“If you didn’t witness it yourself, how could you assume that the person that beat him up is my boyfriend?” At the mention of ‘boyfriend’, Yan glanced at Han Qing apprehensively. Although they had shared a kiss last night, they were not in that kind of relationship yet. It was better to clear the air for now. Then, she added, “Besides, I’ve said this before; I don’t have a boyfriend. I wouldn’t do something as low as to go on a blind date when I already have a boyfriend. Those words you’ve said are complete slander toward me; you’re just trying to discredit me, Mrs. Zhang.”
Mrs. Zhang froze in surprise; she never expected Yan to be this witty and eloquent. Then, she delightedly exclaimed, “Stop trying to deny it; Li has told me everything. He said that your boyfriend beat him up so badly he had to be hospitalized. He also mentioned how uncivilized you are to attend a blind date even though you have a boyfriend. Yan, everyone here watched you grow up—we are basically parents to you. How can you treat us like this?”
Honestly, Mrs. Zhang was counting on the fact that Yan—in order to protect her reputation—would not speak about last night’s incident. Besides, the information she received was that Li Sihan had tried to kiss Yan, but she refused. Thus, he slapped her for it. In her eyes, between a slap and a beating that caused him to be hospitalized, the latter bore a heavier consequence.
Basically parents? Yan sneered in her heart, Have these people ever fed me, or given me any money? How could she be so shameless to say that she is like a parent to me?
Lost in her thoughts, Han Qing, who was standing beside her, started to make a move as if he wanted to stand up for her. However, he looked over at her when she reached out and tugged at his sleeve. Signaling to him with her eyes, she indicated for him to stand down—she could handle these small matters by herself. He had already done a lot for her last night; she could not keep relying on him today as well.
Pursing his thin lips, he studied her confident look. It seemed like she would be able to handle this all by herself without breaking a sweat. In that case, he decided to step back and watch the young lady win her own battles.
“Oh, my! Look at those flirtatious glances between them. Yet, you still have the audacity to say that he is not your boyfriend?” Mrs. Zhang began to feel unhappy, and she mockingly jeered at Yan, “Why don’t you just admit it, Yan? Isn’t he the one who beat Li up so badly he was hospitalized? I’m guessing he is. How could the two of you gang up on him?”
“Mrs. Zhang,” Yan called out as she took a step forward, her gaze calmly set on Mrs. Zhang.
Mrs. Zhang narrowed her eyes as an ominous feeling began to sprout in her. “What?”
“Do you know what happened last night? The man you introduced to me was disrespectful to me. Not only was he violent toward me, but he even tried to rape me!”
The surrounding crowd gasped and stared at Yan incredulously when they heard her words. Even Mrs. Zhang widened her eyes and stared at Yan doubtfully; she had not expected her to bring up these things so directly. Moreover, she had expected Yan to fume silently despite being torn apart by her words, and be unable to come up with a reasonable rebuttal.
In truth, even Han Qing that was standing beside her, had not expected Yan to be so bold. He glanced over at her, his eyes darkening considerably. Perhaps, she was braver than he had imagined. Well, in the first place, she was a young lady who dared to chase after him without fear. How could she not have at least this much courage?
“W-What nonsense are you talking about? Li has always been an upright person. How could he possibly do such things? Yan, as the Zhou Family’s daughter, you better not make such unfounded accusations!”
“Nonsense?” Yan laughed lightly. “Mrs. Zhang, why won’t you believe what I say? Why do you believe what he says? He would never do such things, yet my friend would? In my eyes, my friend is an upright person too; he would never do such things.”
Since the other party was not willing to admit to their fault, then they did not have to bear the crime of assaulting somebody either. It wasn’t like the other party could provide any form of evidence anyway.
“Besides, Mrs. Zhang, do you really think that my accusations would ruin his reputation? We are both women; do you think my words were destroying his reputation or my own good name?”
The nosy neighbors nodded their heads in agreement at her last sentence.
“That’s true; if you said Li would never do such things, then why would the Zhou Family’s daughter say that?”
“Yeah, it was completely unnecessary for her to say those stuff and ruin her own good name. I must say, Mrs. Zhang, is the person you introduced really reliable? Based on what Yan said, that guy is a total scumbag.”
“It’s not a big deal if a scumbag was beaten to a pulp, is it?”
“True… If it were me, I would beat him to death if he tried to do anything to my daughter.”
The winds had changed, and the crowd was swayed. Mrs. Zhang, who had not believed that Yan had it in her to be so ruthless, was so angry that her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell backward. The people near her hurriedly rushed forward to help her up, then she suddenly started to wail, “God d*mn you! How can you wrong me so? I introduced a potential suitor to you out of the kindness of my heart! If you are not happy with him, then so be it! How can you go so far as to ruin his good name without any proof?!”
Yan was unmoved by the other party’s pretend illness. One glance at Mrs. Zhang was enough to tell that she was faking it—her eyes were bright and gleaming, and her voice was still going strong.
Yan laughed coldly, then spat out, “I may not have proof, but neither do you. How can you accuse my friend of injuring somebody else? Mrs. Zhang, you are acting like a dictator who refuses to listen to the voices of the people.”
Mrs. Zhang realized that the young lady was completely unfazed by her fake illness. Stunned, she continued to wail and kick up a fuss. At this moment, Yan’s parents, the Zhou couple, had rushed downstairs. The couple had been waiting in their home for Yan to return, but she was taking a long time to arrive. When they heard a commotion downstairs, they stepped out to take a look and unexpectedly heard the conversation between Yan and Mrs. Zhang.
When Yan mentioned that Li Sihan had been violent toward her, Mr. Zhou nearly rushed out there to pick a fight with them. However, Luo Huimei held him back and whispered, “Look at how much our daughter has grown; she is standing her ground calmly despite facing an entire crowd!”
Listening to her words, he seemed to realize it too—his daughter was neither nervous nor flustered in front of this crowd. It’s true. Thus, the couple decided to watch how things unfolded. It was not until Mrs. Zhang began throwing a fit that the two of them decided to step out.
Mr. Zhou rolled up his sleeves as he arrived on the scene. “Who dares to bully my daughter? Forget the hospital—I’m going to bury him six feet under! He won’t even have a chance to go to the hospital! Hah, there won’t even be a door for him to enter!”
