Chapter 382: How Outstanding
Qin Shanshan had always been a fast grower and developed early. At twelve or thirteen, when she first started having romantic feelings, she fell for Tang Yuanxiao.
To this day, he was the only one in her heart.
After so many years of being unable to have him, her deep infatuation had morphed into obsession.
She herself couldn’t tell if her current determination to have Tang Yuanxiao was born of love or obsession.
Of course, she never considered it an obsession.
She was single-mindedly focused on winning over Tang Yuanxiao and marrying him.
But Tang Yuanxiao had never once given her a serious look.
When they were young, Tang Yuanxiao had treated her as just a neighbor. Later, that turned to disgust.
The person in his heart had always been Su Li; the person he looked at was always Su Li.
Qin Shanshan was both jealous and resentful. ’Why is Su Li in Tang Yuanxiao’s heart? It’s only because Su Li was once his wife.’
Having been in love with Tang Yuanxiao for so many years, Qin Shanshan knew him better than most.
Tang Yuanxiao took notice of Su Li and fell for her simply because she was his wife.
It was because she was his wife that he later gave her his true heart. From then on, the stubborn, old-fashioned Tang Yuanxiao could think of nothing but Su Li.
Qin Shanshan hated it, but there was nothing she could do.
All she could do was keep appearing before him, bit by bit. She knew Tang Yuanxiao had a heart; one day, he would see everything she did and be moved.
Mrs. Tang was the kind of person even her own children would grow tired of and lose patience with, yet once Qin Shanshan started caring for her, she never stopped. She did it for dozens of days in a row, without missing a single day.
She emptied bedpans and did all sorts of other filthy work.
It was all for Tang Yuanxiao.
All for those few minutes when she could see him come home.
Qin Shanshan thought she could keep it up forever, but as time went on, Tang Yuanxiao remained the same.
Tang Yuanxiao’s heart still belonged to Su Li. It had to be Su Li and no one else.
His attitude, his feelings—they were silent yet firm.
Mrs. Tang had told Tang Yuanxiao countless times to marry her, but his stance never wavered.
Qin Shanshan would never forget that one night when Mrs. Tang again cornered Tang Yuanxiao, telling him to marry her.
"...Stop thinking about Su Li! That bitch has already latched onto someone better. Didn’t you hear? She found your superior, someone more powerful than you!"
Miao Zhi’s careless words that one time had caused trouble for Su Li, and it had weighed on her mind ever since.
Guilt-ridden and unable to let it go, Miao Zhi later went to find Su Li.
She wanted to ask Su Li if her words had affected her and also to apologize.
But as it happened, she saw Su Li together with Wu Sheng.
Miao Zhi knew who Wu Sheng was.
Wu Sheng was young and accomplished, not to mention handsome and dashing. He was already quite famous.
Many young women in the family compound had heard of him, and some even considered him their dream man.
Miao Zhi had once snuck a peek at Wu Sheng with a group of others, and she remembered what he looked like.
He was the most handsome and youngest man she had ever seen, and she had been smitten for days.
But after the initial swooning, it passed. After all, in Miao Zhi’s world, a man like Wu Sheng could only be admired and fantasized about from afar; she never imagined their paths would cross.
’They were from two different worlds, after all.’
But now, Wu Sheng was with Su Li.
When Miao Zhi saw Wu Sheng and Su Li together, even a blind person could tell their relationship was anything but ordinary.
After seeing Wu Sheng, how could Miao Zhi possibly remember to apologize?
She no longer felt it was necessary.
’Compared to Wu Sheng, that other guy was nothing.’
Miao Zhi returned in a daze, finding it all incredible and feeling a strange, indefinable jealousy.
Wu Sheng, a man she didn’t even dare to dream about, someone she thought was from another world, had been snatched up by Su Li.
Snatched up by someone like Su Li—a divorcée with a child.
’There’s no justice in this world.’
Miao Zhi kept this secret for two days before she couldn’t hold it in any longer and told the friends she had spied on Wu Sheng with.
"Holy crap, she actually got with him? Su Li is amazing! No wonder she wanted a divorce. If it were me, I’d get a divorce too!"
"Captain Tang is great and all, but compared to Captain Wu? There’s just no comparison, right? Amazing, truly amazing. No wonder she dared to get a divorce. Turns out she just found someone more powerful."
These were her friend’s exact words. Although Miao Zhi didn’t entirely agree, she had to admit there was some truth to it.
Even though Miao Zhi repeatedly warned her friend not to spread the news, it still got out within a small circle.
Because no one knew if it was true and it involved Wu Sheng, people only discussed it quietly behind their backs. The person they talked about most was, of course, Su Li.
Perhaps someone wanted to spite Mrs. Tang, because the rumor eventually reached her ears.
When Mrs. Tang heard it, she nearly coughed up blood from anger.
How could she not be furious? In her eyes, a loose, worn-out shoe like Su Li should be despised and spat on for the rest of her life.
But instead, she heard that Su Li had found someone better, even better than her son Tangyuan—and a high-ranking officer at that!
Suddenly, it made it seem as if Tang Yuanxiao wasn’t good enough, as if that’s why he was cast aside.
How could Mrs. Tang swallow that? She even had the crazy idea of finding an even better woman for Tang Yuanxiao to marry.
But that was just a thought. No matter how you looked at it, there weren’t any better women available.
In the end, Mrs. Tang went back to pressuring Tang Yuanxiao, urging him to hurry up and marry Qin Shanshan.
"That bitch Su Li doesn’t want you anymore and has latched onto someone better, so why are you still thinking about her? Hurry up and have the wedding with Shanshan!"
"No matter what, Shanshan is better than that woman. She’s not a gold-digger."
Mrs. Tang went on and on. Tang Yuanxiao’s face was stiff, but he just kept shaking his head.
"I’ve said it before, I will not marry Qin Caihua. Mom, just give up on that idea."
Tang Yuanxiao had always known that the news of Su Li and Wu Sheng being together would get out sooner or later, but he hadn’t expected it to spread so quickly.
No one could understand the bitter ache in his heart. Growing increasingly impatient with his mother’s tirade, he stood up to leave but was pulled back by her.
"You’re not allowed to leave! Tangyuan, have you been put under a spell or something? Why are you so bewitched?"
Mrs. Tang was about to die from anger. "What’s so good about that bitch that you’re acting like you’re going to stay faithful to her forever?"
Tang Yuanxiao closed his eyes. "Mom, can you please stop calling her a bitch every other second?"
He looked his mother straight in the eye. "Mom, can’t you see it? Or are you just unwilling to admit how high and how far Su Li—the woman you belittled as worthless—has gone?"
A smile that was perhaps mocking, perhaps something else, touched his lips. "Don’t spend all day and night thinking about how to humiliate Su Li or how to make her angry."
"She doesn’t give you a second thought. She has no interest in knowing what’s going on with us. You can raise hell all you want, but as long as you don’t do it in front of her, she couldn’t care less. Do you get that?"
For a moment, Mrs. Tang’s expression twisted.
Because he had hit a nerve.
She just couldn’t stand seeing Su Li do well. She wanted to anger Su Li, to hate Su Li.
Tang Yuanxiao didn’t look at his mother’s expression. He just sighed.
"Mom, it’s useless to keep belittling her."
"You’ll see how outstanding and wonderful Su Li is one day. And you’ll regret this."