Qin Xi wasn't foolish. When Zhou Yu Cui suddenly wanted to leave, she already had her suspicions. Now, seeing Yang Chen and Qin Yi appear confirmed that Zhou Yu Cui had lied.
Zhou Yu Cui took a long moment to snap out of her daze. Ignoring Qin Xi, she quickly took the jade bracelet back from Wang Lu Yao.
She was smart enough to recognize the status of the two people in front of her and didn't dare to cause any more trouble.
"Let's go."
Seeing that Zhou Yu Cui had retrieved the bracelet, Yang Chen spoke indifferently and turned to leave.
After Yang Chen and the others had gone far away, Wang Lu Yao's face twisted with fury. "These bastards! How dare they hit me? I won't let them off!"
*Slap!*
Zhang Guang raised his hand and struck Wang Lu Yao across the face, roaring, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"
Wang Lu Yao was stunned. Earlier, she had thought Zhang Guang's respectful attitude toward Yang Chen was just an act.
"Honey, why did you hit me?" she asked, aggrieved and confused.
"Hit you?" Zhang Guang gnashed his teeth. "If it weren't for the fact that you're the mother of my child, I'd kill you right now. All you do is cause trouble for me! If I ever find out you've provoked someone important again, I'll end you myself!"
Wang Lu Yao shuddered. She knew her husband was fully capable of following through on his threat.
"Honey, I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again," she quickly apologized. Then, still puzzled, she asked, "But I really don't understand. That guy is just a live-in son-in-law of the Qin family—nothing more than a slightly better fighter. Why are you so afraid of him?"
Zhang Guang scoffed coldly. "You idiot, what do you know? If he were really just a useless son-in-law, then explain to me how he managed to take down all the men I brought with me by himself?"
"Even if he's strong, he's still just one man. If we gather more people, we can definitely take him down!" Wang Lu Yao said, unwilling to let it go.
"Wang Lu Yao, I'm warning you—if you dare provoke him again, even if he doesn't kill you, I will. Do you understand?" Zhang Guang threatened sternly.
Wang Lu Yao trembled and quickly replied, "Honey, don't worry. I was just venting to you. If he can take down over a dozen strong men alone, how would I dare provoke him?"
Zhang Guang didn't bother responding further, but his eyes were filled with gravity.
Last time, at the kindergarten gate, when all his men had been taken down by Ma Chao alone, he had used his connections to investigate Yang Chen. But he found nothing—especially about the five years Yang Chen had disappeared. That period was a complete blank.
A friend had told him that people like this were either complete nobodies or figures with immense influence.
Could a man who could single-handedly defeat over a dozen strong fighters really be a nobody?
---
Meanwhile, Yang Chen drove the four women—young and old—back toward the Qin family mansion.
Xiao Xiao had been tired after playing all day and had fallen asleep in the restaurant. Now, she was nestled in Qin Xi's arms, fast asleep.
Qin Yi, her eyes red, stared silently out the window, lost in thought.
Qin Xi, afraid of disturbing her daughter's sleep, suppressed all her questions and remained quiet.
Only Zhou Yu Cui acted as if nothing had happened, engrossed in a drama on her phone, occasionally bursting into laughter.
When they finally arrived home, Qin Xi asked Yang Chen to carry Xiao Xiao upstairs before she finally exploded. "What exactly happened back at the restaurant? And why did Zhang Guang bring his wife to apologize to you?"
Zhou Yu Cui was startled, then snapped irritably, "Didn't I already tell you? It was all that useless bastard's fault for hitting that woman. He almost dragged us down with him!"
"You're lying!"
Qin Yi's emotions flared, her eyes red with anger. "Mom, when did you become like this? If it weren't for Yang Chen just now, do you think we could've left that restaurant so easily?"
"All the trouble was caused by you! Even if my brother-in-law hit that woman, it was to protect you!"
"At first, you didn't know Wang Lu Yao's identity, so you arrogantly fought with her. But the moment you found out who she was, you cowered?"
"Fine, you were scared. But to protect yourself, you made me offer my face for her to hit and vent her anger? What kind of mother does that?"
"If it weren't for my brother-in-law, I'd probably be in the hospital right now!"
"And you—instead of taking responsibility, you push all the blame onto him. You're shameless!"
Qin Yi grew more distraught as she spoke, her voice breaking into sobs by the end, as if pouring out all the grievances she had endured.
Qin Xi finally understood the truth and looked at Zhou Yu Cui in disbelief. "Mom, you actually made Xiao Yi offer her face for someone else to hit? How could you do such a thing? Doesn't your heart ache at all?"
"Shut up! Both of you, shut up!"
Zhou Yu Cui shrieked like a shrew. "The Zhang family is a top-tier family! How could we afford to offend them? Do you think I wanted to grovel? But if I hadn't, do you think they would've let us go so easily?"
"So according to you, the only reason they let us leave was because of your groveling?" Qin Yi's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Of course! Thankfully, Mr. Zhang is a reasonable man. After hearing my pleas, he let us go. Otherwise, do you think you could've walked out of there?" Zhou Yu Cui shamelessly declared.
"Hah! I've seen shameless people before, but never one as shameless as you. And the worst part is—you're my own mother!" Qin Yi laughed bitterly, her tone laced with mockery.
*Slap!*
Zhou Yu Cui struck Qin Yi across the face. "Is that any way to speak to your elder?"
"Mom! How could you hit Xiao Yi?" Qin Xi was furious. "What part of what she said was wrong?"
"You shut up too!" Zhou Yu Cui raised her hand to slap Qin Xi.
But Qin Xi caught her wrist and coldly said, "You don't deserve to be a mother."
With that, she shoved Zhou Yu Cui's hand away and went upstairs.
Qin Yi, tears streaming down her face, glared at her mother. "I hate you!"
After throwing out those words, she ran out of the house.
Zhou Yu Cui immediately began wailing dramatically. "What sins did I commit in my past life to be cursed with daughters like this?"
She cried for a while, but no one came to comfort her. Her sobs abruptly stopped, and she gnashed her teeth. "Ungrateful wenches! After all I've done to raise you!"
Then, her gaze turned toward the upstairs, her expression venomous. "It's all your fault, you useless trash! If it weren't for you, my daughters wouldn't have turned against me!"
---
Downstairs, Yang Chen had heard everything. He sighed deeply, then took out his phone and dialed a number. "Samba, didn't you say you wanted to follow me? I have an important task for you…"
---
Qin Xi stayed alone for a long time before finally returning to the room, her eyes red from crying.
"Yang Chen, Xiao Yi told me everything just now. It was my mom's fault… I'm sorry," she said apologetically.
Yang Chen shook his head and smiled gently. "As long as it's someone you love, I'll do my best to accept them. You don't need to apologize to me."
Qin Xi was deeply moved. With tears in her eyes, she said, "You could be living in a mansion, enjoying a better life, yet you choose to stay in this house. You've suffered because of me."
"For me, being with the woman I love and our daughter is the greatest happiness," Yang Chen said earnestly.
---
Meanwhile, after leaving home, Qin Yi went alone to Moonlight Bar, a famous nightspot in Jiangzhou.
Right now, all she wanted was to drown her sorrows in alcohol and forget everything.
No matter where she went, a beautiful woman always drew attention. Many eyes were fixed on Qin Yi.
"Young Master Feng, that girl is seriously hot. Looks like she's nursing a broken heart and trying to drink her sorrows away. She's probably feeling pretty lonely right now. Why don't you go comfort her?"
"Haha, good idea. I'll go console her."
Qin Yi, lost in her drink, didn't notice the approaching danger.
"Hey beautiful, drinking alone?"
A man in his thirties, holding an expensive glass of Lafite, sat down across from her with a smirk.
Qin Yi shot him a cold glare. "Get lost!"
The man chuckled. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Guan Xue Feng, the owner of this bar."
*Splash!*
Before he could finish, Qin Yi flung her drink into his face. "I said, get lost!" she snarled.