Chapter 167
Qiu Chi looked at the glaring Fang Caiyue, perplexed. “With which eye did you see that I like him? Because of the whip? If that’s the case, then I suppose I do quite like… hitting him.”
With that, Qiu Chi lashed the whip directly at Nie Zhicheng.
Fang Caiyue couldn’t help but cry out in alarm. “What are you doing? Stop! Are you insane? Ah Cheng, are you all right? Dodge, quickly!”
Though her words were filled with worry, Fang Caiyue didn’t dare to step forward, afraid the whip would hit her.
Moreover, she couldn’t understand why Nie Zhicheng, a grown man, didn’t just snatch the whip out of Qiu Chi’s hand.
“Ah Cheng, I know you’re too much of a gentleman to strike a woman, but look at how she’s treating you! You can’t just let her keep hitting you. Quick, snatch the whip from her hand!”
Fang Caiyue’s tone was anxious and full of earnest concern.
But Nie Zhicheng, the one being beaten, found it hard to explain his predicament.
Did he want to be beaten? Did he not want to snatch the whip from Qiu Chi’s hand?
But could he accomplish something just by wanting to?
He certainly wanted to snatch the whip from her, but the moment he thought of retaliating, a lash nearly caught him across the face. If he hadn’t shielded himself with his arm, he would have been disfigured.
Right now, Nie Zhicheng didn’t want to hear a single word from Fang Caiyue. He shielded his head with his arms, trying to keep the whip from his face, and wished for nothing more than for her to shut up.
The incident between the three of them had already drawn a crowd of spectators.
Although the floor wasn’t heavily occupied, people had definitely heard the commotion and come out to watch.
And it was Fang Caiyue’s voice that had attracted them.
Fang Caiyue was beside herself with anxiety as she watched Nie Zhicheng get beaten.
Seeing people emerge, she rushed over to plead for help. “Could you please help me? Help restrain her and stop her from hitting him! If this goes on, Ah Cheng won’t be able to take it!”
Nie Zhicheng: “…” If you keep talking, I might not be dead, but every last shred of my dignity will be.
While Qiu Chi’s lashes were painful, they weren’t aimed at vital areas and weren’t life-threatening.
But Fang Caiyue’s words, and her pleas for help, made Nie Zhicheng want to die of humiliation.
Some were content to just watch the drama unfold, unmoved no matter how much Fang Caiyue pleaded.
One man, however, felt a pang of sympathy seeing Fang Caiyue’s tear-streaked, pitiful face and couldn’t help but step forward to mediate. “Miss, you’re so beautiful, why must you have such a violent temper? Even if he did something to wrong you, you’ve already beaten him so badly. Why can’t you just stop? You’re not really going to beat him to death, are you?”
Qiu Chi didn’t stop. She raised her eyes and gave him a lazy glance. “Mind your own business and get lost. What I do is my affair. What’s it to you?”
Qiu Chi’s dismissive attitude and refusal to listen made the man’s expression darken.
“Miss, this is a hotel, and you’re disturbing the other guests. If you don’t stop, I’m afraid I’ll have to make you. I’m a grown man, and I don’t always know my own strength. It would be a shame if I accidentally hurt you. So, are you going to stop voluntarily, or…”
He left the rest unsaid, but his meaning was obvious.
Qiu Chi scoffed. “You want to play rough? Why don’t you give it a try?”
“And another thing,” she added, “don’t act so high and mighty. You know perfectly well who drew you out here. I’m not making much noise, and the one I’m hitting is too ashamed to do anything but grit his teeth and bear it. The one making all the noise is the one disturbing you. Got it?”
As for who was shouting, who could it be but Fang Caiyue?
And it was true; they had only opened their doors because they heard Fang Caiyue’s voice.
But by now, the man felt that Qiu Chi had slighted him. Regardless of whether she was right, he was determined to step forward and stop her.
If he hadn’t approached, Qiu Chi couldn’t have been bothered with him. But since he insisted on stepping forward to ask for a beating, she certainly wasn’t going to be polite.
“Since you’re so eager to keep him company, how can I refuse?”
The man was stunned when the whip struck him, and his shock quickly turned to greater anger.
But under her whip, he was completely unable to resist. He could only shield his head like Nie Zhicheng. In that moment, he understood. It wasn’t that Nie Zhicheng was useless; it was that Qiu Chi was too strong. All he felt now was regret—regret for trying to be a white knight!
Fang Caiyue watched in disbelief. “How could you? He’s done nothing to you! He was only trying to stop you from hurting someone, and you hit him? You’ve gone too far!”
“I’ve gone too far? Weren’t you the one crying and begging him for help? Wasn’t it his own machismo that made him meddle? He came looking for a beating, and now it’s my fault?”
The man shielding his head wanted to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, but after opening his mouth, he held back. The other man had endured so many lashes without begging for mercy. If he begged now, wouldn’t that make him seem inferior?
At the same time, his train of thought became strangely synchronized with Nie Zhicheng’s—both of them were desperately wishing for Fang Caiyue to just shut her mouth.
Fang Caiyue did not shut her mouth. She continued to condemn Qiu Chi, her heart aching for the two men being beaten, all while trying to incite the other onlookers to restrain her.
The other spectators: “…” Have you seen what happened to the last guy who got involved? Are we insane? Why would we meddle?
Even those who had initially been moved by Fang Caiyue’s tearful display immediately suppressed any urge to interfere after seeing what happened to the first meddler.
Qiu Chi held no real grudge against the meddler. After a few more lashes, she kicked him aside. Fang Caiyue immediately rushed to help him up, her eyes red. “Are you all right? I’m so sorry, this is my fault. You wouldn’t have been hit if it weren’t for me.”
While Fang Caiyue was speaking to the man, Qiu Chi paused her whipping of Nie Zhicheng.
Nie Zhicheng lifted his head to glance at Fang Caiyue before lowering it again.
Seeing that Qiu Chi had stopped, Fang Caiyue immediately went to help Nie Zhicheng. “Ah Cheng, are you all right? I’m so useless, I couldn’t stop her. She’s just… she’s gone too far…”
Leaning against the wall, Qiu Chi impatiently cut her off. “Don’t you find yourself incredibly noisy? You’ve been the only one talking this whole time. Aren’t you tired? If I didn’t have a rule about not hitting women, you would have ended up just like Nie Zhicheng a long time ago.”
Fang Caiyue flinched and bit her lip. “You and Ah Cheng are over…”
Qiu Chi rolled her eyes, not wanting to hear the rest. “Say one more word, and I’ll whip Nie Zhicheng. In fact, for every word you say, I’ll give him one lash. Aren’t you two supposed to be in true love? Go on, keep talking. Let’s see just how true that love is.”
Fang Caiyue’s lips trembled, but ultimately, she said nothing more.
Nie Zhicheng was exhausted, his entire body aching. He wanted to say something to Qiu Chi, but the pain from his injuries was a stark reminder. In the end, all he could manage was a hoarse, “Caiyue, let’s go.”
Fang Caiyue nodded and helped Nie Zhicheng leave.
The meddler had already slipped back into his room long ago.
With the main actors gone, the show was over. The spectators glanced at Qiu Chi before hastily closing their doors and returning to their rooms.
Post a Comment