Free Web NovelChapter 228: Chapter 228: Never Yielding
Shang Yuqi jumped. "Goodness, Little Yuan, what’s wrong?"
"I-it’s nothing." Li Yuan’s heart was in a flutter. She squatted down and started to pick up the broken pieces of the glass.
"Don’t! Stop, you’ll cut yourself." Shang Yuqi rushed over to stop her, pulling Li Yuan back to sit on the sofa. She checked Li Yuan’s hands, and only relaxed when she saw they were unharmed. "Honestly. What would you have done if you’d cut your hand?"
"I’m so sorry, sister-in-law. My hand slipped." Li Yuan could never admit that the name ’Su Qing’ had startled her, so she had to make an excuse. "I even broke your glass. I’ll buy you a new set to replace it."
"It’s just a glass. You think I’d hold that against you?" Shang Yuqi smiled at Li Yuan. "There’s no need to be so formal between us."
Given the Li family’s wealth, they certainly wouldn’t fuss over a single glass. Li Yuan knew this, of course. Her offer was just to keep up appearances; she was well aware that Shang Yuqi wouldn’t actually care about the glass.
"You’re so good to me, sister-in-law," Li Yuan said with a small smile.
"We’re family. If I’m not good to you, who would I be good to? An outsider?" Shang Yuqi chuckled, then went to the kitchen for a broom and dustpan. After sweeping up the broken glass, she said to Li Yuan, "Didn’t you say you wanted to visit Mr. Li and his wife? Come on, let’s head over now."
"Okay." Li Yuan’s smile was radiant, but she secretly clenched her fists. A baseless sense of panic welled up inside her. frёewebηovel.cѳm
’I will never let go of what I already have.’
’And another thing!’
’Su Qing has a house in Beijing? How else could Li Huan have spent the night there? Or maybe she has relatives in the city?’
’No, I have to figure this out. Why did this Su Qing suddenly show up in Beijing? What is her goal?’
The more Li Yuan thought about it, the more panicked she became. She gave Shang Yuqi a noncommittal response but remained seated on the sofa, not moving.
Seeing Li Yuan frozen in place, Shang Yuqi went over and gave her a gentle pull. "Little Yuan? What are you thinking about? It’s time to go."
"Oh, right." Li Yuan snapped out of it and quickly gave Shang Yuqi a smile. The two sisters-in-law then left for Mr. Li’s home.
Su Qing and Li Huan spent the entire day exploring Beijing. Li Huan introduced Su Qing to all sorts of authentic local snacks. With nothing else planned for the next few days, they decided to just wander around and have fun. In the end, they agreed it would be easier for Li Huan to stay at Su Qing’s place to save her the trip back and forth.
Li Huan made a point to call home and tell Shang Yuqi. Shang Yuqi couldn’t talk her out of it, so she had no choice but to agree, adding a reminder for Li Huan not to cause any trouble for Su Qing.
After hanging up, Li Huan took Su Qing to a night market. By now, many people had begun trying their hand at running small businesses, so the night market in Beijing was quite lively. The two were having so much fun they lost all track of time, only realizing it was already dark when they were about ready to leave.
"We should hurry home. If we wait any longer, we’ll miss the last bus," Li Huan said to Su Qing urgently.
"Okay."
The two of them rushed toward the bus stop. To get there faster, Li Huan led Su Qing through a shortcut, cutting through one of the old alleys.
But then...
"Sob... let... go of me... let... me go..." A low, broken whimper suddenly reached Su Qing’s ears.
"Shh." Su Qing quickly put a finger to her lips, signaling for Li Huan to be quiet.
Li Huan was confused. She hadn’t heard anything and found Su Qing’s sudden gesture strange. However, she had an inexplicable trust in her friend, so she nodded quickly, lightened her footsteps, and stuck close to Su Qing’s side.
Su Qing took Li Huan by the hand and crept cautiously toward the source of the sound.
The noise was coming from a small, secluded courtyard deep within the alley. The adjacent houses were dark, and it was impossible to tell if the occupants were asleep or if the homes were simply empty.
But the courtyard where the sound originated was lit from within.
The sounds of struggle had stopped, but through the eyes of some plants in the courtyard, Su Qing could see what was happening inside the house.
Su Qing’s expression immediately turned grim.
She kicked the courtyard gate open.
Li Huan’s eyes went wide. She had seen Su Qing kick Zhang Fengzhi before and thought her friend was strong then, but this was a locked gate! And Su Qing had kicked it open in a single blow.
CRASH! The gate flew open. The tremendous noise instantly alerted the people inside. A man stormed out of the house. "Which son of a bitch is kicking down my door in the middle of the night? You got a death wish?"
An electrical wire had been strung across the courtyard, and a single, dim, low-wattage bulb on one side provided just enough light to see.
The man stepped into the yard and immediately spotted Su Qing and Li Huan, who were already walking toward him. His eyes lit up with delight, and a lewd grin spread across his face. "Well, well. Did two little ladies come to play with us big brothers? Don’t you worry. We promise to be gentle and show you a heavenly time."
"Haha, that’s right." Three more men emerged from the house. The four burly men immediately moved to surround Su Qing and Li Huan. One of them, worried they might try to escape, even went back to shut the gate.
"They..." Seeing the four large, thuggish men, Li Huan felt a surge of fear and instinctively moved closer to Su Qing.
"It’s okay. I’m here." If she had a choice, Su Qing wouldn’t have dragged Li Huan into this mess. But she couldn’t just leave her alone in a dark alley at this time of night. Who knew what other dangers lurked in the shadows? In this era, without surveillance cameras and monitoring systems, the hidden dangers of the night were nearly impossible to guard against. But since she’d brought Li Huan this far, she was confident she could protect her.
"Well, listen to the attitude on this little bitch." One of the men laughed arrogantly when he heard Su Qing. "Don’t think you’re hot stuff just because you kicked down a door. No matter how tough you are, one little girl can’t take on four grown men."
"Hahahahaha! That’s right! But don’t worry, we won’t be too rough. After all, we’re going to have a lot of fun together. Right, boys?"
Another man burst out laughing. ’The boss was finally getting some action tonight, and they were just hoping for the scraps. They never expected a whole new main course to deliver itself right to their door. Tsk, tsk, these two were even prettier than the one in the house.’
’They walked right into the trap. It would be rude to refuse.’
"You people..." Li Huan’s face flushed with anger at their words.
But before Li Huan could finish her sentence, one of the men went flying.
