Chapter 170: You Never Truly Know What's in Another's Heart

Xu An'an was slightly surprised, not expecting to run into Gu Yang here. She gave Gu Yang a grateful look, though even if Gu Yang hadn't shown up, Xu An'an wouldn't have let Xu Wanwan have her way easily.

On the contrary, she would have been quite willing to slap Xu Wanwan across the face.

Since Xu Wanwan had thrown the first punch, she would simply be acting in self-defense.

Therefore, Xu An'an felt a twinge of regret.

Seeing Gu Yang shielding Xu An'an, Xu Wanwan's eyes widened, and jealousy boiled green inside her. That damned little wretch was so lucky—why was she always surrounded by such perfect men?

"I always wondered why you didn't like Jiang Yu, and now I see you've already hooked up with another man!"

"I'm going to tell Jiang Yu, and he will definitely not let you off!"

No man was willing to wear a green hat.

Xu An'an was so angry she almost laughed, but she couldn't drag Gu Yang down with her. "Go ahead and tell him, Xu Wanwan, but if you don't have any evidence, I can sue you for defamation."

Gu Yang's voice was cold and crisp. "I have a friend who is a lawyer and specializes in this kind of litigation. With so many witnesses present, I'm confident we would win the case."

Seeing that the two of them meant business, Xu Wanwan turned pale with fright.

She shot a vicious glare at Xu An'an.

"Men do, and heaven watches—you'll come to a bad end!"

Flinging out this harsh threat, Xu Wanwan didn't dare to linger and hurried back to find Shen Ying.

Shen Ying was ill and hospitalized right here.

Gu Yang looked at Xu An'an with concern. "Are you alright?"

Xu An'an waved a hand dismissively. "By the way, what brings you here?"

"A friend of mine fell ill, so I came to visit her. I heard someone shouting your name, so I came over to check, thinking it might just be someone with the same name," Gu Yang explained.

Learning the reason, Xu An'an nodded. Noticing the hot water flask in Gu Yang's hand, she understood the situation.

"You should go get your hot water."

"Alright, call me if you need anything. My friend is also on this floor."

"Okay."

After Gu Yang walked away, Xu An'an noticed that Xie Che had been standing there at some point. The reflection on his glasses concealed the emotions in his eyes, making them unreadable.

Xu An'an walked up and glanced inside the hospital room.

She had expected the atmosphere to be as stiff as before.

To her speechlessness, Teacher Gao, the class monitor, and the study committee member were chatting and laughing together. This made Xu An'an even more suspicious that Teacher Gao had completely changed because of her illness.

Xie Che said indifferently, "Teacher Gao still asked us not to get involved."

Xu An'an felt her fists clench.

She curled her lips in bitter self-derision. "It looks like we were just being nosy after all."

"An'an, don't put it that way. Every family has its own difficult scriptures to read. Since Teacher Gao doesn't want to make a fuss, let's just drop it," Xie Che advised.

The way things were turning out was completely different from what Xu An'an had imagined. Right now, she only felt stifled, confused, and distressed.

She murmured softly, "Is she really Teacher Gao?"

Sensing Xu An'an's mood, Xie Che sighed softly and motioned for her to step aside. "Actually, Teacher Gao has always been like this."

"What?"

Xu An'an raised her head, her eyes full of confusion.

Leaning his hands against the railing, Xie Che gazed out at the bustling traffic below. "I know Teacher Gao has been good to you, but do you know why? It's because she wanted to win the award for Outstanding Teacher. Deep down, she actually resented it because she favors boys over girls."

Crack.

Something shattered into tiny pieces inside Xu An'an's heart. She still didn't want to believe it, yet the cruel reality was laid out starkly before her eyes.

Xu An'an pressed a hand to her chest, feeling a sharp ache there.

Xie Che sighed again, urging her to let it go. "She wasn't being sincere to you, so why bother being sincere to her?"

A cold flash crossed Xu An'an's eyes.

"Yes, you're right."

"I have things to do, so I'll be leaving."

Xie Che wanted to make her stay, but Xu An'an walked away swiftly, leaving him with no choice but to give up. Besides, even if he chased after her, he wouldn't know how to comfort her.

Above all, he couldn't be bothered to coax women—especially Xu An'an, who had once held a secret crush on him.

Chasing after someone made you look cheap.

He wanted Xu An'an to take the initiative and seduce him.

Xie Che returned to the hospital room and nodded at the class monitor and study committee member, considering the prickly problem of Xu An'an resolved. Teacher Gao was also very satisfied and even spoke ill of Xu An'an.

"That Xu An'an! To think I treated her so well back then, yet all she could think about was sending my son to prison! She's an absolute ingrate!"

"Oh, right, where is that document you gave me earlier? Go shred it right away."

However, no one could find the document.

Just then, Teacher Gao's daughters arrived. Seeing several strangers in the room and assuming trouble was brewing again, they unhappily began to scold Teacher Gao.

The next second, Xu An'an reappeared, accompanied by several police officers.

The entire hospital room descended into chaos.

"Xu An'an, have you lost your mind?!" Teacher Gao glared furiously. "I treated you so well, and yet you return kindness with enmity!"

With reddened eyes and an indifferent expression, Xu An'an said, "Since they committed crimes, they naturally must be punished by the law."

She handed the file of evidence to the police.

The police naturally moved to take Teacher Gao's children away.

Teacher Gao fought desperately to shield them, completely disregarding her own health. "If anyone takes them away, you'll have to walk over my dead body first!"

Xie Che was dumbfounded.

"An'an, you—why would you..."

"I think what you said was very right. Since she wasn't sincere to me, there's no need for me to show any mercy," Xu An'an said coldly, turning to leave.

The remaining matters could be safely left to the police.

Behind her came the frantic, unhinged cursing of Teacher Gao. Xu An'an sped up her pace—so all of that warmth had been fake.

Finally reaching the ground floor, Xu An'an found a quiet spot and sat down.

Large tears still fell continuously from her eyes.

"Fool."

A tall figure cast a shadow over Xu An'an.

Catching that familiar scent, Xu An'an didn't look up, merely rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, you were right. I couldn't even see through her hypocrisy and kept treating her like a benefactor."

Learning the truth about Teacher Gao from Assistant Wang's subsequent investigation, Jiang Li had rushed over to the hospital immediately, terrified that Xu An'an would come to harm.

Seeing that Xu An'an had already called the police, however, he let out a sigh of relief.

He sat down beside her and reached out, gently forcing Xu An'an to lean against his shoulder. "Borrowing you my shoulder—cry as much as you want."

Xu An'an was speechless. Who wanted to borrow your shoulder?

Still, she lacked the energy to retort and simply leaned against him.

She began to recount the help Teacher Gao had given her during her school days. "Could you tell that it was all fake? Her acting skills were truly remarkable. Why did she even become a teacher? She would have had a much brighter future as an actress."

"People's hearts are fickle and unfathomable," Jiang Li replied calmly.

Before returning to the Jiang family, he had witnessed far too much of this, so the revelation didn't stir deep waves within him. He only felt a pang of heartache knowing that Xu An'an had been deceived by such a facade.

Suddenly, Jiang Li stifled a gasp, pressing a hand to his stomach.