Wu Qiaoyin did not look at him. Her heart shattered to pieces after hearing her Big Brother Qi"s heartless words.

"Are you leaving, or not?" Qi Chenglin asked coldly.

Wu Qiaoyin shook her head and presented the lunchbox. "I… I"ll leave, but Big Brother Qi, please keep this. It"s from the heart. I made it myself."

Qi Chenglin seemed oblivious to what she said. He simply asked, "You"re really not leaving?"

"If… If you don"t accept this, then I won"t leave." Wu Qiaoyin shuddered at the door like a little white flower. Her expression however, remained steadfast, and in that steadfastness was also a look of weakness, as if she was pitiable.

"Hehe," Qi Chenglin"s laugh was a happy one that came from the heart.

Without saying anything further, he turned and slammed the door. Wu Qiaoyin scarcely imagined that Qi Chenglin would act so quickly despite smiling so genuinely earlier. She was completely unable to react at all.

Her hand was still placed on the door frame, so the door slammed painfully against her hand.

Qi Chenglin did not need to exert any energy. The malicious glimmer in his eyes was actually lying in wait for her refusal to leave, after which he would then have a reason to slam the door in her face.

Since she could not understand his words and actions, the only option left was to scare her.

Qi Chenglin had decided to leave the worst impression in Wu Qiaoyin so she would shudder at the sight of him and her infatuation would no longer manifest itself.

The sound of Wu Qiaoyin"s scream greeted his ear. It was so piercingly loud that it seemed capable of transmitting to the floor above. Qi Chenglin"s face brightened up—to him, her scream was practically the most wonderful thing to greet his ears.

Wu Qiaoyin was in so much pain that she did not care about anything else. She retracted her hand immediately and could feel that her four fingers were no longer in her control. She did not dare to move them, and the searing pain made her entire body tremble.

As she brought the injured hand to eye-level, she saw how it did not take much effort—if any at all—to make her fingertips turn reddish-purple. Each one of them was swollen, like a radish.

Wu Qiaoyin was afraid to touch her fingers. She merely raised her hand while howling and wailing. Tears and mucus were streaming down her face and she was completely unable to bear the pain.

The lunchbox she held in her good hand dropped to the ground, with the cover cracking open and the contents spilling out. It was a miserable sight.

Wu Qiaoyin did not care about how she looked anymore. She was already in so much pain that she could not even stand up. Falling onto the floor with a thud, she cried and wailed.

When the door slammed onto Wu Qiaoyin"s hand earlier, it bounced back. Qi Chenglin was still standing at the door. He c.o.c.ked a brow, and looked heartless, so much so that he even sounded like he was reveling in her misfortune. He said crisply and gleefully, "I"m sorry, I didn"t see your hand on the door frame. How could you be so careless? Even little kids know that it"s not right to put it there."

Wu Qiaoyin shuddered and cried. She gasped for air and said, "I… I… I…"

"Aren"t you going to bring Miss Wu away?" Qi Chenglin shot a look at Jiang Yuan. Qi Chenglin"s face was all along unemotive, and it was rare that a hint of deviousness appeared in his expression.

Jiang Yuan understood at once and began dragging Wu Qiaoyin out of the main entrance.

Wu Qiaoyin cried in pain and was completely unable to straighten her back, leaving it to remain like a prawn. Her silky-soft hair drooped over her shoulders and down the front of her body, s.h.i.+elding her face.

As she walked, her hair was tousled, making her look like a lunatic. Those tears soiled her makeup too. Beneath all the hair sticking to her face was a black smudge of makeup, turning her fair-skinned face into a frightening monstrosity that was not unlike a black dahlia.

Jiang Yuan let go of her and stopped holding her up. He watched as Wu Qiaoyin swayed as if she was going to tumble over.

In a voice that was loud enough for bystanders to hear, he said, "Sigh, why bother, Miss Wu? Our general manager has his wife to take care of him. Why must you come over and insist on sending food? Your hand was clipped by the door, yes? Don"t do this again in the future. You"re only injuring yourself by coming here."

Jiang Yuan cleared his throat and said sincerely, "Our general manager really didn"t mean to do it on purpose. Is the injury bad? How about I give Mr. and Mrs. Wu a call and let them send you to the hospital?"

He refrained from offering to bring her to the hospital.

It was no joke that he still had to work overtime. If the general manager did not leave, he—as the general manager"s a.s.sistant—could not leave as well. He could not just skip his duties.

Wu Qiaoyin"s mind was no longer functioning properly. She could feel that Jiang Yuan"s voice was coming in continuous waves, but they went in one ear and went out the other. Those words were heard, but not understood.

Next, there came a raucousness from all around. Slowly but surely, she heard the discussion going on beside her.

"Did she try to be a mistress and was beaten up by the rightful partner instead?"

"Didn"t you hear the young man? The man doesn"t like her in the first place. The rightful partner doesn"t even need to do anything. The man could just hit her like that."

"Yeah, sounds like it"s an accident, but I think it"s on purpose."

"Tsk tsk tsk, the couple is on very good terms with each other and can"t tolerate other people b.u.t.ting in. This lady is so young, but she"s already learning all the bad things. She insists on being a homewrecker. Does it make you happy to do such an immoral thing?"

"This is a problem that has to do with family values. If the family did their part and taught her well, she wouldn"t have done such a thing."

Wu Qiaoyin could only feel her brain fill with blood and turn giddy. As she listened to what the surrounding people were saying, she thought, "What do you know!"

"All these old ladies with nothing to do except to criticize people. What does it have to do with them!"

She then came to a sudden realization of what Jiang Yuan said earlier. She looked up suddenly and glared at him.

Those words all sounded nice, but in truth, it was blatant smearing of her reputation in public! "Don"t think I don"t know that!"

Jiang Yuan was slightly taken aback by her viciousness, but after taking two steps back, he put on an earnest look and said, "Miss Wu, our general manager"s son is afraid of you. He"s only seven. Please don"t always come looking for him. He says that you put a lot of pressure on him and it makes him feel scared."

Jiang Yuan felt that Qi Youxuan would not mind him making that statement.

After that sentence, murmurs were heard once again.

"Ah, so she used the child as a vessel for her intentions."

"What the h.e.l.l? Harming other people"s children! Those who lay their hands on children have the worst heart!"

Gao Xiaoyang originally heard about an incident at Chang City and came just to take a look. To her surprise, she was faced with that spectacle when she arrived at Qilin"s door.

Gao Xiaoyang"s eyes lit up instantly since their newspaper also had an entertainment news department!

It must surely be someone in their circle if that person dared to come over and try to be Qi Chenglin"s mistress.

Chang Jingqiu did the same thing in the past, did she not?

Although the woman was unidentifiable due to tear-smudged mascara and long hair stuck to her face, Gao Xiaoyang felt that the girl was surely someone of status.

If it could make the news, it did not matter if it was a topic that she was responsible for. It would still be good if she pa.s.sed it to her colleague in exchange for a future favor.

Just as she stumbled upon some newsworthy gossip, her colleagues at the entertainment news department might someday stumble upon some financial news!

Moreover, those in the entertainment news department had vast connections. They knew all sorts of people and there was no drawback whatsoever in establis.h.i.+ng a relations.h.i.+p with them.

Gao Xiaoyang thus took out her cell phone and opened the video recorder. From time to time, she would even take pictures from different angles. She then shuffled over to Jiang Yuan"s side and said, "Special a.s.sistant Jiang, may I ask who is this?"

Jiang Yuan realized it was Gao Xiaoyang and felt that she was a very persevering journalist. She phoned him every day to arrange a meeting with Qi Chenglin, and at times, she would even pay a personal visit to ask various questions and check whether there were any appropriate times to conduct an interview.

He was not the only one she called. During a gathering between himself, Cheng Dongge, and a.s.sistants of Yan Beicheng and his circle, he found out that she called each of them once a day, giving all of them equal treatment.

Jiang Yuan heard that Gao Xiaoyang was Ruan Danchen"s high school cla.s.smate, and although the two women did not have too close a relations.h.i.+p, they still got along pretty well. Despite that, she never attempted to burden Ruan Danchen by trying to get the latter"s help in things.

Jiang Yuan regarded Gao Xiaoyang as someone with good character.

It was not a bad thing to make new friends professionally and give oneself more options in the future.

Seeing her resplendent gaze, Jiang Yuan knew what she wanted to do and felt that it was very doable.

Special a.s.sistant Jiang"s expression turned warm as he answered Gao Xiaoyang, "This is Wu Qiaoyin, or Miss Wu."

As a reporter who specialized in finance, she knew of those big bosses" families. "Ohhhhh…" she answered immediately to show that she understood.

"May I ask what exactly happened, from start to beginning?" Gao Xiaoyang stared at Wu Qiaoyin.

Knowing that Wu Qiaoyin was trying to interfere in Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen"s marriage, Gao Xiaoyang raised her voice instead of quieting down. She was determined to use all her resources to get one back for Ruan Danchen.

Jiang Yuan was a smart man who got it immediately. In a loud voice, he recounted every single thing in precise detail.

Wu Qiaoyin was surrounded by hordes and hordes of people. She could not step out, and all she was able to do was stand there to be horribly denounced by strangers.

In addition, her hands were hurting very terribly. She swayed and struggled to stand upright, let alone walk. All she felt was her brain turning fuzzy as if she was going to collapse at any moment.

The crowd was already aware of what happened. A group of women, aged twenty to fifty, came over to show their disdain and spoke unpleasantly of Wu Qiaoyin.

"Hey! Girls! Can we talk!" Gao Xiaoyang noticed a group of students—still clad in their high-school uniform—shooting everything with their cellphones. She left Jiang Yuan and went over.

The girl turned around while still raising her phone up. She looked curiously at Gao Xiaoyang and heard the latter ask, "Can you please don"t post this up just yet?"

Through disheveled hair, Wu Qiaoyin saw Gao Xiaoyang"s actions and felt grateful that there were still kind people out there.

In the end though, her thoughts had yet to properly materialize when she heard Gao Xiaoyang say, "Can you wait till the headline appears tonight before posting it on the web?"

Since it was of no detriment to the girl, she happily agreed.

At that point, Wu Qiaoyin looked resentfully at Gao Xiaoyang and merely stopped short of vomiting blood.

Jiang Yuan fancied himself as an exceptionally good person. Although Wu Qiaoyin was cra.s.s, he did not stoop to her level and phoned Wu Chuanshu. "Director Wu, yes, h.e.l.lo. I"m Jiang Yuan, Qi Chenglin"s a.s.sistant."

"…"

Jiang Yuan was smiling ever kindlier as he held the phone. "Well, here"s the thing. General Manager Qi is working overtime tonight. Miss Wu knew about it and wanted to send him some food, but when our general manager showed her the door, he accidentally put pressure on Miss Wu"s hand. She"s currently in pain and can"t walk. I have to work overtime too, so it"s not appropriate for me to leave. How about you send someone over to fetch her?"

"…"

Jiang Yuan then hung up happily.

Gao Xiaoyang wrapped up her video-taking and followed Jiang Yuan. "Special a.s.sistant Jiang, about Chang City…"

"It"s settled. As for the specific means, please check tomorrow." Jiang Yuan smiled and left.

Gao Xiaoyang pouted and decided that she should first build rapport with her colleagues from the entertainment news division.

…

At the other end, Qi Chenglin—who dealt with Wu Qiaoyin by himself and inflicted such damage to Wu Qiaoyin"s soft, delicate, and injury-free hand—felt incredibly happy as opposed to feeling heartbroken.

Qi Chenglin closed the door and straightened his suit before walking back handsomely. He earned looks of adulation from Ruan Danchen and Qi Youxuan.

His wife and child"s utter satisfaction with his actions made the little person in Qi Chenglin"s heart tremble excitedly, making the man himself stand even more proudly.

"She interrupted our meal. Come eat, quick. It"s gonna be cold." Ruan Danchen waved at him and smiled beautifully.

Qi Chenglin returned the smile and sat back down.

The little boy"s eyes glimmered. "Dad, you"re amazing!"

Although it was not the first time he received praise from his son, it was the first time that Qi Chenglin felt incredibly proud. His handsome face became even more captivating.

"As a husband, I have to make my wife feel rea.s.sured." Qi Chenglin"s heart was overflowing with pride, but on the surface, he spoke very calmly.

Qi Youxuan nodded with full of praise.

…

Bystanders were soon growing tired of scolding Wu Qiaoyin since it was all centered around that one issue anyway. Everyone was rus.h.i.+ng home, so the crowd dispersed.

Wu Qiaoyin sat at the roadside near Qilin"s entrance. She buried her head in her arms and cried mournfully.

She cried until Wu Chuanshu arrived. He did not even bring his driver because his family"s ugly public spectacle would be a source of embarra.s.sment.

"GET UP!" Wu Chuanshu stood before Wu Qiaoyin and felt only anger after seeing how she was crying.

Of all the terrible things she did, she just had to degrade herself by wanting to become a mistress. Was that something to be proud of?

She was the one who brought it on herself and still had the decency to cry!

Wu Qiaoyin raised her wretched face. It was as if she saw someone to rely on when she saw Wu Chuanshu. "DADDY!"

"You still have the decency to cry? GET UP!" Wu Chuanshu got even angrier when he noticed that pa.s.sers-by were looking in their direction. He grabbed Wu Qiaoyin"s arm and pulled her up, and it just so happened that the arm he held was Wu Qiaoyin"s injured hand.

"OWW! DADDY!" Wu Chuanshu shrieked.

It was then that Wu Chuanshu noticed her purplish-red fingers.

"What"s this?" Wu Chanshu glanced briefly at it and suppressed his anger. "Go up the car first."

After helping Wu Qiaoyin into the car, Wu Chuanshu was furious. He was reminded of what Jiang Yuan told him, that Wu Qiaoyin"s fingers were clipped by the door.

Wu Chanshu huffed angrily. Wu Qiaoyin"s head should have been clipped by the door!

As he drove to the hospital, Wu Qiaoyin began wailing and telling everything.

"I was being kind. I heard about what happened at Chang City and I knew he would be very busy, so I brought some food that I made myself for him. Who knew…" Wu Qiaoyin was in so much pain that her voice was faltering. Time and again, she inhaled sharply, letting Wu Chuanshu feel as though she might experience shortness of breath.

Wu Chuanshu was raging, but seeing his daughter"s radish-like fingertips made him bear with it all for the time being.

To his surprise, Wu Qiaoyin continued rambling, "If it wasn"t for Ruan Danchen, Big Brother Qi wouldn"t have refused my cooking! She"s nothing but a jealous woman who controls Big Brother Qi so strictly. She doesn"t even allow it if we interact normally. Big Brother Qi is married and I know I don"t have a chance, but so what if I just want to be friends with him? I want what"s best for Big Brother Qi. I"m willing to sacrifice this by not taking him away from her, but she"s the one that"s not compromising. She even made her son tell lies and badmouth about me. And today she came and bullied me. She forced Big Brother Qi to send me off. Doesn"t Big Brother Qi have any right to make friends at all?"

"SHUT IT! Stop referring to him like that. He"s not even close with you. You don"t need to be so disgusting!" Wu Chuanshu could not imagine how a proper person like him was able to raise such an idiot daughter like Wu Qiaoyin.

Her actions, when shown in public, would do nothing more than cause them to be the b.u.t.t of jokes!

She would not be only one embarra.s.sed—he would be too!

"DADDY!" Wu Qiaoyin felt so aggrieved that her own father did not defend her.

Wu Chuanshu was irritated to no end. "Don"t think I"m unaware that you"re only plucking out the point-of-view that benefits you. Do you think people can"t see whether you really want to be purely friends? DO YOU THINK THEY"RE IDIOTS? Qi Chenglin"s son has already taught you a lesson but you still aren"t learning from it, are you? He doesn"t like you. Even if you want to be friends, you can"t go up and bother them if they don"t like you. And with the intentions you have, you think no one knows? As a father, I feel ASHAMED for you. You still want to throw away our families" dignity and let others look down on us?"

Wu Chuanshu was so enraged that he could not stop himself from punching the steering wheel.

With one hand on the wheel, he pointed the other at Wu Qiaoyin, "STOP BEING DELUSIONAL. You aren"t fooling anyone, only yourself. Isn"t that right? "Just friends"?"

Wu Qiaoyin"s startled face prompted Wu Chuanshu to snicker. "Don"t even think about being "just friends" in the future! BEHAVE!"

Wu Qiaoyin felt insulted and began crying. "Daddy, how could you do this to me!"

"What did I do? Qi Chenglin has plenty of friends, but why don"t I see him treating them the way he treats you? Why does he dislike you that much? You really think I"m stupid? You think you"re the smartest person in the world, don"t you?" Wu Chuanshu was seething with anger. He wanted nothing more than to cut open Wu Qiaoyin"s head and see what was inside!

"You never stood a chance anyway, and I never hoped for you to do anything that would elicit praise from others, as long as you behave and stop giving our family so much trouble. Is that really that hard for you to fulfill that request?" Wu Chuanshu pointed at her and did not give a d.a.m.n that Wu Qiaoyin was crying so miserably.

If he were to care deeply about her, the family business would be in shambles because of her.

"I… How am I causing trouble for our family? I know you"ve always thought of me as useless, but I"m trying my best!" Wu Qiaoyin cried plaintively. "You"re my dad! How could you look down on me like this? How could you do this!"

The fl.u.s.tered and aggrieved Wu Qiaoyin fell forward.

Wu Chuanshu was a man who suffered much pressure in his work and had a bellyful of anger. Discussing business deals frequently caused him to suffer losses and be wronged, but he simply swallowed all of it down. He most certainly did not have the patience to straighten out Wu Qiaoyin.

Besides, he thought of Wu Qiaoyin as someone who was too obstinate. If talking things out really worked, she would long been talked out of it instead of reverting to her old ways as soon as she had been scolded.

Wu Chuanshu might as well skip the pleasantries with her. "Behave yourself and don"t look for Qi Chenglin ever again! Or any of his family members for that matter! If it"s a public event and you can"t avoid them, just say hi and don"t do anything else! Stop pestering the Qi family and don"t look for his son ever again!"

Wu Chanshu hated offending people. He simply wanted to vomit blood after seeing how Wu Qiaoyin was acting all wronged.

What was he going to do with such a moronic idiot in his family!

"If you still don"t accept this and keep going on with your idiotic stupidity, I"ll send you overseas! If you don"t behave, I won"t let you come back again!" Wu Chuanshu gritted his teeth in anger and was so enraged that his eyeb.a.l.l.s were nearly going to pop out.

He managed to breathe a sigh of relief only when Wu Qiaoyin was shaking in her seat.

As he drove, he made a mental note to let Zhao Fengchun keep an eye on any suitable bachelors within the circle. If there was any suitable candidate, he would then wed her as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, Wu Chuanshu frowned, because Wu Qiaoyin"s stupid character might bring disaster to others. That would then lead to a feud. He came back to the country not to make enemies, so after some thought, he decided it was best to teach Wu Qiaoyin first before making a decision.

Wu Qiaoyin remained quiet there, seemingly behaving already. Deep down however, she was actually feeling indignant! What right did her father have to say that about her! Which part of her was less than human!

So be it if her father did not protect her and encourage her to pursue her true love, but he even looked down on her so despicably!

She did not realize that she was that useless of a person in her father"s eyes.

"He… How could he demean me to that extent!

"What did I do wrong?"

Wu Qiaoyin felt that her true love surpa.s.sed everything else! It was something both touching and inspirational!

Wu Chuanshu did not know that she was thinking along those lines. If he did, he might immediately change course and drive straight to a mental inst.i.tution.

At the end of the day, Wu Chuanshu brought her to the hospital for an X-ray. Once it was confirmed that her bones were all okay, they applied medicine on it and bandaged it before dispensing some anti-inflammatory medication. After that, he pulled a long face and brought her home.

Back home, he lashed out at Zhao Fengchun for spoiling Wu Qiaoyin.

Zhao Fengchun could only nod with a straight face. Seeing her daughter"s fingers wrapped in thick bandages made her tear up.

"Mom, I… I"m the one who was wronged!" Wu Qiaoyin whispered to her mother only when it was the two of them in her room.