The cold balde of the knife kiss Shi Qingyin’s neck resulting in her tremble, her voice a thin whisper. “Sister?”
Shi Ning smiled, a chilling edge to her eyes as she gazed at Shi Qingyin’s pale, exposed neck. “Do you need my help?”
“No… No!” Shi Qingyin’s defiance crumbled instantly. With a whimper, she flung the knife away, her fear palpable. She knew. She knew Lin Jingyao had cut her wrists because of Shi Ning. She had no doubt Shi Ning would genuinely hand her the blade.
Shi Ning’s gaze was laced with contempt as she turned to Jiang Huaijing. “Shi Qingyin later told me that she saw you coming out of my room and said that girls can’t talk about such things, otherwise they’ll be despised for being unclean.” At that tender age, Shi Ning had been utterly ignorant of love or intimacy, understanding only that such matters were shameful and wrong. She hadn’t dared to question Jiang Huaijing.
Jiang Huaijing, his voice strained, countered, “Yinyin told me that you had a nightmare and dreamed that I took away your father and the property of the Shi family, so you developed a problem with me.”
Hearing their direct confrontation, Shi Qingyin’s panic surged. “Sister, Brother Jiang…”
Pah!
Before she could finish, Shi Ning’s hand shot out, delivering another sharp slap to her face. “I didn’t ask you, so shut up!”
Tao Bichun winced, her heart aching at the sight of Shi Qingyin’s reddening cheek. But then she caught sight of Shi Guoqiang’s ashen face, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous, murderous intent. She quickly changed tactics, turning her fury on Shi Qingyin. “What happened back then? Tell me clearly, or I will beat you to death!”
Shi Qingyin, covering her stinging face, looked at Shi Ning through a curtain of tears, as if seeking permission to speak.
Shi Ning raised an eyebrow. “Tell me?”
Shi Qingyin burst into fresh sobs, her words tumbling out between cries. “I had just started biology class at that time and was very curious about this aspect, so I wanted to take a look. I didn’t mean anything else.” She choked on another sob. “Sister, I…”
Pah!
Tao Bichun delivered a brutal slap to Shi Qingyin’s face. “Asshole! How could you do this? She’s your sister!” Her voice rose to a furious crescendo. “Even if you are girls, you can’t do that! I’ll beat you to death, you bastard!” Tao Bichun began to hit Shi Qingyin, though her blows avoided the face, landing on her shoulders, or with kicks and pinches. She hit and cursed, and Shi Qingyin wailed, admitting her wrongs.
Screams echoed through the ward. Tao Bichun truly struck Shi Qingyin hard, hoping Shi Guoqiang, as always, would intervene. But this time, Shi Guoqiang merely watched, his gaze cold, offering no word of protest. This matter, clearly, had struck a raw nerve. Shi Ning was his raw nerve.
Tao Bichun, relentless, seized Shi Qingyin and kicked her, forcing her to her knees. “Apologize to Xiao Ning! Until Xiao Ning forgives you, otherwise you will keep kneeling and never get up!”
Butler Zhao watched for a moment, then discreetly turned away.
Shi Qingyin knelt, sobbing, repeating, “Sister, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Shi Ning remained impassive.
Tao Bichun pinched Shi Qingyin again, her voice low and menacing. “Even if Xiao Ning forgives you, I, as your mother, will beat you to death!”
“Second Madam.”
Tao Bichun looked up, confused, to see a clothes hanger thrust before her. Butler Zhao, a subtle twist to his lips, gently pressed the hanger into her hand. “Use this to beat her. It will be more sincere.”
Tao Bichun held the thick wooden hanger, stunned. She couldn’t bring herself to strike with it; it would genuinely hurt.
Shi Ning chuckled. Why hadn’t I noticed how considerate Butler Zhao was before?
Shi Ning looked up at Jiang Huaijing. “That time I pushed you into the swimming pool, I was planning to swim, and Shi Qingyin told me you came to peep at me.”
Jiang Huaijing’s eyes widened in shock. “No! She said you were in a good mood and wanted to give me a chance to explain, so I went to find you.”
Shi Ning continued, “I used to physically vomit at the sight of you because Shi Qingyin told me you molested me again when I fainted and you took me to the hospital!” Her voice dropped, laced with revulsion. “You did that to me through my pants. I believed it because there was something like a man’s…” She trailed off, still feeling sick at the memory. Though Jiang Huaijing wasn’t her biological brother, and her father’s original intent was for him to be her husband, she had always seen him as a true sibling. The idea that he harbored such twisted desires towards her , that he had done such a thing, was truly sickening.
At this point, Jiang Huaijing was trembling with furious indignation. “No! You fainted, and Shi Qingyin and I took you to the hospital together!” His voice was choked with emotion. “The thing on your pants wasn’t that kind of thing! It was yogurt Shi Qingyin drank that accidentally spilled on you!” He glared at Shi Qingyin, his voice rising. “She said that to ease our relationship, she only said that I took you to the hospital alone! You told me that Shi Ning hated me because she feared I would steal her father and her property! You were so gentle and considerate to me, but in front of Shi Ning, you kept slandering me for doing bad things to her? Shi Qingyin, you are truly going too far!”
Shi Ning glanced down at Shi Qingyin, then looked up at Shi Guoqiang. “Dad, ever since Second Uncle’s family moved in, our father-daughter relationship hasn’t been good, and my relationship with my eldest brother hasn’t been good either. It turns out they’re the ones who instigated the discord.”
Shi Guoqiang’s eyes narrowed, a suspicious gaze falling on Tao Bichun and Shi Qingyin.
Tao Bichun’s scalp tingled under his scrutiny. She immediately seized the clothes hanger and struck Shi Qingyin again, hard. “Asshole, I’ll teach you a lesson! Even if your dad supported your uncle’s studies and gave your uncle his first pot of gold, your uncle was very kind to us! How could you do this?” Her voice rose to a theatrical crescendo. “Today, I will beat you to death to make amends to Xiao Ning!”
The thick clothes hanger landed with a thud, leaving an instant red welt on Shi Qingyin’s exposed shoulder. “Ah!” Shi Qingyin shrieked, scrambling to her feet. “Mom, stop hitting me! I was wrong!”
Tao Bichun continued her assault, screaming, “You dare to run? Stand still and let me beat you to death, you evil girl!”
Shi Qingyin, spurred by the threat, bolted from the ward. “Woo woo… Mom, stop hitting me… Ah!” Tao Bichun, hanger in hand, chased after her. If Shi Qingyin didn’t run, Shi Guoqiang’s fury would truly erupt, and then a mere beating would be the least of their worries.
From within the ward, the sounds of Shi Qingyin’s screams echoed, bringing a strange sense of satisfaction to Shi Ning. But her brow soon furrowed. “Dad,” she said to Shi Guoqiang, “Second Aunt is beating her for you to see.” She paused, then continued, her voice grim, “Because of Shi Qingyin, our family has been in chaos, and we will definitely not have a good life in the future.”
Butler Zhao regretfully eyed the fruit knife on the floor. “I should have handed her the knife directly just now.”
Shi Guoqiang sighed, a headache blooming. “Dad was able to build such a big company because your second uncle dropped out of school and worked to support me through college and gave me my first pot of gold. They have been very kind to me.” He was, at his core, a man who valued gratitude and repayment, especially to his own brother.
Shi Ning, recalling the barrages that foretold her father’s tragic fate, a fate orchestrated by Shi Qingyin, scoffed. “Anyway, Shi Qingyin has bad intentions. I don’t like them! They could sow discord between us for years; who knows if they’ll kill us in the coming decades! If they still live in the Shi family, I won’t come home!”
The threat was immediate and potent. Shi Guoqiang’s hesitation vanished. “If my dear daughter doesn’t like it,” he declared, his voice firm, “then let them move out of our house!”