It was clear the woman maintained herself exceptionally well. Already forty-five years old, the traces of time’s encroachment on her face had been kept to an absolute minimum. Without losing her mature charm, she appeared to be only around thirty.
The phrase “charms still remaining” didn’t quite fit her, but she was certainly elegant and graceful.
Xia Qingrong reached up and removed the high-end sunglasses from her face, her expression cold and haughty. “Young lady, can we talk? It’s about my son.”
She hadn’t actually planned on monitoring Lu Liangting today. She had simply spotted him sprinting down the street. Momentarily puzzled, she ordered her driver to follow. She sat in the back, watching from a distance.
When she saw Lu Liangting being chased by two women again, her first thought was that they must know each other. Otherwise, given Lu Liangting’s personality, he would never run at first sight. But then, she began to doubt her own judgment.
Because the two girls chasing Lu Liangting had started throwing knives at each other!
She started to question if she was seeing things correctly. Did people really hurl abuse at one another and throw knives on a public street?
But when she connected this to the strange women Lu Liangting had been associating with recently, everything seemed normal again. It was as if Lu Liangting disliked normal women and only liked these kinds of weirdos.
After mulling it over, Xia Qingrong felt it was necessary for her to step in and say something.
She couldn’t let these women keep pestering Lu Liangting anymore!
To be honest, if the old man hadn’t insisted she manage this, she wouldn’t have bothered with Lu Liangting’s affairs at all. It was disgusting and troublesome, nowhere near as comfortable as staying home playing mahjong with a group of rich wives.
But the old man was starting to notice the problems. If he found out Lu Liangting was entangled with these strange, violent women and refusing to come home because of it, her own fate was easy to imagine.
That wasn’t how things were supposed to be handled.
Playing mahjong was one thing, but if she couldn’t even handle small matters like this, what use was she?
So, no matter how much she loathed Lu Liangting, she had to intervene!
On the street, Sun Hanyue was fuming. She had been tailing Lu Liangting for a long time. Today, she finally had a chance to make contact, but some damn unidentified thing had ruined it.
Not only had it spoiled her opportunity, but it had also stabbed her ‘chest’ with a knife right in front of Lu Liangting.
That was an essential “tool” for seducing men. How dare it be humiliated like this?
Thankfully, her quick thinking allowed her to show Lu Liangting that even if one was stabbed, it didn’t matter—she still had the other one. Otherwise, it would have been a total loss.
“Get lost!”
Facing this old woman blocking her path, Sun Hanyue’s rage began to spike.
“I’ll give you three seconds to get out of my sight.” Pulling the knife from her chest, Sun Hanyue’s eyes were terrifyingly fierce. “Otherwise, stay here forever. I’ll gut you and hang you from a lamppost.”
As the wife of a prominent family, how could Xia Qingrong be intimidated so easily?
“Do you have any manners? Who taught you to speak like that?”
“I’ll teach your mom!” Sun Hanyue finally snapped. She stepped forward and threw a straight punch that slammed viciously into Xia Qingrong’s eye socket. Under the immense force, Xia Qingrong’s body collapsed to the side, sprawling onto the armrest compartment in the backseat of the luxury car. She let out a cry, clutching her eye.
“Don’t provoke me. I really will kill you.”
Because she had torn out the heart of a cousin of Lu Liangting’s and mailed it to his family in an attempt to gain his favor, Sun Hanyue was currently being tracked by the police. She really didn’t want to cause more trouble right now. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been a simple punch; it would have been the knife in her hand.
Noticing the large amount of blood pouring from the wound on her chest, apparently laced with a toxin that inhibited healing, Sun Hanyue expressionlessly shoved the knife back in as she walked.
“What a rotten day.”
“Damn slut. If you’d punctured it… if you’d punctured mine, I’d have personally twisted your head off.”
Sun Hanyue was a bit beside herself with rage. Why did it have to be the chest, of all places? How did she pick such a spot?
That damn slut definitely did it on purpose!
Just as Sun Hanyue stalked off in a huff, Xia Qingrong sat back up, clutching her eye. She hurriedly pulled a mirror from her purse. Seeing the bruised, purplish-black swelling around her eye, her face darkened to an extreme degree.
“Xiao Wang, what are you standing there gawking for? Follow her! And call the police, now!”
She shrieked. As the car pulled up beside Sun Hanyue, she pointed at her and unleashed a torrent of abuse.
“You cheap, worthless wretch! You actually dare to hit people? I’m telling you, this isn’t over! Don’t you dare leave. Prepare to go to the police station! If I don’t get you thrown in jail for ten years, my surname isn’t Xia!”
“Xiao Wang, have you called the police yet? Hurry up!”
“What am I paying you for? Can’t you see I was hit?”
“Call them! I want to see the police here in five minutes.”
Finishing her rant, she couldn’t help but mutter, “I just knew anything involving Lu Liangting brings nothing but bad luck.”
“Hmm?” Sun Hanyue stopped in her tracks. She turned her head to look at the woman in the luxury car she had just punched. Her expression shifted in less than a second—from confusion to shock, and then to deep regret.
Had this old woman just said something about wanting to discuss her son?
Her son… could it be Lu Liangting?
Damn it all, did I forget to check the almanac before leaving today?
First, I failed to woo the male lead. Then I got stabbed in the chest. And now, to top it off, I’ve punched the male lead’s biological mother?
“Are you Lu Liangting’s mom?”
“Yes, it’s me! I’m telling you, if you think you’re chasing after my son, you can forget it. You’ll spend the rest of your life in prison!” Xia Qingrong ranted, her conviction to sever Lu Liangting’s romantic entanglements growing stronger by the second.
Other families’ young masters frequented bars and nightclubs, hooking up with those disreputable women. That was annoying enough.
But Lu Liangting was far worse than even those young masters.
Just what was wrong with his brain that he’d go for this kind of woman?
“Oh, don’t be like that.” A brilliant, almost cute smile suddenly bloomed on Sun Hanyue’s face. She took two steps to the car and tried to open the door. Finding it locked, she pulled the knife from her chest once more and stabbed it into a specific part of the lock mechanism with full force.
The knife plunged into the car door. With a flick of her wrist, she disrupted some internal switch, and miraculously, the locked door was pulled open.
Grinning, she squeezed into the car, terrifying Xia Qingrong so much that she scrambled to the other side of the backseat.
Bang! The door slammed shut. Sun Hanyue was inside the vehicle.
“Auntie, it’s a misunderstanding. All a big misunderstanding.”
Her smile was like a flower—objectively very pretty, a fact Xia Qingrong silently acknowledged. But the problem was the blood still streaming from her chest, dripping down her arm.
“Lu Liangting and I are a match made in heaven, a perfect couple.”
“You absolutely won’t regret choosing me as your daughter-in-law.”
“At the very least, if you choose me, your son’s safety—and your and Uncle’s safety—will be guaranteed.”
“Auntie, let me tell you, right now, Liangting is surrounded by madwomen. I’m sure you’re aware.”
Of course, because you’re one of them! Xia Qingrong screamed internally, trying to open the door but stopping when she caught sight of the short blade in Sun Hanyue’s hand. She could only cower in the car, frantically signaling with her eyes for her driver, Xiao Wang, to save her. In her mind, she had already cursed Sun Hanyue and Lu Liangting to the heavens.
“Seriously, your son is in danger. Extreme danger. Those madwomen are so desperate they’d practically dismember him and each take a piece.”
“And this is just the beginning. Who knows what will happen next.”
“Think about it. What crazy acts would these desperate, love-crazed lunatics commit when they can’t get what they want?”
“Kidnapping!”
“Yes, kidnapping you!”
“They adore your son too much to hurt him, but you are a different story. If they’re pushed to the edge, they’ll kidnap you. Today, they’ll chop off a hand. Tomorrow, a leg. Then they’ll mail them to Lu Liangting to force him into submission.”
“These are all very real possibilities.”
“Choose me, and all these problems vanish!”
Sun Hanyue habitually patted her rather sizable chest, which she had deliberately padded with several layers. Blood gushed out.
“Trust me, Auntie. Among these madwomen, my strength is top-tier.”
“Let me put it this way, Auntie. These madwomen have a ranking list. The crazier and more powerful, the higher the rank.”
“Guess my rank?”
“I’m sixth! Impressive, right?”
“Ahem, ahem.” Sun Hanyue realized she might have let something slip. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Auntie. Although I have contact with them, I’m definitely not one of them. I’m very gentle and kind.”
“With so many unscrupulous madwomen around, aren’t you afraid, Auntie?”
“Pick me! I’ll solve all your worries.”
“Intelligence gathering, assassination, kidnapping, or head-on combat—I can do it all!”
Sun Hanyue was marketing herself desperately, completely forgetting that her chest was still bleeding. Xia Qingrong watched, her eyelids twitching.
By this point, Xia Qingrong understood one thing: this madwoman was utterly infatuated with her son and probably wouldn’t kill her.
“You’re only sixth. What about those above you?”
“Above me? Hmph. I’m not necessarily weaker than them. Well, except for the one ranked first. But don’t worry, Auntie. The Number One madwoman won’t cause you any trouble.”
“There’s a Number One?! Who is this Number One? Don’t tell me she’s killed someone?”
“Number One… well, you could say she’s killed people. Anyway, she’s very powerful. I definitely can’t beat her. But like I said, with me here, Number One won’t bother you!”
“Who is Number One?” Xia Qingrong asked nervously. “Don’t tell me it’s someone named Sun Hanyue!”
“Ah, Sun Hanyue?” Sun Hanyue blinked, her smile becoming even more radiant.
“I am Sun Hanyue!”
“Y-You’re Sun Hanyue!?” Xia Qingrong felt her head spinning.
Was she dreaming?
Was she currently sitting in a car with a murderer?
If this woman was Sun Hanyue, then, by her own implication, there were even more powerful ones above her.
“Wh-Who is Number One?”
“Number One is called Zhao Mingyue. I advise you not to seek her out, Auntie.”
“Zhao Mingyue!”
Xia Qingrong felt as if thunder had struck her from a clear sky.
That name—she was all too familiar with it.
If the other women were chasing after Lu Liangting, this Zhao Mingyue was the complete opposite. According to her intelligence, it was Lu Liangting who was actively pursuing Zhao Mingyue!
Lu Liangting, oh Lu Liangting, what in the world are you thinking?!
Are you so starved for women that you’d chase after this kind of lunatic?
Or do you only like lunatics?
Who was Zhao Mingyue? The kind of mega-lunatic that even a murderer like Sun Hanyue feared! Anyone sane would run from her, yet you actively cling to her? It’s a death wish.
She hadn’t expected to hear so many things she didn’t know. The situation was clearly far deeper than she had imagined.
“Honestly, Auntie, arranging any kind of marriage for Lu Liangting is impossible now. If you have a grudge against some woman, you could try it. You’re a smart woman; you understand what I mean.” Sun Hanyue’s eyes narrowed. “No matter who you find for him, she’ll end up dead. Unless you find a lunatic strong enough to survive.”
“I know this might be hard for you to accept, Auntie, but that’s the reality of it.”
Sun Hanyue was very clever. After throwing that punch, she knew a normal conversation was impossible.
Rather than becoming the sole ‘freak’ in Lu Liangting’s mother’s eyes, it was better to drag everyone down to the same level as her.
At the same time, she could instill a sense of crisis in Lu Liangting’s mother, making her understand just how complicated the situation truly was.
It also served as a warning: don’t try to interfere in Lu Liangting’s affairs, and don’t arrange any more fiancées for him.
With so many lunatics eyeing him, whoever you try to set him up with will die.
As for bringing up Zhao Mingyue, that was also deliberate on her part.
Lu Liangting and Zhao Mingyue were getting too close. That was not a good sign. This world was based on a romantic manga, where Lu Liangting was the male lead and Zhao Mingyue was the female lead. For the male and female leads to end up together was practically destiny.
“Now you understand, right, Auntie? Choosing me is absolutely the right move. At least I won’t keep pestering you, and I can even help you deal with the other madwomen, right?”
Sun Hanyue had said so much, thinking Xia Qingrong was a smart woman.
But she had clearly underestimated the intelligence of a mahjong-parlor rich wife.
Upon hearing how dangerous Zhao Mingyue was, Xia Qingrong’s decision was…
To have her eliminated!
Zhao Mingyue’s background was clean. Solving this through legal channels was impossible. But another channel held some promise.
No matter how strong she was, she was still just one person.
If she hired more men—a dozen or so stout young men armed with weapons—could they really not handle her?
Having regained her composure, Xia Qingrong began to hatch another malicious plan.
“So, you’re Sun Hanyue. I’ll be straight with you: you’re currently wanted by the police. But what you’ve just said… interests me greatly. If you do some things for me, I’ll agree to your request.”
“Oh? Do some things?”
A brilliant smile spread across Sun Hanyue’s face.
The fish had taken the bait.
“Ah, I’ve got a long free afternoon ahead. Maybe I should go out and relax.”
Zhao Mingyue stepped out of the convenience store and locked the door behind her.
She hadn’t expected the boss to get arrested for drunk driving, but the pay for this quest was truly tempting.
She placed the key in its usual spot—under the doormat.
Stretching lazily, Zhao Mingyue decided to take Bai Yu home first, help her get dressed up, and then go for a stroll in the nearby park.
“It’s such nice weather today.”
The afternoon proceeded as usual.
