Chapter 58: To What Extent Can One Be Cold-Hearted

Fan Chi was stunned for a moment before awkwardly pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Qing’er, why are you still living here? I thought…”

“You thought what?” Quan Qing’er sneered. “You thought you’d hidden me away, that your wife beat me until I lost the baby, so I should tuck my tail between my legs and scurry back to my hometown, is that it?”

The woman with the bright red lips was the first to recognize Quan Qing’er. “Aren’t you that Quan Qing’er who was all over the internet recently? What are you doing here?”

The one with the big waves of hair mocked, “Hmph, you brought this upon yourself, insisting on going public about being a mistress online. Who’s to blame for being blacklisted and beaten by the wife? You have only yourself to blame.”

“I’m the mistress?” Quan Qing’er’s tone was calm, not angry. She gripped the stair railing, descending slowly, step by step, drawing closer to them. “Who told you I’m the mistress? That Qu Wu Yan is the lawful wife? Even if I am the mistress, what does that make you two? The fourth and fifth women?”

Mentioning Qu Wu Yan and his past, Fan Chi’s face darkened, and he barked, “Enough, Quan Qing’er! Shut your mouth right now!”

The woman with the big waves, emboldened, added, “Did you hear that? This is Fan Chi’s house; he’s the only one with the right to decide who stays or goes. You, a mere mistress, are nothing!”

The woman with the red lips chimed in, “Exactly! And let me tell you, we’re not like you! We’re not as ambitious as you; we would never force Fan Chi to divorce his wife. We just want to be happy with him, that’s all!”

Quan Qing’er walked up to Fan Chi, looking up at him, her eyes filled with disappointment and despair.

“Fan Chi, I never wanted to marry you, nor did I ever think of using you to become famous. It’s just that once, when I was playing a bit part on set and got bullied, you stepped in to help me, and I fell hopelessly in love with you. I never cared about status; I only cherished the time we spent together.”

Quan Qing’er advanced toward him step by step, and Fan Chi retreated, step by step.

“Fan Chi, you were the one who never took precautions. I asked you, what if I got pregnant? You told me if I got pregnant, I should keep the baby, that your family wanted a son. But when I truly got pregnant, you started avoiding me, dodging me completely, abandoning me and the child.”

Fan Chi avoided her gaze, unable to look her in the eye. “Qing’er, even so, you shouldn’t have gone to the extreme of exposing our relationship online, right?”

Step by step, Fan Chi retreated until he was backed up against the wall.

“What else could I do when I couldn’t find you? Let my child grow up without a father?” Quan Qing’er’s voice was shrill. “Even if what I did was extreme, Fan Chi, didn’t we reach an agreement afterward? I promised you I’d delete my posts, withdraw from the entertainment industry, go back to my hometown and raise the child alone. I didn’t even take the money you offered. I gave in this much, all for my child’s sake. So why did you still let your wife bring people to attack me, causing my child to be lost because of her?”

“You can’t blame me for that. I didn’t know Qu Wu Yan was going to find you,” Fan Chi seized the chance to shift the blame to Qu Wu Yan.

“But the child was yours, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it because you said you wanted a child that I got pregnant?” Quan Qing’er’s reaction was intense, her eyes brimming with tears. “Qu Wu Yan brought a whole group of bodyguards to my place, had them beat me like a punching bag, hit me until blood was coming from my mouth and one of my teeth was knocked out. Even then, I did everything I could to protect our child! But in the end, your wife Qu Wu Yan used her stiletto heel to crush my belly, grinding it down. She destroyed our child with her own hands!”

Fan Chi spread his hands. “Don’t blame me, Qing’er. You know what Qu Wu Yan is like. All my past lovers—once she found out, she beat every single one to a pulp. Do you think I wasn’t heartbroken that our son was lost? I was upset too, but what could I do? Really, it’s your fault for acting on impulse and blowing things up online.”

The two women, the one with red lips and the one with big waves, couldn’t sit still after hearing this. “Honey… no, Director Fan, is your wife really that fierce?”

…Damn, he’d forgotten about these two.

“Director Fan, you’d better buy us plane tickets for tomorrow. We’ve heard stories about your wife on TV… You know what? Never mind, we’ll book the tickets ourselves. We’ll stay in a hotel tonight!”

Seeing his catch about to fly away, Fan Chi quickly tried to reassure them. “You’re scaring yourselves. It’s not that bad. Qu Wu Yan won’t find out you’re here, trust me. Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to shop for luxury goods tomorrow? If you leave tomorrow, how will you buy them?”

At the mention of luxury shopping, the two gold-diggers hesitated.

Should they risk staying here for a few days, braving Qu Wu Yan’s wrath for the sake of luxury goods, or should they play it safe and leave this place of trouble right away?

Looking at these two lost lambs standing at a crossroads, Quan Qing’er offered advice. “You don’t have to go to the boutiques for luxury goods; you can pick what you want online, add it to your cart, and have someone else pay for it.”

That made a lot of sense!

Her suggestion was quickly adopted by the two women. “Right, right, then, President Fan, we’ll go back tomorrow, but if you really care about us, clear out our shopping carts before we go, how about it?”

Fan Chi was speechless. These women really knew how to take everything and leave nothing behind. Not only did he get nothing out of this, but now he had to pay for first-class round-trip tickets and clear out their shopping carts.

Clearing their carts was worse than taking them shopping in person. If they went to the mall, they’d get tired after a few boutiques, and the heavy shopping bags would make them call it quits. But with online carts, they could buy as much as they wanted from home—it was fast, easy, and expensive.

Who knew how much stuff they’d piled into those carts?

The two women, satisfied, left Quan Qing’er’s home and hailed a cab to the hotel.

Quan Qing’er turned toward the kitchen, and Fan Chi followed closely behind.

“Quan Qing’er, you’re really something now,” Fan Chi drawled. “I never would have guessed—you always seemed meek, but now you’ve got a sharp tongue. You’re not at Qu Wu Yan’s level yet, but you’re already learning to break up my relationships. Impressive, I applaud you.”

Quan Qing’er ignored him, lowering her head to fill the electric kettle at the tap.

She had only taken a few steps with the kettle when Fan Chi snatched it from her hands and hurled it to the ground.

With a thud, the kettle hit the floor, the lid flew off, and water spilled everywhere, glistening under the lights.

Fan Chi grabbed Quan Qing’er by the throat, pinning her to the refrigerator door, his grip so tight it seemed he meant to kill her. Her face quickly turned from ruddy to a dark purplish hue.

“Quan Qing’er, you’re taking my kindness for granted, aren’t you? Let me tell you, not throwing you out of this villa is already giving you enough face. Don’t mistake the wine for water and refuse what’s good for you!”

With that, he tossed her to the ground as if she were nothing but garbage.

Quan Qing’er clutched her aching throat, coughing violently. After a moment, she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. “How can you be so cold-blooded… Fan Chi! How could you! Are you still the man who once saved me on set?”

“Blame yourself for courting death.” Fan Chi, who had been through countless women, was unmoved by her tears. “You don’t know me? I don’t even know who I truly am, and you think you’ve seen the real me? Ha, women really are naive creatures.”

His words cut through her chest like a knife, leaving only bitterness and distress.

“Just kill me! Why don’t you just kill me!” Quan Qing’er broke down, sobbing. “My child is gone, my uterus was removed—I’ll never be a mother. I have no hope of returning to the entertainment industry. I’m nothing but a useless wreck. What’s the point of living…”

Fan Chi, hearing this, took a kitchen knife from the rack and handed it to her. “I don’t want to kill you and take the blame for murder. You want to die? Fine, here’s a knife—just cut your throat.”

Quan Qing’er trembled all over, her eyes fixed on the knife.

“Do it!” Fan Chi shouted.

Seeing that she didn’t move, he threw the knife down, dragged her to the balcony off the kitchen, and said, “You’re sad about the child? Here, jump from here. You’ll be reunited with our son right away. Go on, jump! If you jump, I’ll jump too, and the three of us can be together in the next world, how about it?”

Quan Qing’er wept silently, pain spreading from her heart, threatening to engulf her.

How could a person be so utterly cold-blooded?

Fan Chi’s phone rang in his pocket. He left her there, growling “lunatic” as he snatched up the phone and stormed out of the villa, slamming the door behind him.

…

A few days later.

At Lu Ming’s home, Lian Youyou, wearing a ruffled apron, stood at the stove.

On the stove, a small, white, floral-patterned milk pot simmered away, uncovered, steam rising in soft clouds.

When the time was right, Lian Youyou poured the mulled wine into a delicate glass.

After boiling, most of the alcohol had evaporated, leaving the wine much less bitter, and the addition of fruit made it fresh and fragrant—sweet and easy to drink, even for those who didn’t like alcohol.

On a cold winter’s day, a steaming cup of mulled wine warmed her hands and, once sipped, chased away the chill, bringing a comforting warmth to her whole body.