The atmosphere between the two of them suddenly became tense.
The blatant jealousy and hatred in Jiang Baiyu’s eyes were revealed without reservation, displayed clearly right before Su Chengning’s eyes.
Su Chengning felt it was somewhat inexplicable that Jiang Baiyu harbored such intense hatred, as if he wanted to breathe fire and burn Su Chengning to ashes.
Thinking about Jiang Baiyu’s status as the “protagonist shou,” Su Chengning could understand a protagonist looking down on a supporting character but feeling jealous of him?
He found this jealousy utterly absurd, yet upon closer reflection of their relationship, it seemed perfectly logical.
“You hate me very much.”
Putting some distance between them, Su Chengning looked at him with a hint of disdain. “Do you think you have any right to hate me?”
“Is it because of your background? Or your shameless skill at climbing into beds?”
“Or perhaps you’ve mastered that mistress’s knack your mother had?”
His tone was very calm so calm that every word he spoke sounded as inconsequential as saying, “The weather is quite nice today.”
However, these words fell upon Jiang Baiyu’s ears like physical blades, piercing his heart, which was bloated with vanity and greed.
Such naked mockery caused Jiang Baiyu’s delicate and pleasant features to instantly become distorted and terrifying. His eyes turned bloodshot, looking as though he might pounce and bite Su Chengning to death in a fit of madness.
Yet, just before he could lunge, he was pulled back to his senses by Tang Chen’s fury-filled voice.
Tang Chen was lying on the hospital bed; he couldn’t see anyone and couldn’t hear the voices clearly. The anxiety in his heart made him extremely dissatisfied, and he roared toward the door, “Su Chengning, why aren’t you coming in to see me?”
Su Chengning swept a cold gaze over the hospital room, completely indifferent to Tang Chen’s shouting.
He watched the clarity return to Jiang Baiyu’s eyes and was somewhat surprised by this man’s capacity for endurance.
With a soft chuckle, Su Chengning continued, “Do you know how your mother was able to raise you?”
“Of course it was…”
“Su Binghai?”
Before Jiang Baiyu could finish, he was interrupted.
He widened his eyes in slight surprise, seemingly not expecting Su Chengning to utter that name.
“Then do you know who allowed Su Binghai to keep a mistress and raise an illegitimate son outside?”
“What are you talking about?”
Jiang Baiyu was confused by his words.
His father supported their mother-son duo could it be that someone had deliberately allowed and indulged it?
For some reason, the words his mother had spoken to him a few days ago suddenly rushed to his mind, and Jiang Baiyu felt a bad premonition in his heart.
Noticing the change in his expression, Su Chengning suddenly smiled. “It seems you aren’t completely stupid beyond redemption.”
Jiang Baiyu: “…”
“I know you want to replace me,” Su Chengning spoke nonchalantly. “The first step in replacing me is to steal Tang Chen. You thought that by doing so, I would lose my mind, become manic and brainless, and commit stupid acts. Then, you could take the opportunity to replace my position in Su Binghai’s heart and climb your way up to the position of the Su family heir step by step.”
“Do you really think that with your limited brain capacity, you could control the massive Su Group?”
“Su Binghai has the ambition, but he lacks the courage and the ability.”
“That’s why there’s you an equally useless, self-centered illegitimate son.”
“You don’t truly believe the world revolves around you and that you can easily achieve whatever you want, do you?”
Su Chengning looked at him mockingly, watching as Jiang Baiyu’s fair face grew paler and paler.
“Just a mere Tang Chen has made you lose your head with self-satisfaction.”
“He is nothing more than something I don’t want. Only someone like you would think you’ve picked up a treasure, feeling all powerful and fantasizing about being a protagonist.”
Su Chengning’s tone of undisguised disdain was so blunt that Jiang Baiyu was visibly intimidated, stumbling back a few steps in horror.
Seemingly unable to accept Su Chengning’s words, Jiang Baiyu clutched his head and screamed, “You’re wrong! Tang Chen isn’t a ‘thing,’ he is a perfect, flawless man. It’s because you clearly can’t have him that you’re slandering me like this. I just like him, is that a crime?”
Tang Chen didn’t hear Su Chengning’s words, but he heard Jiang Baiyu’s intense declaration of love clearly.
For a moment, he felt a surge of resentment toward Su Chengning. He had no idea what Su Chengning had said to Jiang Baiyu to make him let out such a cry of pain.
He had called Su Chengning here not just to have him visit, but also to ask clearly why he wanted to break off the engagement.
With his typical chauvinism, Tang Chen could not accept Su Chengning initiating the breakup. He not only wanted him to take those words back but also planned to marry Su Chengning as soon as his legs recovered.
Previously, he felt it was too early to marry and barely cared about the engagement. But ever since Su Chengning caught evidence of his cheating, Tang Chen felt it was better to be married.
At least once they were married, Su Chengning would have to revolve around him and listen to him.
By then, even if he kept Jiang Baiyu on the side, so what? He would be the head of the household; what he said would go.
Tang Chen’s eyes darkened, and he somewhat regretted calling Su Chengning today.
He grabbed his phone, intending to call back the bodyguards he had sent away.
“I never said you couldn’t like him.”
Su Chengning’s voice drifted in from outside the room, interrupting Tang Chen’s thumb on the phone.
He looked up blankly, still unable to see the situation outside, but able to hear their conversation.
Su Chengning said, “If your ‘liking’ involves playing mind games in front of me, then don’t bother. I truly don’t care for it.”
“A jumping clown dancing in front of me must I cooperate with his performance?” Su Chengning sneered. “I haven’t reached such a low level of status yet.”
“Furthermore, for a clown like you, crushing you is as easy as crushing an ant.”
Su Chengning curled his lips. “If you don’t believe me, feel free to dance even more vigorously.”
Leaving those words behind, he didn’t bother giving Jiang Baiyu another glance. Under the other’s angry, bloodshot gaze, he walked straight past him and pushed open the door to the hospital room.
Tang Chen was still looking up at the door. The moment his eyes met Su Chengning’s look of contempt, his expression turned stern.
“Chengning, what you said was too much,” he criticized, acting as if he were going to stand up for Jiang Baiyu.
“Was it too much?”
Su Chengning spoke dismissively. He walked over, pulled a chair at random, and sat down. His posture was arrogant, completely disregarding Tang Chen’s words.
“I can be even more ‘too much.’ Do you want to try me?”
In one sentence, the further accusations Tang Chen was brewing were choked back in his throat.
Feeling his self-esteem wounded by Su Chengning’s cold and decisive words, Tang Chen glared at him in dissatisfaction.
“No matter what, Baiyu is still…”
“Is your lover?” Su Chengning laughed. “That’s not right either. You and I have nothing to do with each other now. Even if you treat him as your new boyfriend, I have no objection.”
“He can’t wait to be your boyfriend anyway.”
“Mr. Tang, let me congratulate you first on your new boyfriend.”
He crossed his legs, folded his hands over his knee, and spoke words of blessing with coldness in his eyes.
“I wonder when you two will tie the knot? I should prepare a wedding gift in advance.” Su Chengning paused. “After all, in the eyes of outsiders, we are considered ‘exes’.”
What a disgusting “ex” relationship.
Su Chengning thought to himself with a sense of nausea.
This was the first time Tang Chen directly faced Su Chengning’s sharp and ruthless eloquence. The words left him both furious and agitated, but from the very beginning, he had lost the upper hand.
“It was just an affair. Is it necessary to talk to me like this?”
After thinking it over, Tang Chen felt Su Chengning was making a mountain out of a molehill. “There’s no need to sentence me to death like this. It’s not like I don’t love you. Men always make small mistakes; just let it pass. By holding onto it constantly, aren’t you being too narrow-minded?”
Su Chengning was stunned by Tang Chen’s thick-skinned attempt to shift the blame. How could a person possess such an incredibly stupid thought process?
He truly didn’t understand. How could someone like this be designated as the “protagonist gong”?
The word “stupid” was no longer enough to describe Tang Chen’s image in Su Chengning’s eyes.
He somewhat regretted coming to see Tang Chen. It would have been better to peacefully watch Tang Mo play basketball skillfully on the court it would have been both easy on the eyes and pleasing to his heart.
“My apologies, I think I’ve come to the wrong place today.”
He stood up, ignored Tang Chen’s resentful gaze, and walked toward the door.
Before opening the door, Su Chengning stopped and said one last thing to Tang Chen: “Don’t bother calling me again. We no longer have any relationship.”
If the world’s consciousness wanted so badly to bring the protagonist gong and shou together, he would naturally let them have their wish.
But he had no desire to have any further involvement with them.
In the basketball gymnasium, the game ended in an overwhelming victory. The people from Jing University were all incredibly happy, except for Tang Mo, whose handsome face was clouded and devoid of any joy following the win.
“You said he went to the hospital to see Tang Chen?”
Wang Shu nodded hurriedly. He carefully observed Tang Mo’s expression and asked, “Are you going to the hospital?”
Tang Mo glanced at him and said with a somewhat vicious tone, “No, I’m going home.”
Since Tang Chen was being so persistent and lingering, he would have to find something for him to do.