Li Wujiang and Su Nanyin's joint arrival at Qingyun could only mean one thing.
It meant Li Qianfan was not only known to be a member of the White Belly Bird, but that the original 209 he carried had been activated!
Besides these two reasons, there was nothing else that could have made Li Wujiang and Su Nanyin, busy with the planning of Dark Blade, drop their work and come to Qingyun together.
Upon their arrival at Qingyun, they did not contact Li Qianfan immediately. Instead, they went directly to Yang Xiao.
"It must have been Guanyin sister blabbing and telling my mother about me."
Li Qianfan frowned as soon as he understood what was happening. While it was inevitable that Li Wujiang would eventually find out about his activated 209, the longer it could be kept secret, the less worried Wujiang would be. This made him feel resentful towards Su Nanyin.
However, he was helpless. After confirming Li Wujiang's current whereabouts, he quickly packed his things and hurried out.
Victoria.
Victoria had now become Li Qianfan's base camp in Qingyun. Any matters requiring discussion were held in the top-floor conference room.
In the top-floor reception room, because Li Wujiang had arrived quietly without notifying anyone, even Su Ziyu, who was still at the hospital arranging work with Old Huang, had not come.
Upon reaching the door, Li Qianfan rubbed his face vigorously. Based on his understanding of Wujiang sister, this handsome young face was likely to suffer a most severe blow!
However, Li Qianfan knew he had to face Li Wujiang head-on.
With a deep breath, Li Qianfan plastered on his most ingratiating smile and opened the door.
There were five people in the exquisitely decorated reception room. All of them were women—Yang Xiao, Li Wujiang, Su Nanyin, Shen Chongchong, and Zi Ye, who had called him to inform him.
As soon as he entered, he looked at Su Nanyin, his brow clearly furrowed. He almost pointed at Su Nanyin's nose and called her a gossip!
Su Nanyin, who was usually so domineering in front of Li Qianfan, wanted to glare back at him after being hurt by his condemning gaze. However, feeling guilty, she quickly looked away.
Instead, Shen Chongchong, unconcerned about who was present, gave Li Qianfan a look of concern and reproach.
Shen Yun deeply regretted not telling Li Qianfan earlier that she was a martial arts expert. Shen Yun thought that if she had let Li Qianfan know how powerful she was, she could have joined the White Belly Bird openly, and perhaps Li Qianfan wouldn't have had to activate the original 209 to increase his chances of survival.
Yang Xiao sat in the center, calmly sipping her tea. Zi Ye, sitting beside her, also wore a long face, pondering how much longer her big brother had to live and how she could make him as happy as possible during his remaining time.
Suddenly, Li Wujiang, who had been staring blankly with a dark expression, stood up the moment she saw Li Qianfan and quickly walked towards him.
Sensing his mother's displeased expression, Li Qianfan quickly bowed.
"Mom—" The word was still on the tip of Li Qianfan's tongue when Li Wujiang suddenly raised her hand!
*Slap!*
Li Wujiang's hand struck him heavily on the face.
"Just as I predicted."
Li Qianfan wailed inwardly, unable to control himself and spun around several times before barely steadying himself.
"Ah!"
Shen Yun and Zi Ye both cried out in surprise and hastily stood up. Yang Xiao frowned but put down her teacup.
Su Nanyin's face turned pale for a moment, and she tried hard to conceal the schadenfreude in her eyes. For some reason, she thoroughly enjoyed seeing this brat get slapped. After all, it was something she wanted to do but never dared!
*Slap—*
As soon as Li Qianfan regained his footing, Li Wujiang swung her other hand and slapped him again.
Alright. Continue spinning—
"Aunt Wujiang, please calm down!" Shen Yun, heartbroken at seeing her beloved suffer repeated blows, quickly interceded.
Yang Xiao lowered her head. Su Ziyu inwardly thought, "A few more slaps would be truly satisfying!"
Zi Ye, however, rushed forward, grabbed Li Wujiang's arm, and cried with a choked voice, "Mom Wujiang, don't hit my brother anymore!"
Li Wujiang, who had only wanted to beat this unfilial son to submission, was about to fling Zi Ye away, but then she came to her senses. Ding Xiaolang treated Li Qianfan as his own son, and didn't Li Wujiang treat Zi Ye as her own daughter?
Li Qianfan finally managed to stand steadily again. His vision blurred as he looked at his mother. Since he was three years old, Li Wujiang had hit him at least eight times a day. But it was always on his palms or his backside. She had never hit Li Qianfan on the face! Because Li Wujiang knew very well that even as his mother, she couldn't casually slap her son's face.
But now— this was the first time in Li Qianfan's life that his mother had slapped him! And in front of several people, and so hard!! His molars were loose—
Yet, even so, and even with Zi Ye begging her, Li Wujiang still grabbed Li Qianfan's collar with her left hand. She stared intently into her son's eyes, her voice hoarse, "Who! Told you to unilaterally activate the 209? Why didn't you tell me in advance!?"
Who told Li Qianfan to activate the 209? The culprit was the great demoness Yang. But at this moment, the great demoness kept her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart, pretending not to see Li Wujiang slapping her beloved grandson, and pretending not to hear Li Wujiang's roaring. Because she knew very well that no matter how much she doted on her eldest grandson, Li Wujiang was Li Qianfan's birth mother! Li Wujiang was using the opportunity to beat her son to express her extreme dissatisfaction with her as a mother-in-law!!
The pig she had raised with such effort was about to die. This was enough to make Li Wujiang almost collapse. What made her even more furious was that Li Qianfan had made such a significant decision without telling her in advance.
"You are the son she painstakingly carried for ten months, circling the gates of hell several times before giving birth to!" Li Wujiang's eyes reddened, her voice even more hoarse as she shook Li Qianfan's collar violently, "You are my future, you are my everything! I have every right to participate in your choice of life and death! But why didn't you tell me in advance? Why?"
Facing Li Wujiang's continuous questions, Li Qianfan lowered his head and remained silent. Because he knew very well that if he spoke now, whether he was right or wrong, Li Wujiang would definitely slap him a third time. The best course of action at the moment was to feign muteness. He hoped that Zi Ye, who had started sobbing uncontrollably, would pull Li Wujiang away. As long as he endured this period, Li Wujiang would no longer be willing to hit her son.
Zi Ye's wails and streaming tears played a decisive role. They made Li Wujiang's subconscious mind think that if she didn't restrain her authority, Zi Ye might cry herself to death. Instinctively, Li Wujiang raised her hand to stroke Zi Ye's hair, and Zi Ye seized the opportunity to throw herself into her arms, crying even harder, "Mom, please don't hit my brother anymore. I'm so scared, really so scared."
"Okay, okay, I won't hit him anymore." Li Wujiang quickly comforted Zi Ye. As she turned to go back to the sofa, she couldn't help but kick him. She used real martial arts—
With a loud bang, Li Qianfan stuck to the door like a painting. He felt like his hipbone was about to break. He was in so much pain he wanted to cry—but in the corner of his eye, he saw a woman named Guanyin peeking over, and in her eyes, he caught a fleeting glimpse of schadenfreude.
"Bitch, you just wait!" Li Qianfan rubbed his hipbone furiously with his hand and couldn't help but curse Su Nanyin as a bitch in his heart.
In fact, he knew very well why Su Nanyin was gloating. If he were Su Nanyin, and the cabbage he had carefully cultivated was defiled by a pig, and he couldn't do anything about it, but finally saw him get slapped, he would feel the same way (of course, Li Qianfan didn't know about Su Zui's matter). But knowing was one thing. Cursing the vixen Guanyin was another!
"Alright." Seeing that the time was about right, Yang Xiao said with a cold face, "You've hit him, you've scolded him. Li Wujiang, you should calm down and face reality."
Li Wujiang retorted immediately, "The so-called reality is that this unfilial son is going to die! I've decided, I'll have Li Xiao and I have another child while we're still young."
Yang Xiao—
Li Qianfan—
Su Nanyin and the others—
"Mom, aren't you being too heartless?" Li Qianfan and Yang Ziye cried out in unison.
Heartless? Li Wujiang didn't think so. She sat there with a cold face, then looked up at Li Qianfan. Seeing her son's "pig face" (which had quickly swollen after two harsh slaps), Li Wujiang's resolve wavered. She felt a pang of heartache, regret, and even self-reproach: "How could I have hit Qianfan with such force?"
The moment she showed a hint of concern, Yang Ziye, who was highly perceptive, ran to Li Qianfan's side, hugged him, and whimpered, calling him "brother" and wanting to drag him away, "Let's leave Mom, let's go!"
Li Wujiang—
Forget it. She could hit her son, but she couldn't scold her daughter for speaking out of turn. She let out a long sigh and picked up her teacup, drinking large gulps of water.
"Qianfan, sit down." Yang Xiao said in time, "Ziye, you and that girl (Shen Yun, Empress Xiao didn't know about her relationship with Li Qianfan) go out for a moment."