Volume One, Chapter 96: A Slap

Qin Minshu’s single remark instantly drove the reunion’s atmosphere down to freezing.

Meng Juan was so uneasy she could hardly sit still. The moment the class monitor said Qin Minshu was coming, she had known this would happen.

Qin Minshu had always been that sort of person: a pampered young heiress raised on indulgence, the kind who only ever bullied others. If anyone dared make her unhappy, she would make sure nobody else had an easy time either.

“What is it this time?” Li Yu could tell trouble was brewing and hurried to smooth things over. “Who’s upset our young lady now?”

“You tell me.”

With a cold laugh, Qin Minshu actually sat down on the armrest of Ye Sheng’s chair, turning her back and hips toward Ye Sheng as she folded her arms and stared icily at Meng Juan.

She had suffered such a humiliation today. This class reunion had been a place for her to settle accounts.

Everyone exchanged glances and looked toward Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng stood up expressionlessly. Qin Minshu had been sitting carelessly and, caught off guard, tilted right off the armrest, tumbling beneath the round table.

“...”

A few people could not hold back their laughter.

Meng Juan hurried forward to help her. “Minshu, are you all right?”

“Get lost!”

Qin Minshu shoved Meng Juan aside and scrambled up from the floor in a sorry state. Then she raised her hand and was about to slap Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng did not dodge. “Go on, if you dare.”

Those two words froze Qin Minshu’s hand in midair.

The fierce, sharp force in Ye Sheng’s eyes stunned her. Not only her, but everyone in the private room was shaken.

After several seconds of utter silence, a voice suddenly sounded at the doorway. “...What’s going on here?”

A few more classmates had arrived. Li Yu snapped back to her senses and hurried to clear the battlefield. She stopped Qin Minshu’s hand, half-pushing, half-holding her to a seat on the side, then greeted the new arrivals to take their places.

The flare-up was temporarily over.

Among the late arrivals was Bian Xiaoyu, the dorm leader Ye Sheng and Meng Juan had shared back in school. She was also the one Ye Sheng had stayed in touch with most over the years.

“What happened?” Bian Xiaoyu sat beside Ye Sheng and asked in a low voice, “Did the young lady make a scene again?”

—

At the dinner table, Qin Minshu was still impossible to endure. Out of ten sentences, eight were barbed, each one aimed to wound.

She did not dare provoke Ye Sheng, so she picked on the soft target instead, relentlessly goading Meng Juan and dragging out all her humiliating college memories to mock her.

In the end, Meng Juan could not take it. Halfway through the meal, her eyes reddened and she left in tears.

Ye Sheng could not help wanting to deal with that foul-mouthed woman. Just as she was about to rise, Bian Xiaoyu held her down and said in a low voice, “Don’t bother. How many times did you step in for her back in college? Did you forget? If she can’t stand on her own, helping her is useless.”

Bian Xiaoyu pulled Ye Sheng along to the restroom.

It had been a long time since Ye Sheng and Bian Xiaoyu had seen each other. They only exchanged a few WeChat messages now and then. After finishing graduate school, Bian Xiaoyu had never gone back to work; she had married a well-connected second-generation heir, given birth to a son and a daughter, and devoted herself to being a full-time homemaker.

“Are you doing well, Ye Sheng?” Bian Xiaoyu asked all of a sudden after they came out of the restroom.

Ye Sheng paused, then nodded. “I’m pretty good now.”

Pretty good now meant she had not been before.

Ye Sheng had married Huo Mingting, then divorced him. As for why they divorced, Bian Xiaoyu knew all about it.

When she learned Ye Sheng was going to divorce, Bian Xiaoyu had even tried to talk her out of it. She had calmly explained reality to her, telling her that a full-time wife could not keep up with the pace of the times, and that rather than going out to work for that little bit of hard-earned money, it was better to serve her husband well as if he were the boss.

Bian Xiaoyu studied Ye Sheng’s calm expression, as if trying to find a trace of sorrow in her eyes.

“I heard Qin Minshu is about to marry Mr. Huo soon... You, do you regret it?”

“Why would I regret it?” Ye Sheng shook her head, her answer firm. “I don’t regret it.”

Once she made a choice, she never regretted it, and she never looked back.

Seeing her so unyielding, Bian Xiaoyu was a little surprised. Just as she was about to say something, a voice came from behind them.

“Ye Sheng!”

Huo Shuting came walking over with a handsome man on her arm. Bian Xiaoyu’s eyes went wide, and she grabbed Ye Sheng hard.

“Oh my God, it’s Tan Hao!”

“Tan Hao?” Ye Sheng blinked.

“You don’t know Tan Hao? The big celebrity! He played the second male lead in Mist. He’s so handsome!” Bian Xiaoyu’s face had gone red.

Ye Sheng had not watched domestic dramas in a long time and truly did not recognize this famous star.

Huo Shuting stopped in front of Ye Sheng and opened with an accusation. “My brother suddenly made Ah Hao and me move out of Lanting International. Was that your doing? You took Cong'er away just to get a house out of my brother?”

“...”

Bian Xiaoyu recognized the exquisitely dressed girl before her, all aglow with privilege, and guessed she was probably Tan Hao’s rumored heiress girlfriend.

So the gossip was true. Tan Hao’s girlfriend really was the Huo family’s heiress.

...And Ye Sheng’s former sister-in-law.

Ye Sheng frowned, feeling baffled. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Huo Shuting gave a cold snort. “Wasn’t it all because of that stupid hat? You took it out on me. I was the one who threw the hat, but Qin Minshu was the one who cut it apart. If you want to settle accounts, go find her. Why make things difficult for me?”

Ye Sheng felt a jolt in her nerves. “You said... who cut the hat?”

“Qin Minshu.”

Huo Shuting said, “The surveillance caught it all clearly. What, my brother didn’t tell you? Honestly, it was just a hat. You could always knit another one...”

Before she could finish, a chill seemed to slice through the air.

Ye Sheng pushed open the private room door and, looking straight at Qin Minshu, who was laughing and flirting among a crowd of men, called sharply, “Qin Minshu, come out.”

Qin Minshu’s smile faded a little. “What do you want?”

Ye Sheng ignored everyone’s reaction and strode right over, yanked Qin Minshu up from her seat, and dragged her outside.

A sharp crack rang out in the restroom.

The classmates in the private room all craned their necks and were stunned.

Who had hit whom?