188 188 Negotiating the terms
Tan Rou looked at Wei Ling coldly. “I sympathize with your current situation, but I can only say that you deserve it. From the moment you helped the evildoer, we were destined to be enemies. I will not help you.”
Wei Ling’s face turned red, but she knew that she was too embarrassed to ask for Tan Rou’s forgiveness. However, she had no other choice.
“Tan Rou, I really don’t want to be your enemy,” she pleaded. “But, I have no other choice. You don’t know how painful it is to be a child of such a family.”
Wei Ling began to cry again. “Due to how useless they are, they would have to rely on the families that are more powerful. They would follow behind those wealthy businessmen and wait to be given a chance. So, since I was born, I was destined to be the same as them. They fawned over Tan Song, so I had to curry favor with Tan Jing. Why should I be Tan Jing’s servant? I had no choice!!”
Wei Ling felt suffocated at the thought of her parents’ fawning faces. She had complained about it before, but it had become what she hated the most.
Wei Ling hung her head low in shame. “I’m really sorry. I almost ruined your reputation. I really did reject her! I didn’t want to do it! But, Tan Jing actually found my parents to pressure me. Now, I’m finished. The Wei family was abandoned by the Tan family, and my parents want to disown me as well. They felt that I was useless and didn’t want me to stay here to embarrass myself. They wanted to send me away so that they could continue pleasing the Tan family.”
Wei Ling smiled bitterly. “As soon as I leave, Tan Jing will be completely innocent in this incident. No one knows that she’s the mastermind behind this.”
Tan Rou nodded her head. “Compared to ruining Tan Jing’s reputation, sacrificing you is indeed the best choice.”
“But I’m not convinced!” Wei Ling raised her head, his eyes filled with tears of unwillingness. “Why must I be sacrificed?! I want to finish my studies and find a good job. I want to be able to support myself. I don’t want to live for them anymore! I don’t want to be an accessory anymore!”
Tan Rou looked at Wei Ling and sighed. “If you had thought this way earlier, you wouldn’t be here today. You just said that I don’t understand the feeling of living in such a family. You’re wrong, I understand it better than anyone else. I understand the unwillingness to be ignored, the need to please others, and the cold-blooded selfishness in their bones.”
Tan Rou smiled. “It’s precisely how I understand how you feel which makes me hate them. All of you think that I’m fighting Tan Jing because I don’t want to leave the Tan family. You’re all wrong. I’m not afraid to tell you that I want to destroy the Tan family and Tan Jing. I want to shatter their hypocritical mask of superiority!”
Wei Ling looked at Tan Rou’s confident and proud face in a daze. Only then did she understand that Tan Rou was indeed different. Perhaps it was because Tan Rou had understood the truth before she did.
Wei Ling took a deep breath. “That’s why I have to be thick-skinned and beg you to give me a way out. I won’t ask you to help me for nothing. You want to destroy the Tan family as well as Tan Jing, right? Even if you’re very powerful, it’s always dangerous to be alone. This incident is a good example. You can’t be a prophet. What if she really succeeds in the future?”
Wei Ling gathered his courage and looked straight into Tan Rou’s cold eyes. “I’m willing to trade with you. I’ve been by Tan Jing’s side for so long and I know her down to her core. I also know many of her schemes that she hasn’t had time to act on. I know that you might not be afraid of them but this is the only thing that I can offer. I want to help you!”
Tan Rou didn’t say anything. She only looked at Wei Ling carefully, as if she wanted to see through Wei Ling’s skin and see her heart.
Wei Ling’s body trembled slightly. She suppressed her panic and allowed Tan Rou to stare at her. This wasn’t a fair deal, but it was the last thing that Wei Ling could offer in this deal.
In the end, Tan Rou still shook her head. “I don’t need it. When I was in the Tan family, you were very close to me. Then, by now, you must have told Tan Jing a lot about me, right? It doesn’t matter anymore. Just like you said, I’m not afraid of Tan Jing’s tricks and I’m not interested in them either. Your offer doesn’t interest me.”
Wei Ling closed her eyes in pain and lowered her head in disappointment. “I know that you despise me for being a fence-sitter, that I’m two-faced and not a good person. Sometimes, I look down on myself too.”