Zhuang Yaru had lost her head while she slapped Murong Xu. She had no idea what she was doing!
Murong Xu narrowed his eyes slightly. He seemed to have experienced a strange feeling, as if he had been seeing through everything. Although a sarcastic smile formed at the corner of his mouth, the burning pain in his face made him feel quite relieved.
"Well! Now that you slapped me, I don"t feel sorry for you."
After he uttered his last word, Murong Xu was planning to leave.
Zhuang Yaru, who immediately felt completely at a loss, hurried over and grabbed Murong Xu"s wrist. "Xiao Xu, I"m sorry! I didn"t mean it; I didn"t want to do that. Don"t be angry."
Murong Xu turned stern and sneered, "Whether you meant it or not doesn"t matter. You"ve done it. Your slap makes this easier. I should be thanking you!"
Zhuang Yaru"s ankle had gotten injured, so she couldn"t stand up. Thus, she had to hang herself up to hold on to Murong Xu, which made her look extremely embarra.s.sed.
"Xiao Xu, please forgive me. I won"t interfere with your thing anymore."
Zhuang Yaru begged in a very humble manner, which was tremendously different from her image as a n.o.ble woman. However, she was unable to consider her image now. After all, if Murong Haotian found out that she had slapped his son, she would have a hard time.
Murong Haotian wouldn"t spoil his children, but he had warned her when they had gotten married that she shall treat the two kids the same. Should she treat his children badly, he wouldn"t bear it.
Therefore, at the moment, Zhuang Yaru felt terrified. If Murong Haotian discovered that she had hit his child, then... She dared not imagine the consequences.
Murong Xu forcefully threw Zhuang Yaru"s hands off and walked out of the room. He walked straight out of the villa without throwing even a look at Fang Xinting and her mother as he pa.s.sed through the living room on the ground floor.
Fang Xinting"s mother, who had been about to smile and greet Murong Xu when he went downstairs, stood still when she sensed his coolness. Then, she watched Murong Xu go out as if he couldn"t see them.
Fang Xinting and her mother, who felt confused, looked at each other. When they looked up at the upstairs rooms, they found no trace of Zhuang Yaru. They sat there, feeling more and more awkward, not knowing whether they should leave or not.
Fang Xinting and her mother heard nothing downstairs. However, Murong Haotian, who was in the study upstairs, heard a faint crying sound.
He frowned in annoyance, yet the crying persisted. Finally, he stood up and walked out of the study, approaching Murong Xu"s room while following the crying sound.
Murong Xu"s room was open wide. Murong Haotian found Zhuang Yaru sitting on the ground and crying when he went in.
Crying women might be the worst kind of suffering men had to deal with, especially when it came to a woman like Zhuang Yaru, whose crying could make a man lose his bearings.
"What"s going on?" Murong Haotian sounded a little unpleasant.
Upon hearing Murong Haotian"s voice, Zhuang Yaru felt secretly overwhelmed and looked up at him.
"Haotian..."
"What happened?"
"I... Xiao Xu... I sprained my ankle..."
Zhuang Yaru was speechless for a moment. She did not know how to answer his question, let alone tell him that she had slapped Murong Xu.
"Xiao Xu did this to you? How dare he hurt you!"
Murong Haotian"s expression changed from unpleasant to outraged. He looked as black as the bottom of a pan.
"Yes, but Xiao Xu didn"t mean to. I told him to say h.e.l.lo to Mrs. Fang and Tingting downstairs. He didn"t want to, so..."
"Where is he now?"
"He went out."
"Out? He didn"t even say anything after hurting you? His manners have been getting worse! "
Murong Haotian"s anger increased until he nearly exploded. He had felt uneasy about the relationship with the Gu family. Everything made him feel impatient and lose his temper. Naturally, Murong Xu was considered the cause of his worries. Without hesitation, Murong Haotian blamed all those things on Murong Xu now that he had done such a rude thing.
"Xiao Xu has been complaining about the blind dates I arrange for him. He may have been feeling angry deep down. It"s not his fault. I shouldn"t have hurriedly arranged this for him. Now, I got a bad result despite my good intentions. As a result, I made myself feel awkward and irritated Xiao Xu."
"You don"t have to say nice things on his behalf. It"s his fault this time. No matter what, he shouldn"t have hurt you. It is the worst offense. He"s been misbehaving himself."
"Haotian, don"t be angry now. Mind your health. I"m fine. I just sprained my ankle. My body works worse as I become older. I don"t blame Xiao Xu. He"s still a child."
"We shall ask a doctor to see your foot now."
Murong Haotian lowered his body to help Zhuang Yaru up. When Zhuang Yaru sat on the sofa with his help, Murong Haotian lifted her red swollen ankle up and took a look at it.
Murong Haotian went downstairs to call the family doctor. As he reached the ground floor, he saw Mrs. Fang and Miss Fang, who were still sitting on the sofa.
Murong Haotian looked a little unhappy. Obviously, he disliked them both to begin with, let alone under the circ.u.mstances.
Mrs. Fang stood up first and greeted Murong Haotian with a smile. "Mr. Murong, you are at home today? You look full of spirit. My husband isn"t like you. He looks ten years older than you."
Murong Haotian did not react to Mrs. Fang"s words. He had heard too many words like this. Besides, Mrs. Fang"s words sounded too phoney and devoid of sincerity.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Fang. My wife accidentally sprained her ankle. She isn"t available to show you her hospitality. Please forgive us."
"Oh, I see. May I go upstairs to see Mrs. Murong? How unlucky she is... How could such a thing happen to her?"
"Don"t do so. I will call our family doctor to see her. It"s not a convenient time to see you off."
Apparently, Murong Haotian was asking them to leave. Mrs. Fang and Fang Xinting, who knew they should not say anything, just awkwardly smiled at him. "Well then, we won"t bother you. We will go now. If there is anything we can do, just tell me. Send our greetings to Mrs. Murong. We wish she will get well soon."
Both of them left in a hurry. As he looked at their backs, Murong Haotian furrowed his eyebrows more tightly. He disliked them intensely.
Murong Haotian had always thought bad of the Fang family and never taken them seriously, even though they were much better than the Gu family. Since Mrs. Fang and Miss Fang had behaved in such a hypocratical manner, Murong Haotian felt even more contempt for them. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Fang and Miss Fang had showed up at the wrong time. Murong Haotian was in the worst mood possible, so they couldn"t make a good impression on him at such a time.
Murong Haotian called his doctor and then gave Murong Xu a call.
"Hey, where are you now?"
The call was put through. Murong Haotian asked his question first in a storm of anger.
"Father, what"s up?" Murong Xu said in a sedated tone that did not betray his emotions.
Murong Haotian shouted at Murong Xu furiously, "Come back now! Are you trying to walk away after causing such big trouble?"
Murong Xu, who was stunned, felt doubts rise in his heart. "Trouble?" he asked.
As he noticed Murong Xu"s bad att.i.tude, Murong Haotian felt even angrier and yelled at Murong Xu in an even more impatient tone, "How dare you hurt your mother! You have been behaving in an increasingly absurd manner. I can"t believe I"ve spoiled you so much that you did such a disobedient thing!"
Murong Xu understood at once. Zhuang Yaru had twisted the facts upside down. Murong Xu felt disappointed at his father. How could Murong Haotian have believed that what she had said was a fact without even wondering whether Murong Xu could do such a thing or not? Murong Xu tried to ask, "She told you this? And you believed her?"
Murong Haotian had forgotten how to think. He only felt loads of anger. "Don"t bulls.h.i.t me. Come back and apologize to your mother."
Murong Xu felt even more disappointed. How could his father, who had given him life and brought him up, not believe him and trust the one-sided words of that woman? "I will never apologize to her."
When he realized that Murong Xu was determined, Murong Haotian thought that he was really obsessive and shouted out in anger, "You unfilial son! Love has messed with your head. You"re becoming more and more disobedient. Never come back if you don"t apologize to your mother."
Murong Xu stood blankly. His heart seemed to get torn apart as blood spurted out of it. He felt as if a sharp knife was piercing his heart and twisting. The pain he was bearing made his whole body quiver.
"Fine!" Murong Xu had no idea how he spoke. He only felt the home that had already not been warm enough become as cold as an ice island. He felt so disappointed that he gave up all hope.
Murong Haotian felt his blood rush up to his head. Murong Xu"s response was undoubtedly making their conflict worse. Murong Haotian"s strong, unreasonable att.i.tude failed to make the situation better. Their bad att.i.tude had made a simple conflict become worse.
"Alright! You are a grown-up now so you can make decisions for yourself! Fine, just never come back!"
Murong Haotian didn"t give Murong Xu a chance to say anything else. He hung up right away.
Murong Haotian"s shouting was like a beast"s hawl that shook the whole villa. Even Zhuang Yaru on the second floor could hear his powerful words clearly.
Zhuang Yaru was terrified. She didn"t know that her unintentional words had actually caused such a terrible situation. What was worse, there had been a few chances of salvaging the situation.
At the begining, she hadn"t meant to lie. She just hadn"t dared tell Murong Haotian that she had slapped Murong Xu. Murong Haotian had misunderstood and thought that Murong Xu had hit her in reverse. Then, she"d had to leave the mistake uncorrected and hide the truth, misleading Murong Haotian into believing what she had told him.
Under the circ.u.mstances, she seemed to have less courage to tell the truth. She might as well let it be.
As Zhuang Yaru was losing herself in her thoughts, Murong Haotian came in suddenly. "What are you thinking?"