Chapter 171
Nie Zhicheng’s already stunned expression, from having just hit Nie Yaya, instantly froze.
He stood there stiffly, somewhat afraid to look at Qiu Chi, a trace of anger and fear flashing in his eyes.
As if she couldn't see his rigid body, Qiu Chi remained smiling. "Why aren't you talking? Are you so excited to see me that you've gone mute?"
Nie Zhicheng stared ahead with a vacant gaze, wondering what his chances were of running away while Qiu Chi wasn't looking.
Qiu Chi flicked her whip. The sound of it cracking through the air rang in Nie Zhicheng's ears, and his stiff body couldn't help but tremble.
"It's fine if you don't want to talk. I'm quite happy to see you, so let's catch up, just like the last two times we met."
Nie Zhicheng grew even more furious.
The sound of the whip cracking through the air kept ringing in his ears, and it could land on him at any second. He finally couldn't pretend to be mute any longer.
He turned his head to glare at Qiu Chi and, as if mustering his courage, said, "Zhai Jiayue, what on earth do you want? I know asking for a divorce made you lose some face, but didn't we meet all your demands? Is there any point to this?"
"Our marriage was a product of feudal society, devoid of any real feelings. You might not know what love is or have ever experienced it, but I do. I'm pursuing free love. You can't be stuck in your feudal ways and drag me down with you, can you?"
"We're already divorced, can't you just let me go?"
Nie Zhicheng was truly terrified of being beaten by Qiu Chi. By the time he finished speaking, his eyes were red.
Qiu Chi couldn't help but click her tongue. "Do you think you're quite pitiful? Do you think you've done nothing wrong, that you're just pursuing true love?"
Nie Zhicheng retorted, "Am I wrong?"
"Same rules as before. I'll answer your questions while I beat you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu Chi's whip struck.
Nie Zhicheng bit his lower lip hard, glaring fiercely at Qiu Chi.
Qiu Chi chuckled lightly. "Is glaring at me going to help? Is it not a fact that you married Zhai Jiayue? Before you went abroad, why didn't I hear you call it a feudal marriage? On your wedding night, didn't you tell Zhai Jiayue to wait for you to come back?"
"You had a pretty carefree time abroad these past two years, didn't you? Maybe the foreigners there didn't treat you all that well, but with your classmates who also went abroad, plus your money, you had a pretty comfortable life, right?"
"They have free love abroad, so you thought you could have it too? Did you bother to remember your status as a married man? What right do you have?"
"Don't give me that nonsense about feudal marriage and how pursuing free love is what the new era is all about. Did the new era teach you to have an affair during your marriage? Did the new era teach you that after willingly marrying someone, you can just cast them aside and take no responsibility whatsoever?"
"While you were living it up abroad, ignoring your wife at home and playing at free love, what kind of garbage life was Zhai Jiayue living in your Nie family? And then you come back only to demand a divorce. Tell me, don't you deserve a beating?"
Nie Zhicheng protected his head, and as he listened to Qiu Chi's words, he felt something was strange about them.
As for Qiu Chi's final question about whether he deserved a beating, he naturally felt that he did not.
"How was I supposed to know what kind of life you were living in the Nie family while I was abroad? It's not my fault you had a bad time there. You should go after whoever made your life difficult. Why are you beating me?"
Qiu Chi didn't stop her actions. "Your mother and sister should hear what you just said. I wonder what they would think."
"Also, Zhai Jiayue's miserable life in the Nie family was indeed because of you. Because you went abroad the day after the wedding, your mother blamed her. Because you didn't return for so long, your mother thought it was wrong for her to be beautiful. The Zhai Jiayue you saw that day was the result of being forcibly disciplined by your mother."
"A perfectly fine young girl in the prime of her life was turned into such a ghastly state. Are you satisfied?"
Of course Nie Zhicheng wasn't satisfied. When he came home and saw how Zhai Jiayue was dressed, he was truly startled, unable to believe he had actually married such a woman.
Originally, he hadn't planned to bring up divorce right away, but upon seeing Zhai Jiayue looking like that, he couldn't help but blurt it out immediately.
His thoughts spun, and Nie Zhicheng still felt something wasn't right. "You... aren't you Zhai Jiayue? Why are you talking about yourself in the third person...?"
Nie Zhicheng finally noticed something was off about Qiu Chi's words.
Qiu Chi smiled. "Wrong. I'm not Zhai Jiayue. If I were, you'd have been long gone."
"Don't you pride yourself on being a youth of the new era, against all things feudal? Feudal superstitions must also be feudal in your eyes, right? I'll tell you my identity right now. Try not to be scared."
"Actually, Zhai Jiayue was on the verge of going mad from your mother's torment. And I am a vengeful ghost who was passing by your house. To be honest, I died because I also met a heartless man, so when I saw her plight, I felt an extraordinary sense of empathy..."
"Ahhh—a ghost! Get away! Get away—"
They were clearly in a hallway and had been talking for quite some time, yet not a single person came out to see the commotion.
In the empty hallway, coupled with a sinister wind from an unknown source and Qiu Chi's slightly eerie words, Nie Zhicheng finally couldn't help but scream before fainting from fright.
Qiu Chi lowered her whip, kicked the fainted Nie Zhicheng, and said with disgust, "Useless."
After saying that, Qiu Chi simply stepped over Nie Zhicheng and left.
She went to check out of the hotel.
Now that the show was over, it was time to find Zhai Jiayue's savior.
As for the half-dead Nie Zhicheng lying there, it was none of her business. He could just wait to be discovered.
Not long after Qiu Chi left, Nie Zhicheng was discovered.
This hotel belonged to the Yu family, so the manager naturally recognized Nie Zhicheng. He immediately contacted the head of the Yu family.
The head of the Yu family was a bit surprised when he saw Nie Zhicheng's miserable state. "How did he end up like this?"
The manager shook his head. "I don't know. He was like this when I found him. Should we notify the Nie family to come pick him up?"
The head of the Yu family nodded. "Yes, we should notify them. Not to pick him up, but to ransom him. The Nie family's precious son shows up at my place and gets this seriously injured. In Old Man Nie's eyes, this must be my doing. Since that's the case, I might as well live up to this bad reputation."
"Go, notify the Nie family. Tell Old Man Nie to come ransom his son. If I don't get a satisfactory price, his precious son can just stay here."
Even though Old Master Nie was furious that Nie Zhicheng had appeared at the Yu family's hotel again for no reason, seeing his son's miserable state and remembering he was his only son, he had no choice but to reluctantly accept the situation.
The head of the Yu family was merciless in his extortion. Even though Old Master Nie wanted to bargain, with Nie Zhicheng as a liability, he still suffered a heavy loss.
After bringing Nie Zhicheng home and having someone wake him from his faint, Old Master Nie couldn't bear it any longer and slapped him across the face.
"You rebellious son! Are you deliberately trying to anger me to death? I told you to stay put at home, so why did you have to run off to the Yu family's hotel?"
When Nie Zhicheng was woken up, he was still dazed. It wasn't until Old Master Nie slapped him and spoke those words that he finally came to his senses.
His body trembled uncontrollably as he stammered, "N-no, it wasn't me. I didn't go. It-it was Zhai Jiayue. N-no, she's not Zhai Jiayue, she's a ghost! A ghost! It was her, it was all her..."
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