Chapter 191: Chapter 183: Don’t Call Me a Bastard or a Scumbag—I Was Born This Way
A girl walked towards him.
"Excuse me... Are you here to pick up Su Xiaomeng?"
Yin Shixiu raised his eyebrow, then responded and politely greeted her.
While responding, his sharp eyes had already sized up the newcomer, and he roughly made a judgment in his mind.
Not from Su Xiaomeng’s group.
"Then you are Su Xiaomeng’s..."
Even though she still found it hard to believe, the facts were right in front of her, almost undeniable.
The mature and charismatic man in front of her was... the rumored husband of Su Xiaomeng.
So handsome and tall, so dashing...
No wonder Su Xiaomeng was willing to get pregnant at nineteen for this man. If it were her, she would too!
Yin Shixiu smiled faintly and nodded, confirming Jiang Shanshan’s suspicions.
"Is there something you need?"
Yin Shixiu asked calmly. He wasn’t the type of person who would easily get close to someone who came over just for a chat.
However, his good upbringing prevented him from completely ignoring someone trying to make small talk.
The girl in front of him... while speaking, her eyes kept darting around, thinking she was hiding it well, but that was not the case.
She... didn’t come over just for small talk, she had a purpose.
"You really are Su Xiaomeng’s husband..."
Jiang Shanshan’s expression became a bit embarrassed and awkward.
"...Just speak your mind. It’s pretty cold out here."
Yin Shixiu gestured towards the car, indicating: if you don’t speak, I’m getting in the car.
Jiang Shanshan, being someone who could read people’s expressions, saw that Yin Shixiu wasn’t the type to pity girls and quickly said, "I didn’t expect to meet you here by chance... Actually... I’ve been wanting to find you."
Yin Shixiu’s gaze fell on the small box she was clutching.
"I hope you can... you can help me."
Yin Shixiu squinted, "Help with what?"
Jiang Shanshan spoke with tears in her eyes, her eyes watery, looking pitiful and very aggrieved...
"I know this matter can’t be blamed on your wife, but... but I have no other way..."
Yin Shixiu’s expression turned cold. He glanced at his watch, losing patience.
Afraid he would get annoyed, Jiang Shanshan kept it brief and handed the box directly to Yin Shixiu.
"You should see for yourself..."
Yin Shixiu casually opened the box, his eagle-like eyes turning a bit darker...
Jiang Shanshan wiped away tears and said with a sobbing voice, "The boy in the photo is my boyfriend... Our relationship has always been good, but ever since Su Xiaomeng returned to school and met my boyfriend... everything changed."
Jiang Shanshan didn’t know Yin Shixiu’s background, but just by looking at the luxury car and the clothes he was wearing, it wasn’t hard to guess that he was a man of considerable status and position.
And such a man didn’t like others spinning tales.
So Jiang Shanshan wisely handed him the photos, presenting the facts first before explaining.
"This is the campus sycamore path. Until recently, they met there almost every day."
Jiang Shanshan pointed at the photo in Yin Shixiu’s hand, showing Bai Shunyuan with his arm around Su Xiaomeng’s shoulder, his handsome face full of pride.
At that time, Su Xiaomeng was looking down, and it was unclear what expression she had from the photo.
It’s just that... the two seemed too close.
"And this one... My boyfriend isn’t someone who casually touches girls’ hair like this. It’s something he only does to me... but now..."
Yin Shixiu’s eyes grew heavier as he looked at the series of photos that were not exactly intimate, yet somewhat close.
From start to finish, he hadn’t said a word or expressed an opinion.
Jiang Shanshan figured that the man in front of her wouldn’t be completely indifferent or unmoved.
As Yin Shixiu held the photos, Jiang Shanshan would "kindly" describe the scene in each one for him.
"Sir, I really don’t know what to do... You have no idea how much I love him, I don’t want to lose him..."
Yin Shixiu held onto the photos and returned the box to her, asking only, "You took these photos just for me to see?"
Jiang Shanshan pressed her lips tightly, "Sir, letting the photos fall into your hands was a last resort. I originally just wanted to use them to confront my boyfriend, expecting him to explain..."
"You just got these photos, so why show them to me first?"
Yin Shixiu maintained a very indifferent expression, causing Jiang Shanshan to feel a chill in her heart.
Her brows furrowed, wearing a face full of grievances...
"Sir, my boyfriend broke up with me..."
Yin Shixiu squinted slightly.
"It happened just yesterday, and with Christmas approaching, I saw him folding paper cranes alone yesterday, thinking it might be a Christmas surprise for me... But then I realized..."
Jiang Shanshan’s tears "plopped" down twice.
"He intended to give the paper cranes to another girl..."
"To Su Xiaomeng?"
Jiang Shanshan nodded, then quickly added, "I know Su Xiaomeng is not at fault, it’s my boyfriend who lacks willpower... that’s why he was attracted to your wife."
Just from this sentence, Yin Shixiu realized that this girl about the same age as Su Xiaomeng was not simple-minded, she was quite skilled in sowing discord.
He took a deep breath and looked at the fairly cute-looking girl in front of him.
An eagle-eyed gaze colder than ice...
He asked, "Was it you who, with another girl and a few members of the basketball team, made trouble for Su Xiaomeng before?"
Jiang Shanshan blinked, momentarily confused.
"Forgotten? Well, it was a while ago, at the start of this semester, I believe."
Jiang Shanshan swallowed and quickly said, "Sir, that was a misunderstanding."
Yin Shixiu chuckled lightly,
then his expression softened, looking at her, "Then, fellow student, maybe what you saw and captured might also be a misunderstanding."
Jiang Shanshan was startled, not expecting this man to truly remain indifferent.
His wife being so intimate with another man, yet he had no reaction?
Seeing Jiang Shanshan’s frozen expression, Yin Shixiu feared she had more to say...
But at this moment, he was truly somewhat impatient, so...
"Last year, around this time, Xiao Meng was bullied by several senior students for being with me, causing quite a stir at school..."
Yin Shixiu spoke calmly, observing Jiang Shanshan’s expression, "Do you know why they ended up so miserably, either being persuaded to leave or punished?"
At this, Jiang Shanshan seemed to understand the implied meaning in Yin Shixiu’s words.
"Why do A University’s students love to spread rumors?"
"Sir, do you think these photos are fake? Do you think I’m deliberately trying to stir up trouble with Su Xiaomeng in front of you?"
"I don’t need anyone else to worry about my own wife."
This sentence left Jiang Shanshan unable to say another word without seeming entangled.
She knew the man before her was not someone she could offend, and if he truly remained unmoved, speaking more would be futile for Jiang Shanshan.
She had already given him the photos, so her goal was achieved.
"Since you’ve said it like this, then I was wrong. I’m sorry."
With that, Jiang Shanshan turned to leave...
"Wait a moment."
Jiang Shanshan’s lips moved slightly as she kept her back to Yin Shixiu, not yet turning around. Then she heard Yin Shixiu say, "If there’s a next time, I’ll sue you for infringing on my wife’s portrait and privacy rights."
Not long after Jiang Shanshan left, the school bell rang.
Yin Shixiu sat in the car, somewhat masochistically and uninterested, looking at the photos in his hand.
His eyes scanned the photos, judging from the clothes Su Xiaomeng wore in them, it should have been two days before they went up the mountain to pay respects to their ancestors.
Clearly, the girl didn’t know Bai Shunyuan and Su Xiaomeng were related by blood.
But... Yin Shixiu’s mood was not pretty, his eyes showed some melancholy and... jealousy.
Glancing again at the time, Su Xiaomeng sent a WeChat message saying she was heading to the school gate.
Yin Shixiu replied and then set about tearing the dozen or so photos into pieces, getting out of the car to throw them into a trash bin across the street.
When he turned back, he saw Su Xiaomeng coming out.
From a distance, she waved to him in greeting before jogging over.
His heart warmed, yet... out of the corner of his eye, he saw another person, Bai Shunyuan, about fifty steps behind Su Xiaomeng.
"Shixiu, have you been waiting long?"
Su Xiaomeng grinned at him, "Let’s go home."
With that, she opened the car door to get in, but Yin Shixiu grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace...
"What are you doing? This is the school gate..."
Su Xiaomeng was startled by his actions.
Yin Shixiu lowered his head and kissed her lips, saying lightly, "I missed you."
Only then did he release her and open the car door for her, Su Xiaomeng blushing as she sat inside demurely.
Yin Shixiu walked around to the driver’s seat, and as he opened the car door, Bai Shunyuan was only a handful of steps from the gate, his gaze catching Bai Shunyuan’s...
Just for an instant, then he looked away.
Bai Shunyuan’s steps hesitated slightly, watching the car drive out of sight.
The sunset painted a corner of the sky.
He exhaled slowly, no one knew the confusion and melancholy in this young man in his early twenties’ heart at that moment.
And no one could understand the other swirling emotions in his heart.
He lifted his leg, walking straight in the opposite direction.
In the car, Su Xiaomeng was looking at her family group chat on WeChat and said seemingly nonchalantly, "You seem very happy today..."
Yin Shixiu drove the car, "Aren’t I always like this?"
Su Xiaomeng glanced at him side-eyed, "It’s different, it just seems like you’re very happy today."
Yin Shixiu shrugged, smiling lightly.
Seeing him like this, Su Xiaomeng pouted, thinking to herself, always pretending to be cool and handsome, stingy with words.
"You mustn’t do that again..."
Xiao Meng said, her face flushed, reminding him with little confidence, "After all, it’s the school gate..."
"Ok."
Yin Shixiu agreed readily.
He agreed so quickly and readily that Su Xiaomeng was left without words to continue, the words caught in her throat.