☆ Injured
Ouyang Que said quietly, “Huihui, we’ll talk about this next time. This outfit I’m wearing isn’t right. I need to change it.”
As he spoke, he walked toward Xiao Banli, grabbed her roughly, and his nails dug into her flesh. Xiao Banli had to endure the pain and follow his steps as they left under the watchful eyes of the group.
“Ugly freak, who told you to come in and call for me?” Back in the backyard, Ouyang Que let go of her, and Xiao Banli stood to the side, holding her arm and lowering her head.
“Sorry, Young Master.”
“Heh, you’re clever. If you hadn’t come in, I might have gotten physical with Ouyang Huihui.” Ouyang Que dropped this sentence and left in big strides.
Xiao Banli slowly raised her head, looking at the now-empty backyard. She hadn’t wanted to get too involved in Ouyang’s family matters. Ouyang Huihui’s words had hit all of Ouyang Que’s weak spots, pushing him further. Although Ouyang Que appeared calm, the coldness flashed quickly in his phoenix eyes, and his fists clenched. In the heat of the moment, she had rushed in.
She regretted her impulsive behavior. Now she had exposed herself in front of Ouyang Huihui and her group. She needed to be more careful in the future and try to stay in the yard as much as possible.
—
The hall was a mess, with expensive vases and glass jars scattered on the floor, shards glinting sharply. The Third Master’s wife’s face was pale, her hands clenched into fists as she stared at the TV playing ads. No one in the room dared to breathe loudly.
“Banli, you go. Sweep the floor.” Yu Yan, who had dragged Xiao Banli from the backyard, hurriedly pushed her toward the mess.
Xiao Banli gripped the broom tightly, taking a step forward. She heard a creak from her foot, and a chill ran down her neck.
The Third Master’s wife shot a fierce glare at her, her pale eyes filled with hatred. “Pick up the broken pieces on the ground with your hands, piece by piece.”
Xiao Banli bit her lip, and everyone in the room gasped, retreating quickly, fearing that Xiao Fen’s anger might turn on them.
“Pick it up, pick it up!” Xiao Fen pointed sharply at Xiao Banli.
Xiao Banli dropped the broom in her hand, glanced at the shards scattered across the floor, and slowly squatted down, carefully reaching out to touch the pieces.
Just as her hand was about to touch a shard of glass standing upright, a sharp high heel landed on her hand, driving the glass deep into her flesh. The tip of the glass pierced through her thumb, blood beginning to bead on it.
Xiao Banli’s face immediately turned pale from the pain.
“Hahahahahahahahaha, I told you to pick it up! Dare to hesitate?” Xiao Fen sneered, twisting her high heel. Xiao Banli sucked in a breath as the glass twisted inside her thumb, blood slowly covering her thumb. The people around her gasped and shielded their eyes in shock.
“Madam, madam…” Yu Yan, seeing Xiao Banli’s face turn white as paper, trembled as she called out.
“Pick it up, go ahead and pick it up,” Xiao Fen ignored the outside voices completely, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Xiao Banli, who was half-kneeling on the ground, enjoying watching the sweat on her forehead slide down her face.
Xiao Banli closed her eyes for a moment, her cracked lips parting as she took a breath. She then struggled to raise her eyes and met Xiao Fen’s gaze, which was filled with hatred. Slowly, she said, “Madam, the news in the newspapers is always just speculation. If you take it seriously, you’re just giving others an opportunity. Now that the young master has finally made something of himself, bringing a glimmer of hope to our family, we should cherish it, not waste time grieving over a man who has left. Besides, there are countless women in this world, and it’s impossible to kill them all. Madam, you should cherish yourself and live to see that man return.”
After these words, the room fell silent. Xiao Fen’s bloodshot eyes slowly filled with tears, which began to fall one by one.
“How could he… How could he… I kept the house for him, guarded his business, his son, and it’s bad enough that he hasn’t come back for over ten years, but now he’s out there finding another woman. How could he treat me like this?” Xiao Fen took a step back, covering her face as she cried.
As soon as the high heels moved away, Xiao Banli collapsed backward, gripping her blood-soaked thumb, gasping for air. The five maids who had been watching quickly rushed over to support Xiao Fen, who was still crying uncontrollably.
Yu Yan, feeling guilty, placed a hand on Xiao Banli’s shoulder. “Banli, I’m… I’m sorry, I…”
“What’s going on?” A voice suddenly came from the doorway—it was Ouyang Que’s voice.
“Young master, this…”
Ouyang Que glanced at the shattered pieces on the floor, his eyes then moved to Xiao Fen, who was collapsed on the sofa, crying with all her might. He kicked aside a chair that had fallen to the ground and gave a cold, sweeping glance at the people in the room. Several of them, catching his gaze, trembled in fear, their shoulders shaking.
“A bunch of useless idiots!”
Ouyang Que strode over the shards and walked up to Xiao Fen. He squatted in front of her, watching as she cried, her face covered.
“Mom… I’m back.”
Xiao Fen lowered her hand from her face, her red eyes locking with Ouyang Que’s.
She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face, “Smack!”
Ouyang Que’s face was knocked to the side.
“Why did it have to be him, why did you have to look like him? Every time I see your face, I think of him. I think of how for over ten years, he ignored me, didn’t care about me, left me in this cold, devouring palace for his easel, for his dream of art. Ouyang Que, tell me, tell me, what is the point of my life?” Xiao Fen gritted her teeth, staring fiercely at Ouyang Que.
“Mom, I’m sorry.” Ouyang Que wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, bent down, and embraced Xiao Fen, whose body was trembling. “You live for me, and I live for you. We’ll show him that even without him, we can live just fine.”
“Hehehehe… Hehehehehe… This doesn’t feel like home, and you’re not acting like a person. Que’er, every woman in your room every night, I was the one who put them there. Ouyang Honghui said that as long as you sleep with those women, you’ll be allowed into the Ouyang Group. I’ve waited for so long, and I absolutely won’t let all of this go to waste,” Xiao Fen’s pale fingers clutched Ouyang Que’s clothes tightly.
The entire room was filled with Xiao Fen’s sorrowful voice.
“Mom, I know, I know everything. I’ve already done what you wanted,” Ouyang Que said, patting Xiao Fen’s back.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy and tense. Ouyang Que didn’t ask them to leave, and none of them dared to move. Xiao Banli was kneeling on the floor, her vision blurry. Gradually, she could no longer see the scene before her.
“Banli!” Xiao Banli suddenly collapsed, and Yu Yan shouted in panic.
Ouyang Que turned around and saw Xiao Banli, like a broken doll, leaning against Yu Yan. Following the trail of blood on the floor, he immediately saw her thumb, pierced and mangled.
“Go get the doctor!” he shouted in a calm voice.
The other four maids jumped up in shock and rushed toward the door.
“This child told me to cherish myself, to stay alive and wait for that man to return,” Xiao Fen murmured, pointing at the unconscious Xiao Banli.
Ouyang Que squinted, helping Xiao Fen to her feet. “Mom, go back to your room first. I’ll handle the rest.”
After sending Xiao Fen back to her room, the maid who went to call the doctor still hadn’t returned. Yu Yan was using a gauze to help Xiao Banli with basic first aid.
Ouyang Que reached out and took the gauze from Yu Yan’s hand, his voice cold. “Now you’re helping her with first aid? What were you doing earlier?”
Yu Yan trembled, shrinking to one side, her head bowed, not daring to say a word.
“She was fine in the backyard. Why did she come to the front hall?” Ouyang Que grabbed the thumb, which was still stuck with glass shards, his long fingers pinching and pulling out the pieces.
Yu Yan responded in a trembling voice, “I… I called her over to help sweep… to sweep the floor.”
His narrow, almond-shaped eyes swept over Yu Yan, and he sneered, “You can’t even sweep the floor properly? Then practice. For the next three months, you’ll be in charge of cleaning the floors in this house. Remember, if it’s not clean, I’ll deduct a day’s wage.”
Yu Yan’s shoulders shook even more violently.
The doctor arrived shortly after.
Since the glass had pierced through Xiao Banli’s thumb and there was no proper first aid in time, surgery was necessary. Xiao Banli was immediately sent to the second hospital under Ouyang Group that very night.