Chapter 17: There’s No Turning Back (2/2)

Tears slowly slid down from the corners of her eyes.

She had joined Shao Nian You originally to provide her sister with a better life.

But if her sister rejected everything she brought home, then what was the point of it all?

And Shao Nian You was like a swamp; once you fell in, it was difficult to crawl back out.

Everything was just her own fault.

*Bzzzt— Bzzzt—*

Suddenly, the dull vibration of a cell phone rang out.

“Hey, it’s almost time. Why aren’t you here yet?”

A slightly sharp voice came through the line.

Mo Tong wiped her tears and hurriedly replied.

“I’m coming right now.”

She had only been able to take half a day off.

Mo Tong packed her things and took a deep look at Mo Ran’s bedroom door before opening the front door and heading into the dim hallway.

—

“Sister…”

Behind the bedroom door, Mo Ran curled up in a corner, her eyes filled with desolation.

She really didn’t understand. Why did her sister choose this path?

Everything was fine before.

Even though they were poor, they relied on each other and were happy every day.

“Why?”

“Why did you have to degrade yourself like this?”

***

“Student?”

Su Ling, who was waiting for the last bus, suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her.

It was Mo Tong.

“Huh? You’re…”

“Just call me Mo Tong.”

Mo Tong flashed a gentle smile.

Just then, the last bus arrived.

“Hello. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I’m Su Ling.”

“Su Ling… that’s quite a pretty name.”

Mo Tong and Su Ling boarded the bus and sat together.

“Um, you…”

“My leave time is up.”

Mo Tong showed a helpless expression.

Su Ling fell silent.

‘Sigh, we’re both in the same boat.’

“Student Su Ling, do you want to get into a junior college? Have you decided which school to apply for?”

“Ha, with my current grades, getting into a junior college is a bit of a stretch. But with Student Mo Ran’s help, I can at least try to make a dash for it.”

Su Ling scratched her head and gave a dry laugh.

“Then keep working hard. At least try to get out of here.”

As Mo Tong said this, she was looking out the window.

The Lower City outside was pitch black, like an invincible black hole greedily swallowing all hope.

Su Ling remained silent.

She knew what Mo Tong meant.

The two didn’t continue the conversation.

The oppressive atmosphere was somewhat suffocating.

Fortunately, Mo Tong’s destination arrived soon.

It was a street shimmering with neon lights, looking very prosperous.

This was a famous entertainment district in the Lower City and one of the main properties of Shao Nian You.

Even many people from the Upper City would come down here to play.

Quite a few people got off at this stop from the last bus, most of them girls dressed in revealing clothes and heavy makeup.

“Student Su Ling, does your sister know?”

Mo Tong suddenly asked.

Su Ling was silent for a moment.

From the first time they had locked eyes, they had already sensed the scent of someone of their own kind.

“She doesn’t know yet.”

“Then you should quit as soon as possible. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you regret it.”

“…”

“Student Su Ling, if you don’t get into a junior college and fail to leave the Lower City, just find a reliable person to marry. You’re still young; there’s still time.”

“No, I don’t want to ruin anyone else.”

Su Ling propped her chin in her hands and leaned against the bus window, staring blankly.

‘No matter how cute or pretty a mouse is, it’s still a mouse. It’s impossible for it to be with a beautiful orange cat that lives in the sunlight.’

Su Ling had actually thought about the future.

Once Ji Lingyuan got tired of playing with her and tossed her aside, she would still have to struggle to pay off her debts.

If she really had incredible luck and paid off the debt, she estimated she would already be filthy and covered in scars by then.

By that time, Miao Miao would likely be grown up and would have become a beautiful girl.

She figured she would leave Miao Miao then.

She would find a place where no one knew her, marry someone of her own kind, and spend the rest of her life like that.

At the very least, she couldn’t ruin an honest man.

Mo Tong opened her mouth to speak but ended up only sighing.

“Sorry for talking so much about myself. I have to go now. Goodbye, Student Su Ling.”

“Yeah, goodbye.”

The bus started moving.

Su Ling watched Mo Tong’s blurred silhouette through the window, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

It felt as if she were seeing her own future self.

Pancheng Street was very close to Baker Street.

Before long, Su Ling arrived home.

“Sister!”

As usual, the moment she opened the door, a soft little “black sesame ball” lunged into her arms.

“Good girl, Miao Miao.”

Holding Bai Miao, Su Ling’s mood immediately improved.

The Bai Miao in her arms was frantically sniffing Su Ling’s scent.

‘Yay! No scent of that woman!’

There was only Su Ling’s sweet, cherry-blossom-like fragrance.

Bai Miao’s heart leaped with joy.

“Ling Ling, you must be hungry. Dinner is ready just in time.”

To Su Ling’s surprise, Su Yao wasn’t acting like a corpse on the sofa.

Instead, she walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron.

Her thick white hair was braided into a large plait resting on her left shoulder, giving her the appearance of a virtuous wife and mother.

Su Ling stared at Su Yao with an expression as if the sun had risen from the west.

‘Original above… is she really Su Yao?’

Even after sitting down at the dining table, she was still in a daze.

“Ling Ling, I contacted my old workplace. I’ve already negotiated with them. They still want me, so I’ll start tomorrow.”

Su Yao seemed to have truly changed, leaving Su Ling completely stunned.

Su Yao picked up a piece of tofu and put it in Su Ling’s bowl.

Although the dinner consisted of very simple ingredients, Su Ling felt it was the most delicious dinner she had ever eaten.

*Drip, drop.*

Tears fell uncontrollably.

Su Yao silently wiped away her tears, her eyes full of heartache.

“Ling Ling, it was all my fault before. You’re too tired… Let’s not do that work anymore, okay?”

Su Ling finally heard the words she had been longing to hear. But…

“Waaaaah…”

Often, a breakdown happens in a single instant.

Su Ling could no longer hold it in and sobbed loudly, her tears falling like pearls.

It was too late. She couldn’t turn back.

She could no longer turn back…

—

Shao Nian You.

This was a place where Witches of the Lower City could indulge their desires to their hearts’ content.

Various Witches were immersed in pleasure, completely failing to notice a pair of crimson eyes watching them coldly from the shadows.

“Tsk, have you identified that person?”

In a magnificent office, a small, cute hand stroked a lazy black cat.

That small hand was covered in glittering gold rings. As the chair turned around, it revealed a little girl.

“Boss, she seems to be a student from the Witch Academy. We didn’t dare investigate further.”

Across from her were the thugs who had gone to Su Ling’s house to collect debt earlier that day.

Hearing “Witch Academy,” the little girl stopped petting the cat and frowned.

“Witch Academy? Tsk, are those students crazy? I remember the Academy has a Witch’s Hut, right? Why are they coming out here to play ‘wild’?”

She was also a graduate of the Witch Academy, so she knew that the Academy had clubs like the Witch’s Hut that were similar to their Shao Nian You.

“Forget it. I’ll give the junior student some face. We’ll leave that Su Ling alone for now. Just continue with the normal debt collection.”

The little girl looked at Su Ling’s photo on the desk with some regret.

Such a good prospect; if she were groomed into an Oiran, she could be gifted to the big shots in the Upper City in exchange for resources.

No matter how she looked at it, it would have been a guaranteed profit.

However, she also knew that it wasn’t worth offending a student of the Witch Academy for the sake of a Lower City Fuli Ji.

Anyway, there were plenty of beautiful Witches in the Lower City.

She was a businesswoman, and she wouldn’t stake everything on one tree.

“Get out.”

The little girl waved her hand.

In the next moment, the office returned to silence.

“Well? Don’t you think it’s a bit impolite to eavesdrop for so long?”

Suddenly, the little girl looked toward a corner and spoke calmly.

As the words fell, the shadows in that corner began to squirm.

A figure in a black robe appeared before her.

“I don’t think we’ve met before, have we?”

The little girl narrowed her eyes, feeling suspicious.

“What do you want, sir?”

“…”

The figure in the black robe made no sound.

The little girl’s gaze sharpened. In the next instant, a dark shadow flashed.

It was the black cat from her arms.

The black robe was instantly shredded into pieces.

When the little girl saw the true form beneath the robe, her pupils shrank, and her face filled with horror.

“A Zerg!”

*Splat!*

Before her words could finish, a spray of blood flashed against the brightly lit wall.