Wu Sheng had shown Bai Xinyue absolutely no deference before, and then he’d turned around and screwed her over.
Bai Xinyue nearly died of anger. She was a very proud person, so the rumor circulating that she had her eyes on Li Kai Xuan, a married man, was an absolute disgrace to her.
It was worse than death.
After such a shock, the polite and gentle facade Bai Xinyue had put on vanished completely.
She threw several huge tantrums before she slowly managed to put the matter behind her.
From then on, when it came to Wu Sheng, Bai Xinyue both hated him and found herself unable to let him go.
In her social circles, Bai Xinyue had seen all sorts of people, developing a sharp eye and a good understanding of human nature.
Her conclusion was that all men were trash; the more you looked down on them, the more they’d be into you.
Wu Sheng paid her no mind, probably because she had been too aggressive in throwing herself at him.
Having figured this out, Bai Xinyue began to take an aloof and indifferent approach, not just with others, but especially with Wu Sheng.
She would find "coincidental" opportunities to appear before Wu Sheng, only to act as if she didn’t know him, looking right through him.
Bai Xinyue felt her strategy was working. She noticed Wu Sheng had started looking at her, paying attention to her.
Bai Xinyue thought her actions were having the desired effect, but she didn’t know that Wu Sheng only looked at her because he thought she finally had some sense and wasn’t being an eyesore anymore.
Later, he just found it strange. ’Why do I keep running into this annoying person?’
Unaware of the real situation, Bai Xinyue was full of fighting spirit, vowing to orchestrate a few more "accidental encounters."
Before Wu Sheng came to see Su Li, he had just met with Tang Yuanxiao and then "accidentally" ran into Bai Xinyue.
And it was Tang Yuanxiao who had pushed Bai Xinyue onto him. Although he had reacted quickly and dodged, he clearly hadn’t avoided her completely. A trace remained—lipstick.
"This... This was an accident."
Wu Sheng paused for a moment before explaining. He didn’t have a guilty conscience, but he was very careful and cautious with his explanation.
"This lipstick should be Bai Xinyue’s. I ran into her just now."
Wu Sheng put a hand to his forehead. ’I hadn’t planned on telling Su Li about my meeting with Tang Yuanxiao, but this lipstick...’
Hearing the name "Bai Xinyue," Su Li furrowed her brow reflexively.
’Bai Xinyue... Bai Xinyue... The woman who used my corneas in my past life.’
’In my past life, I knew of Bai Xinyue, but I never heard the name Wu Sheng. Her husband wasn’t named Wu Sheng, I think.’
’In this life, I’ve met her several years earlier, and our paths only crossed because of Wu Sheng.’
’Bai Xinyue has designs on Wu Sheng, and on top of that, she’s the "future daughter-in-law" that Ye Xilan has approved of.’
No matter how she looked at it, it was impossible for Su Li to have a good impression of Bai Xinyue. Hearing Wu Sheng mention her, Su Li couldn’t remain indifferent.
"Wu Sheng, you... does Uncle Li also support you and Bai Xinyue getting together?"
After Bai Xinyue showed up, she was like a persistent ghost haunting Wu Sheng, even orchestrating "accidental encounters" like this. Su Li couldn’t help but ask.
"What are you talking about? What does it have to do with him?"
Wu Sheng’s brow furrowed. "Su Li, that Bai Xinyue... I have nothing to do with her. It’s impossible for our paths to cross or for me to like her. You don’t need to give her a second thought. I’ll be more careful in the future. Something like this won’t happen a second time."
Wu Sheng hadn’t paid Bai Xinyue any mind before, but from this moment on, he decided to be on high alert.
’I will definitely not let this kind of thing happen again!’
’Not just Bai Xinyue. I need to be more guarded around all women.’
Su Li knew Wu Sheng wasn’t lying. Although she still felt a little uncomfortable, she didn’t press the issue.
"Mm." She looked at Wu Sheng’s shoulder and brushed it again and again.
As Wu Sheng watched her, a hint of a smile suddenly flashed in his eyes. ’Is this what it’s like when she’s jealous?’
"I’m not keeping this shirt. I’ll throw it out when we get back," Wu Sheng said.
"Why not?" Su Li replied, but she didn’t try to stop him from throwing it away.
Wu Sheng chuckled and tried to coax a smile out of Su Li, finally making her laugh again.
He thought the matter was over, but unexpectedly, Su Li seemed to remember something and asked him a question.
"Where did you go today? You didn’t answer me earlier."
Wu Sheng: "..."
He had gone to see Tang Yuanxiao.
There was, of course, a reason for seeing Tang Yuanxiao.
Tang Yuanxiao had been wrongly accused and had gone through so much. Now that Wu Sheng knew about it, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
No matter what, they were comrades-in-arms. Besides, Tang Yuanxiao had helped him a lot before and had even saved Su Li. Although he said there was no need for thanks, Wu Sheng had always remembered this debt of gratitude.
Even though the incident was in the past, he wanted to see Tang Yuanxiao, ask if he needed any help, and offer some advice.
This advice wasn’t about other people; it was about Mrs. Tang.
Wu Sheng had a bad feeling about Mrs. Tang from the start, and now he was utterly disgusted by her.
Before Su Li and Tang Yuanxiao’s divorce was made public, Mrs. Tang had come to the Imperial City and caused a huge scene.
She had beaten Su Li and even sent a renovation worker to the hospital. Su Li was the one who had to clean up all those messes later.
Then there was the abuse of Little Tang Mo. Wu Sheng had truly seen through Mrs. Tang and loathed her to the extreme.
He hadn’t done anything himself, partly because it wasn’t his place, and partly because she was Tang Yuanxiao’s mother. He couldn’t use his position to settle a personal score.
But once or twice wasn’t enough for her; she had to do it a third and a fourth time. Wu Sheng could no longer ignore it.
Everything has a limit. Enough is enough.
Before, one could argue that as her son, Tang Yuanxiao had no other choice. But after so many times, that excuse no longer held water.
He remembered the large bruise on Su Li’s back and the lump on her head.
Although Su Li didn’t say anything, she had other bruises on her body.
If Tang Yuanxiao hadn’t blocked that large rock at the last second, and if it had hit Su Li on the head, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
A woman as crazy as Mrs. Tang was too dangerous to be left to her own devices.
If Su Li hadn’t mentioned that Tang Yuanxiao also got injured when he showed up at the end, making it useless to press charges against Mrs. Tang, Wu Sheng would have called the police and refused to let her off long ago.
But even though he didn’t call the police, Wu Sheng couldn’t just let the matter drop.
"Old Tang, we’ve known each other for a long time, so I won’t beat around the bush. I want to ask you, what are your plans for your mother?"
Hearing Wu Sheng’s words, Tang Yuanxiao’s expression turned grim, and he took a deep breath.
"I know what you mean. Don’t worry. This kind of thing really won’t happen again."
Tang Yuanxiao was frighteningly thin, his face ashen, and he looked completely worn down by life.
For the past two days, he had been dealing with Mrs. Tang.
Mrs. Tang said she was scared and began to repent, acting incredibly docile for the last couple of days.
But Tang Yuanxiao no longer believed her or felt his heart soften as he had before.
Because he had seen through her. The repeated, painful lessons had made him see the truth.
Mrs. Tang was genuinely scared and regretful at this moment, but Tang Yuanxiao was certain that, following the usual pattern, this regret and fear would soon fade with time, and her old ways would resurface.
Just as Su Li had once said, her remorse came with an expiration date.
Once it expired, everything would go back to the way it was.
Having gone through this cycle time and time again, Tang Yuanxiao finally saw things clearly and decided to harden his heart.