Never mind the chaos that ensued after Wu Sheng got the call.
Let’s return to Tang Yuanxiao’s side of the story.
Mrs. Tang was sprawled on the floor, crying so hard she could barely breathe. She wept, cursed, and begged for mercy, one moment scolding Tang Yuanxiao, the next saying she knew she was wrong and would never do it again.
She repeated herself over and over, weeping and wailing.
Qin Shanshan was sobbing pitifully, constantly explaining herself and trying to distance herself from the incident, while also urging Tang Yuanxiao to get the back of his head checked where he’d been hit.
Tang Yuanxiao’s vision kept blacking out, just like his future.
Watching Su Li leave with Little Tang Mo in her arms, he felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body.
He wanted to say something, but he realized that anything he said would be useless.
What was the point of wearing himself out trying to reason with them?
In the end, Tang Yuanxiao didn’t go to the hospital. With a deathly pale face, he returned to the family compound with Mrs. Tang and Qin Shanshan.
The bleeding from the back of his head had long since stopped, and the blood had dried.
Eventually, it was Yu Le who dragged Tang Yuanxiao to the infirmary to have the wound treated.
The wound wasn’t small, and it came with a mild concussion. After treating the injury, the doctor told Tang Yuanxiao to get plenty of rest and nourishment.
But how could Tang Yuanxiao possibly sleep? And how could he have the appetite to eat and focus on his nutrition?
After Yu Le helped him back, Tang Yuanxiao was summoned by his supervisor.
When asked about the injury on his head, Tang Yuanxiao had nothing to hide and explained it in a few words.
"...One of them handed over the object, and the other one smashed it down. Heh..."
How could Tang Yuanxiao ever dare to marry someone as malicious as Qin Shanshan?
Even before today’s incident, Tang Yuanxiao was determined not to marry Qin Shanshan. After what happened, he would rather die than marry her.
The supervisor was left speechless.
He didn’t know what else to say.
A person like Mrs. Tang was safest kept in prison. But no, she had to get out due to her paralysis, and even while paralyzed, she could still cause such a massive disturbance.
Tang Yuanxiao still hadn’t recovered from the blood he’d lost a few days ago, and now he had bled so much more. He spent the night in a half-conscious, half-asleep state.
When he woke up the next morning, he still had to face Mrs. Tang and Qin Shanshan pressuring him to get married.
Mrs. Tang was about to die of anger, but no matter what she said, Tang Yuanxiao remained unmoved.
Qin Shanshan stared straight at Tang Yuanxiao, her face pale and ashen, like a vengeful ghost.
She waited until Mrs. Tang had finished her tirade, then looked at Tang Yuanxiao and finally spoke.
"Are you sure you won’t marry me?"
Tang Yuanxiao finally glanced at her. "I won’t. It wasn’t me."
Qin Shanshan couldn’t believe that Tang Yuanxiao was actually refusing to take responsibility. She gave a miserable smile. "Fine. Just fine."
"If you’re going to be ruthless, don’t blame me for being unjust!" At this moment, Qin Shanshan finally saw the situation for what it was.
She stood up, looking down on Mrs. Tang and Tang Yuanxiao.
"I’ve given you so many days, endured so much grievance, and always considered your side of things. But since we’re past the point of saving face today, I’ll just be blunt."
"I can’t just lose my innocence for nothing and get absolutely nothing in return. Since you’re so insistent, then we might as well go down together!"
Qin Shanshan smoothed her hair. "I’ll give you one last chance. The day after tomorrow. If you haven’t changed your mind by the day after tomorrow at the latest, then I’m going to make this public."
"Shanshan, don’t be rash! I’m here..." Mrs. Tang was shocked and quickly tried to dissuade her.
Qin Shanshan didn’t even glance at her. "If my future is ruined, then you don’t need to have one either. The day after tomorrow, I’m going to blow this whole thing wide open and let everyone see you for the heartless, irresponsible piece of trash you are."
After spitting out her vicious words, Qin Shanshan turned to leave, but after two steps, she suddenly turned back.
"Oh, right. When I expose this, I should probably go to the police, shouldn’t I?"
She sneered. "Su Li is the person I hate most in this world, but I have to admit, I’ve learned a lot from her. For example, going to the police. Or suing people."
"Tang Yuanxiao, you can’t escape this!"
With her true colors shown, Qin Shanshan left, leaving Mrs. Tang completely stunned.
It wasn’t until Qin Shanshan turned on them that Mrs. Tang finally realized the gravity of the situation.
"Tangyuan, just marry her! What are we going to do if you don’t marry her?"
Tang Yuanxiao looked at his mother coldly. "What are we going to do? I’ll go to prison. Isn’t that what you wanted?"
He stood up and left. Mrs. Tang collapsed to the floor.
Soon, she began to tremble all over. She begged a child from the compound to help her, to push her wheelchair over to find Qin Shanshan.
Mrs. Tang begged Qin Shanshan for two days and two nights, pleading with her not to make a scene, but Qin Shanshan completely ignored her.
When she couldn’t get through to Qin Shanshan, Mrs. Tang went to find Tang Yuanxiao, but he wouldn’t budge either.
Mrs. Tang even thought about registering the marriage on Tang Yuanxiao’s behalf, but that was impossible because marriage registration requires the person to be present.
She begged the staff, weeping and pleading, leaving them utterly exasperated.
Mrs. Tang tried every method she could think of, but in the end, nothing worked.
When the deadline arrived, Mrs. Tang waited at Qin Shanshan’s door, hoping that Qin Shanshan would see how pitifully she was begging and give her more time to handle things without making a scene.
But the result... was useless.
At seven o’clock, Qin Shanshan, neatly dressed, opened the door.
Mrs. Tang was horrified and rushed to grab her hand.
"Shanshan, please don’t go make a scene, please? It’s all my fault. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely give you a proper resolution. You absolutely can’t do this! If you make a scene, Tangyuan will be ruined!"
This was the second time Mrs. Tang had felt such despair and fear.
The second time she belatedly realized she had made a mistake—a huge, terrible mistake.
The first time was when she abused Little Tang Mo. During the abuse, she hadn’t thought it was a big deal and didn’t feel she was doing anything wrong at all.
But the outcome proved that she was wrong.
When Su Li took her to court with a single lawsuit, and when she found out she could be sentenced to prison, she was truly afraid.
After a stint in prison, Mrs. Tang felt she had learned a lot and would never commit a crime again.
She arranged this marriage for Tang Yuanxiao, even using some underhanded tactics to make it happen. She had thought of doing such a thing because she had seen it done before.
Someone she knew had used this method to kick out a future daughter-in-law they were unhappy with and marry a daughter-in-law they approved of into the family.
And there had been no consequences at all.
She was just giving a little push for the sake of the Tang Family’s future generations, but in the end... after all this fuss, it had blown up into another huge problem.
How could she not be afraid?
For the second time, she was filled with terror and fear.
’Tang Yuanxiao’s future absolutely can’t be ruined like this! And he certainly can’t go to jail!’
"Shanshan, can’t you just wait a little longer, please? Auntie will give you her life, I’ll do anything! I’m begging you, please don’t go."
Tears streamed down Mrs. Tang’s aged face as she begged Qin Shanshan.
A sneer flickered in Qin Shanshan’s eyes.
’Mrs. Tang’s life is completely useless to me,’ she thought. ’What’s the point of getting a dying old hag’s life in compensation!’
Though she thought this, she managed to hold her tongue.
"Auntie, I don’t want to do this either, but I have no other choice."
After speaking, she turned and forcefully pried Mrs. Tang’s hand off, then walked away.
Qin Shanshan puffed out her chest and walked toward the center of the family compound with the air of a martyr marching to her death.
"Shanshan! Shanshan!" Mrs. Tang’s heart-wrenching cries followed from behind her.
Mrs. Tang tried to chase after her, but only ended up falling out of her wheelchair.
It was just after seven, and the family compound was beginning to stir.
Everyone, old and young, was getting up. Qin Shanshan stood in front of the Tang Family’s door and met the gaze of Tang Yuanxiao, who was inside. It was impossible to tell if he had just woken up or hadn’t slept all night.
Qin Shanshan waited for one final minute.
This was the last chance she was giving Tang Yuanxiao.
The seconds ticked by, and the minute passed quickly, but Tang Yuanxiao just stared at her coldly, making no move, showing no reaction.
Qin Shanshan closed her eyes. Without a word, she took a pre-written cloth banner from her bag and tied it around her head.
A white banner with red writing. The red was bright, glaring.
There were only a few words, but they were shocking to behold.
"Tang Yuanxiao, give me back my innocence!"