Qin Shanshan was so angered by Su Li that she blurted out the truth.
Upon hearing that last sentence, Su Li raised an eyebrow. "Tang Yuanxiao won’t admit it? He’s denying it was him?"
’This is... a little strange.’
’Given Tang Yuanxiao’s character, if he’d actually done it, he would have taken responsibility, no matter the reason.’
’Could it be that he’s just that furious about what Mrs. Tang and Qin Shanshan have done?’
"It’s all because of you! It’s because you keep stringing him along that he’s acting this way."
Qin Shanshan gritted her teeth, then took a deep breath and pleaded, "Su Li, I’m begging you, please make him give up on you for good!"
"If you just make him give up on you, he’ll marry me and take responsibility! He’s already taken my body; I can only be his for the rest of my life."
Qin Shanshan was utterly convinced that if Su Li just made Tang Yuanxiao give up hope, he would definitely marry her!
As long as Tang Yuanxiao married her, even kneeling and begging Su Li would be worth it!
Su Li could see Qin Shanshan’s conviction perfectly.
She felt like kneeling before Qin Shanshan herself.
"Qin Shanshan, let me tell you one last time. I am not stringing Tang Yuanxiao along, and I already made him give up on me long ago."
Hearing this, Qin Shanshan immediately retorted, "Fine. Then come with me right now. We’ll go find him, and you can tell him to his face that you’re making a clean break with him and that he needs to take responsibility for me."
Su Li felt like she’d just heard the most ridiculous joke imaginable. "You want me to go with you and tell him to marry you? Have you lost your mind?"
’Qin Shanshan must be completely insane to suggest such a thing.’
’How could I possibly go? How could I get mixed up in this? Not only do I not know the real story or what other secrets might be involved, but I have no reason to get involved in the first place.’
"Didn’t you say you weren’t stringing Tang Yuanxiao along and wanted him to give up on you? Then of course you have to say it to his face. Otherwise, I won’t believe you!"
Qin Shanshan gritted her teeth. "If you don’t dare to go, it just proves you have a guilty conscience! You’ve put some kind of spell on Brother Tang Yuan. Otherwise, there’s no way he’d still be refusing to take responsibility, not even after the supervisor got involved!"
Su Li was about to argue, but seeing the look on Qin Shanshan’s face, she just sighed and swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.
"Forget it. I can’t get through to you. When two people don’t see eye to eye, even one more word is too many. There’s no use saying anything else. Don’t come looking for me again. It’s pointless."
Looking at the kneeling Qin Shanshan, Su Li was at a loss for words.
She shook her head, speaking again before Qin Shanshan had the chance.
"I’m leaving. Kneeling before me is pointless; you might as well be kneeling to yourself. It won’t do you any good."
Su Li turned to leave, but Qin Shanshan lunged for her and missed.
"Su Li, don’t you dare leave! Get back here and come with me to make Brother Tang Yuan give up!"
Qin Shanshan scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain, and chased after Su Li.
"I begged you, I even knelt before you! How can you be so heartless and cruel?"
Qin Shanshan was absolutely livid. She lunged forward to shove Su Li, but Su Li was prepared and quickly dodged out of the way.
The old gatekeeper, who had been watching the whole time, rushed forward and shielded Su Li behind him.
"You get back, or don’t blame me for getting rough."
The old man had seen Qin Shanshan kneel before Su Li and had overheard snippets of their conversation, which only strengthened his conviction that she was a lunatic.
"My, you’re really something, Su Li! You can wrap any man around your finger, young or old. Tang Yuanxiao must be blind to still be so obsessed with you!"
Infuriated by the old man’s intervention, Qin Shanshan started screaming curses.
The old man’s face flushed with anger. "You’re spouting nonsense! Now get lost!"
The old man raised his club as if to strike her. Qin Shanshan was seething, but there was nothing she could do. Screaming insults, she was chased away by the old man.
"Thank you, sir. And I’m so sorry. She’s... just unhinged."
Su Li said, full of gratitude and apology.
"It’s nothing. What kind of person is she, anyway? I’ll make sure she never gets near here again!"
The old man was still fuming.
"Sir, please don’t pay any mind to what she said. You know the saying: those with a dirty mind see everything as dirty."
Su Li tried to comfort the old man, who sighed upon hearing her words.
"You’re right. There’s truth in that."
After bidding the old man farewell, Su Li went home and sat on the sofa, staring into space for a long time. ’Tang Yuanxiao must be in a tough spot right now. If he says it wasn’t him, then he must have been framed. But what really happened?’
’I wonder if anyone is helping him...’
As for Qin Shanshan, she was so furious she could spit blood.
She had used every trick she could think of to marry Tang Yuanxiao. She’d been certain that by groveling, by going so far as to kneel, Su Li would surely be moved.
All she had to do was persuade Su Li, bring her to the family compound, and have her sever all ties with Tang Yuanxiao to make him give up for good. Then, everything would go according to her plan.
But in the end, that bitch Su Li didn’t play along and heartlessly refused her.
"Bitch, bitch, bitch!"
After screaming the curses, Qin Shanshan broke down and began to wail.
Tang Yuanxiao had been in torment these past two days, but she was suffering even more than he was.
’All she wanted was to marry Tang Yuanxiao! So why wouldn’t he admit what happened?’
Qin Shanshan had tried to avoid feeling any regret, but these past two days, she was truly regretting her choices—regretting them so much it made her sick to her stomach.
If she had known, she never would have burned her bridges by cooperating with Mrs. Tang. If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn’t have tried to save face by arranging things to happen discreetly outside the compound.
Qin Shanshan was well aware of the impact such a scandal could have on Tang Yuanxiao. To preserve her own dignity and to avoid damaging his future prospects, she had chosen to orchestrate things away from prying eyes. And the result... Tang Yuanxiao actually dared to deny it!
If it weren’t for ensuring Tang Yuanxiao had a brilliant future—allowing her to rise in status along with him—why would she have been so discreet?
She had considered everything for Tang Yuanxiao’s sake, but not only did he not appreciate it, he even dared to shirk his responsibility!
The abundant love Qin Shanshan felt for Tang Yuanxiao gradually curdled into hate.
"Tang Yuanxiao, I’m giving you two more days. If you keep this up, don’t blame me for what I do next!"
As dusk fell, only hatred remained in Qin Shanshan’s eyes.
In that moment, Qin Shanshan hated Tang Yuanxiao, she hated Mrs. Tang, and she hated Su Li most of all.
She hated Tang Yuanxiao for his heartlessness and his irresponsibility.
She hated Mrs. Tang for drugging her, too. If she hadn’t been drugged, she could have stayed conscious, seized control of the situation with Tang Yuanxiao, and he wouldn’t have had a chance to deny it.
She hated Su Li for destroying her happiness, for remaining indifferent even after she had begged so desperately.
It was already late at night when Qin Shanshan returned to the family compound.
She didn’t care if the supervisor and his family were asleep. She pounded on the supervisor’s door, demanding the political commissar give her a resolution.
The supervisor was at his wits’ end. Tang Yuanxiao had dug in his heels, and there was nothing he could do but try to placate her.
Qin Shanshan could see he was just trying to brush her off. She also knew that the longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for her. Dropping the pitiful act, she delivered an ultimatum.
"If Tang Yuanxiao still hasn’t agreed to take responsibility within three days, then I’ll have to resort to my own methods!"
Qin Shanshan spoke in a low voice, then turned and walked away.
The next day, Qin Shanshan told Mrs. Tang everything.
She told her that for Su Li’s sake, Tang Yuanxiao was willing to throw away his future rather than marry her. She also explained that the supervisor was now aware of the situation, and if Tang Yuanxiao didn’t change his mind, his career would be completely ruined.
Mrs. Tang was stunned.
She had never thought it was a big deal. ’So what if a mother uses a few tricks to arrange her son’s marriage?’
When the supervisor had spoken with her about it before, she had felt a little guilty but had admitted everything honestly.
She just never realized that if the plan failed, it would cause such a huge problem.
Mrs. Tang was so furious she nearly fainted. She found Tang Yuanxiao and tore into him, but seeing his adamant refusal to yield, she nearly died of anger herself.