The sound of the slap reverberated loudly through the hushed silence of the crowd, before everyone started exclaiming at this expression of violence. Jingwei's eyes widened - he never expected Mayor Poh to go as far as slapping his own wife!
Meanwhile Mayor Poh was shaking with fear and anger. He was only a mere Mayor, and he only got his position because the previous Mayor had pissed off someone powerful from the big city and was sacked, so got transferred to this sleepy town.
To prevent the same fate from befalling him, he kept a close eye on the rich and famous in his country via the internet. Who knew his years of effort had all gone down the drain, because of his stupid wife that didn't know how to shut up!
Even if she wanted to insult the Li family, she should have at least seen who they were with before running her mouth!
"Laogong! How dare you slap me!" Poh Jin Lian shrieked in outrage, her hair flying wildly around as she shook her head disbelievingly as she had one hand on her cheek. "I'm your wife!"
"You're an idiot! Do you not know who this man is?"
"No! Why would I?" She screamed. "He can be Li Xue Ning's lapdog for all I know! Why do you care?"
At her words, Mayor Poh's face turned an ugly blotchy red. Meanwhile, Jingwei snorted. To think that this madwoman was the one person that actually got it right! The absolute ridiculousness of it all! Once they were in private, he was going to convince Xue Ning to come clean to everyone.
"That's Sun Jingwei! The youngest son of billionaire Sun Haowei! And you want me to arrest him?! Oh god, why have the heavens cursed me with such an idiotic wife? I should just get a divorce!" Mayor Poh lamented, screaming at the heavens.
There was a stunned silence after his exclamation, then everyone began to buzz with increased excitement. It sounded like a host of locusts descending on their restaurant! People began jostling closer, hoping to get a clearer glimpse of Sun Jingwei to verify for themselves.
Xue Ning, Ming Guang and Wei Yan tensed, preparing to pull Jingwei out of the way and into the restaurant at a moment's notice.
"...What?" Poh Jin Lian said faintly, her face paling like her husband's. It made the red mark on her cheek look even more striking. She held up a hand, pointing a shaking finger at Jingwei who smiled smugly at her. "NO! That cannot be… laogong, you must be mistaken! This man just looks like him only! It's impossible!"
"Is it though? Are you really sure about that?" Jingwei asked, a finger idly tapping on his chin. "Do you want to take that chance Mayor Poh? Come on, arrest me then."
Jingwei finished his statement by coyly putting out his hands together, as though taunting them to cuff him. Xue Ning wanted to smack the back of his head, if he wanted to be handcuffed so badly, he didn't need to do this!
"You - you - "
"No! Of course we wouldn't dare!" Mayor Poh quickly replied, sweating heavily. There were gross wet patches already forming at his armpits. Onlookers scrunched up their faces in disgust. But Mayor Poh didn't care - he kept on bowing, while pulling his stubborn wife further away.
"No! Laogong, I'm telling you! This is a fake! This man is a fake!"
Yue Niang flat out began to laugh at the look of desperation on Poh Jin Lian's face, attracting her attention.
"Li Yue Niang! How dare you laugh so loudly in my presence!" Poh Jin Lian shrieked, her eyes wide with anger and humiliation.
"Why would I not? Are you so used to buying fake goods that you now think that people can be faked too?" Yue Niang retorted, smiling with too many teeth.
Poh Jin Lian took a step back at the ferocity in her smile - it felt like she was going to get eaten alive! When did Li Yue Niang go from docile sheep to rabid wolf?
Meanwhile Jingwei could only clap in appreciation. In that moment, Mama Li truly resembled her daughter when she was angry - oh wait, technically it was Xue Ning who resembled her mother. It seemed like ferocity was inherited!
"Woman, can you shut up?!" Mayor Poh yelled again. "Why are you still arguing with Li Yue Niang? It's been 10 years!"
"So you also know that it has been 10 years," Yue Niang interrupted. "10 years of you insulting me and my family with backhanded comments, because you can't get over the fact that your husband's eyes strayed to look at me when you first moved into town!"
"Li Yue Niang - shut up!" Poh Jin Lian screamed, her face now red with humiliation, raising a hand to slap Li Yue Niang.
"Mom! Look out!" Tai Xuan and Xue Ning immediately moved, but it was too late, they wouldn't reach her in time to stop it -
Only for their mother to catch her wrist and twist it behind her back in one practised motion. Poh Jin Lian screamed in pain, and it was music to Yue Niang's ears.
"Trying to slap me? With those weak arms of yours? Come on, have some sense!" She scolded gleefully, purposely leaning closer so she could get a better look at Poh Jin Lian's terrified face. She wanted to commit it to memory.
"You've never done a hard day's work in ten years, and you still want to hit people? You'd have better luck getting the rest of your followers to do your jobs for you, right ladies?"
Yue Niang turned her ferocious smile on the rest of the Neighbourhood Association, and the women hurriedly distanced themselves from her, not willing to attract Li Yue Niang's attention, for fear of getting their heads ripped off.
Their faces were also flushed with embarrassment - they had also been unkind to Li Yue Niang and her family because they were jealous of her beauty! And when Xue Ning grew older, their hatred had been redirected to her.
They couldn't let Li Xue Ning know that she was beautiful, because once she did, they wouldn't be able to hurt her!
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