"Impossible! This is absolute nonsense!" Cao Quan shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, completely losing his composure as the first to speak.
He could not accept this! How could this be?! Why was this good-for-nothing loser he had always looked down upon able to marry a proud daughter of heaven like Qin Ruyan?! The flames of jealousy instantly incinerated all his reason!
Qin Ruyan did not even spare him a glance; her gaze remained locked onto the pale-faced Liu Xinhuan, her tone dripping with disdain. "The Liu Family? I seem to have a vague impression."
"Are they that family supplying cement and gravel to one of our Qin Group's tertiary subsidiaries? Their business isn't much, but their nerve is certainly large. Is the family upbringing in your household meant to let the dogs you keep bark wildly at their masters?"
This remark was intensely humiliating! It directly trampled the Liu Family into the dust and even compared Cao Quan to a dog kept by the Qin Family!
Liu Xinhuan's face flushed red and turned pale by turns, crushed and suffocated by Qin Ruyan's aura and status.
Against a behemoth like the Qin Family, her household truly wasn't even worthy of carrying their shoes. She wanted to retort, but found herself unable to utter a single syllable.
"Qin Ruyan! Don't go too far!" Cao Quan's eyes were bloodshot with jealousy, completely stripping him of his sanity.
He pointed at Lin Feng and cursed furiously, "What kind of thing is he?! Just a good-for-nothing who lay in bed for three years! A kept man who lives off a woman! To think you'd marry such garbage! Are you blind?!"
Before his voice even faded—
"Crack!" A crisp, resounding slap echoed across the entire room!
Lin Feng made his move. Without even releasing his hold on Qin Ruyan's arm, his other hand swept out like lightning, landing a solid strike squarely across Cao Quan's face!
The force was so great it spun Cao Quan half a circle on the spot, half his face swelling visibly in an instant, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Dead silence fell over the room!
Cao Quan was stunned silly by the blow, clutching his burning cheek as he stared at Lin Feng in sheer disbelief. Before he could react—
"Crack!" A backhanded slap followed, striking his other cheek!
This blow was even more vicious; two blood-stained teeth flew straight out of Cao Quan's mouth, and the impact knocked him sprawling onto the floor in utter wretchedness.
"You—" Shocked and furious, Cao Quan tried to scramble up from the ground.
Lin Feng's icy voice rang out directly above him: "Say one more word, and I'll make sure you can't speak for the rest of your life."
The voice carried not a trace of emotion, yet it plunged Cao Quan into an icy abyss, causing him to shiver violently. Every single curse he intended to harl was jammed tightly back into his throat.
"You dare hit someone!" Liu Xinhuan finally snapped out of her daze, pointing at Lin Feng in shock and anger.
"The one I hit is the dog your Liu Family keeps." Qin Ruyan looked at her coldly, taking a step forward with an overwhelming aura that forced Liu Xinhuan to retreat step by step.
"What, do you have a problem with that?"
"He is my husband, Qin Ruyan." Qin Ruyan cut her off directly, her gaze as sharp as a blade. "Does one need a reason to beat a dog that snaps at people indiscriminately?
Or perhaps, Miss Liu, you intend to have your entire Liu Family make an enemy of me, and of our entire Qin Family, just for this dog of yours?"
With this final sentence, Qin Ruyan's voice suddenly rose, brimming with unquestionable intimidation!
Liu Xinhuan's face drained to a sheet of white, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Make an enemy of the Qin Family? They wouldn't dare even if they had a hundred guts! Let alone her, even her entire clan was mere ants before the Qin Family! To sacrifice the future of her entire family for the sake of Cao Quan? She wasn't that stupid.
She looked at Cao Quan lying on the floor like a dead dog, a flash of disgust and remorse crossing her eyes. In the end, she lowered her head in bitter resignation, unable to utter a single word.
Taking a deep breath and throwing all pride to the wind, she bowed nearly ninety degrees toward Qin Ruyan and Lin Feng.
Her voice carried a tearful whine and an inability to mask her terror: "Miss Qin, Mr. Lin, I'm sorry! My mouth is foul! Please be magnanimous and don't stoop to my level!"
Behind her, Cao Quan was completely dumbfounded. He never imagined that the backing he took so much pride in wouldn't even dare let out a peep in front of the Qin Family.
Fear instantly drowned out all his jealousy and fury; he struggled to climb up to apologize, only for Lin Feng to sweep him with an icy glance that frightened him into collapsing limply back to the floor.
Ignoring them entirely, Lin Feng simply pulled Qin Ruyan's slender waist closer, laughing softly right by her ear in a voice meant only for the two of them: "Your reputation certainly comes in handy."
Qin Ruyan's body stiffened slightly, an unnatural flush creeping up the roots of her ears.
She could clearly feel the searing heat of Lin Feng's palm pressing against her waist through the thin material of her evening gown.
That unfamiliar, powerful masculine presence made her heartbeat skip a beat.
"Let's go. Don't let this trash stain your eyes." With that, Lin Feng paid no further attention to the farce at the entrance, gathering a still somewhat dazed Qin Ruyan and walking straight into the brilliantly lit banquet hall amidst countless stares of shock, envy, and jealousy.
Watching their intimate figures, which looked like a match made in heaven, Cao Quan—still sprawled on the ground—clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.
In his bloodshot eyes, the flames of resentment and jealousy threatened to burst forth and incinerate his remaining sanity.
Why?! Why was that good-for-nothing piece of trash able to attain the goddess he wouldn't even dare dream of winning?!
Entering the banquet hall, Qin Ruyan finally snapped out of the shock from a moment ago.
Without a sound, she slipped free of Lin Feng's hold, maintaining a small distance between them as she surveyed him with a complex gaze.
"That outfit of yours tonight is very strange." Qin Ruyan frowned.
Lin Feng's attire today was indeed out of the ordinary. Instead of a suit, he wore a well-tailored dark-mystic long robe. Its classic cut carried the flowing grace of Hanfu without the cumbersome complexity of traditional styles.
Worn on him, it not only looked entirely natural but instead highlighted an extraordinary, unworldly temperament that stood in stark contrast to the surrounding guests in their Western suits.
"Is it strange?"
Lin Feng narcissistically straightened his collar, a mysterious smile playing at the corners of his lips. "I happen to think this outfit suits the host's intentions for tonight quite well."
"What do you mean?" Qin Ruyan asked, perplexed.
"Do you know Qiao Yuejian?"
"No." Lin Feng shook his head, then smoothly shifted the topic, his gaze growing distant and profound.
"But she and I have been soul-connected for a long time."
Qin Ruyan looked skeptical. "Soul-connected for a long time?"
She gazed at Lin Feng as if looking at a lunatic, thinking that his three-year coma might have truly scrambled his brains. A vegetative patient who had just woken up was spiritually connected to another vegetative patient who had also just woken up? What kind of fairy tale nonsense was this?