"Do you think you're worthy?" Li Li didn't give her any face at all, turning around with a cold, haughty expression and leaving Madam Li with nothing but her back.
Patriarch Li had a headache; being made a laughingstock in front of his in-laws caused him to lose face completely.
He stepped forward, trying to smooth things over: "Alright, let's call it a day with this matter. Dad knows you've been wronged, but today is your sister and brother-in-law's engagement banquet. If you have any issues, Dad will make it up to you later. Stop making a scene, okay?"
Shang Yang also stepped out, reaching out to pull Li Li: "Lili, I'm sorry. I was supposed to give you that medicine first thing this morning, but I've been busy with the engagement banquet lately and hadn't run into you, not expecting it to cause a misunderstanding between you sisters."
"Rest assured, I'll supervise Shang Che about that matter. Consider it as never happening; it won't affect you."
"Let's not make a scene anymore, okay?"
"I have a mouth of my own, so I'm afraid Big Brother won't be able to supervise me that far."
Outside the door, Shang Che returned as quickly as he had left.
He was toying with a USB drive in his hand, his shirt collar half-open, the ambiguous marks stretching from his neck to his collarbone resembling winter-blooming wintersweet on deep winter branches—the absolute image of an unprincipled, dissolute playboy.
Li Li slowly closed her eyes, unable to bear looking.
*You might as well just not wear clothes at all, and let the whole world take a good look at the hickeys on your body.*
Shang Che's gaze fell on Shang Yang's hand holding Li Li's, his eyes turning gloomy.
He strode past the crowd right up to Li Li's side, standing in her camp.
With a casual and lazy tone: "How many times do I have to say it? I'm the one who got slept with."
"I'm the victim here."
He glanced at Li Li, acting inexplicably aggrieved: "I'm a pure, innocent man, and for no reason my chastity is gone. My whole life is ruined just like that."
"You're all staring at Li Li, aren't you afraid I'll lose my mind and jump in the river to prove my innocence?"
Everyone: "..."
Having the roles reversed was truly mastered by him; just listen to whether those were human words.
Yet somehow, no matter how absurd the words were coming from this playboy Shang Che's mouth, it didn't seem strange at all.
Li Li was amused by his absurdity.
Amidst a wave of speechlessness, the eldest young miss let out a scoff.
"Didn't I give you money?"
Her light, shallow smile was both pleasant and bright.
It made Shang Che's heart skip a beat.
*My wife has such a nice voice.*
Fu Xiao understood Shang Che's secret delight and rolled his eyes internally.
*Show-off.*
"Not enough." Shang Che was extremely aggrieved: "I'm a traditional man, and my first time was taken away by you just like that."
"How could this little bit of money be enough?"
Li Li: "?"
The eldest young miss wore an expression of utter absurdity: "Do you think my house doesn't have internet?"
Shang Che's gossip news was endless, and Li Li had eaten plenty of his melons.
The very reason he was sent by the Shang Family to that godforsaken place like Jingcheng in the first place was because he got someone pregnant and couldn't clean up the mess; the Shang Family had no choice but to expel him overnight.
Even during these years in Jingcheng, rumors of his wild and unbridled affairs never stopped.
His smooth and practiced service attitude of hooking and stringing her along last night certainly didn't look like a first time.
Noticing the mockery in Li Li's eyes, Shang Che looked as if the sky was falling.
"I figured it out on my own without a teacher."
He said with a straight face: "I'm a grown man of twenty-six or twenty-seven anyway, so it's no surprise my skills are good."
The surrounding onlookers: "??"
*Keep your voice down, is that anything to be proud of?*
Li Li smiled without a word: "Unimportant."
"It is important!" Shang Che panicked: "You ate your fill, wiped your mouth, and turned around to deny everything!"
Li Li suddenly couldn't tell whether the person before her was friend or foe.
She took a deep breath, holding herself back from cursing out loud: "If you're here to demand an explanation from me, go get in line at the back."
*I'm busy, who has time for you?*
Shang Che slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering: "I'm here to catch the mastermind behind the scenes, let's put our personal business aside for now."
He blocked in front of Li Li, saying with utmost solemnity: "My chastity is important."
Li Li: "..."
Shang Che was tall with long legs, shielding her thoroughly and separating her from the Shang and Li families.
Her nostrils were filled with the unique herbal fragrance belonging to the man.
The man's low, cold voice sounded by her ear: "Someone come explain what the hell is going on here."
He casually tossed the USB drive onto the floor; whether intentional or not, the USB drive slid precisely and stopped right at Li Li Xiang's feet.
Shang Che crossed his arms over his chest, watching coldly.
Shang Yang glanced at Li Li Xiang, who was avoiding his gaze, and frowned silently.
He stepped forward, picked up the USB drive, walked aside, and plugged it into the main control console connected to the TV.
The video was a piece of hidden surveillance footage, the location completely unfamiliar, and the surroundings so dark that faces were barely discernible.
Only voices could be vaguely heard: "Li Li is most skilled at blending fragrance, can she really not smell this aromatherapy?"
"No."
The surveillance footage flickered and blurred, intermittent before finally freezing on the frame where the man took the aromatherapy and turned around.
Although very blurry, that face was undoubtedly the waiter's.
At that moment, Li Li's phone received a message.
Li Li was about to open her mouth.
Shang Che looked at the waiter a step ahead: "Yupuyuan surely can't afford to hire the young master of the Wang family."
With Shang Che starting this, everyone stared at that face and came to a sudden realization: "Is this Wang Cong, the only son of the Lincheng Wang Family?"
Fu Xiao chimed in with tacit understanding: "How come I remember that Wang Cong has been chasing Li Li Xiang since college?"
It was fine if he hadn't mentioned it, but now everyone remembered.
There were quite a few people chasing Li Li Xiang, and Wang Cong was the craziest among them.
Recognized, Wang Cong sat down on the ground as if resigning himself to fate.
"It's me."
He stared at Li Li Xiang, his gaze fierce: "Xiangxiang, long time no see."
Li Li Xiang froze, her face turning ashen: "You're Wang Cong?"
She looked at Shang Yang at a loss, shaking her head frantically: "I didn't know he was Wang Cong."
"He didn't look like this in college."
Shang Yang didn't speak, only looking at Wang Cong.
The latter let out a self-deprecating smile: "You didn't recognize me back then."
"I liked you so much and gave up everything to chase you, yet you never once looked at me properly. At graduation, you clearly promised to have dinner with me, but you stood me up, causing me to get into a car accident and forcing me to undergo plastic surgery."
His gaze turned vicious: "I hate you!"
"You almost cost me my life, yet you turned around and married Shang Yang. What right do you have to trample on my sincere feelings like this?!"
"I want to see if Shang Yang will still want you now that you've lost the chastity you're so proud of!!"
Li Li Xiang was terrified to the core, her face turning pale as she collapsed into Madam Li's arms in disbelief: "Were you trying to drug me?"
Realizing something, she looked at Li Li with tears in her eyes: "Lili, I'm sorry, I didn't expect..."
Seeing this situation, Patriarch Li rushed forward hurriedly: "Scumbag!!"
He raised his foot and kicked Wang Cong, furious: "You single-handedly harmed both my daughters."
"I'll kick you to death!"
Madam Li started crying along with them.
"Xiangxiang, it's Mom's fault for not protecting you well and letting you almost fall into the hands of a villain."
Li Li Siyou was also so furious that he rushed up, grabbed Wang Cong by the collar, and threw two punches right to his face: "Damn piece of garbage, plotting against my sister, I'll fucking kill you!"
The room instantly plunged into chaos. Regardless of the truth, this was clearly the truth everyone wanted to see.
The Li family was busy seeking justice for Li Li Xiang.
The Shang family breathed a sigh of relief, and the Head of the Shang Family signaled the servants to prepare and complete the engagement banquet.
Fu Xiao wanted to say something but held his tongue, ultimately remaining silent.
Li Li quietly watched this room full of absurdity, her gaze landing on Shang Che.
"Is this the ending you wanted?"
She was like a deity standing outside the affair, calmly watching play after play unfold in turn alongside actors harboring their own hidden agendas.
Patriarch Li didn't care who was wronged, only caring about his own face.
Madam Li and Li Li Siyou protected Li Li Xiang unconditionally.
The Head of the Shang Family and Madam Shang didn't care who was wronged, as long as Li Li Xiang remained pure and untainted.
Shang Yang might care about the truth, but he cared even more about his unwed fiancée.
Li Li Xiang was innocent, even a victim—this ending pleased everyone.
What about Shang Che then?
What did this person, who kept shouting about wanting the truth and justice, actually want?
Shang Che didn't answer, only looking at her: "What I want doesn't matter. What matters is what *you* want."