Chapter 8

"...I'd only ever heard that some men thought wives were inferior to concubines, and concubines inferior to stolen affairs. I never expected the women of the Shen family to think food from someone else's pot tasted better too. What a pity—such open-minded character paired with such a plain, washed-out face."

Unlike Yao Pingting's dazzling beauty and even somewhat aggressive aura, Shen Manyao's beauty was like a river newly thawed in spring, carrying a warm and clear charm all its own. She was by no means as plain and washed-out as Yao Pingting claimed. Yao Pingting had only said it because she resented Shen Manyao for stealing her man and deliberately sought to despise her enemy on a strategic level.

But Mrs. Shen did not know what Yao Pingting was thinking. Hearing Yao Pingting grow increasingly outrageous, the guilt she had felt over Shen Manyao and Chi Junrui immediately turned into blazing fury. She sneered at Yao Pingting. "I've long heard that Miss Yao had a sharp tongue. Seeing it today, the rumors were indeed true. A woman who can't hold on to a man's heart shouldn't always blame him for being fickle. Put yourself in his shoes—who would want to spend every day with a sharp-tongued, competitive, utterly unfeminine tomboy? So I advise Miss Yao to watch her mouth."

Yao Pingting had mocked her only because Shen Manyao and Chi Junrui's scandal had been exposed in public, leaving her humiliated, and she wanted to vent her anger. Once she had said her piece, if Mrs. Shen had softened her tone, she would not have continued pressing the matter. Yet not only did Mrs. Shen refuse to reflect on her own faults, she even used the matter to jab at Yao Pingting's wound and taunt her. Yao Pingting was naturally spoiled and overbearing. A few words from Mrs. Shen would never make her doubt herself, much less when Mrs. Shen was on the wrong side of the incident. Her anger flared, and without a second thought, she raised her hand and slapped Mrs. Shen across the face. After the crisp smack, Mrs. Shen covered her burning cheek and stared at Yao Pingting in shock. She had always known Yao Pingting was willful and difficult to deal with, but she had never imagined Yao Pingting could be this unreasonable, daring to strike an elder in public.

The clash between Mrs. Shen and Yao Pingting immediately drew everyone's attention. The Yao family and the Li family, who had been exchanging pleasantries, as well as the Chi family and Shen family, who had been arguing nearby, all hurried over. The remaining guests saw that things had escalated beyond the point where they could keep watching. Afraid of getting dragged into the mess, they abandoned their previous dawdling and swiftly, smoothly left the scene—

It was not easy for them to leave so quickly while maintaining their composure in those outfits.

For a time, only the four families involved remained. Seeing Mrs. Shen's red, swollen face, Father Shen frowned in displeasure. "The Yao family's upbringing is truly extraordinary. Our Shen family is no match for it."

Before he had even finished, Yao Pingting spoke even more fiercely. "Your family's traditions are what truly leave me in awe. You can't tell right from wrong and twist black into white. Your daughter stole someone else's fiancé, yet as her mother, you're not ashamed—instead, you use it to mock me as a tomboy who deserved to lose her man. And Mr. Shen, without even asking what happened, you want to shove all responsibility onto me. Unfortunately, I'm not from the Li family. I don't have the magnanimity to forgive someone after they've been cuckolded. You people are covered in filth and too busy saving yourselves, yet you dare lecture me? Do you really think the Yao family is made of paper?"

Chapter Eight

Miss Yao, who had stolen the spotlight, was simply too fierce in her way of doing things. She had none of the tactful indirectness demanded by aristocratic etiquette. Wherever her blade pointed, a few words were enough to leave the Shen family speechless. Mrs. Shen had confronted her head-on, only to get slapped. Father Shen had merely offered a slight criticism, yet Yao Pingting responded with a string of threats and rebukes.

Before Yao Qilin and the Li family, Father Shen knew he was in the wrong and could not seriously argue with a junior. He could only snort coldly, his face dark with frost, to express his dissatisfaction. Yet with all that anger trapped in his throat and nowhere to vent it, he felt as though he were burning inside. Humiliated and enraged, Shen Yingbo glanced coldly at Yao Qilin, who was shaking his head with a bitter smile, and at the silent members of the Li family. Overcome with embarrassment, he could only drag Mrs. Shen, whose face was swollen on one side, away to check on their unconscious daughter.

Watching Shen Yingbo and his wife leave in a fury, Yao Qilin, who had remained silent all along, shook his head and smiled bitterly at Father Li. "My daughter..."

Today's matter had originally been a scandal between the Li and Shen families. Although the Yao family had also been implicated, they were not directly involved. Even if gossip tabloids wanted to drag them in afterward, they likely would not dare write too much out of fear of the Yao family's influence. Yao Qilin had therefore planned to send his daughter abroad to relax and let her return once things settled down. Yet Yao Pingting had erupted without a care, beating the Li family to the punch and openly tearing apart all pretense with the Shen family.

Yao Qilin was not afraid of the declining Shen family, but neither did he wish to make such an enemy for no reason. To put it bluntly, the Li family had loaded the gun while the Yao family fired the cannon. All the dirt and stink would be shouldered by his daughter. Once word got out tomorrow, people might criticize the Shen family's upbringing, but his daughter's reputation and good name... it would be hard to say anything pleasant about that.

Yao Qilin felt stifled and thought it unfair to his daughter. The Li family also felt somewhat awkward. They had mainly not expected Yao Pingting to be this savage. Before everyone, her words had struck straight at the heart. This was not merely denying the Shen family their dignity—it was ripping their faces off and throwing them to the ground, then stomping on them several times before stopping.

Unfortunately, extremes invited reversals. Miss Yao's actions had been satisfying, but they also deeply impressed upon everyone her image as rude and furious. To put it crudely, they all came from wealthy and influential families and were skilled at putting on masks. Even if they hated someone enough to grind their teeth, they still had to wear a pleasant smile. Who had ever seen someone like Yao Pingting, who exposed people's sore spots when insulting them and slapped them in the face when fighting them?

Thus, while the prominent families took pleasure in the Shen family's misfortune, they also somewhat understood Chi Junrui—as Mrs. Shen had said, although what Chi Junrui and Shen Manyao had done was shameless, having a girlfriend with Yao Pingting's temperament... any man would worry about losing control of his household.

Naturally, Li Rongxiu was not included among those "people." Having come back from his "previous life" and personally experienced so much, he knew exactly how miserable the final fate of this seemingly arrogant Miss Yao had been—

Without Li Rongxiu exposing Chi Junrui and Shen Manyao's affair in advance, Miss Yao had ultimately been kept in the dark and married Chi Junrui. From then on, the Yao family had naturally devoted all their efforts to supporting their son-in-law's rise. In just a few years, the Chi family's business rapidly expanded, successfully entering Wancheng's top tier. Later, the Li family accidentally discovered Chi Junrui and Shen Manyao's relationship. In their fury, they joined forces with connected relatives by marriage to suppress the Chi family's businesses. Enraged by Chi Junrui's infidelity, Yao Qilin offered no help and merely watched coldly from the sidelines.

Under the Li family's ruthless suppression, the Chi family was plunged into dire straits. More than two-thirds of its total assets evaporated within half a year. After Chi Junrui's repeated pleas to Yao Pingting proved futile, he had no choice but to abandon the Chi family's main real estate and finance businesses and enter the film, television, and new media industries, where the Li family's influence was less entrenched.

During those first two years, Chi Junrui lived miserably. At work, he had to face the Li family's relentless attacks in the business world; at home, he had to endure Yao Pingting's many reprisals. During that period, the Chi family practically kept every newspaper and magazine in Wancheng in business. Li Rongxiu's favorite thing was to open the newspaper every morning and see just how miserable Chi Junrui had become.

That misery continued until Yao Pingting became pregnant. Chi Junrui then seized the chance to kneel before his father-in-law and beg forgiveness, swearing and vowing that his relationship with Shen Manyao had only been a fleeting affair and that the one he truly loved was Yao Pingting. He even used Yao Qilin himself as an example, arguing that Yao Qilin had two mistresses outside besides Mrs. Yao. Since that was the case, Yao Qilin should understand what he had done—though he was somewhat promiscuous, he still knew what mattered most.

For the sake of his future grandchild, and after his daughter pleaded softly with him, Yao Qilin was ultimately forced to lend a hand. Chi Junrui temporarily won his father-in-law's forgiveness, but his shameless remarks offended the Shen family. Shen Yingbo immediately decided to tear up the cooperation between the Shen and Chi families and sent his disgraced daughter abroad. The Shen family's act of kicking him while he was down left Chi Junrui besieged on all sides. At the time, everyone in Wancheng was laughing at the Chi family. Yet Chi Junrui somehow found Shen Yingbo's illegitimate son and repaired relations with the Shen family. After enduring several more years, the Chi family gradually recovered with the help of those two families.

Later, Yao Qilin suddenly died violently, and control of the Yao family fell into Chi Junrui's hands. Less than a year later, Yao Pingting was kidnapped by terrorists while traveling in T Country. Mother and son ultimately died abroad. Shen Manyao endured for more than a decade before finally taking her place and becoming the mistress of the Chi family, exactly as she had wished...

Thinking of all those past events, Li Rongxiu inwardly cursed Chi Junrui as an indestructible cockroach—disgusting and absurdly hard to kill. At the same time, he secretly sympathized with Yao Pingting, this "unconventional heiress" who could not tolerate even a grain of sand in her eyes. Since he had not yet had his fill of watching Yao Pingting curse the Shen family to their faces, he took the initiative to invite her. "It's windy outside. Would Miss Yao like to come in and sit down? Whatever happens, we can discuss it slowly."

Yao Qilin had originally intended to take his daughter and leave first, unwilling to wade into this muddy mess. But on further thought, his daughter had already said everything she should and should not have said, and done everything she should and should not have done. It was too late to withdraw now. Since that was the case, he might as well go inside with the Li family. Even seeing Shen Yingbo's humiliated old face again would be satisfying.

Meanwhile, the Chi family, whom everyone had deliberately ignored, awkwardly stepped forward as well. Yao Pingting had kicked Chi Junrui in the groin earlier, and even now he still felt a burning pain there. Yet because of today's scandal, he did not dare leave first and could only wait nearby for an opportunity. Hearing Li Rongxiu's words, Father Chi secretly gave Chi Junhao a look. Chi Junhao, who fancied himself to share a schoolmate's friendship with Li Rongxiu, could only force himself to step forward. "Young Master Xiu, um..."

If Li Rongxiu had followed the temperament of his previous life, he would never have paid attention to a treacherous, fickle ingrate like Chi Junhao. But in this life, Li Rongxiu had finally managed to "single-handedly" arrange such a show, and he had not yet seen enough. Naturally, he was happy to play with Chi Junhao a little longer. Before Chi Junhao could finish, Li Rongxiu gave Chi Junrui a half-smiling glance and scolded Chi Junhao. "A few days ago, you told me Shen Manyao was dating Lin Junrui. Zhao Qijun said then that this 'Junrui' wasn't that 'Junrui,' but I didn't believe him. Yet in only a few days, there's even proof that my fiancée is carrying someone else's child. Looks like you're quite a competent little brother. At least you're very practiced at spreading rumors."

Chi Junhao flushed bright red at Li Rongxiu's mockery. Just as he was about to say something, Li Rongxiu had already followed his family away. The Chi family looked at one another and could only force themselves to follow behind everyone else.

In the lounge, Shen Manyao had already awakened. Pale-faced, she lay on the bed, tears streaming down her face as she listened to Shen Yingbo's furious scolding. Beside her, Mrs. Shen wept and wailed as she held Shen Manyao, repeatedly crying, "My poor daughter, why is your life so miserable?" The sound further enraged Shen Yingbo, and he began scolding his wife as well, saying that because Mrs. Shen had failed to raise their daughter properly, she had brought disgrace upon the Shen family and made him lose all face before Wancheng's prominent families.

The arrival of the others startled the Shen family, who had been cursing fate and blaming the world inside the room. Shen Yingbo felt even more humiliated and said awkwardly to the Li family, "It is truly our Shen family's fault for failing to discipline our daughter. I ask that our in-laws not—"

"We cannot bear Mr. Shen calling us in-laws," Grandma Li, Mo Wanrou, cut him off before he could finish. She said coldly, "Though our Li family may not be a scholarly, aristocratic household, we are still a respectable family in Wancheng. We cannot accept a granddaughter-in-law who privately pledged herself to another man and became pregnant before marriage. Mr. Shen, please do not speak carelessly."

Mo Wanrou's words threw Mrs. Shen into a panic. She quickly released her tearful daughter, walked up to Mo Wanrou, and said, "Madam, please don't say that. Our Manyao was only young and made a foolish mistake in a moment of confusion—"