is bad. She has gotten her just desserts from her own doing. We didn’t do anything wrong. Our child is still a naïve little thing in its mother’s womb who does not know what is happening in the outside world. It will be okay.”

Lin Chu nodded, although she was not completely convinced. “Am I right to do so? If I choose not to help her, would it…”

“Stop spouting nonsense. You did the right thing. Why are we obligated to help her when she’s the one that did wrong? If she does not change her attitude toward life and save herself, you may be able to save her once, but can you save her for her whole life? You didn’t decide to turn your back on her at a moment’s notice. To help her doesn’t mean that you should obtain all her pictures and videos to return to her. It doesn’t mean that you should prepare a safe house for her to hide from Zhao Zhide and that fatty and take care of her living situation. You’ve given her a chance and pointed her in the right direction. She can only blame herself for not making the right choice. It has nothing to do with you. Understand?”

Lin Chu remained silent. Yan Beicheng asked her again, “Tell me, do you understand?”

It was only then, did Lin Chu nod obediently. “Yes, I do.”

…

Lin Chu gave the old Principal and Dai Huimin another call to confirm the time and date for their upcoming housewarming.

Dai Huimin had not expected Lin Chu to invite her husband and daughter to attend their housewarming together. She was so surprised that she stuttered as she accepted the invitation.

Lin Chu wanted to discuss when Dai Huimin and her family would have the time, but Dai Huimin would have made time no matter when Lin Chu wanted it to be, as long as Lin Chu requested for it. Dai Huimin made the immediate decision to close the restaurant on that day. Xu Dongguo and Xu Jiaojiao agreed to it as well.

As for the old Principal, she was free every day. She decided to bring only Mo Jingxi, Shi Tou, and Tian Tian as the other children were far too young. The three of them were also the closest to Lin Chu. The other children had joined the orphanage later when they were very young, which was why they were not as close to Lin Chu as Mo Jingxi and the rest were.

Lin Chu did not tell the old Principal about what happened to Zhu Hexuan. She was worried that the old Principal might get worked up and end up in the hospital again.

Lin Chu checked Zheng Yuntong and Xu Moyan’s availability and decided to have her housewarming on Saturday.

It was not long after that Saturday finally arrived.

The old Principal purposely bought some quality fruits and free-range eggs. She even brought along the patchwork quilt she had sewn for Lin Chu’s baby.

Dai Huimin bought some fruits. She had wanted to get a bottle of liquor too but remembered that Lin Chu could not have any now. Yan Beicheng would not have it by himself, so she decided to forgo it. Xu Jiaojiao bought some educational toys suitable for 0-12-month-old babies, which included a little piano and an inflatable pool, among others. Xu Dongguo had especially prepared some Chinese dim sum. They looked on par with well-known dim sum brands. When Xu Jiaojiao tasted them, she claimed it tasted better than those brands.

As the process of making them was complicated, Xu Dongguo had never put them up for sale. He would only make them for Dai Huimin and Xu Jiaojiao once in a blue moon. One could say that money could not buy them.

Xu Jiaojiao was a very picky eater due to growing up with Xu Dongguo’s culinary skills. There were never any dim sum brands out there that had caught her eyes.

Dai Huimin and her family took the effort to call for a taxi to the orphanage. They got the old Principal to come along with them and Xu Jiaojiao brought the three children with her in another taxi.

Dai Huimin and her family were looking to buy a house and moving their restaurant to a bigger place, so they had no extra budget to get a car. Besides, public transport was convenient, and they stayed near to the subway. They could also hail a cab anytime via the software application on their phone.

The new location of the restaurant they were interested in was quite near where they had planned to move house. It was just walking distance away, so there was no need to buy a car.

Zheng Yuntong and Xu Moyan lived nearby and were the first to arrive at Yan Beicheng’s house. Yan Ningbai found out that Mo Jingxi and rest would be visiting as well, so he arrived early from next door. He was playing with Chu Xi while he waited.

When Dai Huimin and the old Principal arrived, Yan Ningbai immediately led Mo Jingxi and the others into the playroom that Yan Beicheng had prepared for his child as if it was his own house.

Yan Beicheng pulled his face. He was considering banning Yan Ningbai from his house before the birth of his child. The overprotective Yan Beicheng could not take it that Yan Ningbai was enjoying the things he prepared before his child did.

Dai Huimin spread out the dim sum made by Xu Dongguo. Lin Chu picked up a piece of yam puff. It was so delicious that she closed her eyes to savor the taste, her cheeks turned red enjoying it tremendously.

“If you like it, I’ll get your uncle to make more for you!” Dai Huimin said immediately when she saw that Lin Chu enjoyed eating them. Dai Huimin was overjoyed.

“Isn’t it troublesome to make this?” Lin Chu said a little bashfully, but she wanted to agree to it.

Xu Jiaojiao could tell that Lin Chu wanted to have more of it in the future. She could not help laughing out loud over Lin Chu’s obviousness. It made Lin Chu embarrassed.

Dai Huimin nudged Xu Jiaojiao and said, “It’s not much trouble. Your uncle can make it quite fast because he’s very skilled at it. He didn’t know what you like, so he made a few of his best creations. Try them and tell us which are your favorites. We’ll jot it down and get him to make them for you. Don’t be worried about troubling us. Jiaojiao is a pretty picky eater too. She is always getting your uncle to make them for her.”

Lin Chu immediately went all in to taste all of the dim sum and pointed out which were her favorites. Dai Huimin was all smiles as she got Xu Jiaojiao to note them down.

“Did you close your restaurant today?” Lin Chu asked.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s only one day. We’re treating it as taking a holiday today. Business may be good and we’re doing well, but in the restaurant business, we’re always open during weekends and holidays. We are taking the opportunity to rest today,” explained Xu Jiaojiao.

Aunt Zhuang served up the fruits brought by the old Principal. Lin Chu took a look at them and said to the old Principal, “It’s not convenient for you to go here and there at this age. Otherwise, I would have made you visit me all the time. You don’t need to stand on ceremony with me and bring gifts over. You don’t need to act so politely when it comes to me.”

“How could I not bring anything for your housewarming? This is about tradition, not about being polite to you. Besides, I can’t get you anything much. You’re always claiming that I’m your grandmother. It’s only right that I bought something delicious for my grandchild, am I right?” The old Principal said.

“Yes, you are!” Lin Chu smiled as she hugged the old Principal and laid her head on her shoulders like it was a pillow.

The old Principal was so happy that her face brightened up. She patted Lin Chu’s face lovingly.

Dai Huimin was envious. She wondered if Lin Chu would be able to be so close to her one day.

Lin Chu asked about the orphanage after getting a little pampering from the old Principal. Then, she asked about the restaurant’s situation.

Xu Jiaojiao thought for a moment and told Lin Chu about Lu Zhenghang approaching her at the restaurant.

Lu Zhenghand had returned after she had rejected him. Lu Zhenghang did not give up after Xu Jiaojiao’s rejection.

There was one afternoon when Lu Zhenghang visited again at a less busy hour. Xu Jiaojiao was busy settling the account when she heard someone entered. She lifted her head to see Lu Zhenghang.

There was no expression on her face when she asked, “Mr. Lu, do you need anything by coming at this hour?”

Dai Huimin got tensed while standing at the side. She walked towards Xu Jiaojiao and watched Lu Zhenghang cautiously.

Lu Zhenghang sneered in his heart at Dai Huimin’s reaction. One look and he knew that Dai Huimin was just an uneducated middle-aged woman. She wore her heart on her sleeve and it was easy to figure her out. She gave Lin Chu nothing but trouble.

Dai Huimin was holding on to Xu Jiaojiao’s arm anxiously, as if afraid that Lu Zhenghang would snatch her away. She frowned at Lu Zhenghang.

Xu Jiaojiao patted Dai Huimin’s hands gently, trying to calm her down.

Lu Zhenghang walked over and said to Xu Jiaojiao, “Miss Xu, can we talk?”

“Mr. Lu, I believe I’ve told you very clearly that there’s nothing to say between us. You’re the enemy of my sister and my brother-in-law. Naturally, you’re my enemy too. It’s not that I’m not aware of who you are or what kind of person are you. In a way, we know each other well. What’s there to talk about?” Xu Jiaojiao said coldly.

There was no anger on Lu Zhenghang’s face. He replied calmly, “Ten minutes is all I need. If you don’t feel safe with me and don’t feel like going out with me, we can talk here. All I want is to have a private chat with you. I hope your mother would give us some privacy.”

“There’s no need. There’s nothing she has to say to you!” Dai Huimin could not help blurting out in agitation.

“You don’t need to be so agitated. We’ll be in the restaurant and I really can’t do anything to Miss Xu here. Miss Xu will not be in any danger. All I want to do is to sit down and have a proper conversation with Miss Xu,” Lu Zhenghang said calmly. There was a very vague curve on his lips that was undetectable. It hid an unsatisfaction towards Dai Huimin.

“I’ve already taken a step back, Miss Xu, I ask of you to do so too. Please? You won’t lose anything with just a chat.”