The Useless Stepmom Brings Her Kids to Reality TV Shows to Photograph Them

95 Can’t Forgive on Her Behalf

Luo Xi made a cup of coffee each. He tried to break the silence and the awkwardness. “So, I don’t even know how to start. Do you want to try the coffee?”

“Thank you,” said Lin Wan, accepting the coffee cup. She noticed Yang Youyou struggling to say something to her.

Lin Wan was confused. The two of them acted very strange. If yang Youyou had been so close to Lin Wan, then she shouldn’t be struggling this much when she finally met her friend.

Lin Wan decided to start the conversation. “You do know I never stole your diary, right?”

!!

Luo Xi and Yang Youyou raised their heads in shock.

“I told them… that my diary wasn’t lost. But they shut me up. They said I was the Class Monitor so I should be unbiased. I tried to speak up for you but…” Luo Xi had tried to defend her. However, after the incident with the diary, he realized that no matter what he said, he would have made things worse for her. So, he gradually fell silent.

“I am so sorry. I should have told the teacher. I should have tried to explain…” Luo Xi owned more than a hundred coffee shops across the country and dealt with people all the time. And yet, he felt so flustered while talking to Lin Wan.

Yang Youyou fidgeted. “Lin Wan, how have you been all these years? No one knew what happened to you after high school…”

Lin Wan found out more about the original owner’s past from her diary and the intermittent conversation between the two people in front of her. Lin Wan just casually explained that something happened after graduation that caused a huge change in her life. She didn’t bother to explain the details.

Yang Youyou sent Lin Wan a screenshot out of guilt. Although the picture wasn’t very clear, it was possible to see who the person was, especially since Wu Zhenzhen and the others had arrogantly left a message on the forum using their real names.

Luo Xi emphasized that he was crippled by guilt all these years because he was the cause of her misfortune, but he was glad to see that she was now living well.

Lin Wan had mixed feelings about all this. She couldn’t tell him that it was all in the past and that there was no need to blame himself. Even though Yang Youyou had tears streaming down her face as she talked about the past, Lin Wan felt that it wasn’t her place to forgive or console them. She was not the original owner, after all.

“Don’t tell anyone that you met me,” said Lin Wan. “As for forgiving all the ones involved in the incident, I haven’t decided what I want to do.” Lin Wan’s heart ached as she said it.

Luo Xi asked her if she was still going to the class reunion. Lin Wan hesitated for a moment. She then nodded. “After all, my teacher will be there.” Now that she had evidence, she had other plans she needed to carry out in the reunion.

Lin Wan’s legs felt like they were filled with lead when she walked out of the coffee shop. She had grown up in an orphanage. Even though she did not have any relatives, all the children in the orphanage loved each other. She could not imagine that the original owner of the body had been so bright and had suffered so much. ‘Was she wronged just because some boys liked her more in high school?’

Assistant Qin had been in the parking lot for almost an hour and a half when he saw Lin Wan walking over to him.

He opened the rear door for her. “Madam, was it a meet-up with old friends? You don’t look very happy.”

“I… I am just a little tired, that’s all. I think I will take a nap.” She leaned against the window.

“Of course, Madam,” said Assistant Qin. He knew she didn’t want to answer so he didn’t pester her. “I will wake you when we reach home.”

On the way home, Lin Wan kept her eyes closed the entire time, but her mind was clear. When she finally reached home, Assistant Qin woke her. She told him that she did not intend to go out again today and that he could take the day off.

Assistant Qin felt that Lin Wan was being a bit strange. He was worried. So, he texted Li Yanchen.

“Boss, I drove Madam to the old town area this afternoon. She had a meet-up with her friends. When she returned, she was in a bad mood. I think you should give her a call.”

Li Yanchen’s phone was always turned off during meetings in country H, so he did not see the messages.

Auntie Huang was picking up the clothes that had been hung out to dry in the yard. When she saw Lin Wan, she greeted her warmly and asked her what she wanted to eat for dinner. Lin Wan appeared sad. She said she didn’t want to eat dinner because she was on a diet. She didn’t want to bother Auntie Huang.

Lin Wan locked herself in her room. She wanted to find someone to talk to, but she realized that there was no one in this world she could talk to.

‘This feeling of isolation and helplessness… is this how the original owner felt? Was this why she always wrote down her thoughts?’

Lin Wan was curled up in a corner, her head leaning against the wall.

When Li Yanchen switched on his phone in the evening and saw the message from Assistant Qin, he immediately called Lin Wan.

Her voice sounded sad. “Sorry I called late. I was in a meeting. Just got off. Assistant Qin told me you didn’t have a great day today. Did something happen?” Li Yanchen blurted out everything in one breath. He realized he was nervous.

“I met Yang Youyou and Luo Xi this afternoon. I…got the evidence.”

“Wanwan, I’ll be home early tomorrow morning.”

…

Lin Wan couldn’t sleep the whole night. She kept waking up in the middle of the night. When she saw the sky brightening, she gave up on trying to sleep and sat on the bed.

Li Yanchen arrived home at eight in the morning. He had not slept the entire night. The moment he got home, he put down his luggage and rushed upstairs. He knocked on her door a few times. Lin Wan opened it.

When she saw him, she felt her heart lift. She tied up her messy hair. “You are back.”

She told him she will be down in five minutes. She washed up and headed downstairs, Auntie Huang had already prepared breakfast for them.

Lin Wan and Li Yanchen sat on the dining table and talked as they ate.

Li Yanchen was used to people and their deception. But when Lin Wan showed him the evidence his blood boiled. He couldn’t even swallow the porridge in his mouth.

“I’ll attend the class reunion with you,” he said. “While exposing this evidence, I will also present some surprise gifts for Wu Zhenzhen and the rest.”

Li Yanchen’s words gave Lin Wan a sense of security.

After breakfast, the two of them talked in the garden for a long time. Lin Wan felt better.

It was almost noon when Xia Mo called and asked Lin Wan if she wanted to do a live broadcast in the afternoon. Lin Wan agreed to it.

Li Yanchen insisted on driving her to The Sweetheart Inn. When he got out of the car and saw Xia Mo, he was completely different from the cold, indifferent person he was at the Lan Village.

“Ms. Xia, it’s very nice to meet you again,” he greeted her warmly. “I have recorded my wife’s expenses at your shop. I can pay them at the end of the month.”

‘My wife?’ Lin Wan was certain that this was the second time Li Yanchen had addressed her that way. She felt a little dazed.

“I am really going to get angry if you say that again. Don’t mention anything about the money. Just come in, already. It’s so hot outside.” Xia Mo pulled Lin Wan into the shop.

“I’ll pick you up later,” said Li Yanchen and he got back into the car. Lin Wan saw him drive away but got a text on her phone. “Tell me when you are done, and I will come and pick you up.”

Lin Wan looked at the text and smiled.

The first step for the Sweet Little Circle to kick off was with an introduction. The popularity of the channel was not so great. Two days ago, Lin Wan had searched for the signature desserts of the top ten dessert shops in Yun city on the Red Book and found that there was one that no one had attempted.

She had sent a warm-up post that time. The followers had shot up to 100,000 people today.

Everyone was very curious about this anonymous streamer whose only features visible were her nose and her mouth.