Chapter 93

“I just feel that… maybe she wants to break up with me.”

“Hold on, hold on.” A roommate made a time-out gesture. “I have a key question: whose fault was the argument?”

“It was her problem. I went to confront her,” Zhong Ning answered.

“Then after the fight, was the problem resolved?” another roommate asked.

“Halfway.”

Seeing everyone exchanging looks, Zhong Ning sighed and said in a muffled voice, “Forget it, I don’t really need advice. I can more or less guess what she means.”

“Let’s just leave it at that. If she still doesn’t talk to me tomorrow, then we’ll break up.”

“I’ll treat you all to a meal,” she said seriously.

She still hadn’t made up her mind about whether to fight for the heir position to avenge the original self. If she gave up, she might never see these roommates again. They were all good people, and having lived together, she’d treat the farewell as a parting gift.

Zhong Ning lowered her head and rummaged through her bag. She remembered there was still a secondary card inside, given to her mother. Since it wasn’t really her own money, she hadn’t handed it over to Xie Shiqing back when the video source was leaked.

She opened the turmeric-colored wallet. A string of bank cards and membership cards were exposed, and two looked very familiar. She froze, then pulled them out.

One was the bank card containing the ten billion given to her by Xie Shiqing, and the other was her own.

When had these been placed into her bag?

Zhong Ning rarely carried a bag when going out, and she had no particular preferences for bags. On normal days, if she needed to carry things, she would only take a white small bag, like a canvas tote — big and roomy, hand-woven, and very versatile.

This bag usually hung at the door, with her wallet inside. She never rummaged through it; when she needed it, she just grabbed it and went.

Had Xie Shiqing slipped these two cards in while she wasn’t home? What did that mean?

For a long time, Zhong Ning had left her brain and thinking abilities idle. Only when playing certain puzzle games would she fully engage all her cognitive skills.

But games were not the same as real life. All the information provided in a game was usable. Everything with textual descriptions was a necessary clue.

After filtering out the useless parts, only the key events remained, and character changes were very simple.

But life wasn’t like that. Xie Shiqing’s complexity surpassed everyone Zhong Ning had ever known.

Even though Zhong Ning’s mind had started to become more active, she still didn’t have enough data to analyze what exactly motivated Xie Shiqing’s actions.

Was it that she wanted to cut ties cleanly, with no debts left between them? Or was it a silent apology born of guilt, one she didn’t dare to speak aloud?

No matter how she looked at it, Xie Shiqing had every reason to avoid meeting her and quietly return the bank cards.

Just like now—Zhong Ning couldn’t be sure whether Xie Shiqing’s outburst was because she wanted to break up, or because she was waiting for Zhong Ning to lower her head and coax her.

Both possibilities seemed equally likely.

But Zhong Ning didn’t want to back down.

If it had been her fault, her mistake, she would have dropped to her knees apologizing at lightning speed, corrected it immediately—but if it wasn’t her fault, why should she admit to something she didn’t do?

They were in a relationship, a normal one. It wasn’t as if she had signed up to be Xie Shiqing’s slave, to be beaten and scolded without ever fighting back. That kind of relationship was completely twisted.

That was not the kind of love she wanted.

Zhong Ning considered herself a person with principles. Since the problem wasn’t hers, then she absolutely wouldn’t bow her head and admit fault, wouldn’t become a servant without self-worth, begging someone to come back.

If a relationship made a person throw away even their self-respect, then something was definitely wrong. And if the other person truly loved you, they wouldn’t want you to become a pitiful thing with no self-worth or dignity.

To love someone meant giving them the greatest care and respect.

Zhong Ning put the two cards back into her bag and turned to her roommates, asking if there was anywhere they wanted to go—only limiting the choice to particularly expensive places.

At first, everyone declined. They were just roommates after all, usually eating at restaurants near campus, and even when they treated each other, it never cost more than a few hundred yuan. If Zhong Ning insisted on choosing something expensive, wouldn’t that be taking unfair advantage?

So they all refused, no matter what.

Zhong Ning said, “I really have a lot of money! We can go, and feelings can’t be measured by money, right? If it makes you feel better, just pretend today is my birthday.”

The four of them went back and forth for quite a while, but in the end, they couldn’t resist Zhong Ning’s persistence and agreed.

They only had one class in the evening today, so the entire day was free. At Fengcheng University, even among top students, very few would completely slack off during their breaks—most would spend the time learning something.

Still, it was rare to be treated to a lavish meal, so they couldn’t miss it. They suggested several places, but Zhong Ning rejected them all for not being expensive enough. It had to be something truly pricey.

After all, now she happened to have money. Once she left this place, she probably wouldn’t have another chance to visit those places again.

One of the girls said, “The top of the Twin Spiral Towers!”

As the landmark building of Fengcheng, the top floor had naturally been designed as a semi-open-air restaurant. Whether by day or night, the view was breathtaking.

Zhong Ning agreed. She had the restaurant manager’s contact in her list, so she made a call.

She had intended to ask whether there were any available seats, but was informed that the Zhong family already had their own reserved spot there, which was not open to the public.

There was nothing more to be said, then.

The girls let out excited squeals, showering her with compliments, and rushed off to do their makeup, digging through their wardrobes for the most presentable dresses.

The top floor of the Twin Spiral Towers charged an extremely high price. Most of its diners were wealthy elites or rising socialites.

While drawing on her eyebrows, one of the girls suddenly said in a dreamy voice, “I wonder if we’ll see Pei Jing. If I get to see her, I could die happy.”

Pei Jing was currently the most famous film queen. Coincidentally, she was an employee of the Xie Corporation.

If it had been before, Zhong Ning might have offered to get her two autographed photos, but now… what exactly was her relationship with Xie Shiqing? It wasn’t something she could ask for anymore, not something she wanted to owe anyone for.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep