Page 136 of He Is My Bride

“Like with your previous stunt at the club?” Anne said. “It was pretty well contained, except what those present had put forth in rumors.”

“Excuse me,‘my’stunt? I wasn’t the first one to throw hands there either.” Li Ying said, looking poignantly at Hanjun, who simply sipped his tea, unfazed.

Seemed like Hanjun had zero regrets about that although he might also have had zero memories of punching Wang Hao in the face.

“But you’re right,” Li Ying continued, “the club fight may have stayed under wraps thanks to the Wus’ influence over the Shanghai press, but last night was a bigger incident. I mean, you said it yourself, Anne.”

“I said what?”

“‘This is the biggest one yet.’” Li Ying snickered.

“I’m going to kill you when you come back.”

“Scary!”

“Tch. So, the article said no charges had been pressed yet? Will you sue Tang Xiuxiu?”

“No.” Li Ying leaned back on his chair and finished his black coffee. “Together with the lawyer and the Wus’ PR manager on call, Wu Yiheng deemed it best if this whole matter was swept under the rug as soon as possible, to avoid more bad publicity, so we decided not to press any charges.”

“But it wasyouwho were assaulted, not Wu Yiheng! Are you really okay with just letting it go?”

“I don’t care. I feel like I managed to deliver Xiuxiu enough justice on my own. Nice and personal, you know. At this point I’ll just cooperate with whatever Uncle Yiheng and his team ask of me, so if they suggest I don’t press charges, I don’t press charges, and if theyneed me to tell the police it was a citizen’s arrest, I say that’s exactly what it was. All the rumors aside, this is the official story now.” Li Ying tapped the newspaper against the table. “The team did a good job of covering up my fuckup, I just hope I can live it down with the entire Shanghai society having witnessed my ‘crazy.’ Man, I hope they start believing the press more than their own eyes with enough Wu propaganda.”

“Alright, Wu Yiheng has the press in his pocket, but what about the justice system?” Anne asked. “Can your uncle-in-law protect you if Tang Xiuxiu suesyou?”

Li Ying bit his nail. Yeah, that could be a problem, he thought.

Anne went on, “Like you said, she would have the grounds for it. She might even get support for her case, since a lot of people witnessed the incident and saw that what you did couldn’t be called a ‘citizen’s arrest’ in good conscience. Not many of those witnesses could be said to be your allies. Some would have a reason to want you out of the way, too.”

“She won’t sue,” Hanjun said with confidence, pouring himself more tea.

Li Ying looked at him hopefully, and Hanjun explained, “She would face the entire Wu legal team, and as Tang Xiuxiu has now outlived her usefulness to him, Wang Guosheng wouldn’t back her up. He doesn’t want his family to be associated with her or this case in any way. Even if Tang Xiuxiu does sue, the outcome is obvious.”

“You’re ruthless,” Li Ying said.

“Hm. Whatever Wang Guosheng had bribed or threatened Tang Xiuxiu with, it seems to have been enough to keep her quiet about the Wangs’ part in this, even at her own risk. I’d wager she will only be relieved to get out of this without us pressing charges, or Wangs’ men at her back. If she’s smart, she will leave us alone and leave Shanghai.”

“How do you know it was Wang Guosheng who had her do it, by the way?” Anne asked. “What would he have to gain from that?”

Li Ying and Hanjun looked at each other. Hanjun shook his head subtly and Li Ying understood: Anne didn’t need to know the full story, with Wang Guosheng’s harassment of Li Ying and his ominous words at the reunion dinner, and Hanjun’s threat, so Li Ying just said:

“He wanted to threaten me and Hanjun over company politics, that’s all. You know, matters of inheritance: he’s after Hanjun’s shares, so that he would gain a position at the board of directors and a chance to take over Wu Pharma. His litter won’t get a crumb more if there is to be a new Wu in the line. Me coming along must have been a blow to his hopes that both the Wu cousins might die bachelors and have no heirs to compete with his.”

“Still, it seems like such a petty thing to do,” Anne said.

“To Wang Guosheng it is just a petty game,” Hanjun said, “using a woman like Tang Xiuxiu and potentially ruining more than just her reputation, just to scare a rival. That’s the kind of man he is.”

“It really is unfortunate you have to call a man like that family,” Anne said.

“I don’t.”

“…Word.” Like Li Ying, Anne had a distinct Brooklyn accent when she spoke English.

“Well, he can threaten me all he wants and send the whole slaughterhouse to my door for all I care.” Li Ying stood up and put his hands on his hips. “I will marry Hanjun and have my child-bearing hips spit outsomany heirs for the company that they will take over the entire Shanghai stock market!”

Li Ying rolled his hips while Hanjun rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“You don’t know how the stock market works,” Anne said.