novelEnding 21: Put the Bite on Us
| ← Ch.293 | Ch.295 → |
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At that time, the security guards arrived and hurriedly pushed the reporters away. However, there were too many reporters and too few security guards—it was complete pandemonium. As they blocked off the reporters on one side, the ones from another side took the chance and rushed toward the car again. Still, the situation was much better than before. A security guard swiftly called for backup through his walkie-talkie.
In the end, the security guards could only surround the car and were barely able to prevent the reporters from going near it.
Fang Anci grabbed onto Mu Sisi's arm and said to her, "Let's go, we should seize the chance to hurry back home now. You can hide in the house for as long as you wish after we enter the house. We can't hide in the car for our whole lives."
Fang Anci shielded Mu Sisi as they got out of the car. The reporters rushed toward them immediately while the security guards tried to prevent them from being pushed and trampled on in the havoc. Still, they were unable to stop the reporters from dashing forward desperately.
"Miss Mu, who was the man in the photo? Was it your husband Mr. Gao?"
"But Miss Mu, according to rumors, the place of the incident in the photos is in a budget chain hotel. Mr. Gao and you come from prestigious families and wouldn't choose such a cheap hotel supposedly. Could it be that the guy wasn't your husband Mr. Gao?"
"Miss Mu, when did this incident happen? Before or after your wedding?"
"Miss Mu, was that the reason you suddenly married Mr. Gao at the spur of the moment?"
"Miss Mu, did Mr. Gao know about this before the wedding?"
"Miss Mu, was the Mu Family aware of it? If they were aware of it, were they deliberately hiding it from the Gao family?"
"Stop talking about it. The situation was different from what you're all saying. No!" Mu Sisi suddenly glared fiercely at the reporters who were questioning her.
"What really happened then? Please explain to us for a while, " asked a reporter who seized the opportunity immediately.
"Get lost! All of you, get lost!" shouted Mu Sisi hysterically."Get lost, don't touch me!"
"Let's go back home!" Fang Anci hurriedly dragged Mu Sisi into the building and stopped her from being pestered by the reporters. At this juncture, any words uttered by her would most probably be interpreted wrongly.
The reporters still took the opportunity to snap pictures of Mu Sisi incessantly.
Fang Anci managed to drag Mu Sisi into the house with great difficulty. Mu Sisi went into her bedroom and locked herself in it. She did not answer the door when Fang Anci knocked at it.
Fang Anci sighed heavily and went to the living room. She called Gao Jingqiu but he did not pick up the call.
...
...
Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu was busy preparing for Little Youjin's full moon celebration and did not take note of this kind of news. They felt quite tired after they brought Little Youjin back home after the banquet.
During the banquet, Yan Beicheng and the others tried to give drinks to Qi Chengzhi under the table. They told him that his child was born and he no longer needed to abstain from smoking and drinking. He had no excuses to decline their requests.
Qi Chengzhi's mood was extremely good, so he did not refuse their requests when they urged him to drink more. As a result, he was a little euphoric after he was home. He rested on the bed right after he reached home and switched on the television. He was switching the channels absent-mindedly.
Fortunately, this guy could still behave well after he was drunk and was aware of his limits. Although he drank a lot of alcohol, the volume was not too excessive. He could even remain sober and control himself. He did not talk much and laid on the bed alone in silence.
Song Yu remembered that she saw him in a few dinners before, and when others were behaving repulsively after they were drunk, he was still behaving gracefully with impeccable manners.
Aunt Yang gave a glass of honey lemon water to Qi Chengzhi to relieve the effects of the alcohol. Song Yu was sitting beside Qi Chengzhi, coaxing Little Youjin into sleeping.
"Let me coax him, you get some rest." Qi Chengzhi pushed Song Yu's hair which was hanging beside her ears to behind her ears and proceeded to carry Little Youjin in his arms.
"You were busy for the whole day, I'm not tired yet. Besides, it's not tiring to coax him, " insisted Song Yu."You've been taking care of Youjin these few nights so that I could sleep well. You should have some proper rest since you drank quite a lot of alcohol today."
Qi Chengzhi smiled at her. He was still not drowsy even though he was tipsy—it was the optimum level of insobriety. He started to caress Song Yu's hair softly and gazed at her as she lowered her head to coax Little Youjin into sleeping.
After a while, Song Yu adjusted her posture to lie in his arms and watched the television with him.
Qi Chengzhi simply switched the channels constantly, but he stopped when he switched to a channel that was broadcasting news. In the footage showing a chaotic scene, a group of reporters were surrounding two women.
"Stop talking about it. The situation was different from what you're all saying. No!" A sharp female sound could be heard from the speaker of the television and they saw Mu Sisi's deranged face shortly after.
They found out the things that had happened to Mu Sisi from the news report.
Qi Chengzhi immediately took the laptop on the bedside cabinet and searched for information about the incident on the internet. After that, he called Lawyer Song and asked him to prepare the security footage of the pub. Then, he called Chang Lai and asked him to go to the budget chain-hotel to make a copy of that night's security footage.
...
...
At that night, Mu Huili and Mu Huaisheng went to the Gao family's house. They let Fang Anci keep Mu Sisi company at home to prevent her from doing anything dangerous.
The members of the Gao Family were sitting in a row with stony expressions. Mu Huili and Mu Huaisheng sat opposite to them.
"You said you wanted to explain to us on the phone, what do you need to explain? Please tell us, " said Gao Shenghe with a frigid expression.
"Director Gao, we were truly unaware of that incident. We only found out about it today when we received the same mail as you. Although I sounded calm on the phone, I was extremely mad. However, I shouldn't vent my anger on you when I was talking to you, right? Before you called us, we asked Sisi about it and she admitted it. In reality... she was drugged by someone..." Mu Huili gave a heavy sigh and lowered his head like he was embarrassed to look at the members of the Gao family.
"In-laws, Jingqiu, our family had wronged your family in this matter, we had involved you all in this incident and brought troubles to your family. We know that Jingqiu had to bear a huge amount of stress due to it. This trouble was caused by Sisi, so please just tell us what we could do to make you all feel better and less angry, " Mu Huili could only talk in such a submissive way.
"Since you've married her, we hope that Jingqiu could pull through this difficult situation with Sisi, " said Mu Huaisheng indifferently."If both of you could face it together, the public opinion will incline toward sympathizing you both in time. It would then be beneficial toward the reputation of the Gao family and the companies owned by your family. There was a similar incident before—the wife of a male star had the same experience, but the star gained praises and support from the masses because he supported his wife. If your family could handle this matter well, Jingqiu would benefit from it."
"That doesn't mean Sisi won't be responsible for it anymore, but the matter had already become known to the public. We could only think about ways to solve it and turn the situation around so that we could be in a more favorable position as the matter progresses, right?" said Mu Huili gently.
Gao Jingqiu pursed his lips. He then countered coldly with a furious and mean expression, "I want to divorce her! We won't be associated with the Mu family anymore after a divorce, so we wouldn't need to rack our brains to find a way to protect our reputation. She was drugged? The guys who did this kind of thing were mostly filthy. Could it be that she was infected by some filthy disease or got pregnant? She wanted to marry me so that I could conveniently be that child's father?"
Gao Jingqiu turned his head and said to Gao Shenghe, "Dad, tomorrow I'll go to the hospital for a health checkup. I'm already so unlucky, please don't let me catch some filthy diseases."
Mu Huili was clenching his teeth out of anger."She's not pregnant, so there's no need to be afraid. Besides, Sisi told me that she went for a health checkup at a hospital after the incident, and she was clear of all diseases."
Mu Huili dared not explain too much—he was worried that the Gao family might notice that they had known about the incident before today.
"Fuff!" Gao Jingqiu sneered."Who could be sure about this? Didn't you say that you all were unaware of her filthy affair? Since she hid it from you all once, she could hide other things from you all many more times. Why should I believe you all? I'd surely divorce her no matter what!"
Mu Huili had discussed with Mu Huaisheng before—they could never let him divorce Mu Sisi. Mu Sisi's whole life would be ruined if he divorced her and it would be detrimental to the Mu family.
"Jingqiu, please calm down, I don't wish to say it was Sisi's fault because she was a victim as well. However, we had involved your family in this incident, so we'll try our best to compensate you all, " Mu Huili coaxed."Just tell me your conditions."
Gao Jingqiu narrowed his eyes and deduced that the Mu Family did not want a divorce, thus demanded, "I know that you gave Mu Sisi eight shares of MU as dowry, and I want five shares. Then, we'd be in the same boat. I wouldn't hope that MU suffer any losses, so I'll do my best to cooperate with you and help the Mu family to get through this crisis. I could also successfully build an impression of Mu Sisi as a victim to gain society's sympathy so that she could pull herself together and continue with her life."
Mu Huili's face turned stern and stared at Gao Shenghe abruptly. He knew it was Gao Shenghe's idea for sure, that old fox!
He came here with Mu Huaisheng expecting that the Gao family would put the bite on them, but he did not expect that they would ask for so much. Gao Jingqiu and his father were sure that Mu Sisi would not allow a divorce between her and Gao Jingqiu to happen now because her life would be ruined if she went through a divorce.
"You're my son-in-law, the property that Sisi inherits in the future will be yours sooner or later. I wouldn't say no if you ask for shares, but five shares are too much, " said Mu Huili coldly."Three shares, I could only give you three shares. This is already a very good condition."
Gao Jingqiu pouted and replied to him indifferently, "Four shares, this is my bottom line. Otherwise, I'll announce our divorce tomorrow. If the Mu Family oppose it, we could go through legal procedures and that would make things worse for the Mu family."
Mu Huili was clenching his teeth bitterly. He had to lose 4% of his company's shares because of a trivial matter, but he had to agree with the condition.
"Alright, I promise you, " relented Mu Huili in a deep voice.
"Then let's ask a lawyer to prepare a contract. I'd step forth to take on the burden together with Mu Sisi after we sign the contract and it goes into effect." Gao Jingqiu leaned forward and took a box of cigarettes on the coffee table in front of him. He took out a cigarette from the box and lit it. He inhaled the cigarette smoke very happily and exhaled a cloud of smoke with a relaxed expression.
...
...
Fang Anci immediately asked them about the meeting after Mu Huili and Mu Huaisheng went back home.
Mu Huili did not answer her questions. He looked around the living hall and asked, "Where's Sisi?"
"She's in her bedroom. She locked herself in it since she was back, she doesn't even want to eat, " replied Fang Anci helplessly.
"It's no use crying over spilled milk. If she didn't behave like that at that time, how would she end up like this? She wouldn't need to marry Gao Jingqiu as a desperate measure and live an undesirable life. Even if she was too proud and don't want to get married, we wouldn't press her to marry someone if she was well-behaved. Is she satisfied with the situation now?" Mu Huili became more and more furious when he thought of the way he was mistreated by the Gao family and there were no ways to vent his anger.
"Our child was depressed enough, please don't talk about it anymore, " said Fang Anci and she heaved a sigh. Mu Huili was talking very loudly, and even though Mu Sisi had locked the door, she could hear what he said clearly.
She laid prone on her bed and furiously pounded at the mattress with her fists non-stop.
"Is she feeling depressed? I'm more depressed than her—the Gao family took the opportunity to put a bite on us because they know that we'd never let Gao Jingqiu divorce her. They went as far as to ask for four shares that belong to Sisi, and now we'll be in the same boat with the Gao family forever. Our company is doing great until now, but the Gao family would be taking part in it now. Do you think I'm not depressed?" said Mu Huili furiously.
"What—" Fang Anci was still startled by his words when the door of Mu Sisi's bedroom suddenly opened.
Mu Sisi rushed toward them and said, "Dad, what are you talking about? How could you give my shares to Gao Jingqiu?"
"What could be done if we refused to give him the shares? He was threatening to divorce you. Do you know the consequences if you divorce him? Even if you want to divorce him, you could do so in the future. You shouldn't do it now no matter what! If you divorce him, your life would be ruined, " replied Mu Huili harshly. How could Mu Sisi still unable to see the situation? Why did he have such a foolish daughter?
"But he doesn't love me at all and doesn't treat me well, how could he receive part of my property! Those are my shares, how could we let him take advantage of me?!" shrieked Mu Sisi. Everything that happened to her today was so unfortunate, and it felt like all the people in the world were setting themselves against her.
"Do you think I want that?" Mu Huili also spoke to her loudly."I was the one who gave you all those shares and frankly speaking, they belonged to me. However, I had to go and beg the Gao family humbly because of you and offered them the shares. Now you're talking to me like this? You're angry, so am I! You're only concerned about your property now, but why weren't you concerned about it when you were doing all those stupid things previously? If it weren't for you, our family wouldn't find it so difficult to grow in B City! Your brother was close to Qi Chengzhi at first, and we would've expanded our business in B City smoothly with his help. In the end, Qi Chengzhi fell out with your brother because of you. Today is his child's full moon celebration and he didn't even invite us. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be left out because of the friendship between him and your brother. You had done so many stupid and brainless things, now you still dare to argue with me? If you weren't so stubborn in turning your nose up at Gao Jingqiu and thought that you're very outstanding and capable on that night, you wouldn't have run away from home. How would you have encountered that incident then? If you behaved well, Gao Jingqiu may treat you better and the big problem today wouldn't have arisen. You're the cause of all the trouble, and you've brought a lot of harm to our family. You're still not stopping now and want to continue causing trouble?"
"I also never hope for the situation like today! Don't you think that I'm very sad? How could I see other people after this incident? I'm clearly the victim and that b*stard deserves to die. Why are you blaming me for everything that happened?" said Mu Sisi as she started to cry. She was falling apart.
This was the moment that she needed the support of her family the most, but all of them could not understand her feelings and could not place themselves in her shoes. She was heartbroken and her sadness made her feel like dying.
Mu Huili stopped talking for a while, breathing heavily."Mu Sisi, you still think that you did nothing wrong until now. You think that you're the victim and the whole world let you down, isn't it? Looks like you haven't recognized your mistakes. Go back into your bedroom and reflect on it yourself properly. Don't come out of your room until you've recognized your mistakes!"
Mu Sisi cried, aggrieved. She glanced at her parents and Mu Huisheng and realized that no one was standing by her or pitying her. She clenched her teeth bitterly and turned around to go back to her room.
...
...
The next day, Mu Sisi's photos were spread on a large scale to the public. The house phone and the cell phones of everyone in the Mu family had not stopped ringing. At last, they pulled out the telephone cable from its socket and switched off their cell phones since there was nothing else to be done.
Fang Anci and Mu Sisi could do that easily, but Mu Huili and Mu Huaisheng were working, and they had to register another phone number for temporary use.
There was still a large group of reporters waiting outside of the Mu Family's house. They were changing shifts to keep a close watch on the house at the entrance of it. Even when Mu Huili and Mu Huaisheng were leaving the house to go to work, their cars were surrounded by reporters. The crowd was impenetrable and they needed the help of the security guards again to leave the neighborhood with great difficulty. When they reached the company, the security guards at the company had to block the reporters so that they could get in the company's building.
| ← Ch. 293 | Ch. 295 → |