The Green Tea Supporting Girl Is Still Playing Her Role Today (GL) - Chapter 82

Chapter 82

In the courtyard, everyone parted ways. Xie Zhifei clung to Wen Pinghan, reluctant to let go for a long time.

Seeing this, Zhao Xiaojing threw her arms around Wang Wan, chattering nonstop about everything from astronomy to geography. Zhang Changsheng, standing nearby, pointed out that her facts were wrong.

So Zhao Xiaojing turned and hugged Zhang Changsheng, asking what was correct.

Zhang Changsheng explained astronomy to both of them and invited everyone to visit her in the south sometime.

Xie Hongxu sat in the car, watching the group of reluctant young people, feeling a pang of nostalgia for his own youthful days with friends.

Only when Wen Pinghan reminded Xie Zhifei that she was running late did she reluctantly let go. “I’m leaving now, Big Sis. I’m really going.”

“Go on, come back soon,” Wen Pinghan said, waving.

“Think of me, okay?”

“Definitely.”

Xie Zhifei, looking dejected, got into the car. The others climbed into their vehicles and left the Xie residence together.

Wen Pinghan and Wang Wan took a taxi because Wang Wan didn’t want to go back to the Gu house to get her own car, avoiding another run-in with Gu’s mother.

“What are you looking at?” Wang Wan asked, noticing Wen Pinghan peering out the car window. She glanced out the back window but saw nothing, which puzzled her even more.

“Nothing,” Wen Pinghan said, reluctantly pulling her gaze away and closing her eyes to rest.

Once home, Wen Pinghan said she needed a nap and told Wang Wan to entertain herself for a bit.

By noon, she dragged herself out of bed and saw Wang Wan in the living room playing on her iPad. “Hungry?” she asked.

“A little,” Wang Wan replied, tweaking her thesis. Glancing at the time, she added curiously, “What time did you even sleep last night?”

Wen Pinghan’s face flushed slightly, and she turned away to pour some water. “Don’t know.”

“What’s for lunch?” Wang Wan asked.

“Want to eat out or stay in?”

“I’m fine either way.”

“Let’s go see if any shops are open. If not, we’ll cook.”

“Sounds good.”

They left the neighborhood and wandered around nearby but couldn’t find anything appealing, so they headed to the supermarket to buy groceries.

Wang Wan was full of curiosity, asking about every vegetable and whether Wen Pinghan could cook it. If she said yes, Wang Wan tossed it into the cart with gusto, while Wen Pinghan put back the unnecessary items.

“I’ll pay. Gotta commemorate my first grocery trip!” Wang Wan said excitedly.

They carried the bags back to the neighborhood. Wen Pinghan’s phone rang with a special ringtone, so she quickly shifted the bags to one hand and answered with the other.

“Big Sis, have you eaten?” Xie Zhifei’s voice came through.

Hearing her, Wen Pinghan’s lips curved into a smile. “Bought groceries. Heading back to cook.”

“Don’t work too hard. Make Wang Wan help out—don’t let her just eat for free!”

“She paid for the groceries.”

“That’s more like it. Oh, by the way, my grandma almost mistook me for my mom…” Xie Zhifei shared some funny moments from earlier.

Wen Pinghan listened quietly, as if she were there, her smile deepening, oblivious to the person approaching.

“Pinghan!”

The sharp voice made Wen Pinghan stiffen reflexively. She looked up.

“We had garlic ribs for lunch too, but I still think yours are better~ Can I have your garlic ribs tomorrow, Big Sis?” Xie Zhifei’s voice lingered in her ear.

Wen Pinghan’s face turned cold as she stared at the short, shrewish woman in front of her.

“Finally found you! Come back with me!” the woman demanded.

Xie Zhifei paused, confused. “Big Sis? Who’s talking?”

“No one. I’ve got something to handle. I’ll call you later.” Wen Pinghan hung up quickly, coldly eyeing the woman. She reached for her phone to dial 110.

Seeing this, the woman snatched the phone and smashed it on the ground, pointing and yelling, “I knew it was you, you ungrateful wretch, who called the cops!”

“Auntie, you know her?” Wang Wan stepped closer, eyeing the woman curiously. She noticed two young men hurrying over, looking like they were with her.

“Of course I know her! She came out of my womb!” the woman shrieked. “You her friend? Judge for yourself—I raised her all these years, and now she thinks we’re too poor and wants to ditch us. Isn’t she an ungrateful wretch?”

Wang Wan’s eyes widened in shock, turning to Wen Pinghan. “Is she really your mom?”

“I don’t have a mom like that,” Wen Pinghan said icily. She bent to pick up her shattered phone and strode forward.

“Stop right there! Pingfu, Pinggui, block her!” the woman ordered the two men.

Wen Pinghan was stopped in her tracks. She stood silently for a moment, gripping the bags tightly. “Move.”

“Sis, you’re too heartless. Pinggui’s arm almost got chopped off, and you can just stand by?” the older man asked.

Wang Wan grew even more shocked, glancing between them and Wen Pinghan, completely lost about what was going on with this family.

“His arm looks fine to me. Still strong enough to block my way,” Wen Pinghan said.

“You little brat, how dare you talk like that! He’s your brother!” The woman suddenly slapped Wen Pinghan’s back hard. Though the thick coat softened the blow, it stung Wang Wan’s eyes deeply.

Without pausing to sort out the situation, Wang Wan slapped the woman’s face.

The sharp crack stunned everyone.

Wen Pinghan gasped. “You…”

“Who the hell are you?!” the woman shouted, clutching her face.

“Who do you think you are, hitting her?!” Wang Wan demanded.

“She’s mine to hit because I gave birth to her!”

“Did she ask to be born?! Did you have her just to beat her?! Are you even fit to be a mother?! You’re a damn animal!” Wang Wan slapped her again with each question, leaving the woman dazed and unable to fight back. Wang Wan, tears streaming down her face, roared, “If you didn’t want kids, why have them?! Are we just your punching bags?!”

The woman, bewildered, had never seen someone cry harder than the person they were hitting. She yelled, “Pingfu, Pinggui, help me!”

The two men snapped out of it and rushed to grab Wang Wan. Wen Pinghan quickly turned on her cracked phone’s camera, shouting, “Touch her and see what happens!”

The men hesitated.

Wen Pinghan pulled Wang Wan back, staring at the red-faced woman. “We’re done. Whoever owes gambling debts can deal with it themselves. I don’t have a single cent for you!”

“I’m calling the cops! She’s gotta pay me!” the woman fumed, pointing at Wang Wan.

“Fine, call them!” Wang Wan dialed 110 herself, then stepped up to the woman and slapped her several more times. “I’ll make sure you get enough before they show up.”

When the police arrived, the woman was on the ground, wailing, her face red and swollen, insisting Wang Wan had assaulted her.

Wang Wan admitted fault with a good attitude, agreed to mediation, and paid a few thousand yuan for medical expenses.

Outside the police station, she grabbed the woman, grinning. “Wanna go another round?”

“What do you want?” the woman asked, trembling.

“You piss me off, so I wanna hit you.” Wang Wan raised her hand, and the woman flinched, covering her face.

“Enough. Let’s go,” Wen Pinghan said, stopping Wang Wan’s hand and pulling her into a taxi.

“Don’t let me see you again, or I’ll beat you every time!” Wang Wan shouted back, still fired up in the taxi. “Why’d you stop me? I’d pay for every hit until they’re tamed.”

“Didn’t that hurt your hand?” Wen Pinghan said. “She’s a scoundrel. Once she knows you have money, she’ll keep extorting you.”

Wang Wan looked at her quietly for a moment, then asked, “Is she really your mom? Why would she treat you like that?”

Wen Pinghan turned to the window, pausing before saying, “Because I’m a woman.”

“So?”

So, from the moment I was born, I was unwanted.

“They’re still into favoring boys over girls?!” Wang Wan exclaimed.

Wen Pinghan didn’t respond.

“Damn it! I wanna beat her again!” Wang Wan cursed, then asked, “What are they after you for now? Something about debts?”

“Those two men are my brothers. The younger one got hooked on drugs and owes a ton in loan shark debts, so they came to me.”

“What a bunch of trash!” Wang Wan fumed.

Back at the neighborhood, Wang Wan specifically told the security not to let those people in. The groceries they’d bought were long gone, so Wen Pinghan made two bowls of noodles.

“Sorry for dragging you into this mess on New Year’s Day,” Wen Pinghan said helplessly.

“Why say that? The priority now is figuring out how to deal with that trash.”

“I’m thinking of moving in a few days.”

“Will that help?”

Wen Pinghan shook her head. “Not much. They know my identity, so they’ll always find me. I’m just lucky it’s the holidays, and they haven’t shown up at my workplace.”

Wang Wan’s head throbbed at the thought. She grabbed her phone to call Fang Ningshu. “I’ll tell Sister Shu. She’ll know what to do.”

“Don’t tell her yet,” Wen Pinghan said, stopping her phone. If Fang Ningshu knew, so would Xie Zhifei, and she didn’t want to disrupt the Xie family’s reunion.

Besides, she hadn’t figured out how to tell Xie Zhifei about her family, the biggest shadow over her life. Even Wu Qianqian thought she was an orphan with both parents gone.

She opened up to Wang Wan because they shared similar experiences, and Wang Wan had been there today, helping out.

“Why not?” Wang Wan asked.

“It’s the New Year. Let’s not bother them.”

Wang Wan studied her eyes, recognizing the same evasive look she once had. She nodded empathetically. “Fine, we’ll handle it ourselves. I’ll stay here for a few days. If they show up, I’ll beat them again.”

“Thanks,” Wen Pinghan said sincerely, feeling much lighter with a friend by her side.

“Pfft, for what? I hate moms who hit their kids,” Wang Wan said angrily.

Perhaps because of the police station visit, the Wen family didn’t show up at the neighborhood entrance all afternoon.

Wen Pinghan ordered some groceries online and made a few dishes that evening to thank Wang Wan for her help.

After dinner, she checked her cracked phone and found several missed calls, all from Xie Zhifei.

At the station, her phone had rung over a dozen times. Between police questioning and not knowing how to explain the situation to Xie Zhifei, she’d sent an “I’m fine” message and turned it off.

The most recent call was from half an hour ago.

She called back, and Xie Zhifei picked up immediately, her voice full of worry. “Hey? Big Sis, you finally answered!”

“Sorry, my phone died this afternoon.”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Who was that before you hung up?” Xie Zhifei asked.

“Just an old acquaintance. We chatted a bit,” Wen Pinghan said, shifting the topic naturally. “Have you had dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“It’s so late, and you haven’t eaten? Too many guests?”

“Yeah, it’s been lively. I snuck out to call you,” Xie Zhifei said with a laugh.

Wen Pinghan smiled, gazing at her reflection in the window. “Miss me?”

“Super miss you! Big Sis, do you miss me?”

“Of course,” Wen Pinghan said with a soft smile.

“Then I’ll come see you now!”

“No need.” Wen Pinghan knew her current state wasn’t fit for a visit. She wouldn’t be able to hide her feelings for long, and she feared Xie Zhifei might run into the Wen family. “Stay with your grandma. She must be thrilled.”

“Alright, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Anything you want to eat?”

“Big Sis.”

“Hm?”

“Big Sis.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m answering your question.”

Wen Pinghan paused, then laughed. “That’s not a sure thing.”

Xie Zhifei burst into hearty laughter over the phone. Hearing it, Wen Pinghan felt unusually at ease. They chatted a bit more before hanging up.

Xie Zhifei sat in her car, gripping the steering wheel, staring up at a balcony on a building. Then Fang Ningshu called. Her smile faded, and she asked coldly, “Got the address?”

“Found it.”

“Get a few people. We’re going over.”