Chapter Five

The call was abruptly ended, and Ouyang Feng was thrown into complete panic. Little Li's father—his own boss, the chairman of Jiangbei Pharmaceuticals—was a man whose words could make or break him, could raise him from nothing or cast him back into obscurity.

He knew that without the position of general manager at Jiangbei Pharmaceuticals, he was no different from Luo Fancheng; perhaps even worse, for he was about to go beg Luo Fancheng for help.

With this realization, Ouyang Feng hastily tossed out a parting instruction: "Take good care of Little Li." Then he got into his car and sped toward the Chen family residence.

Luo Fancheng had just returned home when Wu Mei greeted him with a torrent of abuse. "Luo, you useless wretch! How dare you show your face here? Why didn’t you just die out there?"

"You’ve smashed the table, and now you’re skipping work too. You really think you’re the master of this house?"

"You’re not much better," Luo Fancheng retorted. "In front of your son-in-law, you let your own daughter marry someone else."

"This is outrageous! How did we ever let someone like you marry into our family? My eyes must have been blinded," Wu Mei spat.

Smack—

"My daughter’s marriage is our decision, not yours, you worthless thing!" Chen Kangjian, beside her, slammed the table and roared in anger.

Wu Mei pressed on, "Yes, we were blind to let our daughter marry you, but now we regret it. Divorce her. You must."

Inside Chen Xingxin’s room

At that moment, Chen Xingxin was in the middle of her livestream. Suddenly, a loud crash and heated arguing erupted from the living room, setting her stream ablaze. What had once been a quiet stream with only a handful of viewers suddenly became lively—dozens, then hundreds, all furiously sending comments.

"What was that noise just now?"

"Sounds like someone’s fighting?"

"What’s happening at the streamer’s house?"

"Streamer, why not broadcast the argument for us? (Save me, dog emoji)"

"......"

At first, Chen Xingxin paid no mind, assuming it would soon quiet down. But the shouting persisted, growing louder and fiercer.

At last, Chen Xingxin could stand it no longer. She wheeled herself toward the living room, forgetting to turn off her camera; her every move was broadcast, exposing her injured legs and revealing her as a wheelchair-bound streamer.

"Will you stop fighting, please?" Chen Xingxin shouted.

Her words brought the house to silence. There was a simple reason: Chen Xingxin controlled the finances for the entire family.

"Xingxing, maybe you should reconsider Ouyang Feng—he’s quite good," Wu Mei continued her persuasion.

"Yes, yes! Ouyang Feng isn’t just rich, he’s good-looking too. If you divorce and marry him, you won’t have to tire yourself out streaming every day," Chen Kangjian chimed in.

Chen Xingxin glanced at Luo Fancheng. "I will not divorce. If you want to marry him, go ahead yourselves."

Smack—

"Shut up! How did I end up with such a short-sighted daughter? What’s wrong with marrying Ouyang Feng? Why stick with this useless man?" Chen Kangjian slapped Chen Xingxin’s face, leaving a red handprint upon her cheek.

"Why did you hit her? She’s your daughter, do you want to kill her?" Wu Mei shouted at Chen Kangjian.

"Hit her? I meant to wake her up, so she won’t be fooled by that loser Luo and forget who she is."

Chen Xingxin, stung, covered her face with one hand. Tears welled in her innocent eyes and began to fall.

Wu Mei stepped in front of Chen Xingxin. "Xingxing, your father only wants what’s best for you. What good is it to stay with that useless Luo? Look at him—two years in our home and what has he accomplished? Just divorce him."

No one spoke; Wu Mei continued, "Divorce him first. If you don’t like Ouyang Feng afterward, we can find you someone even richer."

Luo Fancheng could no longer bear it. "Are you so blinded by money? How can you call yourselves parents?"

"Luo, don’t try to scare us. You just want to freeload off the Chen family, but we won’t let you," Chen Kangjian said, pointing his finger at Luo Fancheng.

"No matter what you’ve said to Xingxing, this marriage must end."

Luo Fancheng laughed. "You just want us to divorce, don’t you? Well, I refuse. We will not divorce."

Chen Kangjian was furious. "Worthless thing, you won’t divorce? Fine." He turned to his daughter in her wheelchair. "Will you divorce? If you still refuse, I’ll kill myself right in front of you." With that, he fetched a knife from the kitchen and held it to his throat.

"Xingxing, say you’ll divorce! If you don’t, your father will die!" Wu Mei pleaded.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock—

There was a knock at the door. Luo Fancheng and Chen Xingxin locked eyes as Chen Kangjian kept the knife pressed to his neck. Wu Mei went to open the door.

Outside stood Ouyang Feng, still clad in a black suit, panting for breath. Wu Mei, seeing him, beamed, "Xiao Feng, have you come to see our Xingxing?"

Ouyang Feng said nothing, still catching his breath, peering past Wu Mei into the house. Wu Mei continued, "Xingxin has missed you since you left earlier today."

Ouyang Feng glanced through the doorway and saw Luo Fancheng still standing in the living room. Without another word, he brushed past Wu Mei and strode in, stopping before Luo Fancheng. With a thud, Ouyang Feng dropped to his knees before him.

Everyone present was stunned. What was happening?

"Forgive me. I was wrong earlier today," Ouyang Feng said.

"Xiao Feng, what’s wrong? Why are you kneeling to this useless man? Has he threatened you?" Wu Mei hurried over, trying to help Ouyang Feng up.

"Useless thing! How dare you threaten him?" Wu Mei glared at Luo Fancheng, displeased.

"You refuse to divorce, but look at yourself—how could you possibly be worthy of Xingxing?"

"This worthless man—Xiao Feng, don’t stoop to his level. Get up, I’ll make them divorce immediately, and then we’ll be one family," Chen Kangjian agreed, moving forward to help Ouyang Feng up.

Smack— Smack—

"Get away! I think you two old fools are the real useless ones," Ouyang Feng said, slapping both Wu Mei and Chen Kangjian.

For a moment, Wu Mei and Chen Kangjian were bewildered. Why were they being struck by someone they were helping?

From her wheelchair, Chen Xingxin couldn’t help but shout, "Ouyang Feng, why are you hitting my parents?"

"People like this are unfit to be parents. For money, they would sacrifice their daughter’s happiness," Ouyang Feng replied, then turned to Luo Fancheng. "Mr. Luo and Chen Xingxin are truly a perfect match—a pair made by destiny."

No sooner had he spoken than everyone except Luo Fancheng was dumbfounded. How quickly had the situation changed?