Chapter 258: Chapter 258: “You Got a Girlfriend? She’s Not Answering Your Calls?

Xu Weiping cared more about his pride than anything, especially in front of family. The last thing he wanted was to lose face. He’d initially regretted his impulsiveness and thought he shouldn’t have hit her. It wasn’t that he felt sorry for his daughter; he was mainly worried about the man she was with, who he’d heard came from a powerful background.

Upon hearing Xu Weiguo’s words, he completely missed the provocation and instead grew resolute. He felt that, as a father, disciplining his daughter was perfectly natural and justified.

Xu Weiping slapped her hard. Xu Su’s right cheek swelled up instantly, and for several seconds, she couldn’t hear a thing. She blinked in a daze. When she came to her senses, she shakily pulled her phone from her pocket. Just as she found Zhou Mochen’s number, Xu Weiping snatched the phone and smashed it hard onto the ground.

The phone’s components scattered in every direction. A shard of screen glass scraped across the back of Xu Su’s hand, leaving a shallow cut. It nicked a blood vessel, and tiny beads of blood began to ooze out one by one.

“Who were you trying to call? I see you’ve gotten some nerve. What, you’re going to call an outsider to deal with me, your own father?”

Goaded by his brother, Xu Weiping—a man already full of machismo—recalled his daughter’s lukewarm attitude from last night and this morning. Since he’d already hit her once, he lost all semblance of reason.

His eyes bloodshot, he swung another heavy slap. “I gave you your life! I have the right to kill you, let alone hit you! If you dare find someone to deal with me, not even the heavens will forgive you! You’ll be struck down by lightning!”

For so long, he and his wife had fawned over their daughter, trying to please her, showering her with endless sweet talk. And for what? To be spoiled into this monstrous state. Xu Weiping was thoroughly enraged, feeling that Xu Su simply needed to be taught a lesson.

’It’s perfectly natural for parents to hit their children!’

But this slap was stopped mid-air by a calloused hand.

Clutching her face, Xu Su quickly took two steps back.

Her eldest uncle, Xu Jianbang, stood firmly in front of Xu Weiping. He shook his head frantically at her, crying out “Ah! Ah!” while waving for her to run.

A tear slipped down Xu Su’s cheek. She knew that discretion was the better part of valor. She turned and pushed past Chen Shulan and Yang Yun, who had emerged from the kitchen at some point to gather at the entrance, and ran out without a backward glance.

Behind her, Xu Weiguo frowned and took a step as if to grab her, but then stopped, seemingly held back by some concern.

She ran all the way to the main street without stopping. It was dinnertime, so there were few pedestrians, but anyone who passed by stared at her. Xu Su felt a hot, stinging pain on her cheek. She wrapped her scarf around her face twice, hiding the lower half and leaving only her eyes exposed. The scarf was a cotton-linen blend, breathable enough that she could cover her nose and still breathe.

As she passed an accessory shop, Xu Su glanced at her reflection in the glass door. The right side of her face was a swollen, red mess, branded with the clear, five-fingered imprint of a hand. It was grotesque and horrifying.

It was the first time she’d been slapped in two lifetimes. Xu Su stared at her reflection for a long time, a bitter smile twisting her lips. ’Have you finally given up on them?’ she wanted to ask herself.

’Do you still hold out any hope for your parents?’

Her hands were still trembling from the sheer fury of it all.

Her phone was smashed, so she couldn’t contact anyone. She had no money in her pockets, so she couldn’t even take a taxi back to Imperial Central. ’Wandering the streets, starving, on New Year’s Eve,’ she thought. ’I’ve never been this pathetic.’

She walked aimlessly along the street for a long time until she saw the sign for a familiar arcade. Xu Su paused for a few seconds, then stepped inside.

Xu Su sat on a bench in the arcade, quietly watching the couples gathered around a claw machine. She remembered this same day last year, when Xi Zirong had brought her here. They had spent the whole afternoon playing, and he had even won a stuffed doll for her.

She closed her eyes, feeling completely adrift.

「At the same time, in Beijing.」

The Shen family’s New Year’s reunion dinner was underway.

The Shen family was a sprawling, century-old clan. Any member with a modicum of talent was never idle, busy all year round, traveling across the country and abroad. The New Year holiday was the only time they could all truly gather.

The reunion dinner filled a grand total of six large tables, and even then, only those closest to the family’s direct line were qualified to attend.

At the main table, Shen Chen, the eldest grandson of the direct line, kept glancing distractedly at his phone. Xu Su had promised to send him a photo, but an hour had passed and it still hadn’t arrived. He sent her a text message to hurry her along, but received no reply.

From what he knew of her, Xu Su wasn’t the type to agree to something if she couldn’t follow through. Once she made a promise, she wouldn’t flake for no reason. A strange anxiety began to gnaw at him.

After offering a toast to Sir Shen, Shen Chen couldn’t hold back any longer. He picked up his phone, excused himself from the table, and found a quiet corner to dial her number.

The call went straight to a message: her phone was off…

Shen Chen frowned slightly. ’Her phone died?’

’Or did something happen?’

Shen Chen waited a moment before trying again. The same message: her phone was off.

His brow furrowed tightly. Just as he was starting to worry that something had happened to Xu Su, a hand landed heavily on his shoulder. His cousin, Shen Yu, leaned in. “Bro, what’s got you so busy? It’s New Year’s, take a break. You even disappeared during the family dinner.”

“Back off. Don’t bother me,” Shen Chen said, shrugging off his cousin’s hand.

“Aw, come on. Tell me what’s bothering you.” Shen Yu had always been close with his older cousin. He glanced cheekily at Shen Chen’s phone. “’Xu?’ Who’s that? Do I know her?”

Shen Chen ignored him, waiting for several minutes with his eyes fixed on his phone. Still no call back from Xu Su. He dialed for a third time and, once again, was met with the same automated message.

Shen Yu, who had been watching the whole time, asked quizzically, “You got a girlfriend? And she’s not answering your calls?”

Shen Chen looked at his cousin. He didn’t deny it, but simply asked, perplexed, “We were talking just a little while ago, and everything was fine. If her phone is suddenly off, does that mean something happened?”

“That’s it? Who is this Xu, anyway? You can’t reach her, and suddenly you’re so worked up you can’t even eat?”

Shen Yu’s tone was one of pure shock. ’Is this still the same incorrigible playboy cousin I know?’ he thought.

Seeing that his cousin wasn’t helping and was only making flippant remarks, Shen Chen’s expression darkened instantly.

Shen Yu quickly reeled off a list of possibilities. “Hey, it’s New Year’s Eve. Everyone’s having dinner. What could possibly happen? Either she’s mad at you, or her phone died and she’s too busy eating to get back to you. Or maybe something happened to the phone itself—it broke, or she dropped it in water, so she can’t take your call.”

What he said made perfect sense, yet Shen Chen couldn’t shake a strange feeling of unease…

“Alright, Bro, let’s go eat first. We can figure it out after dinner.”

Just then, someone from the main hall called out to them.

Shen Chen told his cousin to go on ahead. He, however, remained, phone in hand, and dialed another number.

Xu Su was completely unaware of the events unfolding far away in Beijing. She sat listlessly on a bench in the arcade like a pitiful, homeless stray. Outside, a light rain had begun to fall at some unknown point. The arcade was bustling, with wave after wave of people coming and going.

She didn’t want anyone to see her swollen face, so she kept it well-hidden beneath her scarf. Only her captivatingly bright eyes were visible, creating a striking image amidst the lively arcade. A few guys tried to hit on her, but Xu Su didn’t even raise her head, completely ignoring them.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep