Ice is not averse to deception

"We'll compensate you however we're obligated to, and we'll take responsibility for the car. However," Sun Bing, clearly still pleased with his quick thinking, looked at Chen Li with a smug expression and said with a grin, "You should know Zhang Defa, right?"

Upon hearing Zhang Defa's name, Chen Li's expression indeed became cautious, and she immediately questioned, "Do you know Zhang Defa?"

Without hesitation, Sun Bing immediately said, "Zhang Defa is our godfather. We've come to Yanji to handle his funeral arrangements."

"Godfather?" Upon hearing these two words, Chen Li's expression became complicated.

At first, he was somewhat surprised, but then he became overjoyed: "You're Sun Bing, you're Wu Dayong?"

Sun Bing didn't know how Chen Li could tell who was who just by looking at them, but he had obviously achieved his goal.

Out of caution, Chen Li still asked Sun Bing some questions about Zhang Defa. Seeing that what Sun Bing said was true, she got up and helped Sun Bing and the others untie the ropes.

After exchanging pleasantries, Wu Dayong was already getting impatient.

"We came to see you because we wanted to see the pendant our godfather left behind; it's very important to us."

Unexpectedly, Chen Li seemed quite surprised and asked, "How did you know about the pendant?"

Sun Bing then told Chen Li about the diary, and also told her about Zhang Defa's last wish.

Seeing that things were going smoothly, Wu Dayong breathed a sigh of relief, but then Chen Li's words made his heart, which was burning with enthusiasm, instantly turn to ice.

"That pendant is indeed with me, but..."

"What's wrong?!" Wu Dayong's eyes widened immediately.

After Chen Li finished speaking, Sun Bing and the others learned that Chen Li had recently visited Zhang Defa's hometown and seen Cuiying's grave. He felt that the pendant should have belonged to Cuiying, so he burned it as an offering.

"However, I do remember what the pendant looked like. If you really need it, I can draw it for you, but my drawing skills are a bit...it might take some time."

Wu Dayong has broken down; what they need most now is time!

Unexpectedly, Sun Bing's immediate reply, "It's okay, we have plenty of time," left Wu Dayong speechless.

After learning what had happened, Chen Li really wanted to help Zhang Defa fulfill his last wish, but as she herself said, his painting skills were indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.

More than half an hour had passed, and only a few simple lines had appeared on the white paper in front of Chen Li.

"Grandma, could you please hurry up a bit? At this rate, by the time you finish drawing Shenzhou-15, it'll probably already be in space," Wu Dayong urged impatiently.

Chen Li joked instead: "According to seniority, you can't call me 'Grandma,' it's a generational difference."

Sun Bing could tell that Chen Li was a little nervous. In order to ease the atmosphere and resolve her doubts, Sun Bing started chatting with Chen Li.

"Are you working at the Ice and Snow World now?" Sun Bing asked.

Chen Li nodded: "Yes, I'm the manager of the Ice and Snow World's operations department now."

Sun Bing was puzzled: "Didn't you study ice sculpting before? How come you..."

Knowing Sun Bing's doubts, Chen Li immediately said, "It's all thanks to Old Zhang. I now think Old Zhang is truly a remarkable person. The first time I went to the studio, he said I wasn't suitable for ice sculpting. At first, I didn't believe it, but later I did. I was able to work at the Ice and Snow World thanks to Old Zhang's help."

Zhang Defa seems to possess a peculiar ability; he can always discover a person's unique qualities in a very short time. Just like when he first met Sun Bing more than a decade ago, he felt that Sun Bing would become an excellent ice sculptor.

In fact, Zhang Defa had been helping Chen Li all along. Knowing that it would be difficult for Chen Li to develop her ice sculpting skills, Zhang Defa recommended Chen Li to the Ice and Snow World to do marketing.

Of course, Chen Li was unaware of these things at the time. She was often assigned by Zhang Defa to handle some marketing issues at the Ice and Snow World. Since it was all in the service industry, Chen Li had also read some marketing books in her spare time and quickly got the hang of it.

  

But just when everything was going smoothly, an unexpected event occurred. First, her mother fell ill and was hospitalized, requiring a large sum of money for treatment. Then, the lucrative ice sculpture project was assigned to someone else by Zhang Defa. Chen Li was indeed somewhat resentful at the time; she had always felt that Zhang Defa showed her some favoritism by giving her this project.

Just as Chen Li was feeling indignant, someone found her, and then Zhang Defa was falsely accused of molestation.

Later, Chen Li secretly returned to Yanji. He was also puzzled that Zhang Defa could have resisted, but he acquiesced to the crime of molestation. However, he never found the answer.

It wasn't until more than six months later, when lawyer Zheng Jie approached her wanting to overturn Zhang Defa's case, that Chen Li understood Zhang Defa's good intentions.

Zhang Defa did not choose to overturn the verdict, but silently bore the consequences.

Afterwards, Chen Li wrote a blog post clarifying the situation, but it didn't generate much buzz due to low page views. Knowing this couldn't continue, Chen Li contacted the leaders of the Ice and Snow World and revealed the truth.

It was precisely because of Chen Li's actions that the leaders of the Ice and Snow World reinstated Zhang Defa, preventing him from having a miserable old age.

"Why did your godfather give you the pendant?" Sun Bing suddenly asked.

Chen Li also became noticeably more nervous, and her eyes began to dart away.

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Li suddenly said, "Do you really want to know? If telling you the truth might disappoint you, do you still want to know?"

Sun Bing seemed to have already guessed what was going on. After a moment's pause, she suddenly smiled and shook her head: "No need."

If someone can use their own reputation to protect another person, then that person must be very important to them.

Actually, Sun Bing had already realized something shortly after talking with Chen Li. When Chen Li mentioned her godfather, her eyes were bright and sparkling.

That light seemed to come not only from gratitude and reverence, but also from something hazy and indistinct.

Sun Bing didn't let Chen Li continue speaking because Sun Bing had already gleaned some insights from her godfather's diary.

No one is perfect. Even Zhang Defa, who holds a high position in Sun Bing's heart, must have developed even the slightest feelings for Chen Li, who looks just like Cuiying, at some unintentional moment.

At this point, the general outline of the pendant has appeared on the white paper, looking very much like a Chinese knot, but the specific details still need to be added.

Looking at the outline of the pendant, Chen Li's thoughts were drawn back to the past.

In fact, Chen Li had always harbored a vague feeling for Zhang Defa.

Chen Li, a waitress at a KTV, comes from a rural area and has little education or skills. Her life has always been full of hardship and suffering. Because she is a daughter and her family is poor, she had to give up her studies at her parents' suggestion, leaving the opportunity to go to school for her younger brother. She could only drop out of school after junior high school and start working, like most girls.

Chen Li had not experienced much of the warmth of family life, and because she entered society at a young age, she worked as a KTV waitress.

The diverse people and events gradually made Chen Li disillusioned with life.

Without passion or hope, she was like a weed living in a mud pit, repeatedly crushed by passing vehicles; she didn't even have the right to resist.

Until she met Zhang Defa.

Zhang Defa was thirty years older than Chen Li. Initially, Chen Li went to Zhang Defa's workplace and school just to change her environment and make herself more comfortable.

But soon, Chen Li was attracted to Zhang Defa.

In Zhang Defa, she felt a father's love, care, and even a comfort from the depths of her soul that she had never experienced before.

Chen Li knew that the huge age gap would become an excuse for criticism, but she had lived for others for so many years, and this time she wanted to live for herself.

Chen Li began to pursue Zhang Defa relentlessly, which was met with strong resistance from Zhang Defa.

She framed Zhang Defa partly for practical reasons—she needed to raise money to treat her mother's illness. But there was another reason unknown to everyone: ignorance born of love turned to hate.

After the case was closed, Chen Li returned to Yanji, thinking that Zhang Defa, who had been abandoned by everyone, would surely accept her. However, she underestimated Zhang Defa's feelings for Cuiying.

Even when he was so poor that he could only make a living by selling handicrafts in the park, and even when he didn't have a place to stay, Zhang Defa never accepted Chen Li.

In fact, Chen Li had long known the significance of the pendant to Zhang Defa, and the pendant was not given to Chen Li by Zhang Defa, but rather stolen by Chen Li.

It took Chen Li five years to go from love to hate, from domination to robbery, from persistence to understanding.

It wasn't until after Zhang Defa's death that Chen Li finally understood one thing: love is not about demanding, but about fulfilling.

Therefore, Chen Li returned the pendant to Cuiying, which can be considered as giving his relationship a happy ending.

Seeing Chen Li's dazed expression, Sun Bing suppressed his impulse and chose to hide everything in the past.