I'm Interested In Your Friend - Chapter 12

12

“Lili.”

Du Tanyu blinked, wearing an ingratiating smile as she carefully pushed forward a gift box. “This green diamond—I had Qi Luo bid for it in Alaska last week. I think only the most beautiful person in Lihe City deserves it.”

Yu Lili lifted her slender, fair fingers and flipped open the box.

A dazzling, transparent emerald-green diamond lay nestled in elegant gray velvet.

Du Tanyu studied her expression. “Do you like it?”

Yu Lili nodded. “I do.”

Du Tanyu let out a sigh of relief, her heart settling back into place.

Yu Lili turned her face away and greeted the woman with collarbone-length hair working on a laptop nearby. “Hey, Old Qi, busy with work?”

Qi Luo gave a slight nod.

“Did you know? Du Tanyu is dating an eighteen-year-old girlfri—”

“Lili!” Du Tanyu cut her off.

Qi Luo looked up, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “That doctor is only eighteen?”

Du Tanyu tried to brush it off.

Yu Lili counted on her fingers. “The doctor? That doctor was two exes ago. There was also a bar singer from the music college and someone from the city swim team in between.”

Qi Luo fixed her gaze on Du Tanyu, who was now guiltily lowering her head. “Good. I’ll report this back to your sister. Lack of stable romantic relationships—next month’s allowance will be cut by fifty thousand.”

Du Tanyu had no way to defend herself. She pulled Yu Lili into the bedroom. “Yu Lili, I gave you a gift, and you said you liked it. How could you turn around and betray me like this?”

“I do like it, but that doesn’t mean I can forgive you for dumping me on Tan Suran.”

“Let me explain… I had Old Qi post something on my behalf. She didn’t know the details and just handed you over to her.”

Du Tanyu knew she’d messed up as a friend and tentatively asked, “So… what’s going on between you two now?”

Yu Lili thought about what had happened over the past two days and muttered, “Nothing. There was nothing before, and there’ll be even less in the future.”

“Then does Tan—does she know you’re Yu Lili?”

Yu Lili flopped onto the beanbag chair with a sigh. “No.”

Du Tanyu’s eyes widened. “How did you even pull that off? I’m so curious. What kind of toxic workplace turns you into such a scheming, deceitful person after just two months of interning?”

Yu Lili didn’t usually roll her eyes, but she did this time.

She picked up a glass of water beside her, took a slow sip, and then began recounting the thirty-second standoff with Tan Suran that morning.

The car had been silent for about half an hour.

During a long red light, Tan Suran picked up a bottle of sparkling green Perrier from the console and took a sip. Yu Lili, trying to distract herself, had been staring at the traffic light’s countdown timer. At that moment, there were still 25 seconds left.

With 17 seconds remaining, Tan Suran gently set down the bottle. The glass made a soft thud against the leather base.

When the timer hit five seconds, her pale wrist rested on the gearshift, ready to move.

The moment the light turned green, the engine roared to life. At the same time, Tan Suran spoke coolly, “Do you know Du Tanyu?”

Yu Lili’s first thought was: Here it comes.

Her fingers twisted together as a storm brewed inside her.

Just come clean. Explain everything. End it. Just like this.

But unexpectedly, Tan Suran continued, almost as if talking to herself, “You’re friends with Yu Lili, and Du Tanyu is close to Yu Lili too. It’s not surprising you’d know each other.”

Just like that, the looming crisis dissolved.

For a split second, Yu Lili wanted to tell Tan Suran, No, you’re wrong. Have you ever considered that I am Yu Lili? That Anna doesn’t even exist?

The words were on the tip of her tongue when they hit another red light.

The inertia made Yu Lili lurch forward slightly before being thrown back against the seat.

The motion seemed to scatter all the words she’d prepared.

And so—

Abandoning honesty, she chose to smooth things over with lies.

It was all too easy.

“So…” Du Tanyu frowned. “Not only does Tan Suran not know who you are, but she also helped you rationalize the whole thing?”

Yu Lili nodded with a sigh.

“That’s just… surreal. There’s no way someone as sharp as Tan Suran would fall for that.” Du Tanyu pondered. “Then again, maybe we’re just overthinking it because we’re guilty.”

Yu Lili nodded again.

“Wait, there’s another possibility.”

“What?”

“The real Yu Lili is just that insignificant in her eyes.”

Yu Lili propped her head up with one hand, instinctively annoyed by Du Tanyu’s jab. But after a few seconds of silence, she had to admit that was the most plausible explanation. Given Tan Suran’s relationship with Yu Mu, Yu Lili and Tan Suran had practically no interaction.

“Anyway, no point dwelling on it. It’s over.”

Du Tanyu blinked. “Over?”

“Yeah. I’m ready to wave the white flag to my mom.”

“You short on cash? I can try to scrape some together for you.”

Yu Lili shook her head. “It’s not just that. Work hasn’t been as fulfilling as I thought either.”

At this, Yu Lili suddenly realized that if Tan Suran hadn’t randomly whisked her away to the racing club, she’d probably still be brooding over work issues.

Du Tanyu nodded sympathetically. She’d already heard about the photography debacle. “Do whatever makes you happy. I’ve got your back!”

Pulling out her phone, Du Tanyu added, “Oh, by the way, did you see the statements from the magazine and Song Yu? They were posted late last night.”

Yu Lili took the phone and skimmed the content.

Song Yu V: “Lol, my pic’s so blurry and people are still analyzing the background? Just asked a friend to snap a casual photo for fun—didn’t expect it to cause such a stir. Apologies to anyone affected.”

“Pictorial” Magazine Official Weibo V: “Fake.”

The magazine’s statement was even more succinct—a single word, “Fake,” outright denying all online speculation, whether about Yu Mu posing with pigs or the background image.

Beyond that, numerous influencers had posted reminders not to be swayed by rumors.

Yu Lili checked her own Weibo and saw the buzz had died down. The trolls flooding her comments had vanished.

By the time Yu Lili left Du Tanyu’s place, it was already afternoon. Standing at the community gate, she slowly pulled out her phone and dialed a number she hadn’t called in a long time. “Uncle Wang? It’s me. Can you come pick me up?”

The Yu family estate was in the Wanghu Villa District. The black Buick glided through the ornate white jade gates, passing a road lined with violets and French parasol trees.

At sunset, the golden light shimmered across the vast surface of Wanghu Lake, casting rippling reflections.

Two towering Baroque-style pillars flanked the grand entrance as the wrought-iron gates slowly swung open. The Buick drove in quietly, its wheels crunching softly on the pavement.

Beyond the gates lay sprawling lawns and a ring of beech trees. A broad asphalt road bisected the greenery, leading the car forward until it curved around a semicircular emerald artificial lake. Finally, a three-story European-style white villa came into view.

Uncle Wang must have alerted the household in advance, because the moment Yu Lili stepped out of the car, the butler and staff swarmed around her. “Miss, you’re finally back.”

Yu Lili asked, “Where are Mom and Dad?”

The butler lowered his voice, gesturing toward the living room. “They’ve been waiting for a while. The moment they heard you were coming back, they dropped everything.”

Yu Lili nodded and tiptoed into the living room.

Inside, Yu’s mother sat in high-end silk loungewear, a refined Burmese jadeite bangle around her wrist, legs crossed as she gripped the TV remote, seemingly engrossed in whatever was on screen.

She didn’t react to Yu Lili’s arrival.

Yu’s father, however, broke into a smile the second he saw his daughter. He started to beckon her over, but Yu’s mother swatted his arm, forcing him to sit back and stay quiet.

Yu Lili shot her dad a look before wrapping her arms around her mom from behind the sofa, launching into a cute act routine. “Mom, why are you ignoring me? Don’t you miss me at all? I think about you every day!”

The act cracked Yu’s mother’s facade instantly.

Yu’s father chimed in, playing along. “What about me? Lili only misses Mom and not Dad?”

“Nope.” Yu Lili was firm. She nuzzled her mom’s shoulder. “I miss Mom the most. Only Mom.”

Yu’s father hammed it up. “Goodness, you’ve only been gone a short while, but you’ve lost so much weight.”

Yu Lili sighed dramatically. “Couldn’t eat or sleep well. Of course I’d lose weight.”

Yu’s mother finally turned around. “You silly child. We told you to come home, but you insisted on suffering out there. Now you know how good home is, don’t you?”

Yu Lili hugged her tightly. “I’ve always known home is the best. Anywhere with Mom is the best.”

“Let me see where you’ve gotten thinner.”

The three of them sat together for the first time in what felt like ages. Seizing the moment, Yu Lili milked her “hardships” for all they were worth, padding her savings account nicely.

Resting her head in her mom’s lap, Yu Lili let her mother stroke her hair. Suddenly, Yu’s mother’s voice wavered. “Lili, why didn’t you tell us if you were being mistreated?”

Yu Lili looked up. “I did tell you.”

“I meant at work.”

Yu Lili paused. “At work… You knew?”

Before her mom could answer, Yu’s father cut in. “It’s because you’ve been so hard on her. She was afraid to speak up even when bullied.”

Yu’s mother shot back, “Me? What about you? You run a whole company—can’t even protect your own daughter? If I said not to interfere, couldn’t you have done it quietly? What kind of father are you?”

Naturally, Yu’s father was no match in an argument.

Yu Lili clung to her mom. Maybe she really had been away from home too long.

Out there on her own—

When she’d been scolded, blamed, and forced to take the fall, she’d told herself it was fine. She could handle it.

But here, with her parents, she just wanted to be their little girl again. To cry when she was upset, knowing someone would always shield her.

“It’s okay. It’s all over now.” In the end, it was Yu Lili and her father who ended up comforting the distraught Yu’s mother.

Yu’s father added, “By the way, there’s a banquet tomorrow night. Your mom will take you.”

“Okay.”

“Yu Mu will be there too.”

Yu Lili’s eyes flickered. Her father never used to call Yu Mu by her full name—it was always “your sister, your sister.”

Yu’s mother nodded. “Your dad says she had a hand in what happened to you this time. Lili, we won’t let anyone hurt you, no matter who they are.”

“Let’s take this opportunity to make things clear.”

“After all, we’re not family anymore.”