Sang Xiao couldn’t be bothered with Kuang Qingshang, and she decided she would never watch a game again. She couldn’t understand it anyway, and she couldn’t even calm down to write her lesson plans.
Sang Xiao was now filled with regret. Why did she care about Kuang Qingshang’s life just now? If she hadn’t called, she wouldn’t have known anything, and she wouldn’t be so upset.
Sang Xiao threw herself onto the bed, tossing and turning while venting to Bian Yan, her screen filled with endless “ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.”
Bian Yan video-called her: “What’s wrong?”
Sang Xiao quickly summarized what had just happened, furiously complaining, “Actually, I was mentally prepared, but I’m still so angry. Kuang Qingshang is a liar.”
She should have thought of it. Bian Yan showed her the gossip right from the start: Kuang Qingshang had a messy private life, a secret lover, and was even suspected of causing someone’s death while “playing around.” But during the past few months of getting along, Kuang Qingshang hadn’t shown any of that, so Sang Xiao ignored it all. In fact, didn’t it all become clear last time when Kuang Qingshang had a stress reaction in the middle of the night and choked her neck?
Kuang Qingshang was physically superior to her by a large margin; even her safety depended on whether Kuang Qingshang wanted her to be safe.
The more Sang Xiao thought about it, the colder her heart grew. She had actually tried to improve their relationship during this time! They should have remained strangers from the start, each minding their own business.
The worst part was that Kuang Qingshang was toying with her while pretending to be so earnest.
All that talk about we are married, slowly cultivating feelings, and coming to her if anything happens—but behind the scenes, she was secretly having a wild time.
Sang Xiao was so angry that her chest felt tight. She didn’t know why she was so upset. She had been forewarned, she had her guard up, and she should have expected this day to come.
But Kuang Qingshang had acted so normal lately, making her feel that even if they didn’t have a normal marriage, it wouldn’t be too ridiculous. Yet now, Kuang Qingshang’s true colors were exposed.
Bian Yan, for once, didn’t blindly side with Sang Xiao. She said, “You still have to ask Kuang Qingshang about this in person, right? You can’t just take one side’s word for it. Uh, maybe she was really busy with something else in bed.”
Sang Xiao: “…” No one would believe that.
“Or maybe there was no ‘in bed’ thing at all? We don’t even know who that woman is. You need to think about this calmly.”
Sang Xiao couldn’t calm down. She huffed, “You weren’t like this when you showed me Kuang Qingshang’s gossip before.”
Bian Yan said, “I want to be objective now. You’re already blinded by the situation. If I were as irrational as you, wouldn’t we both be tricked without knowing it? Before, I told you about Kuang Qingshang’s gossip because you weren’t being cautious about marrying her.”
Sang Xiao fell silent, remembering their childhood. They had always been partners like this. She knew Bian Yan was looking out for her.
She angrily said, “Anyway, I don’t want to talk to her anymore. Let her work herself to death in bed.”
Sang Xiao kept refusing to answer the phone.
Meanwhile, Kuang Qingshang was in the middle of a fit.
When Kuang Qingshang came out of the restroom, she saw her teammate Du Yan holding her phone. She frowned, walked over, and took the phone back.
Du Yan smiled, “Your phone kept ringing just now, so I answered it for you. You don’t mind, do you?”
Kuang Qingshang’s eyes were dark and deep; she didn’t speak. She quickly unlocked the phone and opened the call log. She clearly saw Sang Xiao’s incoming call. The call time was only 38 seconds, but that was enough for a few sentences.
Before she could ask.
Du Yan beside her started talking on her own.
“The one noted as Sang Xiao, she seemed to be looking for you. Her voice sounded like a little white rabbit, so obedient. I played a small prank on her, but before I could explain properly, she hung up.”
The moment Du Yan finished speaking, Kuang Qingshang slammed her fist on the table with a “bang!” She looked at Du Yan with a cold, menacing expression, her eyes icy, startling everyone around them.
“Excuse me, are we close?”
Du Yan secretly curled her lips and chuckled, “Don’t be like that. It was just a joke. Just call her back and explain.”
“Can’t you even take a little joke?” A man also chimed in, “We all heard it, it was only a few words.”
Kuang Qingshang ignored them, turned around, and called Sang Xiao. However, it was hung up after just two rings. She kept calling, and it kept being hung up. Sang Xiao wasn’t responding to her at all.
Kuang Qingshang put down her phone and turned back to face Du Yan.
Du Yan sensed the atmosphere was wrong: “That person is too petty. She can’t take such a small joke. Or is she your girlfriend? Why don’t you try calling again? I’ll help you explain; it’ll definitely be fine.”
Kuang Qingshang furrowed her brows as if she had heard the funniest joke, and she sneered, “You’ll help me explain? Who caused this misunderstanding? Who allowed you to touch my phone without permission?”
Du Yan was in the wrong. She abruptly stood up, “Kuang Qingshang, what do you mean? I already said your phone kept ringing, so I answered it. Everyone here can testify.”
Kuang Qingshang’s phone had always been on silent. Her fingers tightened. She suddenly grabbed the collar of Du Yan’s shirt. Du Yan was about the same height as her but was lifted slightly. Kuang Qingshang warned her, “You know best whether you were joking or provoking. You’d better pray your ‘joke’ doesn’t have too much of an impact.”
The atmosphere between the two was tense and confrontational.
Du Yan was weaker but spoke loudly: “Kuang Qingshang, who do you think you are? If you’ve got the guts, hit me! Go on, hit me!”
Kuang Qingshang looked at her calmly. In her mind’s eye, she had already seen the image of the other person’s face being bloody and bruised. Du Yan shivered subconsciously. She had never seen eyes like that—like looking at a dead person.
The onlookers started to mediate.
“Alright, alright, it was just a joke. It’s also Du Yan’s fault for being nosy and answering the phone. Little Kuang, don’t be angry.”
“It’s not worth arguing over such a small matter.”
“We’ll all be seeing each other often.”
Kuang Qingshang released Du Yan, who fell weakly onto the floor. A camera in the shadows captured the whole thing. In the next second, news of Kuang Qingshang’s disagreement with her teammate spread like wildfire, even with a video claiming Kuang Qingshang violently beat her teammate.
The video was shaky, and the sound was very noisy. You could only see Kuang Qingshang’s aggressive posture as if she was about to hit someone, and Du Yan was clearly the vulnerable one.
“What did they argue about?” “Is Kuang Qingshang’s temper that bad?” “She’s always been arrogant. I heard she’s very difficult to get along with, and she rarely participates in activities.” “As an old fan, Kuang Qingshang was a weirdo when she first came to the club. Those eyes, tsk tsk… She’s much better now.” “But she’s good-looking and strong, so the fans still like her.” “Ooh, drama! Can Kuang Qingshang still play in the next game?” “Nothing major happened, of course she can play.” “She didn’t play today, did she?” “She was probably intentionally letting the rookie play today.”
It was all just gossip; it hadn’t escalated into a big problem.
While lying in bed, Sang Xiao posted a moment on her WeChat, a screaming groundhog emoji. She deleted it two seconds later, thinking she was being quite childish.
Her phone suddenly vibrated, almost falling onto her face. Sang Xiao thought it was Kuang Qingshang, but when she looked closely, it was Feng Shu’s call.
Sang Xiao quickly sat up. She didn’t expect Feng Shu to call her. Did Kuang Qingshang go complain? She hesitated but answered the phone right before it was about to hang up automatically.
“Sang Xiao, are you still angry?” Feng Shu’s tone was gentle, as if she was just calling for a chat.
Sang Xiao rubbed her face: “No.”
“Did you two have some misunderstanding? Qingshang said you won’t answer her calls. Look, she’s so anxious she came to find me. She’s a grown woman and still comes to her mom.”
Sang Xiao: “…”
Hearing that Feng Shu was deliberately teasing Kuang Qingshang, Sang Xiao said, “It’s nothing, really, it’s just…”
She wasn’t sure if Feng Shu knew about Kuang Qingshang’s promiscuity, so she hesitated.
Feng Shu, however, thought it was a secret between the two wives and stopped her: “You don’t need to tell me. It’s better for you two to clarify things yourselves, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” Sang Xiao responded.
Right after hanging up Feng Shu’s call, Kuang Qingshang sent a video invitation. Sang Xiao rejected it. She was a mess right now. She only accepted the video call after tidying her hair slightly.
In the video, Kuang Qingshang was wearing a casual hoodie and said, “I’m sorry for making you misunderstand.”
Sang Xiao didn’t say anything. She hoped it was a misunderstanding.
Kuang Qingshang explained, “My teammate answered my phone without permission. She and I don’t get along, so what she said can’t be trusted.”
Sang Xiao didn’t know whether to believe her.
“We had a team meal today. I accidentally spilled a drink on my clothes, so I went to the restroom to clean up. When I came out, I saw my teammate holding my phone.”
Sang Xiao was very indifferent: “Oh.”
Kuang Qingshang was sincere: “Sang Xiao, I genuinely want to spend the rest of my life with you. We already discussed this, so I would never do such a thing.”
Sang Xiao suddenly wasn’t sure: “Didn’t we agree last time to play the field separately?”
The last time Kuang Qingshang suddenly wanted to talk to her, they agreed to live together but sleep in separate rooms.
Kuang Qingshang frowned, wondering why she had this misunderstanding: “I absolutely did not say anything like that. I have been trying my best to manage our relationship well.”
Sang Xiao really wanted to believe her.
“Then what about all that gossip about you?”