Morals

“It’s just a call, why would she need to run?” Yang Chen muttered. What’s going on with this woman? Did I really hurt her because I wasn’t home for a night?

His confusion was understandable. They were in an argument just yesterday. Suddenly, overnight, Lin Ruoxi’s attitude did a complete one-eighty. Anyone would’ve guessed that what Guo Xuehua said last night had worried Lin Ruoxi.

Men should appreciate their youth, and women shouldn’t waste theirs either.

Shaking his head, puzzled, Yang Chen picked his phone up. It was Adeline.

He asked, “How’s the progress?”

Adeline yawned. “Your Majesty Pluto, I’ve been up all night carrying out the assignment. I have emailed the videos to you. Suffice to say, it’s more than enough to ruin her reputation. I have a question, do you still want to record another artistic film? Any more and it’d be a TV series.”

Yang Chen thought for a moment before answering, “It’s fine, I don’t think she’ll recover from this. It’s up to her to survive now.”

After hanging up, Yang Chen walked to his desk to turn on his laptop. When he opened his mail, there was a new mail with a video attached.

Yang Chen clicked to open the file. He couldn’t help but laugh.

Adeline had a certain flair for videography. Not only did she focus on the details of Luo Cuishan’s face, she even filmed the part when four people attacked her at once. It had an actual storyline, and since it was nighttime, she even took the time to make sure it had good lighting.

After closing the video, Yang Chen backed up a copy in his drive. He then instructed Molin from the Sea Eagles to figure out a method to send this video into Ning Guangyao’s mailbox.

Of course, it had to be sent to his personal email address. Yang Chen didn’t want the entire country to see it.

No matter what, Luo Cuishan was the premier’s wife. If he was embarrassed on the news to the world, it would not only affect his status but China at large.

Yang Chen only wanted to kill the possibility of Luo Cuishan’s recovery. He also wanted it as a warning to the Ning and Luo clans.

As long as the file of this video was in his hands, he had all the power. No matter how much the Ning and Luo clans hated him, they still had to consider the consequences.

Yang Chen wasn’t afraid of them, but having a back up plan was better than not having one at all. It had been some time since he returned. His mindset had gradually become more mature. Being fearless and all-powerful wasn’t enough these days. Neither was murder the solution to every problem. Yang Chen didn’t want to cause chaos again as he might burden the people around him.

As Yang Chen was talking to Molin, Luo Cuishan slowly awakened under the bridge over Zhonghai’s city river.

Luo Cuishan wanted to stand up, but a searing pain shot from her abdomen down when she placed weight on her legs.

“Ouch…”

Luo Cuishan drew in a sharp breath. She instantly dared not move an inch!

She was still foggy as she surveyed the area around her. It was wet, dark, and muddy.

Luo Cuishan suddenly remembered everything. It jolted her awake, panicking as her blank mind recalled everything!

Her face paled, tears streaming down her face.

Between breaths, Luo Cuishan could smell the disgusting odor the four strangers had left on her from last night. She absolutely hated the fact that she was not dead!

She was almost half a century old now. Being a pampered girl since young, she had never thought she would be bitten by four bastards who were literally the scum of society!

How could she face her husband, her son, or anyone else? Most importantly, how could she even face herself?

Life sucked more than death!

Sitting on the river bank, the woman’s face turned as white as a sheet, vulnerable as a fragile doll.

After a while, Luo Cuishan’s mind was a mess. She was numb to her problems. She slowly sat up despite the bruises.

After her struggle last night, both her top and pants were torn to shreds by the guy with the mustache. They were basically strips of cloth at this point.

It was a breezy, chilly morning. Luo Cuishan immediately hugged her chest, pressing her bosom together. However, she felt a breeze across her backside.

She looked around. She was under a bridge. Not many people or cars were there now, but someone was bound to see her naked like this once rush hour began. What should she do?!

She couldn’t imagine how she’d react if someone treated her like a psycho after what she had just gone through last night.

“No… How could I, Luo Cuishan, end up like this? This is unacceptable.” She lifted her gaze to the swift river, her eyes tearing up again. She clenched her teeth, cursing with malice, “I might as well die, so I won’t suffer. Yang Chen, Lin Ruoxi… even if I become a ghost, I will never let you go…”

With all her strength, she stood up. She forced herself to take shaky steps towards the river.

She only had to plant herself into the river head-wards. Once she drowned, everything would cease to exist.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

When Luo Cuishan was about to reach the river, a man shouted from the other side of the bridge.

A disheveled, young homeless man holding a paper bag called out to her. He shouted at Luo Cuishan, standing under the bridge.

She glared at him with poison in her eyes. Even if she were ashes, she’d still recognize this man!

This limping man was one of the cruel men who climbed onto her, and did the unthinkable last night!

Cripple ignored her glare, then quickly hopped over to Luo Cuishan, dragging his bad leg on the ground. He roughly pulled her backward.

“Are you going to kill yourself? Really?! Yeah, you were played by a few men. You’re not young anymore. Why do you still think you’re so precious?”

“What did you just say?!” roared Luo Cuishan, shaking with rage. She didn’t care if she was naked anymore. She spat at Cripple. “You’re an animal, worse than a dog! Do you know who I am?!”

“Heh, do you think I care? You say I’m a dog, then doesn’t that make you a bitch who fucked the dog?!” Cripple didn’t avoid her spit, but he wiped his face with a sleeve.

“Did you just insult me?!”

He didn’t care, but laughed instead. “I said, Auntie, don’t do anything stupid. Think this through. If you die, you will have nothing. So what if you were ‘stabbed’ by a few brothers? Why not live? After all, revenge is an act that must be carried out physically.”

“And you’re lecturing me now?!” shrieked Luo Cuishan.

Cripple smirked. “Oh so you think you’re the shit now when you widen your eyes and scream a little louder. Weren’t you just about to kill yourself? All because you were played by us?”

Luo Cuishan bent down to pick a rock up before throwing it at Cripple.

Although he had a bad leg, with Luo Cuishan’s aim, he easily dodged the rock.

“Looks like you still have some energy in you. You had just fought four men in a night, but you still have the energy to hit me. Auntie, the two lumps of meat on your chest are so round. They’re still shaking,” laughed Cripple.

Luo Cuishan suddenly realized the beggar was still staring at her. She immediately hugged her chest, then pressed her thighs tightly together. Her grief and hate and all her emotions caused more tears to stream down her face.

Cripple huffed, then walked slowly to a corner. He picked up a dirty rug and threw it towards her. “I have no clothes for you, so you should use this rug. Your pants are torn but it’ll serve as shorts.”

“Leave! I don’t want this smelly thing!” Luo Cuishan kicked the rug away.

Cripple laughed, then took the cheapest white mantou out of the paper bag he was holding. He threw it towards her. “Whatever. Since you gave me a good time last night, I choose not to leave you to your own vices. I still have morals, so I’ll give you my rug and my steamed bun. Do you think it was easy to beg for the money to buy this mantou? Hmph…”

“I want all four of you to die!” cursed Luo Cuishan with hatred, clenching her teeth.

He rolled his eyes, then took a bite of his mantou. “This one bites. They can’t even count the number of beggars in Zhonghai, you think you’ll find them? We don’t have identities. If I didn’t leave a rug for you, you wouldn’t even have been able to leave this place under the bridge. You’d die from the cold and hunger!”

Luo Cuishan was so furious that she started to bite her lip until the skin tore. Grief welled up and she squatted to cry again!

Cripple sat aside, still munching on the mantou as if he didn’t hear anything. However, he stole a few occasional glances, an inexplicable emotion arising in his eyes.