Zhou Fan bared her fangs and brandished her claws as she lunged at Li Ziqing, as fierce as a shrew.

Without a word, Li Ziqing raised her hand and delivered a slap.

*Smack!*

The resounding slap to the face immediately sent Zhou Fan reeling.

It was no joke; the nickname "Bamboo Viper" wasn't just for show. Although Li Ziqing wasn't a martial artist, she never skipped her fitness routine.

No matter how busy she was with work, she always made time for an hour or two at the gym every day.

In contrast, Zhou Fan's flabby body made it clear that she was a lazy glutton.

She was good at ranting and scolding, but when it came to actual fighting, she was a pushover.

"You good-for-nothing! You dare hit me, huh? Today, I'm going to make you, you little slut who only knows how to seduce men, pay the price!"

Being slapped by Li Ziqing in front of so many people naturally enraged Zhou Fan.

However, compared to the agitated Zhou Fan, Li Ziqing was unbelievably calm. She said blandly, "Your mouth is so foul. Did you just eat shit?"

"You little bitch, I'll kill you!"

Unable to win an argument with Li Ziqing, Zhou Fan once again bared her fangs and brandished her claws.

But at that moment, Zhou Yuanyuan suddenly stood in front of Zhou Fan, glaring at her with knitted brows. "What do you think you're doing, Zhou Fan? Making a scene in front of so many people? Do you want the Zhou family to lose all face?"

The surrounding guests had long turned their attention to the commotion, pointing at Zhou Fan and whispering with amusement.

Feeling humiliated, Zhou Fan became even more angry, pointing at the crowd and shouting, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen women fight? Get lost, all of you! Nothing to see here!"

Seeing this, Zhou Yuanyuan rolled her eyes, speechless.

Although her elder brother, Zhou Weiguo, was a bit cunning, at least he was intelligent. How could he have given birth to such a stupid daughter?

Could she have been switched at birth? Or was her sister-in-law having an affair?

In front of the hotel, Zhou Tai was whispering to his father, Zhou Xingguo, "Dad, did you see that? This is a golden opportunity delivered right to our doorstep! If we join forces with Zhou Fan, we won't have any trouble dealing with Li Ziqing!"

Hearing this, Zhou Xingguo frowned.

The fact that his niece Zhou Fan was an idiot made him happy, but the thought that his own son wasn't much better immediately soured his mood.

"Revenge for what? Didn't I tell you to wait for your grandfather to take action personally?"

Zhou Tai pouted in dissatisfaction. "Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Li Ziqing is hardly worth Grandfather's personal attention!"

"You know nothing!"

Zhou Xingguo couldn't help but lower his voice and scold, "Right now, we're surrounded by distinguished guests with considerable backgrounds. If we make a scene, won't the Zhou family become a joke? By then, you'll have your revenge, but do you think your grandfather will let you off?"

"You're so old, how come you're only getting older and not smarter? I'm telling you, tonight's banquet is extremely important. You absolutely cannot cause trouble for me. The future of our family depends on your performance!"

Zhou Tai was puzzled. "Dad, what do you mean by that? I don't understand."

Zhou Xingguo glared at him again and whispered, "Your grandfather is holding this banquet to choose a successor between me and your uncle. Right now, our individual abilities are evenly matched, so the key lies in the competition between you younger members of the family!"

Zhou Xingguo knew that his son couldn't compare to his elder brother's son, Zhou Wen. But the problem was that his elder brother also had a brainless daughter, Zhou Fan.

If you considered everything together, Zhou Wen might earn his father some points, but Zhou Fan would cost him even more…

However, Zhou Fan was, after all, a daughter who would eventually marry out of the family, so her value as a reference point wasn't that great.

But if Zhou Fan made a big scene at the banquet and embarrassed the Zhou family, then he would be in a secure position.

While Zhou Xingguo was calculating his plans, he heard his son Zhou Tai say with utmost seriousness, "What can those two possibly use to compete with me? Dad, as long as you don't make any mistakes today, the position of heir is as good as yours!"

Zhou Xingguo was so angry that he was speechless. It seemed that he had overestimated his foolish son. He and Zhou Fan were a perfect pair of strategists, evenly matched.

On the other side, Zhou Fan had already started arguing with Zhou Yuanyuan.

"What do you mean, Auntie? Why are you always siding with this jinx? Are you being biased, favoring her?"

Zhou Yuanyuan knew that this niece of hers was an idiot and didn't want to bother with her, but after hearing these words, she couldn't help but get angry.

She looked at Zhou Fan and said coldly, "Do you even remember that I'm your aunt? Are you teaching me how to do things? You have no respect for your elders. I don't know how your father raised you!"

"What does it have to do with my dad? He's not even here!"

Zhou Fan rolled her eyes at Zhou Yuanyuan and said in a strange tone, "Auntie, as the saying goes, we're all from the same family. You're a Zhou, and I'm a Zhou. Even if you're going to be biased, shouldn't you be biased towards me? Why are you favoring her?"

"Why? Because her mother was my own sister, and because you were cursing her for no reason. Is that enough?"

Zhou Yuanyuan said firmly.

Zhou Fan muttered dismissively, "Her mother has been dead for so many years, why do you still remember her…"

"You still talk! Do you want to die, Zhou Fan?"

Zhou Yuanyuan was so angry that she gritted her teeth. If there weren't so many outsiders present, she would have given this idiot two big slaps!

As she spoke, Zhou Yuanyuan secretly glanced at Li Ziqing's reaction.

Fortunately, Li Ziqing didn't seem saddened by Zhou Fan's words.

However, her face was ice-cold, almost freezing the air around her.

Although Li Ziqing didn't show any signs of sadness, Chen Xiao wouldn't allow his woman to be bullied like this. His face darkened immediately.

He was about to step towards Zhou Fan when Li Ziqing grabbed his arm and shook her head at him.

Chen Xiao was puzzled, but Li Ziqing said softly, "I'll settle the new and old scores with them together. There's no rush."

Just then, a bright light shone over.

Then, a Rolls-Royce slowly drove up and stopped in front of them.

The door opened, and a young man in his late thirties stepped out of the car.

He had a slicked-back hairstyle, wore a beige trench coat over a brown shirt,

matched with slim-fit dress pants, and shiny leather shoes on his feet.

His face had a scholarly air, and his entire being exuded a restrained flamboyance.

The young man approached them and asked casually, "What happened? I saw you arguing from a distance."

As soon as Zhou Fan saw the young man, she seemed to have found her backbone and burst into tears with a wail.

"Brother, you have to stand up for me! I'm being bullied to death!"