Standing up to wedding hazing: the third male lead arrives

"What are you doing!" A shout suddenly came from behind him. Ning Shile snapped out of his thoughts and turned toward the living room.

He looked up to see a Bridesmaid pinned to a table by the Buzz-Cut Man.

That Bridesmaid? Ning Shile frowned slightly. Wasn't she the girl named Tao Wan?

Ning Shile strode forward and heard the Buzz-Cut Man say with a laugh, "What are you shouting for? I haven't even touched you."

"Yeah," the other three chimed in as they crowded closer. "What are you getting so excited about?"

Tao Wan kept backing away in fear, her face pale. "I told you the shoes aren't here. You—you need to stay away from me!"

"So what if we come closer?" The Buzz-Cut Man seemed to find this amusing and even reached out. "We're supposed to take your word for it? Don't we have to check?"

Tao Wan turned to flee, but the Buzz-Cut Man grabbed her, his tone scornful. "What, you're that precious? Isn't a Bridesmaid supposed to entertain us?"

"Yeah, who are you trying to fool?" The other three men laughed too, reaching out to press down on Tao Wan's shoulders.

"What—what are you doing?" Tao Wan demanded, but the men had already surrounded her and pinned her to the table.

Tao Wan's hands trembled uncontrollably as she struggled violently, tears spilling from her eyes. "Let me go! Are you crazy? Let me go...!"

The harder she struggled, the more excited they became. They held her down on the table and groped her, finding her cries amusing enough to laugh at.

They smeared the cake on the table into Tao Wan's hair, then started tugging at her neckline.

"Stop it!" Tao Wan's hair had come loose. She shoved at the men's arms, her tear-soaked lashes clumped together, looking utterly helpless.

The men acted as though they hadn't heard her. Laughing, they squeezed her breasts a few times, then reached under her skirt.

"...! No! Don't touch me!"

The humiliation broke Tao Wan in an instant. She screamed, sobbed, and struggled on the table, but the difference in their size and strength was too great. She couldn't break free.

"You scumbags!"

Clenching his fists, Ning Shile charged forward, yanked the man at the front away, and put out an arm to shield Tao Wan. "What the hell are you doing?!"

With the man pulled away, Tao Wan tumbled off the table in terror. She crouched on the floor, hugging her arms, trembling with fear and sobbing softly without stopping.

Ning Shile's breathing came fast, his blood boiling as he glared at the men before him like a furious little beast.

The Buzz-Cut Man leading them was unconcerned. He didn't think Ning Shile posed much of a threat; if anything, he found this entertaining.

An angry little beauty was pretty fun, too.

The Buzz-Cut Man chuckled and reached to lift Ning Shile's chin. "You want to—ugh!"

Ning Shile seized the Buzz-Cut Man's arm and twisted it behind his back with a crack.

"Ow, ow, ow—!"

"Apologize to Tao Wan." Ning Shile's usual gentleness vanished, his voice turning cold with disgust.

"A-apologize for what?" The Buzz-Cut Man grimaced in pain. Being restrained by Ning Shile in front of his buddies wounded his pride, and he craned his neck to curse at him. "You're playing the fucking hero now? Who are you trying to impress?"

As he spoke, the Buzz-Cut Man bent his other arm and drove his elbow at Ning Shile.

Ning Shile's expression shifted slightly. He dodged sideways, then raised his leg, rotated his hips, and sent the Buzz-Cut Man sprawling with a high roundhouse kick.

With a thud, the Buzz-Cut Man slammed into the floor.

"Boss!" Seeing their leader beaten, the other three grabbed whatever was at hand and swung at them. But they had barely taken two steps before Zheng Ye kicked them down. He grabbed one by the hair and slammed his head into the wall.

His movements were fast, precise, and ruthless, leaving them no time to react.

With a bang, the man was pinned against the wall, his mouth full of blood.

The people around them cried out.

Chu Ran glanced at Tao Wan, walked over, and draped his jacket over her before gently helping her up.

"What happened?" The commotion in the living room was so loud that Han Jin came out to check. His expression changed instinctively at the sight of the chaos.

"Did something happen?" Seeing Han Jin's expression, Bai Qiongyu came out as well.

The first thing she saw was Tao Wan standing in a corner with disheveled hair, bruised wrists, vacant eyes, and tears still on her face.

She and Tao Wan were best friends. The sight stunned her, anguish and anger surging through her as her voice rose. "What on earth happened here?"

She glared at the men sprawled on the floor, then turned to Han Jin. "Are these your friends?"

Han Jin came to his senses and stammered, "Ah, yes. I was worried things wouldn't be lively enough, so I invited a few childhood buddies."

He hurried over to the Buzz-Cut Man and asked anxiously, "What did you do?"

The bride walked over to Tao Wan.

Chu Ran stepped aside at just the right moment.

The bride quickly drew Tao Wan into her arms, straightened her clothes, and gently asked what had happened.

The wedding's festive atmosphere had descended into chaos.

Everyone murmured among themselves.

Through her tears, Tao Wan recounted what had happened.

"What? Harassing the bridesmaid?!" The bride's eyes widened. She had never imagined that bridesmaid hazing would happen at her own wedding.

And if things really had happened that way, it wasn't hazing at all. It was molestation. It was humiliation!

Bai Qiongyu pointed at Han Jin and snapped, "Do you have any idea what your friends did?!"

Han Jin came forward, waving his hands as if to explain.

Bai Qiongyu cut him off sharply. "I will absolutely not tolerate something like this!"

"Make your friends apologize!" Bai Qiongyu tore off her veil and flung it to the floor. "Or this wedding is off!"

Silence fell around them.

Tao Wan knew Bai Qiongyu's temperament. Afraid that her best friend really would call off the wedding over what had happened to her, she hurriedly tugged at the bride's arm, her eyes red. "I—I'm okay. Mr. Zheng and the others helped me..."

"Please don't ruin your happiness because of me."

Hearing that, Ning Shile almost couldn't hold himself back. [Don't talk her out of it, Tao Wan!]

[It would be better if she didn't marry him! Han Jin isn't nearly as nice as he seems. It's all an act! He's a gambler! A hardened gambler!]

Han Jin could only pull the Buzz-Cut Man aside and speak to him quietly.

After a long while, the Buzz-Cut Man reluctantly muttered, "Sorry."

Bai Qiongyu glared at him. "Not to me. To Tao Wan."

The Buzz-Cut Man looked at Tao Wan. "Sorry. Everyone does this back home. Besides, we only did it because you're pretty."

[What do you mean, you only did it because she's pretty?]

Ning Shile gritted his teeth in anger.

[I should've kicked you a couple more times!]

The other three followed suit, though their apologies were far from sincere. "Sorry."

"We were only joking."

"Don't take it to heart, pretty girl."

Tao Wan did take it to heart. What they had done had already hurt her.

But she didn't want to ruin her best friend's wedding because of herself. Bai Qiongyu had nearly been thrown out by the Bai Family over this marriage. She truly loved Han Jin and had been looking forward to the wedding so much. Tao Wan didn't want to shatter her best friend's hopes.

She wiped away her tears, lifted her face with a smile, and answered softly, "It's okay."

Ning Shile truly ached for Tao Wan.

[...Friendship between girls really is something incredible.]

Because of this incident, they skipped the remaining activities, including finding the shoes and answering questions. Bai Qiongyu followed Han Jin into the elevator, still looking unhappy.

Ning Shile and the others followed them inside.

"Hey, wait!" a man called out. He rushed over and squeezed into the elevator a second before the doors closed.

In his haste, he accidentally bumped into Ning Shile and quickly said, "Sorry."

"It's fine." Ning Shile smiled and shook his head, rubbing his shoulder.

[He's pretty strong.]

The man paused and glanced at Ning Shile in surprise.

Seeing nothing unusual in Ning Shile's expression, he assumed he had misheard. He smiled and took Bai Qiongyu's arm. "Sis, how come you're not reacting to seeing me?"

"Huh?" Bai Qiongyu instinctively pulled her arm back and turned to look at him in surprise. After a few seconds, her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. "Qiongyu! When did you get back?"

Bai Qiongyu brightened, shaking his sister's arm like an excited big dog. "My big sister's getting married. Of course her loyal little lackey had to come home~"

[Bai Qiongyu?]

Ning Shile's eyes widened. [Isn't he Su Jinyu's childhood friend, Bai Qiongyu—the protagonist shou's childhood sweetheart?!]

[Good grief, an elevator full of romantic rivals! The whole set's here!!]

Hearing this, Bai Qiongyu was even more startled. He turned to look at Ning Shile.

What did he mean, an elevator full of romantic rivals?

Su Jinyu? Did he know Jinyu?