Chapter 31: If You Don’t Come, How Can I Marry You?

The three days passed quickly.

Before heading to court, Gu Xi wanted to accompany Lin Qingyou, but Lin Qingyou refused.

“Xixi, you haven’t appeared in public for a long time. If you suddenly show up, everyone will say the ‘White Moonlight’ has returned. If you go to court with me, it will cause a huge sensation, and the focus of the discussion will shift.”

Today’s priority was to convict Jiang Zhuocheng.

It couldn’t be turned into entertainment gossip.

Otherwise, Gu Xi would be criticized too.

People would accuse her of using her best friend’s rape case to gain attention for her comeback.

“But I want to help you…” Gu Xi was deeply worried.

The internet had been filled with all sorts of verbal abuse and attacks against Lin Qingyou these past few days—vicious, disgusting insults.

If the online sentiment had been split 50-50 before, with people arguing fiercely on both sides, then this morning, the tide had completely turned.

The Jiang family, especially Jiang Zhuocheng’s parents, had gone to the Lin family with gifts, bringing along a whole group of people.

They even deliberately posted photos online.

In the pictures, Jiang Zhuocheng’s parents and Wang Yalan, Lin Qingyou’s mother, were happily having afternoon tea together.

In an instant, public opinion flipped.

—“I get it now. This wasn’t rape. They’re getting married!”
—“Looks like it was just a lovers’ quarrel.”
—“Yeah, yeah. The eldest miss of the Lin family is known for her bad temper. She’s spoiled and arrogant. Didn’t she once hit the crown prince?”
—“So just because Lin Qingyou got mad, she wants to send her fiancé to jail? What a terrifying and disgusting woman.”
—“She’s not even a woman—she’s a demon.”
—“So we were all fooled?”
—“Obviously! If she was really raped, how could her mother be sitting there happily drinking tea with the rapist’s parents?”
—“F***, Lin Qingyou, you b****. I actually believed you, fought for you online for days, and now you stab me in the back?”
—“Lin Qingyou, go die. Go die. Go die.”
—“A vile woman like her should be torn apart. I’ll light a candle for her every day until she’s dead.”
—“Lin Qingyou, I hope you get raped every day from now on.”

Reading these horrifying comments, Gu Xi clenched her fists tightly.

“Xixi, don’t worry, this will be over soon…” Lin Qingyou reassured her, pushing her back into the room. “Stay home, watch a movie. By the time you finish, I’ll have emerged victorious.”

Lin Qingyou then drove straight to the courthouse.

As soon as she arrived, she was blocked by Jiang Zhuocheng’s mother again.

This time, Mrs. Jiang was even more aggressive, grabbing Lin Qingyou forcefully, refusing to let her enter the court.

“Lin Qingyou, you actually dare to go through with this?”

“Mrs. Jiang, you’re only just now realizing that I mean it?”

Lin Qingyou casually shrugged her off, causing Mrs. Jiang to nearly fall due to her unsteady footing.

Jiang Beishan, Jiang Zhuocheng’s father, quickly caught her.

Seeing her husband arrive, Mrs. Jiang clung to him as if he were her last hope. “Dear, you’re finally here! You have to teach this little b**** a lesson!”

“Honey, what do we do? She absolutely refuses to drop the charges. She’s determined to send our precious son to jail!”

“Is that so?” Jiang Beishan, dressed in a sharp suit with gold-rimmed glasses, stared at Lin Qingyou coldly. “Miss Lin, there are many ways to resolve this matter. Why must you insist on such a self-destructive path?”

“Self-destructive?” Lin Qingyou raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Jiang Beishan smirked. “Haven’t you learned your lesson from the online harassment?”

“Little girl, don’t fight me. You won’t win.”

“Oh?” Lin Qingyou seemed to ponder for a moment. “Then what are these ‘many ways’ you speak of?”

“For example, we could settle this with money. If you drop the charges against my son, I’ll give you the largest factory owned by the Jiang family.”

“Or, you could marry my son. Given the current situation, this is the best solution. It would protect both your reputation and my son’s.”

“We can reframe this entire incident, spin it into a beautiful love story. A happy ending.”

Lin Qingyou scoffed. “Oh, what a ‘perfect solution.’”

“Exactly,” Jiang Beishan pressed on. “If you’re smart, you’ll drop the case now.”

“What if I don’t?”

“You—”

“Jiang Beishan, if your own daughter had nearly been raped, would you force her to marry the man who did it?”

“Of course not!” Jiang Beishan blurted out.

“Oh…” Lin Qingyou smiled with interest. “So your daughter is precious, but other people’s daughters are just sluts? Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto you’?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!” Mrs. Jiang shrieked. “My husband doesn’t have a daughter! We only have Zhuocheng, our precious son!”

“Is that so?” Lin Qingyou’s smirk deepened as she shot Jiang Beishan a meaningful glance. Then she turned back to Mrs. Jiang and said, “Madam Jiang, you should visit Wutong Garden sometime. Your husband doesn’t just have a daughter—he has several other wives too.”

“You’re lying!”

But as Mrs. Jiang turned to her husband, she saw the guilty, panicked look in his eyes.

Her heart sank. “Honey, tell me she’s lying.”

“Say something!”

Mrs. Jiang’s voice trembled.

Jiang Beishan, avoiding her gaze, quickly changed the subject. “Why are we even talking about this? She’s just an outsider. Right now, the important thing is getting our son out of trouble. If you hadn’t spoiled him so much, none of this would’ve happened!”

Lin Qingyou had no interest in continuing this argument. She turned to head inside.

But Jiang Beishan blocked her path. “Lin Qingyou, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll drop this case. Even if you win, you’ll suffer more than you gain.”

“Sure, you can throw my son in jail for now, but your reputation will be ruined forever. Even if my son never touched you, people will still say you were raped.”

“How will you live after this? How will you ever get married? Forget rich families—no ordinary man would ever want a woman who’s been raped.”

“Lin Qingyou, if you insist on going through with this, no man will ever want to marry you.”

“I will.”

A deep, soothing voice filled the air, resolute and affectionate.

Before the man even appeared, his voice had already reached them.

Everyone turned.

A man in a black trench coat, his hair slightly tousled, strode down the hallway, breathless from rushing over.

Lin Qingyou immediately ran toward him.

She hadn’t seen him in three days. She missed him terribly.

Clutching onto Yin Hanyu tightly, she murmured with a hint of grievance, “I thought you weren’t coming.”

“If I didn’t come, how could I marry you?”