0176 Humiliation

Two days before Xu Yan's birthday, Xiang Nannan personally came to her home to invite Jiang Jifan to her mother's birthday party.

Jiang Jifan doesn't like going out these days, and is even more afraid of going to crowded places, so he immediately shook his head and refused.

"You guys go ahead, I want to stay home."

Xiang Nannan glanced at Tantai Qing, and seeing him nod at her, she took his hand and said coquettishly, "Staying at home is so boring. My mom specifically asked me to invite you. If I don't complete this task, I'll get a scolding when I get back..."

Finally, after much pleading and cajoling, Jiang Jifan had no choice but to agree.

On Xu Yan's birthday, Xiang Nannan brought Jiang Jifan to her room in advance to help her with her makeup.

When applying foundation, Xiang Nan Nan praised her for her good skin, and Jiang Ji Fan smiled and said it was inherited from her mother.

She has a good natural look and doesn't need much embellishment, so Xiang Nannan only gave her a simple light makeup.

Because Jiang Jifan had said beforehand that she didn't want to go out and meet anyone, she and Tantai Qing stayed at the villa to wait after giving Xu Yan a gift.

"I'll be right back." Although he was a little worried about her, Tantai Qing, as a guest who came to offer birthday wishes, still felt it necessary to go ahead and make a show of it.

After giving her several instructions, and seeing her nod in agreement, he left with Song Yuchang and the others.

Fearing she might be bored, Xiang Nannan specially left a young maid to keep her company.

Unfortunately, the maid was new and rather reserved. After a few lukewarm words, seeing that Jiang Jifan's attitude was somewhat cold, she silently shut her mouth.

The room was quiet; no sound could be heard from outside.

I heard the birthday party was held on the lawn, and with so many people coming to celebrate, it must have been very lively.

Jiang Jifan looked down and touched the plush toy Xiang Nannan had given him; he looked somewhat lonely.

Seeing this, the maid cautiously stepped forward and asked, "Miss Jiang, the room is a bit stuffy. Would you like to go for a walk?"

She didn't respond immediately, but after a few minutes asked, "Where is Taiwan Qing?"

"Mr. Dan is ahead, let me take you there." Perhaps realizing she finally had a chance to show herself, the maid suddenly became quite enthusiastic.

Jiang Jifan didn't press for details about where Tantai Qing was, and nodded upon hearing this.

However, things took an unexpected turn. Halfway there, the maid suddenly clutched her stomach and said she had a stomachache. She grimaced and quickly stopped another maid, begging her to help her for a few minutes.

It just so happened that the maid she had caught was also new, and she had some acquaintance with her. Since it was just a matter of showing someone the way, she didn't think much of it and immediately nodded in agreement.

In the rush, the original maid hadn't given clear instructions. The new maid only knew that Jiang Jifan had an eye problem and figured she would just have to be careful.

And so, Jiang Jifan was led to the lawn by the careless woman who was unaware of the situation.

After walking for a while, Jiang Jifan heard laughter and conversation coming from not far away. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong and frowned. "Where is this place?"

"The lady's birthday banquet is just ahead, we'll be there soon, Mr. Dan is also inside," the maid replied with a smile.

Upon hearing this, she immediately stopped in her tracks, feeling a strange unease in her heart.

"Take me back."

The maid was taken aback, somewhat confused, and asked doubtfully, "Miss Jiang, didn't you say you wanted to..."

"Oh, who is this?" A woman dressed in flamboyant clothes approached, staring at Jiang Jifan with ill intent, looking him up and down.

The maid, almost naively sincere, immediately explained to her, "This is Mr. Tantai Qing's girlfriend."

Zhang Qing scoffed and turned to beckon her companions over.

"Look at this down-and-out family, where did they come from?"

When Qiao Xianzhi, who was surrounded by people, saw that the "down-and-out" she was talking about was Jiang Jifan, the smile on her lips vanished instantly, and her expression became somewhat subtle.

They were too arrogant and made no attempt to hide their intention to bully others. The maid had already realized this, but she still felt uneasy in the face of these young ladies with ill intentions.

"Take me back," Jiang Jifan repeated coldly.

The maid seemed to have finally seen a lifeline, and quickly nodded in agreement, helping her turn around to leave.

However, before he could take a single step, Zhang Qing stepped forward and grabbed Jiang Jifan, her voice harsh: "Where are you going!"

Jiang Jifan's arm ached from being pinched by her sharp nails. His temper flared up, and he angrily flung her hand away.

"Don't touch me!"

Zhang Qing, who was wearing high heels, was thrown off balance by the force of the kick and almost fell.

Qiao Xian stepped forward to support her.

Zhang Qing's attempt to humiliate someone backfired, and she laughed angrily after regaining her footing, "What a formidable blind man!"

Hearing her insults, Jiang Jifan's expression grew even colder. Undeterred, he warned in a deep voice, "Watch your mouth!"

She has changed her personality, but she is no longer a clay figure. If they think she won't resist, then they have miscalculated.

“People with heart conditions find everything they hear disgusting.” Zhang Qing wasn’t angry when she saw her resist; she just stood aside with her companions, watching her laugh.

"What a blind and deaf wretch..."

Everyone knew that she was standing up for Qiao Xianzhi, so they did not stop her and all echoed her words to ridicule Jiang Jifan.

Jiang Jifan knew that the longer he stayed, the more opportunities they would have to humiliate him, so he didn't bother arguing with them and turned to leave with a cold face.

Zhang Qing caught up with her, stood in front of her blocking her way, and said sharply, "Who are you giving me that cold look for? Do you really think you're so high and mighty? You've just climbed up a good branch, do you really think you're going to become a phoenix?"

As she spoke, she casually stuck out her foot.

Jiang Jifan couldn't see the road and was in a hurry to leave, but he tripped over it.

The next second, she fell heavily to the ground. In her panic, she accidentally tore off the tablecloth beside her. The champagne and red wine on the table were pulled by the tablecloth and poured down on her face, soaking her from head to toe.

Tantai Qingzheng was chatting happily with several friends when he suddenly heard a series of crackling sounds behind him, which startled him and made him turn around.

"What's going on?" Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw a group of young women standing together, covering their mouths and laughing. At that moment, someone turned to the side, and Tantai Qing happened to see a pair of feet wearing nude-colored pointed flat shoes through the gap in the person's side. He was startled and immediately put down the wine glass in his hand.

"Ah! Miss Jiang!" The maid was so frightened that she rushed forward to help Jiang Jifan, who had collapsed in the wine.

Qiao Xianzhi suppressed a laugh, feigning reluctance, and stepped forward to accuse them hypocritically, saying, "Don't be so..."

Before he could finish speaking, Tantai Qing rushed through the crowd, pushed aside the maid, and hugged Jiang Jifan tightly, calling out worriedly, "Jifan!"

Jiang Jifan was still wiping the wine off her face, looking disheveled. When she heard his voice, she paused for a moment, then suddenly lifted her up from the ground.

Her hands instinctively hooked around his neck.

Tantai Qing's face was ashen, his chest heaving with rage, and his eyes, filled with murderous intent, swept over the people present like knives.

Seeing that he was angry, Qiao Xianzhi's heart skipped a beat. She stepped forward to explain, "Taiqing, I..."

Tantai Qing could barely contain his anger, and he gritted his teeth and growled, "Get out of here!"

Qiao Xianzhi had never known him to be so stern and unyielding. Upon hearing this, her face stiffened, and she stood still, not daring to step forward.

Tantai Qing walked past her, picked up Jiang Jifan, and strode away.

The onlookers were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

Tantai Qing carried her all the way back to the villa, but they ran into Xu Yan's parents on the way.

"Taiqing, where are you going?" Dong Lijun asked in surprise when she saw him carrying a girl into the villa.

Tantai Qing stopped and called out to them.

When Jiang Jifan learned that the visitors were his parents, he quickly buried his face in his neck.

The woman in his arms was wearing a beige fitted knit dress that was filthy, with yellow and red stains. Dong Lijun frowned when she saw it and asked him how he got it so dirty.

Tantai Qing remained silent and cold in the face of her question, holding Jiang Jifan, who seemed a little uneasy, even tighter in his arms. He left with the words "You two talk" and walked away.

While busy entertaining guests for her mother, Xiang Nannan learned about the situation from the maid and became so angry that she stopped entertaining the guests and angrily grabbed a bottle of red wine and splashed it all over those who had caused trouble.

The expensive dresses worn by the women were stained with red wine from her hand. They looked down at the wine-red stains on their dresses and screamed in despair.

Are you crazy?!

Xiang Nannan was furious and pointed at them, yelling, "You're the ones who're sick! Using such despicable tricks at my mother's birthday party, are you deliberately trying to make people uncomfortable?!"

"You are not welcome in the Xiang family. Get out of here right now!"

She then ordered the guards at the door to kick them out.

Faced with soldiers carrying guns, they dared not be presumptuous and did not utter a single word, cursing as they left, lifting their dirty skirts.

Xiang Nannan slammed the empty wine bottle onto the table, warning Qiao Xianzhi, who was standing by watching the show, "Sister Xianzhi, I still call you 'sister' because of our childhood friendship. I don't care what your past with Brother Taiqing is, please don't vent your emotions on Ji Fan anymore!"

"Ji Fan is a member of the Xiang family. If you bully her again, I won't give you any face!"

Qiao Xianzhi never expected to be humiliated by Tantai Qing and her in succession today. She was so angry that her face turned pale. However, since she was on someone else's turf, she dared not retaliate, fearing that she would be kicked out without mercy like the group of people from before. So she could only swallow her anger.

Tantai Qing carried her to the guest room and helped her take off her dirty clothes and bathe her.

"Jifan, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you alone in an unfamiliar place..." He kept apologizing as he washed her body.

Jiang Jifan remained silent throughout, until he carried her to the bed to clean her up, at which point she finally spoke: "Taiqing, I want to go home."

Tantai Qing paused, looked up at her expressionless face, stroked it tenderly, and said softly, "I'm sorry, Ji Fan. Those people were being unreasonable. I will definitely make them come and apologize to you. Please don't say anything about leaving, okay?"

Jiang Jifan remained silent.

"Are you hungry? I'll take you to eat. What would you like to eat?" Seeing that she didn't answer, Tantai Qing quickly changed the subject.

“I want to go home,” Jiang Jifan interrupted him, repeating once more.

Tantai Qing pursed her lips and compromised, "Okay, I'll go back with you."

Jiang Jifan insisted, "I want to go back by myself."

The two disagreed and were deadlocked for a time.

Seeing her resolute determination, Tantai Qing suddenly felt an inexplicable panic. He grabbed her hands, frowned, and asked with a bitter smile, "You want to go home, but what about me? Don't you want me anymore?"

She remained silent for a moment, then finally said bluntly, "I'm tired of living here..."

"I'm not happy."

As long as she remains with him, as long as she remains blind, the humiliation from those with ulterior motives will not cease.

He couldn't possibly arrive in time to protect her every time, and even if he could, she wouldn't want to.

It's said that when people are vulnerable, they think of their loved ones; she missed her mother...

Jiang Jifan no longer wanted to stay in this treacherous metropolis; she wanted to go back to that ordinary, simple little place.

She could no longer bear all this chaotic pressure.

Tantai Qing understood, but he still selfishly wanted to keep her.

He, who was usually so eloquent, was now somewhat incoherent, only able to apologize repeatedly and promise: "I'm sorry, Ji Fan, I promise you, this will never happen again, please don't leave me..."

They had finally gotten back together, how could Tantai Qing accept her leaving again...?

No matter what he said, Jiang Jifan remained cold and stubborn.

After throwing a tantrum at the scene, Xiang Nannan left, went back to her room, retrieved a few new clothes with the tags still on, and personally brought them up, knocking on the door and saying, "Brother Taiqing, are you there?"

A moment later, Tantai Qing came out and opened the door. He glanced at the clothes in her hand and said, "Give them to me."

"How is Ji Fan?" she asked softly, peeking inside.

Tantai Qing shook his head, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"I won't be staying to celebrate my birthday. Could you please tell Aunt Xu for me?"

He nodded to Nan Nan and explained.

After what happened, they no longer felt like staying.

Without saying goodbye to Xu Yan and the others, Tantai Qing helped Jiang Jifan get ready and then took her home.

That same day, he announced that all business collaborations with Zhang Qing and her family were canceled, and that he would no longer have any dealings with them. He also declared that anyone who bullied Jiang Jifan would be considered to be opposing him, Tantai Qing.

In this dog-eat-dog world, only the loss of benefits will frighten them.

Sure enough, the next day, Zhang Qing and the others' parents dragged them to their door to apologize.

"Jifan, do you want to hear their apology?" Tantai Qing asked her cautiously.

"I don't want to," Jiang Jifan said resolutely.

She didn't want to hear those disgusting sounds anymore.

Seeing her resistance, he asked his aunt to refuse them one by one.

When Zhang Qing and the others saw that Tantai Qing wouldn't even let them in the door, they were annoyed that they had been turned away, but they didn't dare to get angry and could only leave with their families in a huff.