Chapter 330: Qin Wu

The girl was quite pretty, exuding a cool and detached air that always gave people the impression of keeping them at a great distance. Seeing Su Lin point her finger at her, she didn’t speak, merely tugging at her lips with a cold expression, and it was unclear whether it was disdain or a sneer.

With Su Lin’s tone, Ling Chen felt somewhat helpless; it sounded every bit like the haughty and domineering speech of a rich young lady bullying others, leaving one scratching their head, not knowing what to do.

"Speak up, what’s going on?"

"What else could it be?" Su Lin curled her lip. "She’s Qin Yang’s sister."

Ling Chen was startled, scrutinizing her carefully; indeed, without a word, she did bear some resemblance to Qin Yang. No wonder Su Lin was ranting like a shrew, lashing out at everyone.

"I am Qin Wu, and you are her boyfriend?" Qin Wu spoke dispassionately, fixing her gaze on Ling Chen, her eyes crystal clear, devoid of any other emotions.

Ling Chen was about to shake his head when Su Lin suddenly clung to his arm, tilting her head haughtily and huffed, "That’s right, he is my boyfriend, Ling Chen! Much better than your brother, who’s nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing!"

Unexpectedly, Qin Wu nodded. "I know all too well what kind of person my own brother is. However, I want to make it clear once again, Miss Su, you can resent my brother, but I am me, and he is him. Please understand this."

"I have no time to bother hating him!" Su Lin lifted her neck arrogantly, continuing to pose like a proud swan. "Just to be clear, Qin Wu, it was me who saw through your brother’s true colors and dumped him, not the other way around!"

"This is between the two of you. I’m not interested, nor do I ever inquire about it. Who dumped whom has nothing to do with me."

"Then why are you spreading rumors everywhere that you were dumped by your brother?"

Finally, a look of surprise crossed Qin Wu’s face, as she stared intently at Su Lin, enunciating carefully, "Miss Su, we were friends for a time, and although we’ve grown apart due to Qin Yang, you should know the kind of person Qin Wu is. I never stoop to gossip and slander!"

Caught between two women, Ling Chen finally started to understand the situation; it was really simple: the residue of Lady Su’s ex-boyfriend’s past. Recently, there’d been rampant rumors at school about how Qin Yang played Lady Su, then left her high and dry after having his fill.

The more these words spread, the more outrageous they became, evolving into the version that Su Lin had multiple abortions because of Qin Yang, which led to her inability to have children in the future, and thus she was cruelly cast aside.

Today, it happened that Su Lin ran into Qin Wu at the gate, and this rash suspicion took hold of her, making her think there was a hidden meaning behind Qin Wu’s composed demeanor. Unable to resist, she sought her out to argue but couldn’t bring herself to be direct. Instead, her vague accusations made the taciturn Qin Wu leave her at a loss for words.

And this led to the angry act of calling over Ling Chen as reinforcement.

This was a tricky situation; since time immemorial, the most difficult thing to guard against, and the most frightening, was gossip. The so-called fear of public opinion came from this.

To find out who was spreading the rumors wasn’t impossible, but it would take time and effort and might not win anyone’s favor.

"Miss Qin, thanks for understanding. You’re both young women, so I trust you can appreciate Su Lin’s feelings right now. If there was any offense, please forgive us."

Su Lin was waiting for Ling Chen to take her side, and hearing this made her furious. Was this guy really sticking up for her?

"Ling Chen! You bastard! Whose side are you on? Have you set your sights on her because she’s pretty?"

"Hey hey! Stop it! What do you mean 'again'? Inaccurate words can easily kill people!"

"Mind your own business! I like speaking this way! Don’t think I’m unaware of your sordid affairs!" Su Lin, not showing the slightest courtesy, hissed vehemently, "You traitor! You turncoat! You betrayer!"

Ling Chen was at his wits’ end; these terms she was using… He was about to say something when what followed made his heart skip a beat.

"Hmph, don’t think I don’t know about Tang Shiyun."

"That’s my old neighbor!"

"The look in your eyes, though—it’s like that of old lovers!"

"..."

"And there’s the beautiful policewoman, Xia Mutong!"

"Don’t talk nonsense, we are more like enemies! Have you not seen how many times she’s wanted to arrest me?"

"Are you sure it’s not a love-hate relationship? The way she looks at you, if there’s really nothing between you two, I’ll gouge out my eyeballs!"

"Don’t, that would hurt!"

"I’ll gouge out yours!" Su Lin said angrily, glaring at him.

Ling Chen felt a bit awkward; to be honest, Tang Shiyun could somewhat be explained away, as they hadn’t quite crossed the final line, but Xia Mutong had actually fought over live ammunition with him. Tang Yuan’s reputation didn’t come from nowhere.

Seeing him not respond, Su Lin began to regret her impulsiveness. He wasn’t angry, was he? Men need to save face when they’re outside. Regardless of anything else, she shouldn’t have lashed out at him at this time!

Feeling uncertain, Ling Chen, however, smiled and said: "You really are petty, even more so than your sister… Never mind, I won’t hold it against you."

"Miss Qin, sorry to take up your time, but if you don’t mind, I have a small favor to ask."

Qin Wu nodded slightly, curious about what made this fairly good-looking man special. From Su Lin’s list of complaints, it seemed that this man had quite a few close female confidantes. Given her understanding of Su Lin, she shouldn’t have been able to tolerate him.

After all, Qin Yang was a man of talent and looks, and Su Lin had decisively broken up with him just for lying and goofing around. Su Lin obviously showed a bit of unease just a moment ago; what was so special about this man?

Tang Shiyun? That name sounded sort of familiar…

"These rumors, after all, are just hearsay. When people break up, they don’t utter those pretentious words of remaining friends, but it doesn’t mean they want the other party dead. I think the Qin Family should also take some responsibility."

Qin Wu responded calmly, "Go on, Mr. Ling."

"I will try my best to uncover the person behind the rumors, and I’d like to ask for Miss Qin’s help. What do you think?"

"Why should I help you?"

"It’s not for me; it’s for the Qin Family itself."

"How so?"

"I’ve always preferred winning people over with virtue; hmm, to put it simply, I like to reason with them," Ling Chen said with a slight smile, seemingly a bit shy.

"However, when others refuse to listen to reason and insist on being stubborn, I have no choice but to find a different way to reason with them."

"And how would you do that?"

Ling Chen swung his fist lightly and smiled, "Often, when words fail to communicate, one has to resort to the most primal methods."

After a moment of silence, Qin Wu suddenly laughed. Her normally calm and peaceful face bloomed like a multitude of flowers, shining brilliantly, even stunning Su Lin, a girl who was herself breathtakingly beautiful.

What kind of beauty was that?