Liu Siyue’s face turned pale.
The painful memories—the ones she had tried so hard to forget, the ones she had believed she could forget—flooded back into her mind.
She was drenched in sweat, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Lin Wanyi quickly dug a pill out of her bag and shoved it into her mouth:
“Yueyue, open your mouth, take the medicine, take it.”
Liu Siyue’s teeth chattered; she couldn’t think straight.
Lin Wanyi used all her strength to push the pill in and poured water down her throat.
The woman was still pressing on.
“Liu Siyue, we’re old classmates, old friends.
Everyone’s been guessing lately. Since we ran into you today, just tell us.
Is it really true that you were…”
Smack!
A sharp slap landed on the woman’s face.
Chen Hui flexed her hand:
“I told you to shut up. Didn’t you hear me? You nosy bitch.”
“You!”
The woman stomped her foot:
“Who do you think you are? How dare you hit me?
I was asking Liu Siyue, not you. None of your business.”
Chen Hui raised her hand again:
“I’m Siyue’s best friend. Let me tell you, messing with her is messing with me.”
The woman snorted:
“Do you know who I am? You actually hit me? This is a restaurant, there are cameras. I’ll sue you.”
Smack!
Chen Hui slapped her again without hesitation:
“Sue me? If you don’t sue me, I’ll sue you. I’ll sue you for defamation, for slander, for libel.
Come on, tell me who you are. I’ll call the police right now.”
The woman clutched her cheek, furious, and swung her hand back to retaliate.
But Chen Hui grabbed a wine bottle and aimed it at her:
“Go ahead. I swear I’ll crack your skull open.
I’m not some good-tempered rich girl like Siyue. Don’t act tough in front of me.”
The woman backed off and lowered her hand.
Her companions tried to calm her down:
“Forget it, Jiang Yao. Don’t say any more. We’re all classmates.”
“Why should I stop?”
Jiang Yao’s voice grew sharper:
“I’ve hated Liu Siyue since school. She acted all high and mighty because of her family background.
She never looked us ordinary classmates in the eye.
But so what? I’ve made it on my own, through my own hard work and achievements.
And her? She’s become a joke. What do I have to fear from her?”
After taking the medicine, Liu Siyue stopped shaking.
But she couldn’t lift her head.
Because everything Jiang Yao said was true.
She really did have a shameful past—she had been violated at a young age, even bore two children.
She couldn’t refute it.
She wanted to leave. She wanted to escape this place.
She wanted to go back and hide in her room, never coming out again.
Never. Ever.
Lin Wanyi’s heart ached watching her.
She had witnessed every bit of Liu Siyue’s suffering.
She had seen her slowly start to recover, seen her about to step into a normal life.
But why wouldn’t these people just leave this poor victim alone?
Why?
The more she thought about it, the angrier and more miserable she felt.
Jiang Yao was still bragging:
“Let me tell you, my boyfriend is now a manager at the city’s largest corporation, the Liu Group. He makes a million a year. He’s got power and influence here.
You dared to hit me today? Just you wait. All of you, wait right here.
I’ll call him right now and have him destroy all of you.”
Lin Wanyi sat Liu Siyue down in her seat. Seeing her with her hands over her head, too afraid to even look up, Lin Wanyi’s fury boiled over.
Without saying a word, she grabbed the wine bottle from Chen Hui’s hand and brought it down on Jiang Yao’s head.
A loud crash.
The bottle shattered into pieces. Jiang Yao wobbled and then collapsed to the ground.
Everyone at her table screamed and backed away, trembling as they pleaded with Lin Wanyi:
“It’s a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. We’re Siyue’s classmates. We were just asking out of concern.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t do anything rash.”
Restaurant staff rushed over.
Someone called the police. Someone tried to hold Lin Wanyi back. Someone exclaimed:
“Isn’t that President Liu’s girlfriend? What’s she doing getting into a fight here?”
Lin Wanyi didn’t care. She pointed the broken bottle at Jiang Yao’s throat:
“Anything else you want to say?
Go ahead. Keep talking.”
Jiang Yao, blood trickling from her head, shook with fear.
All she could do was cry out:
“Call the police! I want to call the police!”
Lin Wanyi tossed the broken bottle aside. She went to take Liu Siyue’s hand:
“Yueyue, do you trust your sister?”
Liu Siyue rested her head on her belly, wrapping her arms around her waist, and nodded.
Lin Wanyi lifted her face:
“Then hit this bitch yourself. Show her with your own hand that every action and every word has consequences.
It doesn’t end just because you said it.”
She pulled Liu Siyue from her seat and led her by the hand toward Jiang Yao:
“Your Big Brother told me: never let yourself stand there and be bullied.
As long as you haven’t done anything wrong, fight back. Hit back. Because your Big Brother will always have your back.
Yueyue, slap that mouth of hers!”
But Liu Siyue still couldn’t face it.
She wasn’t like this before.
She used to be a bright, confident young lady. She was never cowardly or withdrawn.
But not anymore.
Not since what happened in Wang Family Village.
Deep down, she felt dirty. She felt unworthy.
She didn’t dare fight back, because every time she did, the invasion only got worse.
So now, whenever anyone said anything about her, she didn’t talk back. She didn’t even raise a hand.
She was terrified—terrified of others finding out about her past.
And now, she still couldn’t move.
Wang Keke ran out and found Su Jing. Su Jing and Liu Jiannan hurried over.
She wanted to immediately go help Liu Siyue, but Liu Jiannan held her back.
He said, “Wait, don’t go yet. Yueyue has to get through this on her own sooner or later.
Honey, let’s just watch for now.”
Su Jing was frantic. She didn’t want to wait. She couldn’t wait.
That was her precious daughter. How could she let those people bully her?
But she held herself back, because she saw Lin Wanyi lift Liu Siyue’s hand.
She heard Lin Wanyi say:
“Yueyue, hit back. She bullied you, so you should fight back.
It’s her fault. Smack her. She deserves it.
Come on, listen to your sister. Do it.”
Blood streaming down her face, Jiang Yao screamed:
“You can’t hit me! You can’t hit me! I only spoke the truth.
What right do you have to hit me?”
“The truth?”
Liu Siyue finally slapped her hard:
“What truth? What do you even know about the truth?
All you do is spread lies and smear people. Do you even know what the real truth is? Go to hell, Jiang Yao. Just die!”
“Good.”
Lin Wanyi lifted Liu Siyue’s hand again and encouraged her:
“That’s it. Hit her again. Keep going!”
With each word of encouragement from Lin Wanyi,
Liu Siyue unleashed the beast within her.
She grabbed Jiang Yao by the hair and smacked her, again and again.
She lost track of how long it went on, until Jiang Yao lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.
Then she finally begged:
“Stop, please stop! I was just curious.
Liu Siyue, I beg you, don’t hit me anymore.
I’ll tell my boyfriend. He won’t let you get away with this.”
“Boyfriend?”
Liu Siyue kicked her hard again.
"Your boyfriend is just a manager at the Liu Corporation. We were classmates for three years, and you still don’t know who I am?
Then let me tell you today—I am the daughter of the Liu family, and the president of Liu Corporation is my Big Brother.
What more do you want? Why can’t you just let me go?"
"Impossible!"
Jiang Yao broke down:
"I don’t believe you. You’ve been in the same class as us for three years and never once mentioned your background. How could you be the Liu family’s daughter?
I don’t believe it. I will never believe it!"
