The secret was suddenly exposed.
The cheating couple had completely different reactions.
“You, you… *Sob sob*, Brother Hongwen, look at this! I’m being bullied to death.”
Lin Shuang rolled her eyes. Watching a middle-aged woman act coy and spoiled was genuine mental torture.
And what about her scumbag father? A look of shame had originally appeared on his face.
However, the moment he stepped into his romantic refuge, that tiny grain of regret instantly vanished into thin air.
“You unfilial beast! She is your elder, how dare you?”
“If I don’t beat you unfilial daughter to death today, my surname isn’t Qin!”
With that, he picked up a wooden armchair from the side.
It had to be said that Lin Shuang had still underestimated her scumbag father’s cold-heartedness.
Taking a massive solid wood chair, her scumbag father swung it toward her head with absolute, full-force momentum.
He genuinely wanted her dead!
Of course, Lin Shuang wasn’t about to stand there and take the beating. She sidestepped gracefully and dragged Zhou Qingman over to take her place.
Her scumbag father’s reactions weren’t slow either, and he instantly pulled back his force, but inertia still caused the chair to strike Zhou Qingman right on the shoulder.
“Ah! Murder!”
“Lin Shuang, I’m still your mother after all. How could you treat me like this?”
Lin Shuang: “…” *Who are you trying to disgust?*
Zhou Qingman intentionally raised her voice, immediately drawing the neighbors from around the block to come over and watch the spectacle.
Leading the crowd was Aunt Chen, who frequently showed care and concern for her.
Lin Shuang certainly wasn’t going to let Zhou Qingman throw mud at her. She quietly blinked at Aunt Chen to reassure her that she was fine.
“*Sob sob*… Stepmother, you asked me to sign the engagement cancellation document and forced me to yield my fiance to Lin Lanlan. I did everything you asked, so why won’t you let me off?”
“Could it be because I caught you making out with a man in the park behind Dad’s back that you’re framing me like this?”
*Oh ho!*
The light of gossip blazed bright in the neighbors’ eyes.
A single thought crossed everyone’s mind: Zhou Qingman certainly plays wild!
Lin Shuang did not miss the fleeting look of panic that swept across Zhou Qingman’s face.
She thought to herself: *Could I have actually hit the nail right on the head?*
“You’re talking nonsense! I didn’t!”
Unfortunately, her defense was entirely ineffective; the melon-eating crowd only wanted to hear what they liked to hear.
A neighbor who was on bad terms with Qin Hongwen and his wife finally caught an opportunity to gloat.
“Yo! Old Qin, your taste this time really isn’t up to par!”
“Hasn’t he always been blind? Otherwise, why would he fool around with a farm girl?”
“Some people just love taking fish eyes and treating them like pearls.”
“And some people just love putting on a fragile act every day when they’re wild and loose to the bone!”
“Old Qin, I’m not trying to nag you, but if your eyes are diseased, go get them treated.”
Being mocked and ridiculed by the neighbors hit Qin Hongwen right where it hurt, as he was someone who cared deeply about his reputation. Regardless of whether Zhou Qingman had actually done it or not, a seeds of dissatisfaction sprouted in his heart toward this woman.
The way he looked at Zhou Qingman carried a scrutiny like never before.
Zhou Qingman secretly cried out that things were turning bad.
She hurriedly threw herself into Qin Hongwen’s arms like a rain-drenched pear blossom.
“Brother Hongwen, you have to believe me. There’s no such thing.”
“It’s Lin Shuang! She’s slandering me. Don’t you know what kind of person I am?”
The neighbors’ eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“Is this something we’re allowed to watch for free?”
“This woman Zhou Qingman is truly something…”
What did that mean? Anyone with sense understood.
The sound of snickering finally woke up her scumbag father.
Feeling the surrounding gazes watching the show, he immediately pushed the woman away.
Aunt Chen let out a heavy sneer.
“Bah! Qin Hongwen, you ungrateful dog.”
“If it weren’t for Old Man Lin’s financial aid back then, could you have gotten an education? Could you have brought your old family from back home to settle down in Shanghai?”
“Now that your wings have grown strong, you bully Lin Shuang, an orphaned girl?”
“Just now, how did I hear that you forced Lin Shuang to yield her fiance?”
Qin Hongwen was already terrified of Aunt Chen, and now that she was aiming at him like a machine gun, he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
“Sister Chen, Shuangshuang did it voluntarily.”
“Bah! Shameless old dog, brave enough to do it but too cowardly to own up to it!”
“Shuangshuang, tell us yourself—was it really voluntary?”
Lin Shuang felt grateful to Aunt Chen for standing up for her, so she immediately pointed to her bandaged head.
“Aunt Chen, Lin Lanlan injured my head to force me to sign the engagement cancellation document.”
“Yet I don’t understand—it was clearly Lanlan’s fault, but Stepmother went and complained that I was the one bullying Lanlan. My dad only believes Stepmother. Just now, he even tried to smash me with a chair, but his hand slipped and hit Stepmother instead, so Stepmother accused me of murder.”
Lin Shuang used the most innocent tone to ruthlessly tear away this family’s shameful facade.
Qin Hongwen and Zhou Qingman were so furious they looked ready to swallow her whole.
The neighbors, on the other hand, felt immense sympathy for Lin Shuang.
As expected, Zhou Qingman’s usual gentle demeanor was all a front.
She couldn’t tolerate her stepdaughter, yet she claimed that Pan Mingfeng was stirring up trouble from behind the scenes.
Zhou Qingman wanted to defend herself, but Qin Hongwen, whose face was burning hot with shame, was unwilling to be gawked at any longer.
He simply made an excuse that he felt unwell, slamming the door shut with a loud *bang* to block everyone outside.
The moment the door closed, Qin Hongwen swung his palm straight toward Lin Shuang’s face.
“You unfilial beast! Are you satisfied now?”
Lin Shuang raised her hand and clamped onto her scumbag father’s wrist, staring at the man in front of her with calm, unbothered eyes.
“Let go! You unfilial beast, I, Qin Hongwen, do not have a daughter like you!”
Lin Shuang had been waiting for these exact words.
“Mr. Qin, mere lip service won’t do. Sign this and I’ll believe you.”
With that, she stuffed a sheet of paper she had prepared long ago into Qin Hongwen’s hands.
Written at the top in striking characters were the words “Severance Agreement.”
Unsurprisingly, there was no dinner left for Lin Shuang again.
Then again, given her stepmother’s vicious nature, she wouldn’t have dared to eat it even if they gave it to her.
At the Shen family’s dinner table, Shan Hanyu sat with a cold, frosty face.
Father Shen, on the other hand, didn’t think much of it.
“You should try to be understanding. Isn’t it normal for young people to spark like dry wood and fire?”
Shan Hanyu mocked sneeringly, “Are you talking about you and Ye Minmin?”
Father Shen’s old face instantly lost composure. “Those are all old, rotten matters from the past. Why bring them up now?”
Shan Hanyu doted on her son above all else after all.
She didn’t dwell on the matter, quickly shifting her thoughts back to her son.
“Did we make a mistake? Looking at Lanlan now, she seems far inferior to Shuangshuang.”
Father Shen spoke in disapproval: “What nonsense are you talking about? Lanlan saved our son’s life. Besides, our two families are heading over to the other side soon. As for the girl Shuangshuang…”
Blame it on her bad luck that she failed to be born out of Zhou Qingman’s belly.
“Just make sure you don’t show any of this in front of Lanlan.”
“I’m not stupid! Lanlan is the person our son loves. Isn’t there a saying that loving the house extends to the crow on its roof? Don’t worry, I will definitely treasure her like my own daughter.”
Lin Lanlan, who had overheard the entire conversation, twisted her face in ugly jealousy.
“Lin Shuang, it’s Lin Shuang again! Why doesn’t that bitch just go die?”
Muttering under her breath, Lin Lanlan suddenly froze as if discovering a whole new world.
That was right—if she died, wouldn’t everything be resolved?
Once the evil thought arose, she could no longer suppress it.
Lin Lanlan returned to her room, hurriedly tidied herself up, and glanced at the man who was still fast asleep, a look of utter determination creeping onto her face.
After bidding farewell to Shen Linfeng’s parents, Lin Lanlan went straight home and dragged her two younger brothers into her room the second she entered the door.
Lin Shuang hadn’t expected her waiting tactics to yield results so quickly.
The moment the doorknob turned, she swiftly slipped into her spatial dimension.
The conversation among the three sinister creatures fell clearly into Lin Shuang’s ears.
To her surprise, the person coming up with the scheme wasn’t Lin Hao, who usually shouted about hitting and killing her whenever he saw her.
Instead, it was Lin Chang, who was wearing a timid, bashful smile.
“Sister, don’t look for Ah Yuan and his group this time. They’re too familiar with you. Anyone looking into it with a bit of intention could easily trace it back to you.”
Lin Lanlan said huffily, “But that bitch made Ah Yuan and the others lose face today! If it weren’t for Linfeng, they’d still be locked up inside right now.”