Chapter 73: Tearing Off Su Huaiyao’s True Face
Yu Xiuqing did not respond to him. He snatched Meng Nanyi’s phone directly, tapped to open the video, and furrowed his brows as he watched.
His complexion grew increasingly gloomy as the person in the video appeared. His eyes were bloodshot like fresh blood, and the strength with which he gripped the phone tightened involuntarily.
Su Huaiyao, standing to the side, watched in terror, his entire body tensed as if something were viciously hammering against his heart. His breathing stopped completely in that instant.
He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place. If he were to run away now, it would only confirm the fact that he had tortured Shen Yuan!
Therefore, he could not run. He believed Yu Xiuqing would not do anything to him—how could the man blame his savior over a worthless little male servant!
Meng Nanyi watched with schadenfreude as the man shifted from his initial stubborn stance to his current expression of silent, mute shock; he couldn’t have felt more delighted.
“How about it? Mr. Yu, do you know now who the person truly abusing Shen Yuan is?”
He blinked his bright eyes, looking innocently at Yu Xiuqing, his pure and honest face filled with mockery.
The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive. Su Huaiyao knew he could not sit idly by and wait for death, so he hurriedly tried to disrupt them:
“Xiuqing-gege, don’t believe it! The video content here must have been synthesized by him to slander me!”
Yu Xiuqing remained silent. His noble, handsome face showed not a ripple. Those pitch-black eyes were like a black hole, making it impossible for anyone to tell what he was thinking.
The phone’s volume had been turned to the maximum. A familiar voice drifted out intermittently:
“The one I’m hitting is you, you slappable slut! Has your brain gotten even stupider now? How come you don’t recognize anyone? Yet you haven’t forgotten the slightest bit about seducing someone else’s boyfriend!”
The voice was as soft as it had been before, yet the tone had turned biting and ugly, like a blade slicing across a glass window—startlingly abrupt in the suddenly silent hospital room.
In the video, Shen Yuan was pitiful and helpless, dragged to the floor by Su Huaiyao and given a vicious kick.
Watching his usually gentle and kind “white moonlight” kicking and beating his own little plaything, Yu Xiuqing’s expression froze abruptly, his pupils contracting before sinking heavily.
A biting, glacial murderous aura seemed to permeate the man’s entire body. Su Huaiyao had never seen the other so terrifying; he became frightened and quickly loosened his hand.
But he was still unwilling to have his actions exposed. Enduring his fear, his expression became utterly aggrieved, forcing himself to disguise himself as a victim, sobbing:
“X-Xiuqing-gege, the facts aren’t like this at all. Can you listen to my explanation first?”
Yu Xiuqing did not continue watching.
Whether it was the fear of seeing his beloved—whom he had viewed as gentle and virtuous for so many years—suddenly turn into this vicious figure, or whether he was more inclined to be unable to accept seeing Shen Yuan’s tragic state.
Yu Xiuqing did not know, and he couldn’t sort it out.
He simply stared calmly at the person bathed in pear blossom tears before him, not reaching out to wipe away the tears on the other’s face as he usually did, nor voicing any comfort.
“Xiaoyao, explain yourself.”
The voice floated lightly, yet it was as cold as a glacier, freezing to the marrow and making one involuntarily tremble.
Su Huaiyao bit his lip and sobbed in a low voice.
Looking at the man who no longer trusted him unconditionally as before, he felt a pang of heartache, as if something important had been stripped away.
“I…”
“You what? What’s left to explain? What is there to explain? The surveillance is the best evidence!”
Meng Nanyi directly interrupted his explanation, then snatched back his phone, expanded the video, held it in front of Yu Xiuqing, and pointed at the content on it:
“See that? Shen Yuan wasn’t just beaten and cursed; he was bullied by a group of psychiatric patients! The mastermind behind all of this is that Su Huaiyao, not my Zhou-gege!!”
He roared that last sentence with his very lungs, the angry voice faintly tinged with a sob.
What exactly had his Zhou-gege done wrong?!
Just because of a single sentence from Su Huaiyao, he had to bear all the blame! He had kindly tried to save someone, only to be beaten until covered in wounds!
Yu Xiuqing was forced to continue looking at the phone.
In the video, Shen Yuan lay on the floor in disarray, surrounded by psychiatric patients brutalizing him.
Meanwhile, Su Huaiyao hid not far away, beaming with delight as he watched everything. That vicious appearance looked just like a fierce wolf in sheep’s clothing—grotesque and twisted.
Meng Nanyi let out a cold snort and mocked:
“Is the truth clear now? I truly never expected that an elegant and generous pianist who studied abroad would reveal such an insidious side in private!”
“Shut up!”
Su Huaiyao roared at him. Tears fell pitter-patter, his hand reaching out to grab the man’s clothes again, but he no longer possessed the utter confidence he had before.
Yu Xiuqing’s attitude caused the hope he had held earlier to gradually shatter. He could only cry as he defended himself:
“Woooo, Xiuqing-gege… the facts aren’t like what you see. I, I was forced into it, will you listen to my explanation…”
Yu Xiuqing shook off his hand without hesitation. For a moment, he even felt a sense of disgust at the touch.
“Forced? Who forced you? Xiaoyao, tell me, who exactly forced you to do this?”
The voice rose suddenly. He stared fixedly at Su Huaiyao, his sharp gaze as if wanting to look right through him and completely tear off the face behind the other’s disguise.
Su Huaiyao was caught off guard, forced to lift his face and meet those eyes brimming with rage.
In the man’s eyes, there was only disappointment and coldness.
That feeling was like a basin of ice water poured over his head, drenching him from head to toe. Su Huaiyao instinctively sensed that the man’s feelings for him were wavering, that he wasn’t loved as much as before.
The pain of nails digging into his flesh from the wrist-grab only served to confirm that Yu Xiuqing cared only for Shen Yuan.
Su Huaiyao cried until his tears fell freely. Shrinking his shoulders, he looked at the man piteously and complained:
“I, I didn’t mean to lie. I was just afraid you would be disappointed in me if you found out I acted this way… No one is perfect. I have my selfishness too. I don’t like seeing my own man being ambiguous with others!”
Hearing this, Yu Xiuqing suddenly released his chin, pushing him forcefully away, and turned around, saying coldly:
“Remember your identity. You are my girlfriend, not my legally wedded wife. Don’t overstep your boundaries! Otherwise, don’t blame me for disregarding our past feelings!”
Su Huaiyao was knocked dizzy. He propped up half his body, glaring resentfully at the man’s back.
He would become the mistress of the Yu family sooner or later!
As long as this man hadn’t completely abandoned him, he still had a chance to drive Shen Yuan out of the Yu family!
Yu Xiuqing stood tall by the hospital bed, his gaze fixed on the pale youth on the bed.
He then calmly gave an order: “Qi Yunzhao, take Xiaoyao home.”
“Yes.” Qi Yunzhao nodded.
“Wait a moment, Xiuqing-gege, listen to me!”
Su Huaiyao struggled to stand up from the floor, bypassing the bodyguard and stumbling toward the man.
He hugged Yu Xiuqing from behind, his small face pressing tightly against his back, sobbing as he spoke:
“Being able to stay by your side quietly is already the greatest honor of my life. I know you hate betrayal and deception, so I never dared to do those things. I have always cherished our relationship in the past…”
Every word and every sentence the person said was so sincere, coming from the heart, and left no room for doubt, which made Yu Xiuqing waver slightly.
He couldn’t deny all the good things the other had done for him over these years just because of this one incident—especially the kindness of saving his life in his youth and the piano music in the dungeon.
“I won’t abandon you, Xiaoyao.”
Yu Xiuqing took a deep breath, released it slowly, then removed the hands placed on his chest, turned around, and wiped away the tears from the youth’s cheeks, his eyes gentle as a pool of water.
“R-really?”
Su Huaiyao’s eyes still held tear tracks, but the gaze looking at him was already filled with anticipation.
“Mm, really.”
Yu Xiuqing nodded, his eyelashes drooping as he stared at him, his gaze soft as water.
“You are my only girlfriend. Because of a servant—and a substitute at that—I ended up hurting you. It’s unfair to you, and even more unfair to our relationship.”
Su Huaiyao excitedly hugged the man, burying his face in his chest, feeling the warmth of his body.
Then he looked up, his gaze darting toward the hospital bed. He asked in a low voice: “Then, Xiuqing-gege, are you still keeping Shen Yuan?”
“Of course I’m keeping him.”
The man answered without hesitation.
Su Huaiyao’s gaze dimmed slightly, feeling somewhat disappointed, but he quickly heard Yu Xiuqing add in a gloomy voice: “He dared to betray me and collude with Yu Peishang; I won’t let him off so easily.”
Looking at the ruthless and angry light flashing in the depths of the man’s eyes, Su Huaiyao chuckled inwardly. It seemed Yu Xiuqing was deeply convinced that Shen Yuan had been colluding with Yu Peishang!
After all, Yu Xiuqing had never seen Shen Nianzhu and fundamentally couldn’t distinguish between two identical people.
Yet what made him furious was that, clearly, Shen Yuan was the traitor who deserved to be tortured, but Yu Xiuqing had still slapped him twice for the sake of this fool!
“What’s wrong? Xiaoyao?”
The man’s voice carried doubt and investigation, pulling Su Huaiyao’s thoughts back. He immediately shook his head impassively: “N-nothing.”
Yu Xiuqing clearly sensed the change in his expression, but didn’t voice it. Instead, he reached out to stroke the youth’s swollen cheek, his gaze tinged with coldness as he said softly:
“Does it hurt, Xiaoyao?”
Su Huaiyao instinctively shivered from the touch, quickly shaking his head, feigning a smile: “It doesn’t hurt, Xiuqing-gege!”
“Mm.”
Yu Xiuqing put his hand away, suddenly remembering something. Looking at him, the emotions in his eyes were indecipherable:
“Oh, right. You’ve lived in the Yu household ever since you returned to the country, and you haven’t been reunited with your family. How about you pack your things and go back to the Su family first?”
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