CHAPTER 50: 050: DID I CAUSE TROUBLE YESTERDAY?

Lai Yang’s face flushed crimson with rage, her finger viciously pointing at Ning Qinghan. "She deserves a beating!"

"Not content with stealing someone’s dad, she even sneaks into someone else’s boyfriend’s bed. Playing the whore while trying to erect a shrine, and you don’t even let anyone say anything! You think no one knows your dirty little secrets?"

"Lai Yang!" Ning Qinghan’s hair was a mess. Upon hearing these words, she felt as though the gazes of those around her were like little knives, peeling off her clothes layer by layer, the sense of shame almost drowning her.

"Are you sick in the head?" she shouted angrily, her teeth chattering from either the cold dampness of her clothes or her fury.

"You’re the one who’s sick!" Lai Yang retorted. "Your whole family is sick!"

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and said with scornful mockery, "Indeed, you are sick, Chen Qinghan. You steal people’s dads, you steal people’s boyfriends, and now you’ve gotten your retribution! Did you know you can no longer have children? This is your retribution!"

At these words, the tense atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

So quiet it was deathly still.

Ning Qinghan’s face first turned deathly pale, then flushed red. "You’re talking nonsense!"

"Lai Yang!" Ning Guiwan, momentarily taken aback, quickly recovered and grasped Lai Yang’s arm. "Don’t talk nonsense!"

She wasn’t worried that Ning Qinghan couldn’t handle hearing it. Rather, the location where Ning Rongyue had discussed these private matters with the doctor at the hospital that day had always struck her as inappropriate.

"I’m not talking nonsense!" Lai Yang didn’t understand what Ning Guiwan was thinking; she was only focused on how to infuriate Ning Qinghan. "I personally overheard Chen Rongyue talking with your doctor. Chen Rongyue was worried you couldn’t take the shock, so she didn’t let the doctor tell you the truth. She even asked the doctor to tell you that you just haven’t recovered well and need to rest."

Upon hearing this, Ning Qinghan’s complexion once again turned ashen.

Her wide eyes brimmed with shock and disbelief.

The doctor who treated her had indeed said those very words. In truth, she wasn’t without such worries. She wasn’t a naive girl, unaware of the world’s harsh realities. She knew how severe the damage from a miscarriage could be to a woman, and that for some people, even one miscarriage could lead to a lifetime of infertility.

"You’re lying to me..." Her lips turned pale, and she looked pitifully vulnerable.

Lai Yang sneered. "Lying or not, you’ll know when you go back and ask Chen Rongyue, won’t you?"

Having said her piece, she couldn’t be bothered with Ning Qinghan any longer and pulled Ning Guiwan away. Reaching the door, Lai Yang halted, turned back to look at Quan Xiangru, and said, "This is your retribution too. You married her, so just wait for your family line to end!"

She paused, a sneer in her eyes as she added, "Or perhaps, you could do what your biological father did: find some third-rate starlet and sire an illegitimate child!"

Quan Xiangru looked at her, his gaze darkening ominously.

Unintimidated, Lai Yang continued, "In that case, you two are quite a match—both illegitimate children, unfit to be seen in public!"

After finishing, Lai Yang pulled Ning Guiwan and walked away.

...

After the two of them left, the restroom sank into a prolonged silence.

After a while, the elder Mrs. Quan frowned and asked, "Xiaoyang mentioned Qinghan stealing someone’s boyfriend—whose boyfriend did she steal?"

The implication of Lai Yang’s statement was clear: Ning Qinghan had stolen Ning Guiwan’s boyfriend. But the elderly lady was reluctant to believe it. If that were true, how much had her Xiaowan suffered back then? No wonder Xiaowan acted so ruthlessly towards those two sisters. This kind of suffering was something she herself had experienced in her youth, in her first failed marriage. Even now, thinking about it, she couldn’t help but feel for her younger self.

He Yunqing shifted her gaze away from Ning Qinghan and looked at the elder Mrs. Quan, smiling slightly. "It’s just youthful infatuation, and it’s all in the past..."

By saying that, she more or less confirmed it.

The elder Mrs. Quan looked at He Yunqing with displeasure. "You knew?"

He Yunqing replied, "I only found out later..."

"If you knew, then why did you invite those two over for dinner?"

Seeing the Old Madam’s anger, Housekeeper Fang hurriedly stepped forward to support her, about to say a few soothing words, but the Old Madam pushed Fang Derong away.

The elderly lady glanced at Ning Qinghan, then finally let her gaze rest on Quan Xiangru’s face.

"In the future, you don’t have to come to me, nor do I need any display of filial piety from you."

"Derong, see the guests out!"

With that, the Old Madam, leaning on her cane, walked away without looking back.

Housekeeper Fang smiled politely and said to He Yunqing, "The Old Madam is just angry right now. Perhaps the First Madam and Young Master should head back first?"

He Yunqing glanced at the wretched and bewildered Ning Qinghan, said nothing, and turned to leave first.

Ning Qinghan was reeling from what Lai Yang had said; every word Lai Yang uttered struck her like a thunderbolt.

This couldn’t be true...

When she came back to her senses, she was already in the car leaving the Quan Family mansion.

He Yunqing was sitting in the passenger seat, with Quan Xiangru beside her.

"Auntie..." Her first thought was, would He Yunqing stop supporting her? If that was the case, what should she do?

"What Lai Yang said isn’t true. I’m just feeling a little unwell, it’s not that serious. You have to believe me..."

A flash of light passed through the car, briefly illuminating Ning Qinghan’s panicked face.

He Yunqing ignored her, exuding a profound coldness. Ning Qinghan had always felt that He Yunqing wasn’t as easy to get along with as she appeared, but she had never seen such an indifferent He Yunqing before. This was completely different from usual. Ning Qinghan vaguely sensed that this was how the true matriarch of the Quan family’s eldest son was supposed to be.

"Brother Xiangru..." She looked at Quan Xiangru again.

Quan Xiangru’s face was hidden in shadows, and Ning Qinghan couldn’t make out his expression, but his indifferent silence made his attitude clear.

She faintly realized that this marriage, which she had fought so hard to secure, was ultimately slipping away like sand.

...

Quan Yu had an important political dinner that evening; the guest of honor was Shencheng’s newly appointed leader. When his phone rang, he was in the middle of speaking with the person beside him.

Catching a glimpse of the landline number on his phone screen, his gaze hardened slightly.

He excused himself from the person he was speaking with, stood up, and took his phone outside to take the call.

Housekeeper Fang’s voice came through the earpiece.

After listening to the account, Quan Yu’s eyes gradually darkened, a cold light flickering in his deep brown pupils.

"Understood."

After hanging up, instead of returning to the private room immediately, he lit a cigarette and stood smoking by the window in the corridor. The blurred nightscape was reflected in his eyes, making them sparkle.

When the cigarette was half consumed, he ground Ya Yan out on the windowsill, paused silently for a moment, and then lifted his phone to dial a number.

"Send some people to keep an eye on things over there."

He didn’t specify who to watch, but the person on the other end of the line crisply replied, "Understood."

...

The next day, Ning Guiwan was awakened by Lai Yang’s nudging.

"Xiaowan, did I cause trouble last night?"

Ning Guiwan’s eyelids felt heavy, and she was extremely sleepy. She raised her hand to her forehead, paused for a moment to clear her head, and then opened her eyes to look at Lai Yang with an intrigued expression. "Tell me, what trouble do you think you’ve caused?"

Lai Yang’s pretty face was furrowed. "Didn’t you tell me not to tell anyone about Chen Qinghan’s situation? I was so furious last night I wasn’t thinking straight..."

Ning Guiwan smiled. "It’s already out. Don’t worry about it."