“He wouldn’t stoop that low, would he? After all we’ve been through, would he really bully my mom just because I mentioned breaking up?”
The mere thought of this possibility filled Jiang Shining with utter disappointment.
What a scumbag!
She hoped he wouldn’t turn out to be as bad as she imagined.
Jiang Shining headed straight across the hall.
Bang, bang.
Bang, bang.
“Qin Wang!” she shouted toward apartment 502, but there was no response from behind the door.
Was he not home?
Or… was he avoiding her?
Based on her three months of experience dating him, Jiang Shining didn’t think he was the type to do something so low.
Her expression shifted.
After calling out a few more times with no response, she hurried downstairs.
Jiang Wan’s pancake stall was only a few hundred meters from the apartment, just a few minutes away even at a run.
Cursing Qin Wang under her breath, she sprinted toward the stall.
From a distance, Jiang Shining could already hear her mother’s sobs and the arrogant, taunting voices of men.
Inside the stall, stools were overturned everywhere, and several red plastic chairs lay shattered on the ground.
Her delicate, gentle mother was slumped on the floor, weeping pitifully, while a group of men approached her with ill intentions.
This was a scene that had played out almost daily before she had pushed open the door of her neighbor’s apartment.
With just one glance, Jiang Shining knew these men weren’t Qin Wang’s subordinates.
After dating Qin Wang for so long, she had come to recognize all his men.
Without hesitation, she pulled out her phone and dialed Qin Wang.
Not far away, in a private room at a bar
The room was packed, and empty bottles littered the floor.
Qin Wang sat slumped in his seat, downing glass after glass.
The beer was too weak, almost tasteless like water.
Wang Bing, a new recruit, watched his boss with a pained expression. “Has the boss been dumped by that woman you guys mentioned again?”
“Shh!” Lao Hei quickly covered the recruit’s mouth, glaring at him. “Watch your words!”
“Brother Qin said we have to call her ‘sister-in-law,’ and mentioning her now? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Lao Hei felt like giving this foolish recruit a good beating.
Why bring up such a sore subject?
Out of the corner of his eye, Lao Hei caught his boss’s dark, piercing gaze. He quickly forced a smile and explained, “He’s new, doesn’t know the rules.”
Qin Wang looked away and downed another glass.
For the past week, he had come here to drink almost every day.
He couldn’t understand why Jiang Shining wanted to break up with him.
After all, she was the one who had pursued him in the first place.
Everything had been going so well…
He slammed another glass down, the sound ringing sharply against the table.
He didn’t want to talk about Jiang Shining in front of others.
Qin Wang scanned the room and asked, “Where’s Xiao Liu?”
Lao Hei explained, “Xiao Liu got a girlfriend. Heard she works as a waitress at a tea restaurant, so he’s trying to earn some extra money.”
Having a girlfriend.
How nice.
Qin Wang nodded and didn’t press further.
Just then, a phone rang.
He asked, “Whose phone is that?”
The men around him checked their pockets but quickly put their phones back.
Lao Hei spoke up, “Brother Qin, I think… it’s yours.”
Qin Wang froze for a moment, then, as if realizing something, hurriedly pulled out his phone.
When he saw the name on the screen, his eyes narrowed, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Looking for me?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
But the next moment, Jiang Shining’s voice came through, panicked and choked with sobs.
“Qin Wang, my… my mom’s stall is in trouble. There are so many people here. I’m so… so scared.”
Fear, helplessness.
Those emotions seemed to travel clearly through the phone right into his ears.
Qin Wang could almost picture Jiang Shining surrounded and threatened, with himself as her only lifeline.
His heart clenched.
A flash of ruthlessness instantly appeared in his eyes. He tightened his grip on the phone, suppressing all his emotions, trying to keep his tone as gentle as possible.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I’ll be right there.”
After saying that, he hung up, stood up, and swept a glance over the guys around him.
On the street.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Shining wiped away the nonexistent tears from the corner of her eye. The fear in her eyes gradually faded.
It really wasn’t Qin Wang’s people.
Reaching this conclusion, Jiang Shining felt a slight sense of relief.
At least she hadn’t misjudged the person.
Now she just needed to wait for her boyfriend to arrive.
Thinking this, Jiang Shining turned her gaze back to the mixed-grain pancake stall. But when she saw the situation clearly, her expression changed drastically.
At the pancake stall.
Jiang Wan was clutching her apron, trying to lean back as much as possible, while several men crowded in close to her.
“Don’t… don’t come any closer!”
Most of the young people in the old neighborhood had gone to work in other cities, let alone encountering a beautiful woman like Jiang Wan, who had such a great figure and was as stunning as a model.
The key was she looked so pitiful and delicate.
Facing her, people even overlooked the traces time had left on her face.
“What are you afraid of, beautiful? Have a drink with us, just a chat over some drinks. We promise to look after you from now on, so you won’t have to run this shabby pancake stall anymore.”
As they spoke, they leered at Jiang Wan, one of them already reaching out to touch the back of her hand.
Their desperate, lustful looks made Jiang Wan both humiliated and terrified, trembling all over.
Seeing Jiang Wan like this, Jiang Shining couldn’t wait for Qin Wang to arrive. She rushed out.
“Stop!”
She shouted at the men.
When Jiang Wan saw her daughter, her eyes reddened, and her nose instantly stung.
“Ning…”
The thugs also turned to look behind them.
But when they saw who was there, they all froze in unison.
Beautiful.
Almost too beautiful.
Jiang Shining’s smooth black hair cascaded under the moonlight, her fair skin like warm jade seemed to glow, and she was heading straight toward them.
As the daughter of a delicate, innocent female lead, Jiang Shining bore an eighty percent resemblance to Jiang Wan in her youth.
“Brother Qiang, who… who is this beauty? She looks even younger and prettier than the last one.”
“How should I know? Where did two beauties come from in this neighborhood?”
Brother Qiang’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared fixedly at Jiang Shining.
When Jiang Shining saw her mother on the ground, she quickly helped her up and shielded her behind her back, looking at the men with full alertness.
“What do you want!”
“I’m warning you, don’t lay a hand on my mom!”
Brother Qiang sneered, “Mom?”
“I thought some clueless guy was trying to be a hero saving a damsel. Turns out it’s buy one, get one free!”
Brother Qiang felt like he’d hit the jackpot tonight.
His beady eyes sized Jiang Shining up and down. “Not touching your mom is fine.”
“How about you keep us company instead, beautiful?”
As he spoke, he even winked.
He moved closer to Jiang Shining.
The three men’s lecherous stares instantly disgusted Jiang Shining.
“You look like a toad that grew a few inches. Even a mirror would file for workplace injury after seeing you. And you dare think about laying a hand on me?”
“Keep you company? Dream on!”
Jiang Shining didn’t hesitate for a second before pulling out the only kitchen knife from the stall.
She held it horizontally, then slashed it through the air, positioning the blade in front of her chest as she issued a fierce threat.
“If you dare come any closer, I’ll chop you to pieces!”
She wasn’t Jiang Wan.
She wasn’t playing the role of some delicate little flower.
The three men paused in their steps. Qiang Ge looked at the knife, then at Jiang Shining.
He narrowed his eyes, then sneered mockingly.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Anyone can talk tough—the real question is whether they have the guts to act on it.
A kitchen knife isn’t like other weapons. Once it’s used, the outcome is either death or severe injury.
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
Having grown up relying on the kindness of many, Jiang Shining understood that showing weakness now was not an option.
Without changing her expression, she continued, “I’m Brother Qin’s woman.”