Chapter 225: Chapter 225: You Asked For This
"You don’t have to say another word. It’s useless." Li Huan looked at Zhang Fengzhi with disgust. She remembered clearly how horribly this woman had harmed her little uncle and cousin. She might have been young, but she saw it all. She’d always been incredibly close to her little uncle and cousin; how could she possibly forgive the person who hurt them?
"Little Huan, you’re a girl too. Are you just going to stand by and do nothing? Do you not care about your reputation?" Seeing that begging was useless, Zhang Fengzhi switched to threats. "If I happen to let something slip... I am your former aunt, after all. Do you think people won’t believe me?"
"What? Now you’re resorting to threats?" Su Qing stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as she stared at Zhang Fengzhi.
"You little slut, this has nothing to do with you! Piss off!" Zhang Fengzhi was furious that she hadn’t gotten her way, and seeing Su Qing step forward, her words turned foul. "With that seductive face of yours... no wonder my Shang won’t even talk to me. It’s because of you, isn’t it? You little vixen... OOF—"
Before Zhang Fengzhi could finish, Su Qing sent her flying with a swift kick.
Zhang Fengzhi clutched her stomach on the ground. A calculating look flashed in her eyes. She decided to stay down and started wailing, "Oh, heavens! This is awful! The little home-wrecking vixen seduced a man and is now beating his wife!"
Zhang Fengzhi’s voice was shrill and loud, and soon, a crowd started to gather in the alley. It’s human nature to be drawn to a spectacle, and people instinctively pushed forward to get a better look.
Li Huan was so furious at Zhang Fengzhi’s words she was practically seeing red. "What nonsense are you spouting? How can you just make things up like that!"
Li Huan couldn’t believe her former aunt could be so shameless, brazenly slandering Su Qing out of thin air. Su Qing was her best friend! She’d only come along today to hang out and catch up, and now she was getting dragged through the mud. ’If people believe this,’ Li Huan thought in a panic, ’won’t it be my fault for putting Su Qing in this position?’
Li Huan took a few steps forward and pointed at Zhang Fengzhi. "Su Qing is my friend! She came here with me for dinner today and just met my little uncle for the first time! How can you just open your mouth and slander her like that? You’re a truly vicious person."
But Zhang Fengzhi didn’t care. She hadn’t gotten what she wanted, and she was determined to vent her spleen on someone. She knew she couldn’t push things too far with Li Huan; the girl’s grandparents were influential. But this other girl? She had no connection to the Li family. So what if she was Li Huan’s friend? Zhang Fengzhi was familiar with the Li family’s social circle, and she knew for a fact there was no one like this girl in their younger generation. This one was fair game.
"Hmph! I don’t believe you. I bet it’s because this little vixen seduced your uncle that he’s refusing to get back together with me." Zhang Fengzhi jutted out her chin, speaking through gritted teeth. "She’s a homewrecker, and I’m not even allowed to call her out on it?"
The onlookers, who didn’t know the full story, started whispering after hearing Zhang Fengzhi. The way they looked at Su Qing began to change. Of course, some had listened to Li Huan and suspected things weren’t as the woman on the ground claimed. They kept quiet, but they weren’t about to leave the show.
"Hah." Su Qing let out a cold laugh. "You brought this on yourself. You have no one to blame but you."
"What?" Zhang Fengzhi suddenly remembered the force of Su Qing’s kick. She clutched her stomach, watching Su Qing warily and inching backward, but her mouth didn’t stop. "You want to hit me again? In front of all these people? Go on! If you hit me, it just proves you have a guilty conscience. It proves I’m right!"
"Guilty conscience? We both know who’s the one with something to hide," Su Qing scoffed. "You slander my name out of thin air, and you think I can’t hit you for it? Don’t worry. I’ll beat you up now, and I’ll pay for whatever medical bills come later."
With that, Su Qing lunged forward and laid into Zhang Fengzhi with a flurry of punches and kicks. Each blow landed with a sickening thud; you could feel the pain just from the sound.
"OW! OW! You’re killing me!" Zhang Fengzhi couldn’t believe Su Qing was actually beating her in front of everyone—and no one was stepping in to stop it. The pain was so intense she couldn’t help but cry out. "OW! Stop! Stop hitting me! It hurts!"
In truth, you couldn’t blame the onlookers for not intervening. Su Qing’s expression was terrifying, and her movements were so fast that most people didn’t even have time to process what was happening.
Li Huan stood on the sidelines, jaw agape, watching Su Qing deliver the beatdown. She’d never known Su Qing had this... ferocious side to her. And even though it was her own former aunt getting pummeled, she couldn’t help but feel it was an incredibly satisfying sight.
Su Qing laid into Zhang Fengzhi for a solid few minutes before she finally stopped.
Zhang Fengzhi was in too much pain to get up. She lay on the ground, sobbing, "This is awful! She’s murdering me! This is awful!"
"I called the police! They’ll be here any minute!" Someone in the crowd, unable to watch the beating continue but too scared to intervene, had secretly called the authorities. They shouted it out from the safety of the mob and then quickly ducked back, terrified Su Qing might drag them out for a beating of their own.
"What’s wrong? I heard Zhang Fengzhi was harassing you two." Someone had told Shang Yuxuan what was happening, and he had rushed over, furious with his ex-wife. But when he pushed through the crowd and saw Zhang Fengzhi collapsed on the ground, he froze.
"Uncle, she’s not even human!" Li Huan was livid. She relayed every single thing Zhang Fengzhi had said to Shang Yuxuan.
Shang Yuxuan’s face darkened with rage. He pointed a trembling finger at the woman on the ground and exploded. "Zhang Fengzhi, how can you be so damn vicious?! What do our problems have to do with this young woman? Why don’t you talk about your own damn self? You cheated on me! You were fooling around with the very people who tried to destroy my family, and you’re the reason our son ended up disabled! You’re a promiscuous, poisonous viper, and there’s a snowball’s chance in hell the Shang family would ever let you back in!"
Shang Yuxuan was so enraged that he aired all of Zhang Fengzhi’s dirty laundry right there in public. He couldn’t care less about his pride as a man in that moment; he wasn’t about to let a young woman’s reputation be senselessly ruined over some baseless accusation.
"My god!" The onlookers gasped collectively at Shang Yuxuan’s words. Instantly, dozens of scornful glares landed on Zhang Fengzhi.
Zhang Fengzhi never dreamed Shang Yuxuan would reveal her past like that. ’Doesn’t he care about his pride more than anything?’ she thought. He would never normally air such matters in public. But today, for the sake of some girl, he had completely thrown his male pride to the wind.
Once again, a thought solidified in Zhang Fengzhi’s mind: Shang Yuxuan’s feelings for Su Qing were definitely not ordinary.
Zhang Fengzhi glared at Su Qing with pure hatred, but she had to admit it: the girl was stunningly beautiful. ’If I were a man,’ she thought, ’I might be tempted myself.’
