Liu Renzhi nervously clenched his fists:
"You, what happened between you and him?"
Liu Siyue thought for a moment, but ultimately held back what she was going to say.
She simply said:
"Brother, Qin Chao and I truly love each other, and we are definitely going to be together.
"We will definitely be happy, too.
"Stop trying to persuade me otherwise. If you all really can't accept it, I'll just move out and live with Qin Chao."
"Yueyue..."
Liu Renzhi didn't dare say anything more.
He knew Liu Siyue wasn't in her right mind right now.
She wasn't thinking like a normal person.
He couldn't afford to provoke her; what if she did something extreme again?
The incident on the rooftop last time had truly terrified him.
After Liu Siyue left, he thought about it for a long time before finally calling Qin Chao.
Qin Chao wasn't the least bit surprised to receive the call.
In fact, he had been absolutely certain that Liu Renzhi would contact him.
Thus, he wasn't panicked at all:
"Brother."
Liu Renzhi didn't mince words:
"Stay away from my sister, Qin Chao. You shouldn't have messed with her.
"And also, I am not your brother."
Qin Chao didn't argue, didn't defend himself, and certainly didn't fight for her. He merely said:
"Alright, brother. As long as Siyue doesn't come looking for me, I will never seek her out again."
Qin Chao's words left Liu Renzhi feeling uneasy. He was far too calm; there was definitely something wrong with him.
Li Suhua returned from grocery shopping to find Lin Wanyi with red, teary eyes.
She was just about to ask what was wrong when she noticed her daughter's swollen, red cheek.
She grew anxious:
"What happened here? Who hit you?"
Lin Wanyi refused to say: "It's nothing. Mom, don't worry."
"What do you mean 'it's nothing'?"
Li Suhua was frantic: "You were beaten like this right in our own home, how can it be nothing?
"Wanyi, tell Mom, who hit you?"
Lin Wanyi still wouldn't speak. It was Chen Hui's mother; what could Li Suhua do even if she knew?
It would only cause her more distress.
But the more she kept quiet, the more anxious Li Suhua became.
Yet, no matter how much she pressed, Lin Wanyi simply wouldn't say a word.
Li Suhua was beside herself with worry:
"You, oh you, you've been like this since you were little. You never say anything and just bury everything in your heart to bear it all alone.
"It was the same during those eight years in Wangjia Village; you never said a word when you were bullied.
"If only you had told us sooner, things wouldn't have ended up the way they did.
"Lin Wanyi, I am your mother!
"If you get bullied, who else are you supposed to tell?"
Lin Wanyi felt heartbroken. She hadn't expected to bring trouble to her mother just by coming back.
Her father was already gone, and her mother was in poor health.
The more she thought about it, the worse she felt.
Just as she was about to speak, Zhao Yulan suddenly entered the room and said loudly:
"Who else could it be? She was slapped by Tang Guixiang."
"Who?"
Li Suhua's eyes widened:
"Tang Guixiang? What right does she have to come into my house and hit my daughter?"
Zhao Yulan put on an earnest, advising tone:
"I told you all a long time ago, a divorced sister-in-law bringing a child back to her maiden home is never welcomed.
"But you just wouldn't listen.
"Now look what happened. You had to get slapped to finally learn your lesson.
"Suhua, listen to me, hurry up and marry Wanyi off to my eldest nephew. Let me tell you, there are plenty of never-married girls eyeing him like a prize.
"If I didn't consider Wanyi as one of our own, there's no way I'd introduce him to her.
"Keep the good things within the family, right?"
Li Suhua was trembling with rage.
She grabbed Lin Wanyi and started to leave.
Lin Wanyi had no idea what she was trying to do and quickly asked:
"Where are we going? Mom, where are we going?"
"To get justice for you! Wanyi, you are my daughter. On what grounds does Tang Guixiang think she can come to my home and hit you?
"What gives her the right?"
Lin Wanyi dragged her feet, pulling Li Suhua back:
"Don't go, Mom, don't go.
"She is still Huizi's mother. If we go to her door to demand answers like this, she will definitely take her anger out on Huizi later.
"She'll definitely cause trouble for their wedding again.
"Mom, I'm fine, it was just a slap. She is an elder, I'll just bear it."
"Absolutely not!"
Li Suhua's eyes also grew red:
"What kind of elder hits people like that? I won't accept this.
"Come with me."
Lin Wanyi knew she couldn't win against Li Suhua. Although her mother usually seemed gentle and quiet.
Once her stubborn streak flared up, no one could hold her back.
She could only follow behind Li Suhua and continue trying to persuade her:
"Mom, if we just go over there like this, imagine how awkward it will be for Huizi.
"She will be put in such a difficult position.
"Let's just drop it. Let's go out for a walk together, and then we can go pick up Keke."
Li Suhua acted as if she couldn't hear her. She hailed a cab and headed straight for Tang Guixiang's house.
She felt terrible. Her daughter had already suffered so many grievances over the years, and as a mother, she hadn't known anything and hadn't been able to help at all.
Now, right under her own nose, she had to stand up for her daughter.
She couldn't let Tang Guixiang bully her so casually.
She pounded on Tang Guixiang's door.
Tang Guixiang shouted from behind the door:
"Who is it? Are you trying to rush me to my grave?"
The moment the door opened, Li Suhua slapped her right across the face:
"Tang Guixiang, who told you to go to my house and hit my daughter? I gave birth to her, what right do you have to lay a hand on her?"
Caught completely off guard by the slap, it took Tang Guixiang a long moment to process what had happened.
When she finally snapped back to her senses, she immediately raised her hand to slap Li Suhua back:
"You, you, Li Suhua, who do you think you are, daring to come to my house and hit me?"
Her hand never reached Li Suhua; instead, it was swatted away by Li Suhua first:
"And who do you think you are, running to my house to hit my daughter?
"Tang Guixiang, you are a complete failure as a person. You can't even manage your own child.
"Oh, wait, it's not that you can't manage her, it's that you're a terrible person, and your own daughter doesn't even want you.
"Instead of taking a good look in the mirror and reflecting on yourself, you actually have the nerve to try and discipline my daughter.
"Tang Guixiang, I am warning you right now, you are never allowed to set foot in my house again."
Tang Guixiang was furious. She was just her daughter's mother-in-law, shouldn't she be acting subservient?
How dare she come looking for trouble with such self-righteousness!
She immediately called Chen Hui:
"Chen Hui, get your ass back here right now and control Lin Jiajun's mother.
"If you don't come back, I swear I'll beat her to death."
Lin Wanyi patted the heavily panting Li Suhua's back to help her catch her breath, while simultaneously trying to de-escalate the situation between the two women.
"Auntie Tang, please calm down, calm down. My mom is just too angry.
"This matter has nothing to do with Huizi, she doesn't know anything about it."
"Calm down?"
Tang Guixiang looked ready to eat Lin Wanyi alive:
"This is all because of you, you bitch, and you still have the nerve to speak?
"If you hadn't come back, none of this trouble would have happened!
"If you hadn't returned, that apartment would have been Daqiang's, and now you're standing here acting all innocent after getting your way.
"Lin Wanyi, you are utterly shameless."
"You're still talking?"
Furious, Li Suhua raised her hand again.
Lin Wanyi hurriedly pulled her away:
"Mom, let it go. You've vented your anger, don't hit her again.
"When Huizi gets here in a bit, she'll feel so awful.
"She'll be caught in the middle."
Li Suhua took those words to heart.
She had returned the slap anyway, and Tang Guixiang hadn't gained the upper hand.
Thinking of this, she lowered her hand.
However, Tang Guixiang suddenly ran back into her room, brought out a basin of cold water, and splashed it right over Lin Wanyi.
