Chapter 10 – So What If I Hit You

Lin Banxia’s afternoon nap only lasted half an hour, because oversleeping not only made it difficult to fall asleep at night, it was also not beneficial to her health.

Gu Honglang and Xu Minzhi had both gone to work, and Gu Shiqing was not at home either.

Lin Banxia planned to make a trip out to buy a medicine box.

In fact, she already had a medicine box in her space, but it was far too modern. If she took it out and someone with sharp eyes saw it, it could bring unnecessary trouble. So Lin Banxia decided to buy one that suited the era she was currently in.

Even if she had traveled back several decades, she could not forget her grandfather’s last wishes.

Besides, perhaps by promoting traditional Chinese medicine several decades earlier, she could change the future decline of Chinese medicine altogether.

As soon as she stepped out of the compound, Lin Banxia noticed something squatting near the entrance. Looking more closely, she realized it was a person.

The key point was—this person was wearing a dress that looked identical to the one she was currently wearing!

As the saying went: “Wearing the same outfit isn’t scary—what’s scary is when the uglier one wears it.”

Lin Banxia knew she wasn’t ugly, so naturally she didn’t feel embarrassed. Especially when this person raised her head and revealed a blotchy face—Lin Banxia’s delicate features immediately frowned.

Ugh… was this a person or a ghost?

Zhou Shiyu had applied face powder earlier and had been crying for a while, so now her makeup was completely smudged. She really did resemble a ghost.

But Zhou Shiyu couldn’t be bothered by any of that now. Seeing Lin Banxia appear here left her utterly shocked. She couldn’t help but blurt out what was in her heart: “Lin Banxia? What are you doing here? Didn’t you elope with Chen Junming?”

When Lin Banxia heard that, she showed a look of sudden realization.

She now knew who this person was.

This was the one who had always resented her for “stealing” Gu Shiqing, the one who had secretly admired him—Zhou Shiyu.

Come to think of it, Lin Banxia’s acquaintance with Chen Junming was all thanks to her. Back then, Zhou Shiyu constantly talked about how hard life was on the border, urging Lin Banxia not to follow the army.

Later on, she even went as far as seeking out the heavily indebted Chen Junming and taught him how to gradually seduce Lin Banxia.

Tsk, truly vicious!

Lin Banxia had no intention of giving someone like this any courtesy. She directly reached out and slapped Zhou Shiyu across the face.

Zhou Shiyu froze, covering her cheek in disbelief. “Lin Banxia, you hit me? What right do you have to hit me!”

Lin Banxia rolled her eyes without the slightest politeness. She wiped the powder from her hand onto Zhou Shiyu’s clothes and said: “So what if I hit you? If you can’t control that mouth of yours, I’ll hit you again next time.”

She said this warning in a sugary-sweet tone. “Which eye of yours saw me elope with Chen Junming? I could just as easily say you were the one who eloped with him.”

“You’re lying! I would never go for someone like Chen Junming—I have nothing to do with him!” Zhou Shiyu immediately retorted.

A man like Chen Junming was completely beneath her. Only someone as outstanding as Gu Shiqing was worth pursuing!

“If even someone like Chen Junming isn’t good enough for you, what makes you think I’d be interested in him?” Lin Banxia countered.

Zhou Shiyu was momentarily at a loss for words. But this time, when she had returned, Chen Junming had clearly told her that “even the fiercest woman cannot resist a persistent suitor.” After more than a year of effort, he had finally won over Lin Banxia… hadn’t he?

“Also, how come I heard that this Chen Junming doesn’t even like women, but men instead? I heard he was caught yesterday at the Abandoned Factory, breaking marriage vows with several men. Didn’t you hear about that?” Lin Banxia asked calmly.

Zhou Shiyu had indeed heard in the morning that something had happened at the Abandoned Factory—apparently someone had been caught breaking marriage vows there.

But at the time, her mind had been preoccupied entirely with Gu Shiqing, and she hadn’t paid much attention to such gossip. She definitely hadn’t imagined that the one breaking marriage vows was Chen Junming—and with several men, no less!

And in just a single day, it felt like Zhou Shiyu’s world had collapsed multiple times.

The plan she’d been relying on—that Lin Banxia and Chen Junming had eloped—had fallen apart. Worse still, she had said as much directly in front of Gu Shiqing, which had soured his impression of her. Then she had gotten slapped by Lin Banxia.

And now, she was being told that Chen Junming didn’t even like women to begin with—but men!

She had been played from the start!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

After learning that Chen Junming was currently in the hospital, Zhou Shiyu rushed there in a fury.

Word had already spread throughout the hospital—one of the patients brought in that day had suffered a torn and bleeding anus after breaking marriage vows with other men the previous night.

In this era, people were only familiar with men and women breaking marriage vows. It was practically unheard of for men to do such a thing with other men—let alone to the point of anal tearing and bleeding!

Outside the hospital room, a crowd had gathered, pointing fingers and gossiping animatedly.

“The man staying in there, is he the one who broke marriage vows with other men?”

“Men can break marriage vows with men too?”

“I heard his butt was bleeding—it looked really horrifying.”

Inside the room, Chen Junming lay curled under a blanket, too ashamed to show his face. After what had happened, he felt like dying.

He still didn’t quite understand how things had gone so wrong. He had clearly seen Lin Banxia drink the water he had drugged—he had watched her drink it with his own eyes.

According to the original plan, everything should have gone smoothly. He would hand Lin Banxia over to Brother Qiang and his men to enjoy, Brother Qiang would cancel his gambling debts, and he would flee with the money and gold bars that Lin Banxia had brought from the Gu family.

But somehow, things had gone awry. His consciousness had suddenly turned fuzzy that night.

When he awoke, all his clothes had been stripped off, and he found himself lying in Brother Qiang’s arms—his backside aching faintly.

Soon after, someone passing by had discovered them, and from there, the scandal had spread like wildfire…

At that moment, the blanket covering his body was yanked away. Zhou Shiyu stood by the bedside, glaring furiously at the curled-up Chen Junming as she shouted: “Chen Junming, what did you tell me before? Didn’t you say this was guaranteed to work? And now look at what’s happened! Do you even realize how badly you’ve ruined me?”

If Chen Junming hadn’t told her the plan had succeeded, would she have dared to say all that in front of Gu Shiqing?

Now everything had backfired. Gu Shiqing must think she had falsely accused Lin Banxia, and Lin Banxia was probably smug with triumph by now!

Upon hearing Zhou Shiyu’s voice, the fear in Chen Junming’s eyes instantly turned into rage.

His eyes bloodshot, he glared at Zhou Shiyu and reached out to grab her by the throat. As he tightened his grip, he cursed through clenched teeth: “I ruined you? You’re the one who ruined me! If it weren’t for you, how the hell would I have ended up like this? I’ll strangle you! I’ll kill you!”