Chapter 8 The Banquet

She slowly walked up to Wu Wenli, lifted her chin and said, "You know how to seduce men at such a young age? I heard you dropped out of school to be with Zhao Zijian? Humph, I don't know if I should call you stupid or smart. Look at my face and remember me. Don't let me see you again. Every time I see you in the future, I will have you beaten up."

Wu Wenli sobbed, not daring to refute a single word. That made everyone in the crowd understand that she was aware of that Zhao Zijian had a family, or else she wouldn't just take it like this.

But Gu Yujiao was dumbfounded by this. Wu Wenli never said Zhao Zijian had a family. Such a silly girl...

The huge group of people came and went quickly. They all left in a short while. Wu Wenli's clothes were pulled and torn in many places. She whimpered, turned and ran back home.

Gu Yujiao, on the other hand, looked around at the group of onlookers, an unreadable look on her face. Upon seeing this, most of them scattered, though there were some bold guy said, "Well, well. I said this before. This girl from the Wu family just quitted school at a young age and was hanging out with her boyfriend every day. Turns out her boyfriend has a family."

"You're right. And Gu Yujiao was always showing off, too. Well, now that she's been exposed thoroughly, let's see if she dares to continue..."

The voices of the discussion faded away, and Gu Yujiao took on a ghastly expression.She looked back in the direction of her home. She cared less about the views of others and more about being seen as a joke by Qin Zhu. That made her heart feel as if it was being broken, repaired and then broken again, in an excruciating and infinite loop.

She took a deep breath before slowly walking home.

Xiang's home.

"I didn't expect Wenli to be so scheming like this at such a young age. Gu Yujiao should be to one to blame. What kind of a child did she raise?" Qin Zhu said with a lot of emotions.

"Let's stay out of other people's business." Xiang Guoping said, still feeling distressed by what just happened.

He would rather keep a respectable distance from Gu Yujiao's family, however, the two families lived too close together and had close familial relationships. He really couldn't avoid Gu family he wanted to.

"It makes sense. Well, Wu Gang is out with his car. When he comes back, who knows what he might do to the two of them?"

Qin Zhu said as she headed to the kitchen. Time for preparing lunch.

Xiang Lianyi, who was following behind them, was in a good mood. Watching the event unfold made her vent her grievance, and the thought of Wu Gang, her uncle, coming back soon made her feel so good that she was literally taking off.

The Xiang family was in harmony, but the Wu family was a different story.

Wu Wenli was lying on her bed sobbing. She was still very young, after all, and she was in utter shock after this happened.

She was only a few months younger than Xiang Lianyi, and it was Zhao Zijian who took an interest in her first. She didn't know he had a family at first, and by the time she found out, she was convinced by his sweet words and material satisfaction. She really did believe his promise and was expecting him to divorce his wife and marry her.

It was love at first sight, but it was all about face and money!

The more she thought about it, the more she didn't want take this lying down. She intended to go out and find Zhao Zijian to ask for an explanation. However, right upon leaving the room, she was pushed back by Gu Yujiao with great strength.

"What are you going for? Haven't you brought enough embarrassment upon me?"

The thing happened was a slap in Gu Yujiao's face in public. She was very angry already, yet Wu Wenli still wanted to go out. Does she want to be mocked to death?

"Mom, I..."

"You stupid girl! Tell me the truth, what's going on?"

Gu Yujiao's slightly twisted appearance scared Wu Wenli. She didn't dare to keep any more secrets, and told her mother everything between her and Zhao Zijian in a stammering voice.

"Are you stupid? So did you and he..."

"No, no! Mom, I really didn't, I didn't dare."

Gu Yujiao's face was a little better upon hearing this. As long as she didn't give him everything, whoever she ended up marrying will be able to stand up for her. But now...

"You just stay at home now, don't go out and embarrass me anymore." Gu Yujiao said coldly and left Wu Wenlin's room.

Wu Wenli couldn't feel any kindness from Gu Yujiao, only a full-blown resentment. She couldn't help but feel even sadder. She did do something wrong, but didn't her mother also support her decision in dropping out of school and staying with Zhao Zijian?

Why was she alone to blame for what happened now?

It was as if the darkness in her heart had been magnified infinitely, and perhaps, one day, it would consume her!

Within a few days, Wu Gang came back from his trip. Before he even got home, he heard about what had happened to his family, and the shame coupled with the anger made him livid.

It was said that when he returned home, he gave Wu Wenli a good beating and ordered her to continue to go to school once the school year starts back up. And if she dared to embarrass herself again, he would break her legs.

As for Gu Yujiao, there weren't any rumors. However, she was seen going out with a bruise on her lips the next day, which seemed to be the result of Wu Gang's beating.

Qingtan Lane had been quiet for the past few days.

Xiang Lianyi didn't have time to pay attention to these insignificant issues. She was worried about how she should find a ready-to-wear garment factory. There was no internet just yet. If she wanted to find a suitable manufacturer, she basically had to walk around to find one.

These days, she had already turned the entire South City upside down. She had several broken blisters on her feet, but she still hadn't found a satisfying factory. If she really couldn't find one here, she would have to go to another city.

Just as they were about to depart, they unexpectedly received another call from the Xi family. It was from Auntie Zhang. She said that Madam Xi wanted them to make some formal clothes, because soon it would be the birthday of Xi Mufeng's father, Xi Mingyu.