Chapter 614 - 530: Punishment
Chapter 614: Chapter 530: Punishment
Wu Xiaowen was rushed to the hospital. She woke up in the ambulance, her face a horrifying mask of crisscrossing, bleeding wounds. Though her voice was weak, her tone was resolute. She forbade Wu Qin from following her to the hospital. She had wanted to expose Wu Qin’s venomous, ugly nature right then and there, but she was in too much pain and feared delaying her treatment. So, for the moment, she let her be.
Her colleagues from work couldn’t reach Bai Lihua using the number Wu Xiaowen had given them, but they did manage to find Tang Qingyun first. When they called the Wu family home, a young girl answered, saying the adults weren’t in but that she would pass on the message when they returned.
Tang Qingyun knew Wu Xiaowen well and assumed she was making a fuss over something minor, as she often did. So, after taking the call, he didn’t head over immediately. He finished up some coursework before rushing to the hospital. The sight of Wu Xiaowen gave him a huge shock. After hearing her tearful story, he knew this was serious. ’Like raises like, indeed. Wu Qin has completely inherited the disposition of her birth parents—ruthless, insidious, and malicious! Thank God I listened to my parents’ and brother’s advice and decisively cut ties with her.’
Tang Qingyun was furious that Wu Xiaowen had been hurt so badly. Even setting aside the fact that she was his ex-wife and the mother of his beloved child, Wu Qin’s sheer ingratitude was enough to make anyone want to beat her half to death. She was just that despicable!
Tang Qingyun sent people to search for Wu Qin, but they came up empty-handed.
Lu Jian Country, however, had been tracking Wu Qin’s movements the entire time. He had made it clear he only wanted information on Wu Qin; everything else could be ignored. As a result, his underlings hadn’t paid any attention to Wu Xiaowen. Wu Qin was under 24/7 surveillance. When she lured the mentally ill patient from downstairs up into her apartment, the men watching from the shadows saw the entire thing unfold. At first, they found it strange, thinking, ’This girl sure knows how to play games.’ It was only later they realized a life had almost been lost. Seeing Wu Xiaowen carried out, drenched in blood, they couldn’t help but suck in sharp breaths. ’What a vicious girl. No wonder the boss wants her limbs broken. It’s for the best. Otherwise, she’ll just keep hurting people!’
Wu Qin, however, was highly alert, as if she sensed someone was watching her from the shadows like a predator. Once she went upstairs, she refused to come back down, dragging things out so long that the underlings waiting below to carry out their final task were about to lose their patience.
Meanwhile, Wu Qin was inside, tearing the place apart. She completely ransacked Wu Xiaowen’s room, finding a few hundred yuan in cash, some gold, silver, and jade jewelry, expensive perfumes, handbags, and all the more valuable clothes, shoes, and other items that were in excellent condition. She stuffed everything into several travel bags, planning to wait until after work hours, when the courtyard was bustling with people, before heading downstairs with her loot.
She wasn’t stupid. The moment Wu Xiaowen forbade her from going to the hospital and shot her that hateful, enemy-like glare, she knew her plan had failed. ’If I don’t run now, I’m finished. Wu Xiaowen knows I was the one who led that maniac into the apartment. She’ll never let me get away with it!’
Wu Qin was frantic and furious, hating the situation so much she could have ground her teeth to dust. ’That useless psycho!’ she fumed. ’He couldn’t even manage to stab Wu Xiaowen to death or leave her permanently crippled.’ She also hated the nosy, meddlesome women in the building who insisted on taking turns watching over Wu Xiaowen until the ambulance arrived. ’If only they had left for a moment, just for half a minute, I could have landed the perfect finishing blow. Even if she didn’t die, I’d have made sure she could never speak again!’
’That way, I could have continued preparing for the college entrance exams. It wouldn’t even matter how well I did. As long as I could stay in Beijing, there would still be hope! My dreams, my future—everything would have been within reach, my path bright and unimpeded!’
’But now, it was all ruined!’
Wu Qin snatched a framed picture from the dressing table. It was a color photo of Wu Xiaowen on a trip with Bai Lihua, her smile flirtatious and unrestrained. Remembering the force of Wu Xiaowen’s slap, Wu Qin smashed the photo on the floor with a CRACK and stomped on it viciously. ’You hit me! You cursed me, you shameless bitch! You think you’re so noble, but you’re nothing but a toy for men!’
Wu Qin’s plan was to finish packing and take the bags with her when she left. She knew of a second-hand market in East City where she could sell everything for cash. Then she would buy a train ticket to the Northwest to find Brother Junfan. ’Brother Junfan will definitely take care of me,’ she thought. ’So what if I have to repeat a year of school? Next year, I’ll get into a university close to him. That would be even better!’
Just then, however, Bai Lihua suddenly entered, here to take Wu Qin away. He didn’t let Wu Qin take Wu Xiaowen’s belongings, promising instead to give her a sum of money. He told her that Wu Xiaowen would probably not let her off the hook, and that the most important thing now was to get her out of Beijing and find a safe place to stay for a while. She could come back after ’Mama’ had cooled down.
In front of Bai Lihua, Wu Qin instantly transformed back into a pure, innocent little girl. Looking terrified, she burst into tears, sobbing, "It really wasn’t my fault! I washed my hair last night and went onto the balcony to let it dry. When I went back to my room to sleep, I forgot to close the balcony door. Who could have imagined that man would climb up? I was so tired, I was sleeping too soundly... By the time I heard Mama screaming and ran out... WAAAAH! I’ve let Mama down, but I swear I didn’t do it on purpose!"
Bai Lihua nodded, indicating he believed her. "Of course you didn’t do it on purpose. It’s the fault of that family with the mentally ill person. They never should have kept someone like that in the residential complex; he should have been sent to a psychiatric hospital... We’ll hold them responsible! But your mother is very emotional right now. She’s probably just in a lot of pain. She cares so much about her looks, and an injury to her face is a huge blow. She can’t accept it right now, so it’s understandable that she’s angry with you. If I don’t help her punish you, she’ll go to Tang Qingyun, and he won’t go easy on you. You should come with me for now. We can talk more once your mother has calmed down."
In truth, when Bai Lihua received the follow-up call from Wu Xiaowen’s colleague from across the hall, his first instinct was to go see Wu Xiaowen. However, Mr. Bai was sitting right beside him and overheard the chatty woman on the other end. She said that Xiao Wen seemed to be blaming the girl, believing the incident only happened because the child had carelessly left the balcony door open. She asked Comrade Bai to try and talk some sense into her when he went to visit. "The child is innocent," she’d said. "She absolutely mustn’t take her anger out on her."
So Mr. Bai told Bai Lihua to retrieve Wu Qin first.
As far as the Bai family was concerned, it didn’t matter whether Wu Xiaowen was injured or even killed. Wu Qin, however, had to be protected. Until the Gongsun Family figured out the cultivation method for the Spirit Plant and taught it to the Bai Family, they still needed Wu Qin to procure the herbs.
Bai Lihua understood this as well, which was why he had rushed over to get her.
Wu Qin, of course, knew exactly what was going on. ’Why else would Bai Lihua help me instead of Wu Xiaowen?’ she thought. ’I had no idea those herbs were so important.’ She let out a soft sigh of relief and calmed down.
But she soon learned she had celebrated too soon. Her earlier premonition of danger had been frighteningly accurate. Afterward, she would regret it so much she could have spit blood, hating herself. ’Why did I ever go with that good-for-nothing Bai Lihua?’
The Bai Family was considered one of the great families of Beijing, but someone still managed to snatch Wu Qin away from Bai Lihua’s side the moment his attention lapsed. By the time Bai Lihua realized what had happened and gave chase into a small alley, Wu Qin had already been tossed to the ground like a broken rag doll.
She wasn’t dead, merely unconscious from the pain. Her arms and legs had been snapped and then twisted a full 360 degrees... The sheer, savage cruelty of it was something even Bai Lihua couldn’t bear to look at.