Chapter 48 Settled

"Qin Miaoyu, what exactly do you want? I already apologized for the Saintis Competition!"

Hearing Liang Sixuan’s voice on the other end of the line, Qin Miaoyu was a little astonished. In the past, even if Liang Sixuan wanted to warn her, it was always through her entourage.

Now, Qin Miaoyu found it rather amusing. Liang Sixuan had clearly plagiarized her painting, yet twisted the truth and slandered her. All Qin Miaoyu wanted was to restore the truth, but now Liang Sixuan sounded like the victim.

"I don’t want anything—just the truth! That’s all."

"The truth? A single photo proves nothing! Do you want money or something else? As long as it’s not unreasonable, I can give it to you!"

Qin Miaoyu’s face was full of mockery. "I want nothing but the truth. Since you won an award with my work, you should be able to handle the consequences, shouldn’t you?"

Liang Sixuan couldn’t handle it; otherwise, she wouldn’t have made this call. Furious, she slammed the phone down. Thinking of Su Yikun, she dialed his number, but from the call she detected something amiss.

"Su Yikun, what are you doing?"

"I—I’m at the office. Today isn’t a day off."

"Really?"

"Really! You can call my assistant and check my schedule for today."

"Fine!"

Liang Sixuan hung up, sneering. When she had chosen Su Yikun, she had considered all aspects—he had no glaring faults and was known for his integrity. So even though the Su family was far beneath the Liang family, she’d agreed to their engagement.

In the beginning, Su Yikun’s performance was satisfactory, but recently she’d sensed his growing indifference. And just now, the voice on the call was suspicious—she even thought she heard a woman’s coy laughter!

While she was beset with trouble, Su Yikun was apparently being unfaithful. Burning with rage, Liang Sixuan rushed out of her company.

In her fury, she failed to notice the car speeding toward her as she crossed the street. Although the driver slammed on the brakes, the collision was inevitable.

Unaware of what had happened to Liang Sixuan, Qin Miaoyu found everything progressing surprisingly smoothly. With no interference from Liang Sixuan, she released all the evidence she had collected. She also tracked down the art instructor who had helped Liang Sixuan alter her painting back then.

Years ago, tempted by Liang Sixuan’s generous offer, the instructor had become an accomplice to plagiarism. Now, with irrefutable evidence in hand, he had no choice but to cooperate and reveal the truth.

The mounting evidence left no doubt about Liang Sixuan’s plagiarism, and her reputation on the internet plummeted overnight.

Lying in the hospital, Liang Sixuan knew nothing of this. Suffering from a concussion and blood loss, her mother, Xi Ruofen, dared not let her see the online news. There was another, even more shocking, piece of information she couldn’t bring herself to reveal, and so she investigated it behind Liang Sixuan’s back.

With the evidence made public, the matter was settled—Liang Sixuan was a plagiarist. Since her daughter would no longer pursue an artistic career, Xi Ruofen decided to let the scandal blow over. Soon, people would forget.

Meanwhile, the online uproar remained intense. Tang Shuxun happened to come across the news, discovering that the painting for which Liang Sixuan had won her award was actually plagiarized from Qin Miaoyu.

He propped his elbows on the desk and rubbed his temples, deeply regretting that he hadn’t reached out to help Qin Miaoyu back then.

It was the second year of high school, during a brief holiday. Rumors had spread that Qin Miaoyu had plagiarized Liang Sixuan and was too ashamed to show her work.

Those rumors swirled endlessly, leaving him in a foul mood. He had never believed Qin Miaoyu capable of plagiarism—at worst, she might have coincidentally shared an idea or inspiration—but the rumors persisted, largely because Qin Miaoyu never defended herself.

Remembering how she always endured bullying with gentle composure, Tang Shuxun felt a mix of anger and frustration.

Her passive acceptance made him look down on her; his sharp words had often been as cutting as their past arguments.

Had he known back then that it was Liang Sixuan who plagiarized Qin Miaoyu, he would have helped her without hesitation.

"Really?" Qin Miaoyu’s voice came through the phone.

"Really!" Tang Shuxun replied, firm and decisive.

But Qin Miaoyu only gave a faint, dismissive laugh. "Tang Shuxun, you wouldn’t have."

From the very beginning, he had thought her hypocritical. Later, he considered her weak for always enduring mistreatment. Not once had Tang Shuxun ever offered her help.

Qin Miaoyu still remembered the time when, surrounded and insulted by Xia Min and her friends, Tang Shuxun had walked right past them without pausing.

Such a person—would he really have helped her, even if he’d known the truth?

Her straightforward words left Tang Shuxun deflated.

He spoke softly, "Qin Miaoyu, I’m sorry."

But Qin Miaoyu felt there was no need for his apology—she didn’t care for it at all.

"Our relationship was never good, and you disliked me. It’s normal you didn’t help; there’s no need to apologize."

Tang Shuxun wanted to say he didn’t dislike her. On the contrary, he…

But the words wouldn’t come. He suddenly realized that confessing such feelings now would sound like a cruel joke.

So he tentatively asked, "Can we be friends in the future?"

"No. There’s no need."

Qin Miaoyu truly disliked Tang Shuxun. She hadn’t lost her memory. In this life, she would never be friends with him.

Hearing the finality in her tone, Tang Shuxun’s voice grew bitter. "Alright."

Just as Qin Miaoyu was about to return to her painting after ending the call, she saw a call from her mother.

Staring at the screen, she hesitated, harboring a sliver of hope. In the end, she answered.

"Miaoyu, what about the apartment the family bought for you in Jingshan City, in the Tianxiang Garden complex?"

Qin Miaoyu frowned, surprised that her mother got straight to the point.

"What about the apartment?"

"Well, the family recently started a project with Mr. Tang and we’re a bit short on funds. Could you sell the apartment for us and let us use the money for cash flow? After all, the family paid for it…"

"The family paid? I already found out from Jiang Anqi that the money came from the Jiang family, didn’t it? Wasn’t it hush money, too?"

Su Yaqing was stunned. She hadn’t expected Qin Miaoyu to know.

"Well, it was several million, which is a lot for our family. Your father thought, since you almost suffered at Jiang Anqi’s hands, and they wanted to keep it quiet, taking some money wasn’t unreasonable, so…"

"Enough. Just tell me what you want." Qin Miaoyu didn’t believe the family needed millions for a project. After all, Tang Shuxun’s side held the lion’s share, so funding was never an issue.