The high school class monitor gave an awkward smile and said, "I heard she came here with Chen Luo."
Zhang Anqi's expression changed instantly.
Chen Luo was the heartthrob of the neighboring class, and also her ex-boyfriend—the same scumbag who had hooked up with Dong Jiaoyan back then!
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Just as everyone was buzzing with gossip, the door to the private room was pushed open again.
In walked Dong Jiaoyan and Chen Luo, side by side, their postures intimate. Whatever joke Chen Luo had just told had Dong Jiaoyan laughing so hard she was swaying like a flower in the wind.
"Scumbag and slut!" Watching the scene, Zhang Anqi couldn't help but mutter under her breath.
The high school class monitor hadn't expected them to be this close either. Hadn't they broken up ages ago?
Still, he waved them over. "Come, come, the beautiful Dong Jiaoyan is here, and Chen Luo too. Even though he's from the neighboring class, he got along great with a lot of the guys in ours. You two finally made it."
Chen Luo smiled, his gaze sweeping around the room first.
When he caught sight of Zhang Anqi, he froze for a moment, looking a bit uncomfortable—after all, he had been the one who cheated back then.
But when his eyes landed on Qiao Liuyue, he paused slightly, clearly intrigued.
He spoke up: "What a coincidence—I ran into Dong Jiaoyan on the way here, so I just gave her a ride."
The moment he said that, Zhang Anqi immediately jumped in with a sarcastic tone: "Oh, aren't you just so kind. You're so good to Dong Jiaoyan, the one who cheated on you. What a saint."
The previously lively room suddenly went dead silent.
Everyone exchanged glances, not daring to say a word.
But Chen Luo just chuckled, completely unbothered. "Hey, that was high school stuff. It's been so long, I've already forgotten all about it."
Dong Jiaoyan had been quiet the whole time.
Now, seeing Qiao Liuyue sitting next to Zhang Anqi, her face turned pale and her teeth clenched with hatred.
She ground her teeth and spat out: "Qiao Liuyue, how dare you still show your face here?"
Qiao Liuyue was just sipping her coconut water. She looked up, unhurried and composed, and said: "It's a class reunion. Why wouldn't I dare to come?"
Zhang Anqi chimed in: "Exactly, exactly!"
Then, out of nowhere, Dong Jiaoyan's eyes reddened, and tears started streaming down her face as she began to sob softly.
This sudden, unpredictable behavior threw the class monitor, Chen Luo, and the other male classmates into a bit of a panic.
They all started coaxing her: "What's wrong? Don't cry, okay?"
Only Zhang Anqi kept her cold expression, saying: "Oh! Dong Jiaoyan, your tactics haven't upgraded one bit. You always play the same game—cry at the drop of a hat, as if that's so impressive."
Dong Jiaoyan heard that.
She sniffled and spoke with a tearful voice: "Anqi, I know we were young and clueless back then. I'm sorry for what I did to you. But now, I'm a victim just like you."
The other female classmates exchanged glances.
One of them asked curiously: "Dong Jiaoyan, stop crying. What's going on, exactly?"
Dong Jiaoyan shot another glance at Qiao Liuyue.
Then she looked away and choked out: "You all know that Qiao Liuyue has always been average-looking since she was little, and her sense of style is the same. I was her good friend for so many years, and I just wanted what's best for her."
"I was kind-hearted and tried to set her up with a boyfriend, but guess what..."
She paused deliberately for a moment, then continued: "At the mixer, not a single guy was interested in her. That's not my fault, is it? My online boyfriend was being cold to me for a while, so I asked her to help me test him. But when she tested him, she just went ahead and actually stole my boyfriend..."
At that, she started crying even louder.
Everyone in the room exchanged uncertain looks.
The crowd split into two camps. Some, seeing how Dong Jiaoyan was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, were already half-inclined to believe her.
Others felt that even though Qiao Liuyue had always been quiet and low-key in class, her character couldn't be that bad.
Only Zhang Anqi burst out laughing at that.
Dong Jiaoyan, still tear-eyed, asked: "What are you laughing at?"
Zhang Anqi excitedly slapped Qiao Liuyue on the shoulder, with a look of gratitude and encouragement on her face.
She said slowly: "Dong Jiaoyan, you're full of nonsense. I don't believe a word of your so-called 'truth.'"
"But if Liuyue really did do that? I'd only feel thrilled. That's your karma!"
Just yesterday, she had seen that tall, handsome guy at the supermarket, who introduced himself as Dong Jiaoyan's ex-online boyfriend. He must be the one Dong Jiaoyan claimed was "stolen," right?
But based on what she witnessed, he clearly despised Dong Jiaoyan.
So Dong Jiaoyan definitely had to be lying!
Dong Jiaoyan sobbed even louder, and Chen Luo finally couldn't stand it and said a few words:
"Alright, Zhang Anqi. Our stuff is long in the past. Do you really have to keep ganging up on Dong Jiaoyan?"
"Yes, I do."
A clear, crisp female voice spoke.
But it wasn't Zhang Anqi.
It was Qiao Liuyue.
She suddenly stood up, her gaze sharp and piercing as she directed it at Chen Luo and the Dong Jiaoyan sitting beside him.
She said, calm and measured: "Zhang Anqi is right. Even if I had actually stolen him, it would still be your karma."
She paused, then added: "What's more, I didn't even steal him. You were the one juggling multiple guys at once and got caught red-handed."
"You brought it on yourself. No one to blame but you!"
Then she turned to Chen Luo and dropped a bombshell.
"Back in school, I was Dong Jiaoyan's little lackey. All the dirty errands—she made me do them."
"Chen Luo, do you remember the anniversary necklace you gave Dong Jiaoyan? She sold it on a secondhand app ages ago."
"And that watch Dong Jiaoyan gave you? Want to know the truth? It's fake. It was originally meant for another guy she was seeing, but when he found out it was a knockoff and returned it, she figured she might as well give it to you rather than let it go to waste."
"Every time you two went out on a date, Dong Jiaoyan claimed she ran out of living expenses. That was a lie. She was taking the money she got from you and spending it on some younger guy."
Then Qiao Liuyue rattled off one name after another of the guys Dong Jiaoyan had secretly seen.
Some were classmates from the neighboring class. Some were underclassmen. Some of the names even sounded familiar to everyone in the room.
Chen Luo's face gradually turned whiter and whiter. Back then, he had assumed Dong Jiaoyan's betrayal simply meant she had fallen for someone else.
But no. Even before they got together, during their relationship, and during their cold-war breaks, Dong Jiaoyan had been flawlessly juggling dozens of guys without missing a beat.
She was a veritable master of time management.
Chen Luo looked embarrassed, his head dropping.
He no longer dared to say that old wounds should be left alone.
This was a complete humiliation!
Meanwhile, Zhang Anqi suddenly remembered that she had come to this reunion to get some payback too.
She stood up as well.
"Dong Jiaoyan, you think no one knows about the dirt you've done?"
"I went to your school and asked around. Everyone knows about your little games."
"On Valentine's Day, you were on a date with some fling, while your online boyfriend was watching right from the second floor. You think that wasn't humiliating?"
