Copycat - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 

◎Don’t Go Down My Old Path◎

“Is Ren Jinggen out of his mind?!” The head of the market acquisition department slammed the document on the table. He slumped into his chair, his chest heaving. He was so angry he felt like he was going to spit bl00d. “He keeps changing the proposal, and then he tells me to start over.” “I’ve been in this business for half my life, and this is the first time I’ve met such a difficult client.” The department head, who had been working overtime for a week, had deep dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted. The new intern tried to comfort him. “Director Wang, calm down.” “The people from Province B are a bunch of uncultured barbarians. I don’t understand why the boss wants to cooperate with the Ren Group.”

When Wen Jiao woke up, the sky was a gloomy gray. She didn’t check her phone right away. Instead, she made a cup of oatmeal to fill her stomach. As she passed another bedroom, she paused. The bedding in the bedroom was folded into a square, the curtains were open, and the sunlight shone on the bed, making the whole room feel warm. The million-dollar watch on the bedside table was casually thrown in a corner. In the middle of the cabinet was a string of eighteen prayer beads, wrapped tightly in a dust cloth. Each bead inside was sparkling.

Wen Jiao: “…”

She didn’t expect Zhou Ziyan to still have the gift she had given her. The prayer beads, filled with a sense of Zen, looked out of place among the many luxury items, yet they were so carefully preserved by their owner, making them seem exceptionally precious. Wen Jiao’s heart trembled slightly, and her memory went back to that summer. She had been too slow. Perhaps she should have noticed the difference in Zhou Ziyan’s attitude toward her a long time ago.

Freshman year, early summer.

“Wen Jiao!” The student union president stood in the shade, shouting at her. Wen Jiao, with her textbooks in her arms, looked in the direction of the voice. “Are you feeling better after taking your medicine?” The student union president smiled at her. His last name was Cheng, and he had taken good care of her in the student union. After the vice president graduated, he had promoted her to his position. Wen Jiao nodded slightly. “Yes, much better.”

When Wen Jiao was busy, she would forget the time and often went a whole day without eating. She had the flu recently and had a fever of 39 degrees last night. She was still running a low fever and felt groggy all over. “I wasn’t sure which medicine would work, so I bought a few different brands and asked the dorm supervisor on the first floor to send them up to you.” The student union president smiled a little shyly. “I’m glad I could help.”

Medicine? Wen Jiao frowned slightly. Last night, when she had a fever of 39 degrees, Zhou Ziyan had called a medical transport van directly, carried her on her back from the third floor to the car, and the medicine was prescribed by the emergency room doctor. She was about to ask, “When did you send the medicine?” when someone suddenly walked over and tugged lightly at her sleeve. Zhou Ziyan had her hair in two pigtails. Her expression was worried, but she just happened to be blocking the space between her and Cheng Junfeng. “Wen Jiao, is your stomach still bothering you?” “Are you going to the hospital for a follow-up today? I’m worried about you going alone, so let me go with you.” Cheng Junfeng quickly said, “Junior student Wen Jiao, I can give you a ride. My car is at school.”

The atmosphere in Wen Jiao’s dorm was pretty good. Her three roommates had different personalities. Yu Zhou was on her computer 24/7, busy with something unknown. Li Ranran was an extrovert and a social butterfly, and she could be found at all kinds of parties. As for Zhou Ziyan… she was like a ghost, everywhere.

Compared to owing a stranger a favor, Wen Jiao was more inclined to accept her roommate’s kindness. Wen Jiao slowly said, “I’ll go with my roommate. I won’t trouble you, senior.” As they were leaving together, Wen Jiao noticed that the person next to her looked back. Zhou Ziyan’s eyes were full of provocation, while Cheng Junfeng, who had been gritting his teeth, immediately composed himself and put on a gentle fake smile when she looked back. Wen Jiao saw everything. But there was still a knot of confusion in her heart.

When they returned to the dorm after the follow-up visit, Zhou Ziyan went to buy a hot drink, and Wen Jiao sat on a small chair on the first floor to wait for her. The dorm supervisor of the building walked by, and Wen Jiao suddenly remembered what Cheng Junfeng had said in the morning. She casually asked, “Auntie, did someone send medicine over last night?” “Oh, it’s you, Wen Jiao.” The person on duty this morning happened to be the same one as last night. She said, “Last night, a guy asked me to send some medicine up to you. Your roommate happened to be coming out of the small bathroom, and she said she would take it up for you.” The supervisor looked confused. “Didn’t you receive the medicine?” Wen Jiao: “…”

Some of Zhou Ziyan’s actions were indeed very strange. After a while, she realized that Zhou Ziyan’s strange behavior had a pattern. If a guy confessed to her, Zhou Ziyan would suddenly appear, strolling with a sun umbrella, and then pretend to have run into her by chance with a look of surprise, interrupting the suitor’s confession. But if they were just having a normal chat, she would continue her stroll and wouldn’t interrupt. Wen Jiao had always been curious about her motives. One day, she came back from washing up and passed the dorm. The dorm door was ajar, and two people were chatting inside.

“Did you hear? The girl with short hair in the dorm next door moved off campus, and the girl with long hair also moved to another dorm.” “Isn’t it normal to change dorms? When you live together, your schedules are different, so friction is inevitable.” “I suspect it’s not a schedule issue. I saw the short-haired girl post on her Moments that she lost something. I’m guessing there must have been a thief in their dorm.” “How is that possible? I know the long-haired girl. She’s very nice. She would never steal anything.” Yu Zhou and Li Ranran were having a heated discussion about why those two people had suddenly moved out. Wen Jiao was about to push the door open when another voice appeared in the room. Her hand on the door stopped. “Is there a possibility that they broke up and that’s why they don’t live together anymore?” The person speaking was Zhou Ziyan.

The entire dorm fell silent. Li Ranran laughed, breaking the awkward silence first. Yu Zhou also thought she was joking. “How is that possible? They’re both girls.” “Why isn’t it possible?” “I only like girls.” Zhou Ziyan came out very frankly.

Wen Jiao stayed downstairs for an hour that day. She didn’t go upstairs until the dorm lights were turned off. The phone on the sofa started ringing. Wen Jiao rubbed her forehead, breaking free from the whirlpool of memories. She walked over to the sofa and picked up the phone. The caller ID showed: Wen Yilian. Wen Jiao hesitated for a moment but answered it anyway. “What is it?” she asked. The other end of the phone was silent. Wen Jiao frowned and adjusted the volume on her phone. After confirming that there was no problem, she said again, “If there’s nothing, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait.” A voice finally came from the other end. Wen Yilian’s voice sounded very tired and a little hoarse. “Yueyue…” Wen Yilian called her daughter by her nickname. She paused as she was about to continue, biting her lower lip.

“I won’t be giving the money back.” Wen Jiao’s tone was a little cold. “I have other uses for this money. If you’re calling about this, then there’s nothing to talk about.” “I’m hanging up.” “No, don’t!” another female voice came from the other end of the phone. The voice sounded a little familiar. She said, “Don’t hang up yet.” Wen Jiao frowned. Wen Yilian bit her lower lip tightly, creating a bloody mark on her crimson lips. She looked at the girl standing next to her. Zhou Ziyan was standing beside her, clenching and unclenching her fists, silently cheering her on. She mouthed the words, “Auntie, you can do it.”

“Mom, is something wrong?” Wen Jiao felt that something was off. She took a coat from the coat rack and put it on with one hand. She spoke quickly. “Who are you with? Are you at home? I’m coming to find you right now.” “…I’m, I’m fine.” Wen Yilian looked to her side. Her daughter’s friend was looking at her seriously, her round almond eyes filled with anticipation. Young faces often had some similarities. When she saw those clear eyes, she felt as if she was seeing Wen Jiao as a child. A little angel carved in pink and jade, very cheerful and loved to laugh, who relied on her with all her heart. If it hadn’t been for… Wen Yilian’s eyes dimmed a little. How did she end up like this?

“Yueyue.” “Mommy shouldn’t have hit you today.” Wen Jiao’s movements as she was putting on her coat paused. The woman’s suppressed sobs came from the phone. “…Mommy, I’m sorry.” The bedroom was quiet. All she could hear was the static from the phone and the woman’s extremely suppressed sobs. Wen Jiao was frozen in place, unable to move for a long time. When had someone as proud as Wen Yilian ever apologized? Even when she was fighting for custody with Ren Jinggen, Wen Yilian hadn’t said a soft word to her, but she had still chosen her mother. She wanted to say it was okay, but she couldn’t make a sound. It felt like a hard object was stuck in her throat. Wen Jiao tried to bend down and cough, but as soon as she bent down, tears flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto the floor.

Wen Yilian wasn’t like this in the beginning. It was all because of her that her mother was forced to give up the career she loved. She had apologized many times, but Wen Yilian always looked at her coldly and repeated the same sentence to her. “Don’t go down my old path.” When she was very young, Ren Jinggen and Wen Yilian started arguing. She would quietly listen, huddled in her bedroom. At first, she didn’t understand their conversation, but as she grew older, Wen Jiao finally understood the meaning of “don’t go down my old path.”

She studied desperately, getting top grades in all her exams. Even without the title of Ren Jinggen’s heir, the name Wen Jiao was known to many people. She would have a bright future and earn more money than Ren Jinggen. She thought this would make Wen Yilian happy and proud of her. However, on the day she signed with the national training team, Wen Yilian didn’t answer her call. Wen Jiao thought she was in class and missed the call. But when she excitedly flew home, wanting to show her mother her gold medal from the competition, “Get out!” That was the first thing Wen Yilian said to her when she got home. Wen Jiao was stunned, watching her usually gentle and elegant mother suddenly lose control, pushing all the tea sets and glassware on the table to the ground. The porcelain shattered into countless pieces, and the harsh cracking sound filled her ears.

Wen Jiao finally remembered a very important thing she had forgotten. Her mother was once a specially appointed researcher at the top university in Province B, specializing in the synthesis and decomposition of organic compounds. But after she became pregnant, she never entered a laboratory again. Wen Jiao suddenly realized that Wen Yilian didn’t just hate Ren Jinggen. She also hated her, who was born by accident. Her birth had destroyed her mother’s dream and all the efforts she had made in the first half of her life. Wen Jiao stood there, her expression blank. Her heart was aching, and tears were flowing, but she couldn’t feel anything. Her soul seemed to have left her body, calmly observing everything, with no sorrow or joy. The gold medal in her hand fell onto the shattered porcelain, leaving an irreversible scratch. The large and small certificates of merit in the bedroom were crumpled up and thrown at her feet. The sound of a neighbor knocking on the door came from outside, as if they were calling her name. The police broke in, and the neighbor rushed over to hold her mother tightly, not letting her do anything foolish. Ren Jinggen, who had rushed over in a helicopter, had turned his hair gray overnight. No matter how noisy it was around her, Wen Jiao just stood there. Her soul had left her body, so she could look at everything with indifference. As if it were just a performance that had nothing to do with her.