“Ah!”
Just as the kiss was about to land, Shi Ning recoiled, a potent smell of alcohol assailing her. This wasn’t Qin Heye! Reacting instantly, she brought her knee up with brutal force, aiming squarely for his lower body. A shriek, like a strangled chicken, erupted as Shen Xizhou doubled over, clutching himself and collapsing to the ground. “Shi Ning! What are you crazy about?!” he choked out, gasping. “This isn’t what you want… Ah, ah, ah!”
Disgusted, Shi Ning seized the moment while he writhed in pain, delivering another powerful kick. “You’re crazy! Your whole family is crazy!” she spat, kicking again. “Who would want your mouth, rotten as shit from kissing Shi Qingyin?!” Her kicks landed with punishing force, forcing Shen Xizhou to curl into a fetal position, desperately shielding his most vulnerable parts. The agony was immense; he could only whimper apologies and beg for mercy. “Aning, Yinyin and I didn’t do that. You… stop kicking me, Aning… please…”
But Shi Ning was beyond caring about his pleas. Driven by a surge of pent-up fury, she continued to kick him mercilessly. Her own feet began to ache, and finally, gasping for breath, she stopped. Without a backward glance, she turned and left, pouting in annoyance. “I should have worn high heels today,” she muttered, regretting not being able to truly crush him.
Shen Xizhou lay curled on the ground, cradling himself, waiting a long time to ensure Shi Ning was truly gone. Only then did he slowly push himself up, touching the corner of his bleeding mouth. “Shi Ning beat me,” he mused, a bizarre thought forming in his pain-addled mind. “She must have done it for Qin Heye to see, so she could better coax him into giving me the West City land.” Yes! he concluded, his delusion firmly taking root. Shi Ning’s brutal assault today could only be a dramatic show to secure him the coveted West City land!
Meanwhile, Shi Qingyin had chased them outside and spotted Qin Heye standing alone beneath a tree, smoking. The streetlights cast a soft glow on him, the smoke swirling around his figure, imbuing him with a heartbreaking aura of sadness, brokenness, and abandonment. It must be because of Shi Ning! Shi Qingyin fumed with jealousy.
She smoothed her hair, then subtly adjusted her one-shoulder dress, revealing a tantalizing expanse of her bare shoulder, collarbone, and the curve of her chest. Once satisfied with her alluring display, she approached Qin Heye, stopping just a step away. Looking up at him, her eyes filled with feigned admiration, she softly whispered, “Brother-in-law.”
Qin Heye frowned, taking two steps back, putting distance between them. He didn’t even look at her, his gaze fixed across the street. “Is there something wrong?”
Shi Qingyin moved to stand beside him. “Brother-in-law, please don’t blame my sister. Her five-year relationship with Brother Xizhou has always been paramount in her heart, more important than even her own father.”
Qin Heye remained silent, taking a deep drag from his cigarette and exhaling slowly, the melancholic atmosphere around him intensifying. Shi Qingyin, misinterpreting his silence as anger towards Shi Ning, pressed on indignantly. “It’s just that my sister truly went too far this time. She’s been married to you for three years, and in all that time, she’s been meeting male models outside, even wanting a divorce. She’s used your identity to secure Brother Xizhou countless resources.” Shi Qingyin leaned in conspiratorially. “And now she actually wants you to give Brother Xizhou such a vital piece of land in the west of the city. It’s truly excessive! She even publicly humiliated you in front of everyone, siding with her sweetheart. It’s just…”
“She didn’t go as far as you,” Qin Heye interrupted, his voice cutting and deep.
“Ah?” Shi Qingyin blinked, staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. “What do you mean, Brother-in-law?”
Qin Heye’s gaze turned frigid. “You ran to your brother-in-law to say your sister was overdoing things and to badmouth her?”
Shi Qingyin bit her lip, feigning distress. “No, I said these things because I felt sorry for what my sister did.”
“I’m your brother-in-law, not your fiancé,” Qin Heye retorted, his voice devoid of emotion. “I don’t need an outsider like you to feel sorry for me! You should be uniting with your sister for Shen Xizhou and persuading me to give him the West City land.”
This was the most Shi Qingyin had ever heard Qin Heye say to her, yet not a single word was what she wanted to hear. She felt even more wronged, her eyes reddening as if he had brought her to tears. “I only help what is right, not just relatives. After all, my sister has gone too far.”
Qin Heye didn’t even look at her, merely exhaling another puff of smoke. “I know.”
Shi Qingyin looked up hopefully. “You know I…”
“That’s what green tea girls say,” Qin Heye’s cold words sliced through the air, chilling Shi Qingyin to the bone.
Her voice became even more aggrieved. “Brother-in-law~”
“Cousin, you’re wearing such cool and sexy clothes, and you’re speaking with a strained voice. Are you trying to seduce your brother-in-law? Or are you standing on the street soliciting customers?” Shi Ning’s voice, sharp and clear, cut in from the side, drawing curious glances from passers-by towards Shi Qingyin.
Shi Qingyin bit her lip in humiliation. “Sister, you’ve misunderstood. I was just advising my brother-in-law not to be angry with you. How can you humiliate me like this?”
Qin Heye, seeing Shi Ning approach, tossed his cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his foot. Shi Ning came to his side, taking his arm, and openly surveyed Shi Qingyin from head to toe.
“A perfectly good one-shoulder dress, but you’ve pulled it down like a tube top, revealing most of your chest, even your ‘Grandpa’s head’ is exposed,” Shi Ning sneered. “Don’t you look exactly like a streetwalker like that?” Her comment drew stares, and several men emerging from the club, already tipsy, began to whistle suggestively at Shi Qingyin’s exposed chest.
Shi Qingyin’s face went white. She quickly tugged her skirt up, still weakly protesting, “I truly was trying to persuade my brother-in-law, after all, you went too far tonight.”
Shi Ning chuckled. “You claim you were persuading your brother-in-law not to be angry with me, yet every word you uttered was a slander against me. Classic green tea rhetoric. Fortunately, my husband is an expert at tea tasting, otherwise, your instigation would have caused a quarrel between us.”
Shi Qingyin glanced at Qin Heye, and seeing that he hadn’t pushed Shi Ning away, and that his cold demeanor had softened, her eyes widened in disbelief. Shi Ning had asked Qin Heye to give the West City land to Shen Xizhou, yet he still protected her, wasn’t angry with her, and didn’t quarrel with her? Moreover, when Shi Ning arrived, Qin Heye hadn’t even spared Shi Qingyin a single glance.
“I truly am helping my sister,” Shi Qingyin insisted, her voice aggrieved. “If my sister misunderstands me like this, I can’t do anything about it.”
Shi Ning snorted, then looked up at Qin Heye. “Don’t call her green tea. Good green tea is fresh and pleasant.”
Qin Heye agreed, a hint of a smirk on his face. “Indeed. Then she’s the dregs of used green tea.” To be called the dregs of used green tea, something to be thrown in the trash—it was like calling her trash! Shi Qingyin’s face turned green. She bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Qin Heye, but he still wouldn’t meet her gaze.
“Actually, a green tea bitch is okay…” Shi Ning began again.
“Woo, woo, my sister is such a bully!” Shi Qingyin burst into tears, covering her face as she turned and ran. She didn’t run fast, expecting Qin Heye to reprimand Shi Ning harshly. But there was no rebuke! Qin Heye didn’t even raise his voice at Shi Ning!
As she wept, a greasy old man blocked her path, his eyes lustful. “Beauty, how much for one night?”
Shi Qingyin glared at him furiously. “I’m not…”
The old man interrupted. “I’ve been watching you since you came out. I saw you pull your clothes down and expose everything. Isn’t it just to entice customers for a night? I might not be as handsome as that guy,” he said, gesturing to Qin Heye, “but I have money. Is ten thousand yuan enough for one night?” The old man pulled out his wallet, reaching to stuff the money into her hand.
Shi Qingyin cried out in fear and disgust, whirling around to throw herself into Qin Heye’s arms. “Brother-in-law~~ Save me!”