Just as the two of them were about to kiss, Qin Mengxue’s heart raced with excitement. She had no intention of dodging at all.
But Xiao Xingjie suddenly widened his eyes in horror and quickly shifted to the side.
—Yet he still didn’t manage to get out of the way completely.
Thud!
Qin Mengxue’s forehead slammed into Xiao Xingjie’s chin, while her teeth came down hard against his chest.
For a moment, Xiao Xingjie felt as though her front teeth had nearly pierced straight through his chest. He could even feel blood starting to seep out.
The pain jolted him completely awake. He felt as if he had already lost half his life in his sleep.
Damn it! What the hell is going on?!
After taking a moment to recover, Xiao Xingjie hurriedly pushed Qin Mengxue off him and propped himself up with one hand.
He looked at her in disbelief, then raised his head to look at Qin Mingzhi.
Why was the wedding dress he had vaguely remembered seeing last night now being worn by Qin Mengxue?
And Qin Mengxue was wrapped in his bedsheet, her clothes torn into strips and barely hanging from her shoulders. She looked as though someone had assaulted her.
How dare someone do something like this in his own home?
Who the hell was this bastard?
Just as he was thinking about it, he lowered his head and saw Qin Mengxue staring at him through tear-filled eyes, looking utterly wronged.
“Brother-in-law, how could you do something like that to me last night…?”
Xiao Xingjie froze.
He seemed to be awake, yet somehow he felt as if he were still dreaming.
So… he was the bastard?
After thinking it over for a moment, Xiao Xingjie immediately and firmly denied it.
“Impossible! Don’t make up nonsense here. Nothing happened between us last night. And it’s absolutely impossible that anything happened!”
“I was drunk last night!”
Qin Mengxue began crying even harder.
“Yes, you were drunk!”
“You took advantage of being drunk. You kissed me, hugged me, and even tore my clothes. You… you did that to me.”
When she reached the last few words, Qin Mengxue bit down hard on her lip, looking utterly humiliated.
“You even told me that I was much prettier than my sister, that you wanted me to marry you in her place, and that I was actually the one you liked.”
As she said this, Qin Mengxue deliberately glanced at Qin Mingzhi.
Her expression appeared pitiful, but there was an unmistakable hint of provocation in her eyes.
“No matter how much I tried to refuse you, you wouldn’t listen. You held me so tightly that you wouldn’t let go. I’m just a young woman—I couldn’t fight you off. So you… you…”
Qin Mengxue clutched the bedsheet around herself and slowly stood up.
“I think I should just go bang my head against the wall and die. I have no face left to live anymore!”
Once again, Qin Mengxue rushed toward the east wall.
With a crowd of Qin family relatives standing nearby, they obviously couldn’t just let her kill herself. They hurried forward and stopped her, although none of them particularly wanted to bother with the daughter of that scheming stepmother.
Hu Meixiu, Jiang Yulan, and several others, however, were more than happy to watch the drama unfold. They rushed over, pulled Qin Mengxue into their arms, and pretended to comfort her.
“Mengxue, you mustn’t do anything foolish. After what their family has done, they have to take responsibility for it!”
“What’s the use of killing yourself now that it’s already happened?”
“Exactly! The Xiao family has to give you an explanation!”
Qin Mengxue did nothing but hide in Jiang Yulan’s arms and cry, tears streaming down her face as though they were endless.
Qin Mingzhi watched everything with a cold smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
She knew Qin Mengxue wouldn’t let such a perfect opportunity pass her by. Even if nothing had actually happened between her and Xiao Xingjie, she would never let the matter go.
Qin Mingzhi simply smiled without saying a word, folding her arms as she stood to the side and waited for the show to unfold.
Qin Mengxue’s pitiful appearance, as though she had suffered some enormous injustice, made Jiang Yuying absolutely furious.
She was both angry and anxious. With so many people present, there was no way to cover up what had happened.
What she feared most was that if things got out of hand, Xiao Xingjie might be convicted of hooliganism. If that happened, his entire future would be ruined!
Hu Meixiu was still pretending to be a good person, standing up for Qin Mengxue and urging Jiang Yuying to make a statement.
A fire immediately flared up inside Jiang Yuying.
At the same time, an idea came to her.
She gritted her teeth, charged forward, and shoved Qin Mengxue out of Hu Meixiu’s arms.
“You shameless woman! What are you pretending to be so weak and pitiful for? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to! You must have been jealous of your sister, so you deliberately pulled this switcheroo and framed my son for doing that to you, trying to force your way into our family as his wife, aren’t you?!”
The more Jiang Yuying spoke, the more convinced she became that she had figured everything out. She was practically itching to tear Qin Mengxue into pieces.
She grabbed Qin Mengxue by the hair and raised her hand, slapping her hard across the face.
“You dare frame my son? Are you going to tell the truth or not? If you don’t, I’ll beat the truth out of you!”
“Are you going to tell me or not?!”
Every slap from Jiang Yuying landed with full force, fueled by her hatred.
Each blow was so vicious it felt as though it could strip off a layer of skin.
Qin Mengxue could no longer pretend to cry. She screamed in pain and struggled desperately.
But Jiang Yuying’s hand was like an iron clamp, gripping her hair so tightly that she couldn’t break free.
Qin Mengxue was in both pain and panic, and even more tears streamed down her face than when she had been pretending to cry.
“Help! Mom, save me! Mom, where are you…?”
Zhu Caiyan had originally been pushing her way through the crowd from the outskirts. The moment she heard her daughter’s cries, she gritted her teeth and frantically shoved aside anyone blocking her path.
She rushed forward in a single stride, forcefully pushed Jiang Yuying away, and spread her arms protectively around Qin Mengxue.
“How dare you hit my daughter! Your son assaulted my daughter, and you still have the nerve to beat the victim?”
“Is there any justice or law left in this world? Believe me, I’ll report this to the police right now!”
Jiang Yuying stuck out her chin defiantly.
“Go ahead! Your daughter is putting on an act! My son is an upright, respectable man. There’s no way he would ever do something like this. Obviously, your daughter wants to marry my son, so she deliberately used such despicable means to force him!”
“And have you even looked in a mirror? A girl like your daughter isn’t even half as pretty as my daughter-in-law. Even if you gave her to us for free, we wouldn’t want her!”
As she spoke, Jiang Yuying let out another cold laugh, narrowing her eyes meaningfully.
“Oh, I get it now. Your daughter can’t find anyone willing to marry her, so she’s even setting her sights on her own brother-in-law!”
“Bah!”
Zhu Caiyan spat viciously.
“Bullshit!”
“What’s wrong with my daughter? In what way is she inferior to Qin Mingzhi? Besides, my daughter already has a boyfriend. He’s the son of a factory director, no less, and he lives right around here. His family’s house is much bigger than yours.”
“With such a good marriage prospect, why would my daughter ever need to come stay in your shabby little two-courtyard compound that you’ve renovated into this ridiculous mess?”
“You think your son is some kind of hot commodity? At most, he’s got a decent face. Can he possibly be richer than the factory director’s son? What does he have that would make my daughter go to all this trouble to scheme against him?”
Zhu Caiyan’s heart was pounding with guilt as she said this, but outwardly she sounded utterly confident, as though every word were true.
“Now look what’s happened! My daughter was already discussing marriage with the factory director’s son. They hadn’t even had the chance to officially set a date before your son ruined her reputation and took away her innocence. How is she supposed to live with this now?!”
“If your family doesn’t give me an explanation today, I swear I’ll never let this go!”