Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The sound of a slap came from the room across from Hao Ziming’s.

The onlookers rushed over immediately.

The man lying half-asleep in bed was jolted fully awake by the slap. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened in shock and he rolled right off the mattress.

As he hit the floor, the woman on the other side of the bed was finally revealed.

Half-awake from the commotion, she mumbled without opening her eyes: “Daddy, quit playing around.”

Lin Tingyue, watching the scene unfold: “?”

“My god… dad and daughter?!”

“Well, at least they’re not related by blood. I mean… is this some kind of kink or what? Usually that stuff is between lovers. This is just straight-up disgusting!”

Kang Mingyu, now on the floor, was completely panicked. He pulled the blanket up to cover himself. “Babe, listen—I can explain.”

Babe?

The woman on the bed finally reacted. She sat up lazily, scanning the woman standing before her with a bored expression. “So you’re the ‘first wife,’ huh? Sorry, but I’m not getting up for you.”

“???”

“This isn’t some ancient harem drama—get real! How are you so calm about this?!”

Wu Chenshi was furious. Without hesitation, she slapped the woman hard. “Who the hell do you think you’re calling ‘big sister’? Just because I hit my husband doesn’t mean I won’t hit you too, you damn homewrecker!!”

She was shaking with rage. “You’re both trash!”

Kang Mingyu seized the moment for damage control. Still wrapped in the blanket, he jumped up. “Yes, yes! Babe, she came onto me! It’s not my fault! Last night I was out drinking with clients and had one too many. I even booked a ride home, but this woman wouldn’t leave me alone!”

Wu Chenshi shot back coldly, “Oh really?”

“Absolutely, babe! You have to believe me—I’d never cheat on you!”

“Wow, zero shame. Everyone knows you can’t even function when you’re drunk. So what happened after that—was that her fault too?”

Kang Mingyu’s excuse enraged Ning Yexin. She lunged at him, slapping his face furiously while yelling, “You were all promises in bed, but now that your wife’s here, I’m the homewrecker? You bastard, I’ll end you!”

It wasn’t just slaps—she yanked his hair, bit his face, and would’ve done worse if the police hadn’t stepped in to pull them apart.

Kang Mingyu glared at her with pure hatred. “Officers, you have to arrest this psycho! She seduced me *and* attacked me—she’s insane!”

Ning Yexin snapped back, “Kang Mingyu, you’ve got a death wish or what? Fine! If you wanna play dirty, then I’ll spill everything. You’re not scared, right?”

At her words, Kang Mingyu’s face went pale. “Don’t you dare.”

“Oh? Now you’re scared? The cops are right here—you gonna try something?”

Ning Yexin didn’t back down.

She turned to Wu Chenshi. Since Kang Mingyu had called her a homewrecker, she had no reason to hold back.

“Oh honey,” she said with a smirk, “you have no idea. I’m not the only one—he’s got numbers four, five, six, and seven. Why stop at seven? Think he ran out of energy? Of course not! He literally scheduled us like shifts. Penciled us in like appointments. And since you’re the first wife…” she added with bitter sarcasm, “you got the ‘wife discount’—lucky you.”

After getting this off her chest, Ning Yexin felt immense relief. Although she was the mistress, she still had her principles.

This was consensual—it was Kang Mingyu who had approached her first. Now that his wife had found out, he wanted to wipe his hands clean of it? As if!

Kang Mingyu couldn’t take it anymore. Breaking free from the officers’ grip, he lunged at Ning Yexin, gripping her neck as he snarled, “How dare you spread lies in front of my wife? I’ll kill you!”

Though Kang Mingyu was quickly pulled away, Ning Yexin was left with visible marks from the choking. She clutched her throat, coughing violently before she could breathe again.

“Spreading lies? Should I call your mistresses number four through seven? Didn’t you say your wife had already turned a blind eye to us? Why are you so panicked now?”

Ning Yexin’s tone was dripping with sarcasm. Seeing he couldn’t intimidate her, Kang Mingyu turned to Wu Chenshi, pleading desperately, “Baby, she’s making this up! She’s trying to drive a wedge between us… Baby…”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Actually, it wasn’t supposed to be Ning Yexin yesterday, but mistress number four. But because Kang Mingyu had a fight with Wu Chenshi, he changed his mind at the last minute and called Ning Yexin instead. Since Ning Yexin looks a bit like Wu Chenshi, he was desperate to put her in her place, so…”

“Wow, you even pulled the ‘stand-in lover’ routine. You really are a real piece of work.”

Hearing this, Wu Chenshi turned to look at Ning Yexin and indeed noticed a slight resemblance.

Seeing Wu Chenshi’s reaction, Kang Mingyu thought she believed him and decided to shift the blame onto Ning Yexin. But before he could rejoice, Wu Chenshi slapped him so hard he saw stars.

“Go to hell, you bastard! I even had my dad hospitalized because of you, thinking you were a good person. But who would’ve thought… who would’ve thought…”

“He’s no good person at all.”

Wu Chenshi froze. Was there more to what happened back then?

“Back then, Wu Chenshi’s father accidentally discovered Kang Mingyu’s true nature and confronted him, demanding he leave his daughter. But not only did Kang Mingyu refuse, he taunted the old man, saying that once he died, Wu Chenshi would fall into his hands, and he could do whatever he wanted with her.

“The old man was so enraged he had a heart attack. Kang Mingyu just stood there, watching him collapse, making no move to call an ambulance. He even took his sweet time watching the old man’s struggle before finally sending him to the hospital—and only then because he was afraid of being held responsible if the old man died.”

What?!

Though her father was eventually hospitalized, it was too late—he didn’t make it.

When Wu Chenshi went to see her father for the last time, Kang Mingyu stood behind her. Her father, unable to speak, had trembled as he pointed at Kang Mingyu. Wu Chenshi had misunderstood, thinking her father was giving his blessing, and reassured him not to worry.

Now, she realized how terribly wrong she had been.

Wu Chenshi saw red. She rushed at Kang Mingyu, grabbing his collar. “I’ll kill you!”

It wasn’t until two days later that the matter was resolved.

After investigating, the police confirmed that Kang Mingyu had indeed delayed sending the old man to the hospital. He was looking at a long prison sentence.

Bai Yaxin relayed this to Lin Tingyue, even explaining how the police had uncovered the truth about the past.

But Lin Tingyue barely paid attention—she only cared whether Kang Mingyu would pay for his crimes.

Hearing Bai Yaxin’s words, Lin Tingyue let out a sigh of relief.

After Bai Yaxin went upstairs, Fan Qing arrived.

Fan Qing asked, “Yue Yue, I heard your whole family went on a trip together. How was it? Did you have fun?”

“Whether it was fun or not, I don’t know. But I got more than my share of drama.”

Fan Qing: “….”

She quickly asked, "Did anything super interesting happen?"

Lin Tingyue told her about the two juicy stories from the homestay.

Fan Qing listened with rapt attention while munching on sunflower seeds. When Lin Tingyue finished, she eagerly pressed, "Is there more? Is there more?"

Lin Tingyue looked at Fan Qing, then suddenly reached out and pinched her cheeks.

Fan Qing: "?"

Lin Tingyue squished her cheeks like playdough, stretching and rolling them, until Fan Qing snapped, "Lin Tingyue, what are you doing?"

"Qing Qing is so cute."

Fan Qing’s face flushed slightly. Honestly, if she was cute, just say so—why pinch her face?

Oh well, her bestie deserved pampering!

Finally done with her cheek-pinching, Lin Tingyue asked, "By the way, why did you come this time?"

"Oh! I was so busy devouring the tea that I almost forgot the main reason!"

Fan Qing clapped her hands and handed an invitation to Lin Tingyue.

Lin Tingyue opened it and found it was for a banquet titled *New Beginnings*.

"What’s this?"

"My mom finally divorced that old loser Fan Wei. Back then, he was desperate to marry Tang Xiao and insisted on divorcing my mom. But Tang Xiao turned out to be a fraud, so he came crawling back, trying to reconcile. Yeah right! This banquet is to celebrate my mom breaking free from that nightmare. Yue Yue, you, Bai Auntie, Uncle Lin, and your big bros must all come!"

After hearing Fan Qing’s explanation, Lin Tingyue looked at the invitation again—it practically glittered. Her eyes curved into crescents as she replied, "Of course, we’ll all be there."

"Oh! Looks like your big bro’s back."

Fan Qing lowered her voice. "And there’s a hottie with him!"

"Hottie!!!"

Lin Tingyue turned her head with Fan Qing and indeed saw Lin Yuhuan walking in, followed by an unfamiliar man.

Lin Tingyue stood up. "Bro, you’re home!"

"Yeah."

Lin Yuhuan noticed Fan Qing and said, "Fan Qing’s here?"

Fan Qing, ever the charmer, followed Lin Tingyue’s lead and greeted, "Big brother."

Though both were addressing him, their eyes were glued to the man beside him.

Helpless, Lin Yuhuan had no choice but to introduce the two smitten girls. "This is Song Qi, our company’s top trainee for this survival show."

Fan Qing didn’t hold back at all, immediately blurting out, "No wonder he’s the star trainee—he’s drop-dead gorgeous! Hi, I’m Fan Qing."

She held out her hand toward Song Qi.

Song Qi replied modestly, "You’re too kind, Miss Fan."

Just as Song Qi's hand was about to touch Fan Qing's, Lin Tingyue cut in to grab Fan Qing's hand.

Lin Tingyue said with a smile, "I'm in a hurry—let me go first with the handshake."

"Uh... go ahead, miss."

Fan Qing: *blinks* "?"

Is there tea here?

Not just tea—this is piping hot tea.