Chapter 6: Fifteen Yuan for a Friendship

I gave her a cold smile.

“I don’t need you to clear my name.”

I started working at Mr. Wang’s company.

Things went very smoothly.

His employees were all decent people.

Although there were all kinds of rumors about me online, everyone initially kept an open mind.

After spending some time with me, they saw that whenever we ate together, I always paid generously.

Every afternoon, I treated everyone to tea and bought all kinds of cakes and snacks.

They all came to like me.

Gradually, the atmosphere became warm. Some people even spoke up to defend me.

“Ms. Su, you’re so generous. How could that so-called best friend of yours—the noodle-shop owner—say you deliberately skipped out on a fifteen-yuan bowl of noodles? You don’t seem like that kind of person to me.”

“Would you like us to say a few things in your defense?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“No need.”

Another month passed.

Li Lian’s popularity faded faster than I’d expected.

Her noodle shop had moved to an alley on the east side of the city.

Hardly anyone went there. There were only a few households nearby, no schools, and no companies.

Almost nobody came to eat noodles.

At first, her online fame brought in a few influencers to make videos and take pictures.

But as time passed, the attention died down.

I watched one of her livestreams.

By then, there were barely any customers.

Her cooking had only ever been average anyway.

Li Lian’s brows drew tighter and tighter.

She used to make 800,000 yuan a month.

Now, selling 20,000 yuan’s worth in a month would be a good result.

Li Lian tried asking her friends and classmates to come eat at the shop and bring in customers.

But who among them didn’t know what had happened between us?

If Li Lian could be so heartless to someone who had helped her so much, what would she do to her other friends?

No one wanted to support her business.

Li Lian sat at the register, staring at the empty shop, her brow furrowing tighter by the minute.

That day, she sold exactly one bowl of noodles.

Fifteen yuan wasn’t even enough to cover the electricity, rent, and water bills.

She started a livestream.

There were only three viewers.

She tried to draw people in by bringing up the old controversy again.

There were very few comments, but this time, some people said things she didn’t want to hear.

“Owner, your friend who liked taking advantage of you didn’t pay for the noodles, but you called the police and got your money back. I heard you even got 1,500 yuan in compensation. You’ve also made a lot of money from the attention. Maybe let it go and move on? You don’t need to keep dragging this out. Who would want to be friends with you if you act like this?”

“To be fair, it was just one fifteen-yuan bowl of noodles that hadn’t been paid for. You could have contacted her privately to ask for the money. There was no need to call the police right away. Besides, she lost her job, and you’re still holding on to this. It’s not a good look.”

“Oh, by the way, my friend looked into you and says you don’t even have a boyfriend. So who gave you that gold necklace?”

“And why did you suddenly leave your old, prime-location shop? The owner of the place you rent now says your previous landlord wouldn’t renew because of you. What really happened? Tell us!”

With every comment she read, Li Lian grew more panicked.

She hadn’t expected the man now renting Su Shu’s property to be so famous.

He’d even gone online to speak up for Su Shu.

And he’d said the reason Li Lian couldn’t keep renting from her previous landlord was Li Lian herself, demanding that she explain.

How could she explain?

Was she supposed to tell everyone that Su Shu was the landlord?

That Su Shu had charged her only fifty thousand yuan a month, but she’d refused to stay when Su Shu wanted to restore the rent to its original rate?

Li Lian clenched her fists.

Just then, her current landlord called to demand the rent.

She panicked.

She picked up her phone, ready to go to Su Shu’s house.

If she deleted the post, surely Su Shu would let her rent the property again. She needed it for her business!

By then, I had gradually brought Mr. Wang’s company operations under control.

Livestreaming, online product promotion, building the brand…

I’d spent the past few months busy with all of it.

My hard work was finally paying off.

I got off work early that day and was home by eight in the evening.

To my surprise, as soon as I walked in, I saw Li Lian.

After all these years of friendship, this was the first time she’d come to my house bearing gifts.

I glanced at them.

Two bottles of wine, a box of nuts, and a few health supplements—worth around twenty thousand yuan in total.

When she saw me, Li Lian smiled.

The hatred she’d shown me before was gone, replaced by the familiar, ingratiating look she used to wear.

“Su Shu, why are you only getting home now? I thought you didn’t have a job. Were you out having fun with friends?”