Shu Lanzhou glanced at her watch. "I don't have much time for lunch. Please get to the point."
"How about this—I'll treat you to a meal, and we can talk as we eat," Han Weicheng replied smoothly, unfazed by her coldness. He gestured toward a nearby restaurant.
Shu Lanzhou pointed to the newly opened noodle shop not far away. "I'm going there. No need for you to treat me—I've already placed my order on my phone."
"Alright, alright. It doesn't matter where we eat." Han Weicheng followed her into the noodle shop.
With its grand opening promotions, the new shop was bustling—far busier than the neighboring eateries.
After checking in her order via QR code, Shu Lanzhou found a seat in a quiet corner.
It was a table for four—two seats already occupied.
Han Weicheng's face twitched with frustration. After taking a deep breath, he squeezed in beside her.
"You're just eating this for lunch?" he tried to make small talk. "Being a doctor is exhausting, especially when you're just starting out. With the Mu family's influence, you really don't have to—"
"Stop right there." Shu Lanzhou raised her hand. "This is my chosen profession. It has nothing to do with the Mu family. If you're here to sow discord, I suggest you don't waste your breath."
Han Weicheng's smile faltered. He glanced at the diners beside them and lowered his voice.
"Shu Lanzhou, there's no need to treat me like your enemy. I admit I overlooked you when I was your teacher, but I never meant you harm."
"On the contrary, I want to help you. I just want to make up for my failures as a mentor."
Pfft… Shu Lanzhou chuckled. "If you'd said that back when I first left, I might have believed you. But now? Think back to what you've done over the past few years."
"Saying that now—doesn't it seem a bit… calculated?"
"Why not be direct? Just tell me what you want. That would at least make you seem upright. All this preamble only makes you look hypocritical."
Han Weicheng's face flushed, turning red then pale. The onlookers made it worse.
He took a sharp breath, forcing himself to keep calm.
This little wretch really dares talk to me like this? If she weren't still useful, would I even bother seeking her out?
What a fool.
The Mu family, though their reputation wasn't what it once was, remained one of the most powerful households in Shen City. Their business empire had only grown in recent years. They lacked for nothing.
And Mu Side—he wasn't just anyone. He was the heir, the CEO of Mu Corporation. Yet his wife still had to see patients daily and queue up at a crowded noodle shop for a bowl of food she wasn't even sure was clean.
Is Shu Lanzhou out of her mind? Is she really willing to live like this? Can't she see that the Mu family is using her? That they never truly accepted her?
They never treated her like a proper daughter-in-law.
"She really doesn't see how pathetic this is?" he muttered inwardly.
"Shu Lanzhou, do you really believe Mu Side loves you?" Han Weicheng asked in a low voice, staring at her.
Shu Lanzhou took a bite of her noodles. The sauce was flavorful, though a tad salty. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I just think you deserve better," Han Weicheng said earnestly. "You're capable and hardworking. Why sacrifice yourself for the Mu family? With all their wealth, there's no reason for you to work so hard."
"If Mu Side truly loved you, how could he let you exhaust yourself like this? Let you squeeze into this kind of place just to eat?"
Shu Lanzhou nearly laughed. She put down her bowl and glanced around.
"What's wrong with this place?"
"Clean tables. Lively atmosphere. A simple bowl of noodles with savory toppings. The boss's cheerful shouts, the praise of satisfied customers ringing in my ears…"
"This is life—real, vibrant, grounded. What's wrong with any of that?"
The people at the next table were now giving Han Weicheng odd looks.
He suddenly felt like if he said one more thing, he might get jumped.
His face burned with humiliation, but his heart seethed with hatred.
What is wrong with her? Is she actually enjoying this kind of suffering?
Can't she understand the real message?
The point isn't about where she eats—it's that Mu Side doesn't love her, doesn't care for her. He never saw her as his wife. She's a tool. A mule.
A scapegoat meant to revive the Mu family's dying legacy!
Someone this dense deserves to be used.
Han Weicheng wanted to storm off and wait for the day Shu Lanzhou was discarded after her usefulness ran dry.
But if she was going to be used—why not by him?
"That's why you studied so hard, fought to stay in Shen City—wasn't it all to have a better life?" Han Weicheng sighed. "The great families here… they all care about status. Marriages are arranged or made between equals."
"Your background and the Mu family's? Worlds apart."
"They'll never truly accept you." He sighed again, voice solemn. "Back then, I studied Mu's acupuncture techniques, too. Spent quite some time on them."
"But as a doctor, I couldn't in good conscience keep promoting a method that was essentially placebo. Calling it a miraculous cure? That's superstition, not science."
"I left the Mu family because I realized I'd been duped. So I went on to pursue serious medical research."
"Shu Lanzhou, I know you resent me. But I'm speaking now as someone who genuinely cares. I don't want you falling into the same trap I did."
"Mu Side doesn't love you. He's only using you to pass down the Mu family's needle technique. To help them profit off their legacy. To maintain their prestige as a century-old medical household."
"Think about it—if the technique is really so incredible, why don't the Mu family members learn it themselves?"
Shu Lanzhou finished her last bite, set her chopsticks down, and looked him dead in the eye.
"So what exactly are you suggesting? That I should betray the Mu family like you did? Walk away from the teacher who guided me, the senior sister who supported me, the husband who loves me?"
Han Weicheng leaned forward, voice quick and desperate.
"No, no—it's not like that! They didn't help you out of kindness. It's all manipulation. Especially Mu Side—he doesn't love you, he's just using—"
Pfft…
Shu Lanzhou finally understood why Elder Mu's wife had told her those things the other night.
Probably to prepare her for this very moment—when someone would come and try to sow seeds of doubt using the most feeble excuses.
Even if she wasn't as insightful as Elder Mu's wife, she could still distinguish between good and bad, sincerity and deceit.
So what if she was being "used"? If being used by the Mu family meant being given excellent mentors, unconditional guidance, a warm home, and a husband who loved and cherished her…
Then she would happily be used for the rest of her life.
"Mr. Han, let me ask you something. Do you still remember why you first chose to study medicine? Or what your dream was back then?"
Shu Lanzhou stood up.
"If you've forgotten both answers, then let me ask one more question—do you even know what you're chasing now?"
She turned and walked out of the shop.
Han Weicheng scrambled to grab his things and follow her.
As they left, one of the people sitting next to them muttered under his breath, "Is that guy nuts? Coming here to stir up a young couple's relationship?"
"Old enough to know better, still doing things like this. Not afraid of karma, I guess."
"That young woman, though… sharp as a tack."