Those long-buried memories resurfaced in her mind again.

She was born into a very ordinary family, with some difficulties even, as her parents were workers who labored outside.

She was raised by her grandparents.

Previously, when studying in the countryside, everyone was about the same, so it wasn't a big deal.

But after passing the high school entrance exam and leaving the countryside, she went to the county town for high school.

She felt the gap between herself and the city people.

Her deskmate wore Nike shoes, while she could only wear plain white shoes.

Others went to small cafeterias to eat, while she could only eat in the big cafeteria, always choosing buns and steamed bread.

Occasionally someone would ask, and she could only smile and say she was on a diet.

Others' parents would drive to pick them up during holidays, while she could only take the bus home.

And the bus only went to the town; she still had to walk back to the village.

Fortunately, she was good-looking; attractiveness does matter.

Moreover, in high school, everyone's mind was still relatively simple, and no one laughed at her.

But she still felt a bit inferior inside.

At that time, there was a girl in her class whose family was very wealthy. It was said that her parents were in foreign trade, even working on Wall Street.

Once, when they came for a parent-teacher meeting, the principal personally greeted them.

In ordinary times, she was always surrounded by people, even the teachers were very polite to her.

Stories about her circulated throughout the school, like how she never paid in restaurants near the school because she could just sign her name.

Her friends could sign with her name too when they went out to eat.

She had a private driver taking her to and from school every day, with bodyguards in the car.

At the time, this girl had a close female friend who was very good to her.

By leveraging her connections, this friend met many people and even dated a wealthy heir.

Their life was going very well.

This deeply affected her.

To achieve social mobility, relying solely on one's own efforts is extremely, extremely difficult.

You need to take shortcuts!

And during student days, there is the least sense of social class.

Even if you come from the countryside, you can be in the same classroom, taking classes with the daughter of a billionaire.

Meanwhile, education is also very important.

So Zhang Xiaoxiao studied hard and got into her ideal university.

Then she was very fortunate to become roommates with Chen Lingxue.

For her, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She worked hard to latch onto Chen Lingxue's advantage.

She wanted to leverage Chen Lingxue to achieve social mobility.

On the other hand, during university, the lifestyle gaps became even more apparent.

People wore name brands, carried designer bags, and used all kinds of skincare and makeup products...

Chen Lingxue was the daughter of a wealthy family, surrounded by rich people.

Things like Hermès, Dior, Chanel, Helena Rubinstein, La Mer were just ordinary goods for her.

She didn't even have a strong concept of them.

The things she used, she basically just threw away, never thinking of giving them to Zhang Xiaoxiao.

Of course, Zhang Xiaoxiao couldn't possibly ask for them.

Even if she did, Chen Lingxue would certainly give them, maybe even buy her new ones.

But that wouldn't be right.

That would surely make Chen Lingxue uncomfortable.

Whether friend or lover, if material things are involved, the relationship won't be pure.

Even if it's something you discard, you wouldn't want your friend to ask for it to use.

Zhang Xiaoxiao wanted to firmly hold onto Chen Lingxue's advantage, even hoping to hold on for a lifetime.

So, naturally, she wouldn't let such a thing happen, while she had to satisfy her vanity, she also had to match Chen Lingxue as much as possible.

At least the contrast shouldn't be too obvious, right?

So she chose to be a kept woman.

This was the easiest solution.

Besides, she needed to create an image for herself and find excuses for going out.

Right at this time, Wang Hao started pursuing her.

Zhang Xiaoxiao went along with it.

Though she had many suitors, Wang Hao met her requirements better.

Everything went as she envisioned.

In her eyes, Wang Hao was just a tool.

She never considered Wang Hao her boyfriend.

Their interactions were limited to hand-holding.

In fact, if it weren't for often being in front of Chen Lingxue and needing to act loving, she wouldn't even want Wang Hao to hold her hand.

Fortunately, Wang Hao was so clueless and never took advantage of her.

This made her very comfortable.

Later, as Chen Lingxue got busy, the chances for the three of them to be together dwindled, so she no longer needed to find reasons for her frequent absences.

Wang Hao's role was almost negligible, so she began to distance herself from him and started the cold shoulder treatment.

To her surprise, Wang Hao didn't cling to her either, and gradually they both implicitly agreed to break up.

She initially thought she had done everything flawlessly.

Wang Hao didn't suspect, and she stayed by Chen Lingxue's side as she wished, becoming her best friend.

When Chen Lingxue went abroad, she took her along for the adventure.

She also successfully dated a promising man, Zhou Chenggong, as a plan B.

Of course!

Zhou Chenggong was just one of her goals.

She didn't plan to settle for Zhou Chenggong, she was also looking for better options.

With Chen Lingxue, she had numerous opportunities to mingle with high society.

In fact, many successful middle-aged men had expressed their affections for her.

But she feared Chen Lingxue would think she was after money, so she chose the similarly aged wealthy heir, Zhou Chenggong.

However, she never expected that Wang Hao had known everything all along.

"Then why did you?"

Zhang Xiaoxiao looked at Wang Hao in disbelief.

If Wang Hao knew, why did he go along with her?

Zhang Xiaoxiao's heart suddenly trembled.

Could it be that he really liked her so much?

Then she would have hope in the future!

"Everyone gets what they need. I didn't pursue you because I liked you, which was also my secret. But it doesn't matter now.

I pursued you just to get closer to Chen Lingxue. That time, it was her that I liked. I had no choice; the gap was too big, so I had to take a roundabout way."

Wang Hao shrugged nonchalantly, revealing the secret he once thought he'd keep buried forever.

Strength and status determine confidence.

It's not that he hadn't closed that chapter of youthful infatuation long ago.

Even now, he felt he had the qualifications to be with Chen Lingxue.

More importantly, he had truly grown.

So he could recount this so casually.

"What did you say?"

Zhang Xiaoxiao's face changed drastically, even her voice altered.

"What? Did you think you were the only one who could act?"

Wang Hao looked at her amusingly:

"Did you really think I, Wang Hao, was an innocent virgin, a bootlicker?

Just holding hands while dating? You must be too confident about your charm."

Zhang Xiaoxiao:...

At this moment, her feelings were very complex. Of course, she didn't like Wang Hao; it was just her damn competitiveness acting up.

Besides, since Wang Hao didn't like her, she had no leverage.

"You were acting, I was acting too. Everyone got what they needed, so we owe each other nothing."

Saying this, Wang Hao's gaze became incredibly sharp, and he looked coldly at Zhang Xiaoxiao, saying in a chilling voice:

"But you repeatedly hurt me—how do you account for this?

Previously, you and Zhou Chenggong colluded, trying to kick me while I was down, to seize my family's ancestral property, attempting to ruin me completely, then having Zhou Chenggong crush me.

Zhang Xiaoxiao! Although we used each other, we still had a title, and spent some time together; there should have been some feelings, right?

Why did you have to push me to the brink?"

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