Chapter 71: Ruthlessness
Xu Haichao brought Xu Rong out temporarily.
The moment they stepped into the hotel room, the rage Xu Haichao had been suppressing exploded.
“Slap!”
He turned abruptly and slapped Xu Rong hard across the face.
“Are you dead or something? The whole family was kept in the dark. You’re going to jail, and only now do I find out!”
Xu Haichao, trembling with rage, gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently, his breathing rapid and heavy, his teeth clenched.
The elderly woman waiting in the hotel patted Xu Haichao’s chest, calming him down, muttering curses.
“I told you to have another son. Look at your good-for-nothing daughter; she’s going to jail at her age. Our Xu family’s good reputation has been ruined by those two.”
The elderly woman was Xu Rong’s grandmother. She had a kind-looking face, but her words were sharp and bitter.
Xu Rong’s mother, who had been wiping away tears, watched Xu Haichao hit Xu Rong and listened to her mother-in-law’s complaints. Though heartbroken, she dared not intervene or speak up, only silently waiting for Xu Haichao to vent his anger.
Now, the mother who Xu Rong usually found so annoying was her only support.
Xu Rong leaned into her mother’s arms, eyes teary, sobbing, “Dad, my boyfriend, Zhang Shi, is the only son of the chairman of Changtong Zhilink in Shanghai. I thought the lawyer he hired would be incredibly capable…”
Upon hearing this, the anger on Xu Haichao’s face subsided slightly, but his anger remained. He strained his memory, recalling information about the chairman of Changtong Zhilink; he seemed to remember a director whose son had the surname Zhang.
Seeing this, Xu Rong immediately pressed on, “Dad, I’ll go find my boyfriend; he’ll find a way to help me.”
“Get yourselves cleaned up; we’ll go find her boyfriend together.” Xu Haichao’s tense face relaxed slightly. Although his tone softened somewhat when he instructed Xu Rong’s mother, he maintained his usual condescending manner.
While Xu Rong and her mother went to the room to tidy themselves up, the elderly woman couldn’t contain her curiosity, “Son, how is this Changtong Zhilink?”
To the elderly woman’s question, Xu Haichao humbly replied softly, “Mom, our family is far behind Changtong Zhilink. They’re one of the top logistics companies in Shanghai.”
However, despite Xu Haichao’s outwardly humble attitude, the barely contained excitement on his face didn’t escape the elderly woman’s sharp eyes.
“Son, now that Xu Rong, that debt-collecting fiend, has hooked up with the chairman’s son, we must find a way to get them to fully support our family. In no time, our Xu family will surpass theirs. I’m waiting to enjoy my son’s success.”
The elderly woman had reason for saying this.
Back then, Xu Rong’s mother’s family was far superior to the Xu family. Xu Haichao successfully married her, and the Xu family quickly rose in just a few years, eventually swallowing up Xu Rong’s mother’s family’s assets.
“Don’t say that. Xu Rong hasn’t married Zhang Shao yet.” Although Xu Haichao verbally denied it, his eyes clearly revealed his anticipation of the benefits of a future marriage alliance with Zhang Shi’s family.
“I’ll come with you.” This time, the elderly woman, unlike before, didn’t dismiss Xu Rong but insisted on joining them.
While the mother and son were daydreaming about the future, when Xu Rong married into the Zhang family, and they would absorb Changtong Zhilink, Xu Rong and her mother emerged from the room.
Xu Rong took out her phone and texted Zhang Shi.
Xu Rong: Zhang Shao, where are you?
The message showed a red exclamation mark. A bad feeling arose in Xu Rong’s heart. She panicked and clicked on Zhang Shi’s profile picture, discovering that he had deleted her.
She frantically called Zhang Shi. The phone rang twice before being hung up.
She called again, still unable to connect before it was hung up; later, she couldn’t even get through to him.
Xu Rong’s frantic actions attracted the attention of Xu Haichao and the others.
“What’s wrong? You can’t get in touch with your boyfriend?” Seeing Xu Rong’s state, Xu Haichao immediately understood, and the extinguished anger returned.
Xu Rong didn’t dare look at Xu Haichao, nervously making excuses, “It’s nothing.” Then she reached for her mother’s phone, “Mom, give me your phone.”
Using Xu Rong’s mother’s phone, Xu Rong finally got through to Zhang Shi.
“Zhang Shao, this is Xu Rong…”
The other end abruptly hung up.
Xu Haichao and the elderly woman were glaring at Xu Rong.
“Dad, can I borrow your phone?” Xu Rong’s heart trembled, her head bowed, afraid to look at Xu Haichao, but she still wasn’t giving up on calling Zhang Shi.
With Xu Haichao’s phone, Xu Rong watched the phone ring, the call connected, but no one answered.
Finally, Zhang Shi answered.
“Zhang Shao…”
Xu Rong had just uttered these two words when Zhang Shi ruthlessly interrupted, “Xu Rong, don’t come looking for me! Are you trying to annoy me?! I can’t help you.”
Without hesitation, Zhang Shi hung up.
When Xu Rong tried to call again, she found that he had also blocked Xu Haichao’s number and could no longer get through.
Zhang Shi’s ruthlessness plunged Xu Rong into deep despair. Just a few days ago, they had been so intimate and sweet; why had things turned out this way?
Looking at the angry Xu Haichao and the coldly observant elderly woman, who seemed to be enjoying the show, Xu Rong was terrified and could only cling to a sliver of hope in Zhang Shi.
Perhaps, if she personally begged Zhang Shi, considering their relationship, and pleaded pathetically, his heart might soften?
Thinking of this, Xu Rong, like a drowning person seeing a life raft, muttered, “I have to find Zhang Shao; I’ll beg him.”
Before she finished speaking, she had turned and fled out the door.
Seeing her daughter like this, Xu Rong’s mother, with Xu Haichao’s tacit approval, quickly chased after her.
The two remaining behind exchanged uneasy glances.
Zhang Shi’s ruthlessness was like a loud slap in the face of the mother and son, who had been fantasizing about absorbing Changtong Zhilink’s assets, making them realize they were daydreaming.
Xu Rong frantically searched for Zhang Shi and finally found him at the Sihai Club.
Entering the private room, she saw a group of people intently watching several attractive young men and women dance gracefully.
However, to Xu Rong’s surprise, Zhang Shi wasn’t seated in the center as usual, receiving flattery and compliments. On the contrary, he was acting like a humble waiter, seemingly trying his best to please someone.
Seeing this, Xu Rong didn’t hesitate. She went straight to Zhang Shi, begging, “Zhang Shao, for the sake of our relationship, please help me!”
Xu Rong’s mother followed closely, also begging, “Yes, Zhang Shao, please save my daughter. She’s still young; she has a long way to go.”
At this unexpected scene, Zhang Shi’s face darkened. He lowered his voice and warned tensely, “Xu Rong, get lost!”
Ignoring Zhang Shi’s warning, Xu Rong didn’t back down. Instead, she became even more fawning, tightly gripping Zhang Shi’s arm, pleading bitterly, “Zhang Shao, I have no one else; it’s only you.”
At that moment, the person who had been sitting in the center of the private room, surrounded by admirers, noticed the commotion.
He gently pushed aside the crowd and cast a scrutinizing gaze in their direction, a slight smile playing on his lips as he said lightly, “Oh, Zhang Shi, a whirlwind romance, huh?”
His words were laced with mocking amusement.
“Zhang Da Shao, I’ll get rid of them right away; I won’t disturb you any longer.” Zhang Shi smiled obsequiously, turned, forcefully pulled Xu Rong, and dragged the mother and daughter out of the private room.
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